Unfortunately Hebrew/Aramaic fonts appear as gibberish.
(19:1-12 Yeshua on divorce)
Mt. 19:3-9 Yeshua’s Halacha on Divorce
The Torah passage in question is:
When a man takes a wife and marries her,
and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes
because he has found some unclean matter in her,
and he writes her a bill of divorcement,
puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,...
(Dt. 24:1)
Here Yeshua presents a Yalemmedenu Homiletic Midrash on Gen. 2:24 & Deut. 24:1. The keywords for the midrash are: "man"; "put away" and "wife." The Midrash takes the following format:
Question/dialog:
19:3 And the P’rushim approached him, and tempted him,
saying, “Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”
Initial passages:
19:4 And he answered and said to them:
"Have you not read that he who made man the beginning,
'made them male and female' (Gen. 1:27)
19:5 And said,
'Wherefore shall a man shall leave his father
and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' (Gen. 2:24)
Exposition:
19:6 And now then, they are no more two but one flesh
only. What therefore Elohim has joined together
man cannot separate."
Further question/second text:
19:7 But they said,
"And why then did Moshe then command
to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away
if she was not pleasing in his sight?” (Deut. 24:1, 3)
Exposition:
19:8 And he answered them and said,
"Because Moshe on account of the hardness of your hearts,
allowed you to put away your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
19:9 And I tell you,
every man that has put away, or shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and takes another,
commits adultery. And whoever takes the divorced also
commits adultery.
Yeshua's midrash is very relevant to first century Jewish halachic debate on this issue. Yeshua's use of Gen. 1:27 to prove his halachic position is paralleled in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
...they are caught in two traps:
fornication, by taking two wives in their lifetimes
although the principle of creation is:
"male and female He created them."
(Damascus Document Col. 4 line 20 - Col. 5 line 1)
except for the cause of fornication – This halacha of Yeshua is given four times in Scripture (Mt. 5:31-32; 19:3-9; Mk. 10:2-9 & Lk. 16:18) but only in Matthew is this “escape clause” included giving men the right to divorce their wives in a case of the charge of twnz rbd essentially “a word of fornication”.
The Torah passage in question is:
When a man takes a wife and marries her,
and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes
because he has found
some unclean matter (rbd twr() in her,
and he writes her a bill of divorcement,
puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,...
(Dt. 24:1)
In the first century a major debate was ongoing as to the meaning of the words for "unclean matter" (rbd twr() in this text. (The Hebrew word rbd davar can mean “word” or idiomatically “matter”. The debate is recorded in the Mishna as follows:
The House of Shamai say,
"A man should divorce his wife only because
he has found grounds for it
in unchastity (hwr( rbd)
, since it is said,
"Because he has found in her
an unclean matter in anything (Dt. 24:1)"
And the House of Hillel say,
"Even if she spoiled his dish, since it is said,
"Because he has found in her
an unclean matter in anything (Dt. 24:1)"
Rabbi Akiba says,
"Even if he found someone else prettier than she,
since it is said,
"And it shall be if she find no favor in his eyes (Dt. 24:1)"
(m.Gittin 9:10)
The controversy surrounded the ambiguity of the phrase "matter of uncleanness." This phrase in Hebrew can be taken literally, or can be taken as an idiomatic expression for fornication. Yeshua interprets rbd twr( to mean twnz rbd which the Peahitta (both here and in Mt. 19:9) literally translates )twynzd )tlm but which the Old Syriac paraphrases with )rwg hyl( rm)t) “it is said against her ‘adultery’” and in Mt. 19:9 )rwgd )tlm “a word of adultery”.
fornication – Exactly how this offense is to be understood is another question. The Hebrew word twnz can refer to sexual immorality, usually by a woman, but it can have other meanings as well. This word can refer to one who is an idolator (Lev. 17:7; 20:5-6; Deut. 31:16) or to one that goes astray from YHWH (Ps. 73:27). Ben Sira writes:
Allow no outlet to water,
and no boldness of speech in an evil wife.
If she does not go as you direct,
separate yourself from her.
(Ben Sira 25:25-26)
It may be that we are to understand Ben Sira’s qualifier “evil wife” to presuppose a wife who is guilty of twnz or perhaps we to understand twnz to include a wife who “does not go [as her husband] directs” as having gone astray from YHWH on the basis that the Torah statement “and he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3:16).
Now lets examine Yeshua's position. Yeshua uses Gen. 1:27 & 2:24 to argue for the stricter interpretation of "unclean matter" in Deut. 24:1. In Mt. 19:8,Yeshua makes an important observation. Deut 24:1 is not presented in the Torah as the will of YHWH. A careful reading of Deut. 24:1-4 shows that 24:1 is an incidental statement in a larger Law which deals with remarriage of the divorced. However 24:1 says:
When a man takes a wife... and it happens
that she find no favor in his eyes...
Deut. 24:1 simply says matter of factly, "when [divorce] happens" and then discusses the issue of YHWH’s Torah on remarriage. Yeshua points out that this is YHWH's recognition of man's will on the subject and not YHWH's will itself, which he finds in Gen.1:27 & 2:24. All of this he uses to argue for the strictest interpretation of "unclean matter" in Deut. 24:1.
That sort makes the whole marraige thing sound like it's not worthwhile to a gal like me. in either time. Most people today view marraige differently, even many religious people. Marraige is simply a legal contract anymorewhich ends in death or property/custody disputes. But just saying "I divorce you", BY writing a bill of divorcement and putting it in her hand, and sending her out of the house, means nothing, except that he'll be in the back of a squad car soon.
I assume this is another one where the law has lost it's edge because the Temple is no more. Unless you like being tossed in jail.
Interestingly it is only comparatively recently that governments got into the marriage racket. In Israel the government does not marry anyone and thus the government does not divorce anyone. If you want to get married you go to your Church, Synagogue or Mosque, and likewise if you want a divorce, you go to the same. Historically marriage was a religious rather than secular act.
It is interesting though, reading through all this, just how much of it is common sense. Most people that have lives that are not all Messed (F'd) up are pretty much following the law, whether they realize it or not. And if you love God and you love your neighbor, you're going to find yourself fulfilling the majority of the law. If you don't love God and love your neighbor, your neighbors are probably going to not love you, right back and cause you problems, and those problems are probably comparatively small, when compared to the damage you'r doing to yourself by bucking against God's Laws.
And I should mention that a good wife that loves her husband, won't be out finding ways to make him hate her...
Interestingly it is only comparatively recently that governments got into the marriage racket. In Israel the government does not marry anyone and thus the government does not divorce anyone. If you want to get married you go to your Church, Synagogue or Mosque, and likewise if you want a divorce, you go to the same. Historically marriage was a religious rather than secular act.
An example of why the Torah makes so much sense, can be found in our humor. Good Humor is often based on common sense with a twist that allows us to laugh at ourselves for the stupid things we all do and can relate to.
I'm going with the "Urban Dictionary" style commentary on this. You'll have to excuse me as I don't have stores of commentary to draw upon to flesh out all thoughts in more detail.
So in other words the Torah says you can't divorce your wife unless she is full of $h1t. (all right, liberal translation of 'unclean matter').
Jesus taught that the only reason you think your wife is full of $h1t is that you were full of $h1t first.
So climb down off your horse and work it out, dude.
I'm going with the "Urban Dictionary" style commentary on this. You'll have to excuse me as I don't have stores of commentary to draw upon to flesh out all thoughts in more detail.
So in other words the Torah says you can't divorce your wife unless she is full of $h1t. (all right, liberal translation of 'unclean matter').
Jesus taught that the only reason you think your wife is full of $h1t is that you were full of $h1t first.
So climb down off your horse and work it out, dude.
... Most people that have lives that are not all Messed (F'd) up are pretty much following the law, whether they realize it or not. And if you love God and you love your neighbor, you're going to find yourself fulfilling the majority of the law. If you don't love God and love your neighbor, your neighbors are probably going to not love you, right back and cause you problems, and those problems are probably comparatively small, when compared to the damage you'r doing to yourself by bucking against God's Laws.
Yeah, that's a pretty good statement..
I think a problem that many people have, especially coming from a Christian standpoint, is they don't understand the Torah. Torah means teaching or instructions more than it means laws in our language. It's purpose is not to bind people to a requirement, but to teach and instruct. Being under the law doesn't mean you are required to do the law, that's a misunderstanding of being "under" something. It instead means that you are under it's covering. Just as being under a rock puts you under it's cover. The rock doesn't require you to do anything to it, it is just the relation you have to your current position or standing. We are not under the law. The law provides ZERO cover for us, instead it is Christ who is our cover, the one who has made us clean. That is, if we decide to make Christ so..
The other problem, especially for dispensationlists, is they think there is no benefit to knowing the Torah.. And I'm not talking about keeping the TORAH to the nTH degree, I mean, how much common sense, and understandable, and the purpose behind the 613 teachings of the TORAH, as instructions in righteousness. As guides to the blind, not as requirements that stifle. You don't get that without understanding the purpose. Just as the tithe. If you just think of it as, they were taught to give 10% to the Levites, it does you no good. But when you understand why, the purpose and heart, you realize there is a reason, and something that can be related to today. The heart of the tithe, was to take care of those in need. The fatherless, the poor, the Levites who had nothing. That was it's purpose, it's heart. It was not a religious thing. It was the heart to love your neightbor and care for others which is EVERYONE's responsibility and not the church leadership to decide. Which is why things get so screwed up cause people then give to churches thinking they're doing a required thing (as if a law) instead of from the heart and the true heart to give to those in need. And every teaching(Torah) is like this. Common sense when broken down and as Galatians says, loving your beighbor and loving God is keeping the torah, because they all stem from those 2.
What I forgot to mention also was, the thinking in TWI was that in old times, people weren't saved, cause of the law. But that's not true. They were. The same way we are today. By believing. This why Abraham is the Father of those who believe. He believed unto righteousness. Heb 11, those who believed God.. The Torah was a teacher, and still is, that's all. Was never a way for salvation. Never a way for righteouness. Just teachings of God, his ways. Christ, or The Messiah, was taught from the start, by Moses and David, etc. They trusted(believed) God to send the Messiah, and that was accounted to them for righteousness. They didn't trust in the law to become righteous. What Romans talks about, those people under the law, isn't talking about Israelites or Jews only. It is talking about anyone who wants to try and work at their righteouness. Saying our works are our covering our salvation. Yet God has always promised salvation to those who trust in Him, grace. It's not just a today or this administration thing, Abraham believing unto righteousness should tell you that..
Ok, well, then again, those are my thoughts.. You know, my usual disclaimer, cause really, I know so little, and I'm learning like the rest. So feel free to share your thoughts, disagreements..
There is a spiritual battle taking place. A battle between light and darkness. A battle between truth and deception.
Paul writes:
and put on all the armour of Eloah, so that you may be able to stand against the strategies of 'Akel Kartza,
because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and with authorities and with the possessors of this dark world and with the evil spirits that are under heaven.
Because of this, put on all the armour of Eloah that you may be able to meet the evil one, and being prepared in everything, you may stand firm.
(Eph. 6:11-13 HRV)
Paul goes on to describe the parts of this armour as:
• The Belt of Truth
• The Breastplate of Righteousness
• The Shoes of the Goodnews of Peace (Shalom)
• The Shield of Faith
• The Helmet of Salvation
• The Sword of the Word
Now Paul is making a play on words here. The Aramaic word for "Armour" is ZAYNA while the Aramaic word for for "whiles" is TZEN'TA. Paul is contrasting the ZAYNA with the TZEN'TA. The four fixed (non mobile) pieces of armour correspond to the four whiles of HaSatan which are depicted in the Tanak:
• Deception/Lies (Gen. 3)
(Belt of Truth)
• Temptation/Pride (1Chron. 21:1)
(Breastplate of Righteousness)
• Oppression (Job)
(Shoes of Peace)
• Accusation (Zech. 3:1-5)
(Helmet of Salvation)
Now we will not cover each of the items here, instead we will concentrate only on the belt of truth.
Now it should be understood that the armour Paul is speaking of is not Roman armour, it was not inspired by Roman Soldiers. The armour was originally inspired by the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:5; 52:7 and 59:17) as well as the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon (5:17-20). Therefore the subject of this passage is ancient Hebew armour and not Roman armour at all. Now ancient Hebrews wore a skirt like garment. Before going into battle a Hebrew warrior would gird himself with the a belt, he would gather his skirt-like garment up and tuck it up under his belt to allow free movement. This prevented him from getting tripped up in his own garment while trying to fight.
Now when he was on trial before Pilate Yeshua said:
For this I have been born,
and for this I have come into the world,
to bear witness of the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
(John 18:37-38)
To this Pilate asked the all important question:
What is truth?
(John. 18:38)
Let us look back to the Tanak to find the answer to Pilate's question:
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)
You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)
This definition explains many phrases in the New Testament:
"Obey the truth" (Gal. 3:1)
"But he that does truth..." (Jn. 3:20)
And I rejoice that I found your children
walking in the truth, as we have received
a commandment from the Father.
(2Jn. 1:4)
The Tanak definition of truth gives whole new meaning to Yeshua's words:
For this I have been born,
and for this I have come into the world,
to bear witness of the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
(John 18:37-38)
Yeshua came to bear witness of the Torah, those who hear the Torah hear his voice. This leads us to another important saying from Yeshua:
Then Yeshua said to those Jews who believed
on him, if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31-32)
Paul, however, speaks of those "who changed the truth of God into a lie" (Rom. 1:25) Now if Messiah came to bear witness of the truth then what has HaSatan to bear witness to? The scriptures tell us:
He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not the truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own:
for he is a liar, and ther father of it.
(John 8:44)
...HaSatan, who deceives the whole world...
(Rev. 12:9)
When HaSatan speaks a lie, he is merely speaking his native language.
Now if the Torah is truth, then what is HaSatan's lie? His lie is that there is not a Torah, that the Torah has been done away with. There is a Greek term for this teaching. This term is ANOMOS (Strong's Greek #459). ANOMOS is made up of the Greek prefix A- (there is not/without) with the Greek word NOMOS (Torah). ANOMOS means "without Torah" or "Torah-lessness." While Messiah came to bear witness to the Torah, HaSatan comes to bear witness of ANOMOS (Torah-lessness). Two entire books of the New Testament (2Kefa and Jude) are dedicated to combating this false ANOMOS teaching. Yeshua tells us that these teachers will be called "least" in the Kingdom (Mt. 5:19).
Now lets take a look at how the Bible uses this term ANOMOS:
...I [Yeshua] will profess to them, I never knew you,
depart from me, you that work ANOMOS.
(Mt. 7:23)
...and they [angels] shall gather out of his Kingdom
all things that offend, and them which do ANOMOS.
(Mt. 13:41)
And many false prophets shall rise,
and shall deceive many.
And because ANOMOS shall abound,
the love of many shall grow cold.
(Mt. 24:11-12)
For the mystery of ANOMOS does already work...
And then shall the ANOMOS one be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth,...
whose coming is after the working of HaSatan
with all power and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness...
because they received not the love of truth...
That they might be damned
who believed not the truth...
(2Thes. 2:7-12)
Many people have been taken in by the ANOMOS teaching. In fact two of Christendom's largest theological sub-sets, Dispensationalism and Replacement Theology, submit detailed theories to explain why they teach that the Torah is not for today.
Dispensationalism is a form of Premillennialism which replaces the eternal "covenants" with finite "ages". Two of these finite ages are "The Age of Torah" which basically encompasses "Old Testament times", and "The Age of Grace" which basically encompasses "New Testament times". According to these Dispensationalists, during "Old Testament times" men were under Torah, but during "New Testament times" men are under grace. Some Dispensationalists, called "Ultra-Dispensationalists", even teach that men were saved by Torah in "Old Testament times," but are saved by grace in "New Testament times." As a result, Dispensationalists teach that "the Torah is not for today" or "we have no Torah."
Replacement Theologians teach that G-d has replaced Israel with the Church; Judaism with Christendom; The Old Testament with The New Testament; and Torah with grace. As a result, they too teach that "the Torah is not for today" or "we have no Torah."
Now you may be saying to yourself: "Ok, so they teach Torah-lessness, but don't the Torah-less teachers of 2Peter & Jude go so far as to teach sexual immorality? Surely the Torah-less teachers of within the church would never use their "the Torah is not for today" teaching to promote sexual immorality." Wrong! Some of Christendom's teachers have already carried the "the Torah is not for today" reasoning to its fullest and logical conclusion. A sect of Christendom known as "The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches" has published a tract which does just that. The nameless author of the tract writes:
Another Scripture verse that is used to show
that the Bible condemns the gay lifestyle is found
in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, 18:22,
"Thou shalt not lie with a man as thou would with
a woman." Anyone who is concerned about this
prohibition should read the whole chapter or the
whole Book of Leviticus: No pork, no lobster,
no shrimp, no oysters, no intercourse during
the menstrual period, no rare meats, no eating blood,
no inter-breeding of cattle, and a whole host of other
laws, including the Law to kill all divorced people who
remarry.
As Christians, our Law is from Christ. St. Paul clearly
taught that Christians are no longer under the Old Law
(for example in Galatians 3:23-24); that the Old Law is
brought to an end in Christ (Romans 10:4); and its
fulfillment is in love (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14).
The New Law of Christ is the Law of Love. Neither
Jesus, nor Paul, nor any of the New Testament Scriptures
implies that Christians are held to the cultic or ethical
laws of the Mosaic Law.
(Homosexuality; What the Bible Does and Does not Say;
Universal Fellowship press, 1984, p. 3)
Thus the teaching that "the Torah is not for today" is already being used to "turn the grace of our Elohim into perversion." (Jude 1:4; see also 2Pt. 2:18-21)
There is indeed a spiritual battle taking place. It is a battle between the truth and a lie. It is a battle between light and darkness. It is a battle led by the one who came to bear witness to the Torah, and the one who comes to bear witness to Torah-lessness. The Torah is truth. The belt of truth is the belt of Torah. Gird yourselves with the belt of Torah that you may withstand the Torah-less one.
I think a problem that many people have, especially coming from a Christian standpoint, is they don't understand the Torah. Torah means teaching or instructions more than it means laws in our language. It's purpose is not to bind people to a requirement, but to teach and instruct. Being under the law doesn't mean you are required to do the law, that's a misunderstanding of being "under" something. It instead means that you are under it's covering. Just as being under a rock puts you under it's cover. The rock doesn't require you to do anything to it, it is just the relation you have to your current position or standing. We are not under the law. The law provides ZERO cover for us, instead it is Christ who is our cover, the one who has made us clean. That is, if we decide to make Christ so..
The other problem, especially for dispensationlists, is they think there is no benefit to knowing the Torah.. And I'm not talking about keeping the TORAH to the nTH degree, I mean, how much common sense, and understandable, and the purpose behind the 613 teachings of the TORAH, as instructions in righteousness. As guides to the blind, not as requirements that stifle. You don't get that without understanding the purpose. Just as the tithe. If you just think of it as, they were taught to give 10% to the Levites, it does you no good. But when you understand why, the purpose and heart, you realize there is a reason, and something that can be related to today. The heart of the tithe, was to take care of those in need. The fatherless, the poor, the Levites who had nothing. That was it's purpose, it's heart. It was not a religious thing. It was the heart to love your neightbor and care for others which is EVERYONE's responsibility and not the church leadership to decide. Which is why things get so screwed up cause people then give to churches thinking they're doing a required thing (as if a law) instead of from the heart and the true heart to give to those in need. And every teaching(Torah) is like this. Common sense when broken down and as Galatians says, loving your beighbor and loving God is keeping the torah, because they all stem from those 2.
What I forgot to mention also was, the thinking in TWI was that in old times, people weren't saved, cause of the law. But that's not true. They were. The same way we are today. By believing. This why Abraham is the Father of those who believe. He believed unto righteousness. Heb 11, those who believed God.. The Torah was a teacher, and still is, that's all. Was never a way for salvation. Never a way for righteouness. Just teachings of God, his ways. Christ, or The Messiah, was taught from the start, by Moses and David, etc. They trusted(believed) God to send the Messiah, and that was accounted to them for righteousness. They didn't trust in the law to become righteous. What Romans talks about, those people under the law, isn't talking about Israelites or Jews only. It is talking about anyone who wants to try and work at their righteouness. Saying our works are our covering our salvation. Yet God has always promised salvation to those who trust in Him, grace. It's not just a today or this administration thing, Abraham believing unto righteousness should tell you that..
Ok, well, then again, those are my thoughts.. You know, my usual disclaimer, cause really, I know so little, and I'm learning like the rest. So feel free to share your thoughts, disagreements..
The Tithe of YHWH
The Cost of the Covenant
By Jame Scott Trimm
So you are excited about Torah. So you are ready to say "we will hear and do".
Not so fast… there is a disclosure to be made first.
In Rabbinic Judaism Gentiles seeking conversion are discouraged. Gentiles
seeking conversion are turned away three times. Then after being turned away
three times it is required to make a full disclosure of the financial
obligations of the Covenant. It is said that few Gentiles would willingly enter
the Covenant once they know the cost.
To begin with we must understand that EVERYTHING belongs to YHWH (Ex. 9:29; 2Kn.
19:15; Is. 66:1-2; Jer. 27:5; Job 12:9-10; Ps. 89:11; 95:3-5; Dan. 4:7; Neh.
9:16; 1Chron. 29:13-14). He owns this universe, all of its resources, all of its
energy, and he owns YOU. YHWH is entitled to ask for 100%. In His CHESED, in His
undue favor, He allows us to keep 90%.
Now one might ask: Where in the Mosaic Torah is the commandment "Thou shalt
tithe?". The answer is, nowhere. When Moshe went up on Mount Sinai to receive
the Torah, he did NOT receive a commandment to tithe. Nowhere in the Mosaic
Torah is there the Tithe instituted. Instead the very first mention of the tithe
in the Mosaic Covenant is not until the end of Leviticus where we read:
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the
fruit of the tree, is YHWH's: it is Set-Apart unto YHWH.
31 And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it, the fifth
part thereof.
32 And all the tithe of the herd, or the flock, whatsoever passes under the rod,
the tenth shall be Set-Apart unto YHWH.
33 He shall not inquire whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it.
And if he change it at all, then both it, and that for which it is changed, shall be
Set-Apart; it shall not be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments, which YHWH commanded Moshe for the children of
Yisra'el in mount Sinai.
(Lev. 27:30-34)
Notice that this first mention of the "tithe" does not initiate the tithe, it
simply recognizes the fact of the tithe saying "it is Set-Apart unto YHWH".
Notice also this first passage says nothing about Levites or Priests. It does
not say that the tithe belongs to the Levites, but rather to YHWH.
When next we read on the Tithe in the Mosaic Torah is in the book of Numbers:
And unto the children of Levi, behold,
I have given all the tithe in Yirae'el for an inheritance,
in return for their service which they serve,
even the service of the tent of meeting.
(Num. 18:21)
Notice that these are two different precepts of Torah. Lev. 27:30 recognizes
that the Tithe belongs to YHWH, while a separate commandment in Num. 18:21 tells
us that the Levites were to be paid out of the tithe, for their service in the
Tabernacle (later Temple). The tithe was not directly paid to the Levites, it
was paid to YHWH and from that "fund" the Levites were paid. This was so that
the Levites could devote themselves to full time Torah Study (2Chron. 31:4-5) so
that they could in turn teach Torah to the people of Israel (Deut. 14:22-23;
Ezek. 44:23-24).
Nowhere are we told to pay the Tithe to the Levitical priesthood. We are told
only that the Tithe is paid to YHWH and YHWH gave the Levites payment from the
Tithe "for their service."
THE SECOND AND THIRD TITHES
Now before moving on from the Mosaic Torah we should also cover the second and
third tithes. Some lump these together as "the second tithe" because they are
never paid on the same year.
There are actually two tithes in the Mosaic Covenant which were tied to the
seven year cycle of the Land. The first tithe (Masserot) is due every year.
The second tithe (Maaser Sheni) was converted to money and used to make a
personal pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The "pilgrim" could spend this money however
he liked on the pilgrimage but was expected to treat the Levites to a feast as
well upon his arrival and any surplus was given to the Levites (Deut. 14:22-27).
Every third year however the tither used this second tithe (some all this third
year tithe as a "third tithe") to feed the needy and local Levites (Deut.
14:28-29). Thus the Mosaic tithing schedule goes like this:
Year
1. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
2. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
3. First Tithe: Levites; Third Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
4. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
5. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
6. First Tithe: Levites; Third Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
7. The Sabbath of the land, only the First Tithe was paid on any volunteer crop
and on other non-planted produce.
(The first tithe could only be converted into money by paying a 20% penalty
(Lev. 27:31) however the second tithe was generally converted to money as a
matter of course (Deut. 14:25).)
The three Tithes are laid out in the book of Tobit as follows:
6 And I went to Yerushulayim at the appointed times as it is written in the
Torah of YHWH concerning Yisrael in firstfruits and tithes and firstlings.
7 To the priests, sons of Aharon and new wine and fat and labors and
pomegranates and from all fruits of the ground to the sons of Levi, ministers
before, the presence of YHWH in Yerushalayim, and the second tithe. (8) And the
third tithe to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow. And I would go in
every year with all these, to Yerushalayim by the commandments of YHWH and
according to that duty upon me, Devorah mother of my Father.
(Tovi (Tobit) 1:6-7 HRV – From our ongoing work :-) )
ABRAHAM TITHED
Now as we have shown, the Tithe was not initiated in the Mosaic Torah. Instead
the first mention of the Tithe in the Mosaic Covenant only acknowledges that the
Tithe is YHWH's. The principle of tithing did not originate in the Mosaic
Covenant. Avraham tithed in Genesis 14 long before the Mosaic Covenant (or even
the Abrahamic Covenent) was entered into.
Lets examine Gen. 14 and see what the Torah tells us about this pre-Mosaic
tithe.
18 And MalkiTzadek, king of Shalem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was a
cohen of El Elyon.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Avram, of El Elyon--Maker of heaven
and earth.
20 And blessed be El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And
he gave him a tenth (tithe) of all.
(Gen. 14:18-20 HRV)
Who was this Melchizedek and why did Abraham pay the tithe to him? The answer
may be found in the Book of Jasher also known as Midrash Sefer HaYashar. The
Book of Jasher contains this same account but with some important additional
information:
And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem,
went out with his men to meet Abram and his people,
with bread and wine, and they remained together
in the valley of Melech.
And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him
a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of
his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.
(Jasher 16:11-12)
Now according to the Book of Jasher Abraham tithed to Melchizadek (or
Adonizadek) because he was a "priest". How is it that Melchizadek is called a
"priest"? Although Melchizadek was not a Levite (there were not yet any Levites)
we do have a clue in Jasher as to why he is called a "priest". Jasher reveals
the identity of Melchizadek saying
"the same is Shem" (this identity of Melchizadek is also recorded in the Talmud
in b.Ned. 32). Now this is very important because the Book of Jasher also
records the fact that Shem had been Abraham's Torah teacher:
And when Avram came out from the cave, he went to Noach and his son Shem, and he
remained with them to learn the instruction of YHWH and his ways, and no man
knew where Avram was, and Avram served Noach and Shem his son for a long time.
And Avram was in Noach's house thirty-nine years,
and Abram knew YHWH from three years old, and he went in the ways of YHWH until
the day of his death, as Noach and his son Shem had taught him;
(Jasher 9:5-6)
Thus Abraham paid the tithe to Shem because Shem had been his personal Torah
teacher. (If you do the "Bible Math" you will find that Noach and Shem died
AFTER Avraham was born, a point that surprises some people.)
Note that Abraham's tithe in Gen. 14 was not being made on agricultural produce
but on "all" (Gen. 14:20) and specifically in this case the "spoils of his
enemies" (Jasher 16:12; also Hebrews 7:4). This dispels the theory taught by
some, that the Tithe is only paid on agricultural produce.
Now some have taught that the tithe Melchizadek paid was not the same Tithe
mentioned in the Mosaic Torah from which the Levites were paid. This is also not
true, as Paul argues in the book of Hebrews:
4 Consider and see his greatness, which also Avraham our father, gave to him a
tenth from the spoil.
5 And also the sons of L'vi collect for the priesthood, having received a
commandment to collect the tithe from the people, according to the decree of the Torah. And
this is of their brothers, although having come from the loins of Avraham.
6 Truly he who is not from their tribe, has received the tithe from Avraham, and
blessed those, who are blessed, to him.
7 And behold, this no one disputes: that the lesser is blessed by the greater.
8 Behold here, sons of man which die, receive tithes: but sleep received he of
whom it is said that He lives.
9 For so to say, that to he who was accustomed to take the tithe, he also tithes
through Avraham.
10 For He was yet in the loins of the Father, when He met, he who was called
Malki-Tzedek.
(Heb. 7:4-10 HRV)
The whole logic of Paul's argument here is based in the fact that the tithe that
Avram paid to Melchizadek was EXACTLY the same tithe that the Levites were paid
from.
Another example of the pre-Mosaic tithe is the vow Jacob made to tithe saying to
Elohim "and of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth onto you"
(Gen. 28:22). Note that Jacob tithed on all that Elohim had given him and not
simply on agricultural produce. In fact Jacob even tithed from his sons. In the
Midrash Rabbab there is an important story related to Jacob's tithe told by
Rabbi Joshua of Sikaan in the name of his teacher Rabbi Levi:
A certain Curthean (Samaritan) attempted to trap Rabbi Mier
in a question concerning Jacob's vow to HaShem to give a
"tithe of all."
You Jews teach that Jacob gave a tenth of all to HaShem;
yet Jacob had twelve sons: Jacob also said, 'Ephraim and Manasseh are mine.'
That makes fourteen sons of Jacob, yet Jacob gave only one son to HaShem and
that was Levi," spoke the Curthean, implying that Jacob the Jew had broken his
vow to HaShem.
"How," continued the Curthean, "can only one of fourteen sons
be reconciled as a tithe of fourteen sons?"
Rabbi Mier replied, "How many matriarchs of Jacob's sons were there?"
"Four," answered the Curthean," Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah."
'True," answered Rabbi Mier. "Then how many were sanctified by Pid-yon-ha Ben or
the Redemption of the Firstborn?
"Four," responded the Curthean.
"True," responded Rabbi Mier. "And what is redeemed as holy
need not be sanctified again. Therefore, since there were four
firstborn sons sanctified by the redemption of the firstborn,
they need not be sanctified by the tithe of Jacob's sons.
Hence, Levi, who was not the firstborn of Leah; was given
by Jacob of his nine remaining sons: Jacob gave more than
one ninth, he gave one tenth of his sons, more than fulfilling
his vow to "give a tenth of all."
(Midrash Rabbab, 70:7-8, page 640)
YESHUA UPHELD THE TITHE
Yeshua also upheld the principle of Tithing:
Woe to you, scribes and P'rushim; hypocrites--who tithe mint, and rue, and
cumin, and have neglected those things which are weightiest in the Torah: judgment,
lovingkindness, and trust. Those things ought you to have done, neither to have
rejected these.
(Matt. 23:23 HRV)
When Yeshua says "neither to have rejected these" he is speaking in part of
tithing even on produce of garden herbs.
THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS WAGE
But let us look to see what the Scriptures say about this very important matter.
The prophet Malachi writes:
1 Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me; and the
Adon, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the
covenant, whom you delight in, behold, he comes, says YHWH Tzva'ot.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap;
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and there shall be they that
shall offer unto YHWH offerings in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim be pleasant unto YHWH, as
in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against
the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers; and
against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me,
says YHWH Tzva'ot.
6 For I YHWH change not; and you, O sons of Ya'akov, are not consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances, and
have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, says YHWH
Tzva'ot. But you say: 'Wherein shall we return?'
8 Will a man rob Elohim? Yet you rob Me. But you say: 'Wherein have we robbed
You?' In tithes and heave-offerings.
9 You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My
house, and try Me now herewith, says YHWH Tzva'ot, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than
sufficiency.
(Malchi 3:1-10)
Now it is very clear that this is speaking of the last days judgment "And I will
come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness" (Mal. 3:5). In this
context, YHWH calls the Body to return to keeping Torah, and the Body says
"Wherein shall we return" (3:7) in other words "But YHWH, we HAVE been keeping
Torah." Then YHWH informs them to their surprise that they have failed to keep
his Torah because they have failed to tithe, though they did not even realize
that they were not tithing (3:8). The context here is clear, why would YHWH
rebuke his last days people for not tithing, if there is not obligation to tithe
in these last days?
We also get a reminder here. We do not GIVE the Tithe to YHWH, it was already
His. He GIVES the 90% to us. When we do not tithe, we are not simply choosing
not to give, we are actually stealing from YHWH!
Tithing is not restricted to the Mosaic covenant. Those who labor in the Word
and teach the community, are entitled to be supported by the tithes and
offerings of the community. In these last days YHWH says to his people "Return
to my Torah". The people say "But we are Torah observant." YHWH responds, "Then
why are you stealing from Me?". The people say "what do you mean, stealing from
You?" and YHWH says "You have been stealing My tithe".
These are people in the last days who think they are Torah Observant because
they have convinced themselves that they do not need to tithe. They are keeping
the 612 commandments.
But to the contrary, they are oppressing the laborer in His Word, denying him
his wage, when the laborer is worthy of his wage.
Now lets look at the phase "against those that oppress the hireling in his
wages" (3:5).
What does this mean?
Yeshua said:
for nothing you have received,
for nothing you will give.
(Mt. 10:8)
Sadly for years this passage has been quoted out of context and misused by many
to "prove" that those in the ministry should not receive community support for
our efforts.
In fact the verse in question is, in context, saying exactly the opposite of
what these people represent it as saying.
Actually, Yeshua in the next few verses following this statement instructs his
talmidim to request and subsist on community support:
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor lesser coin in
your belts. Pack not for the journey, either two coats, or sandals, or a staff,
for the laborer is worthy of his food. And into whatever city or town you will
enter, enquire who in it is honorable, and there abide until you go out from
there."
(Mt. 10:9-11)
Some light on this text may be acquired by examining a statement by Josephus
concerning the first century Essene
sect of Judaism:
...and if any of their sect come from other places,
what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own;
and they go into such as they never knew before,
as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them.
For which reason they carry nothing with them
when they travel into remote parts,
though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly
there is, in every city where they live,
one appointed particularly to take care of strangers,
and provide garments and other necessaries for them.
(Josephus; Wars 2:8:4)
Yeshua's talmidim had for the most part, come from an Essene back ground. It
would appear that they were therefore able to travel within Essene circles from
town to town without having to carry additional supplies. Yeshua felt that his
twelve were entitled to be supported by the community.
Yeshua drives the point home saying "the laborer is worthy of his food." A
saying which Paul later cites to prove that "those who labor in the word and its
teaching" are worthy of "double honor" which in context seems to indicate that
they have the right, like any other laborer, to expect to be paid for their work
in the ministry. In fact he even quoted this statement by Yeshua (Mt. 10:10) to
support the point:
Those elders who conduct themselves well
should be esteemed worthy of double honor,
especially those who labor in the word and
in teaching, For the Scripture says that
`you should not muzzle the ox, while threshing,' (Deut. 25:4)
and `the laborer is worthy of his wage." (Mt. 10:10)
(1Tim. 5:17-18)
Paul also expands on this thought in 1Cor. 9:6-14:
Also, I only, and Bar Nabba, have we not the power not to work?
Who is this who labors in the service (ministry) by the expanse of his nefesh?
Or who is he who plants a vineyard and from its fruit does not eat?
Or who is he who tends the flock and from the milk of his flock does not eat?
Do I say these [things] as a son of man?
Behold, the Torah also said these [things]. For it is written in the Torah of
Moshe,
`You shall not muzzle the ox that threshes.' (Deut. 25:4)
It is a concern to Eloah about oxen? But, it is known that because of us he
said [it] and because of us it was written, because it is a need [that] the
plowman plow unto hope and he who threshes, unto the hope of the harvest. If we
have sown spiritual [things] among you, is it a great [thing] if we reap
[things] of the flesh from you? … those who labor [in] the Beit Kodesh [the
Temple] are sustained from the Beit Kodesh and those who labor for the alter
have a portion with the alter?
So also, our Adon commanded that those who are proclaiming his goodnews should
live from his goodnews."
(1Cor. 9:6-14)
Certainly the context of Yeshua's statement "for nothing you have received, for
nothing you will give." (Mt. 10:8) was that of a society in which all things
were held in common and each person's needs were taken care of by that community
(Mt. 10:9-11 and Acts 2:44 & 4:32) but we do not live in such a society, and so
citing Mt. 10:8 to those in the ministry today, is akin to asking us to make
bricks without straw.
To the contrary Paul quotes the verse shortly afterward (10:10) to reach a
principle by which those who are proclaiming his goodnews should be supported
for doing so, just as those who labor in the Temple and for the alter are
supported for doing so. In other words, Paul draws a midrash from the fact that
Levites and Priests received tithes and offerings to teach a principle that
"those who labor in the word and teach" should be supported with tithes and
offerings.
POURING OUT A BLESSING
"Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My
house, and try Me now herewith, says YHWH Tzva'ot, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than
sufficiency."
(Mal. 3:10)
The Old Worldwide Church Of God under Hebert W. Armstrong are a good example of
what tithing can accomplish. From time to time I have been asked my opinion of
Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. Let me begin by saying
that I do not agree with everything Armstrong taught. However Armstrong taught
many truths that were definitely on the cutting edge for his time.
Armstrong taught seventh day, evening to evening Sabbath observance, while
exposing the pagan origins and nature of Sunday Worship. Armstrong taught the
Scriptural feasts (which also happen to be the Jewish Holidays) while exposing
the pagan origins and nature of the Pagan holidays like Halloween, Christmas and
Easter. Armstrong also criticized pagan customs in general, not just Pagan
holidays and Sunday worship.
And long before the so-called "Two House" movement, Armstrong was teaching:
"The peoples of the United States, the British Commonwealth nations, and the
nations of northwestern Europe are, in fact, the peoples of the Ten Tribes of
the House of Israel. The Jewish People are the House of Judah."
(The United States and Britain in Prophecy, ninth ed. P. 144; Herbert W.
Armstrong)
Not long before his death in 1986, Armstrong finally came to the following far
reaching conclusion:
"Satan has deceived this world's churches into the
belief that God's law was done away-that Jesus, rather than paying the
price in human stead for transgressing the law, did away with
it-"nailing it to his cross." The expression used by Protestants
"nailing the law to his cross" can mean only one thing. This is
Satan's teaching that by being nailed to the cross, Christ
abolished the law, making it possible for humans to sin with impunity.
What actually was nailed to the cross was Christ our sin bearer, who
took on himself our sins, paying the death penalty in our stead, so
that we are freed from the ultimate penalty of sinning, not made free
to sin with impunity. The very basic teaching, belief AND DOCTRINE OF
God's true Church therefore is based on the righteousness of and
obedience to the law of God."
(Mystery of the Ages; Herbert W. Armstrong p. 274)
For this reason I say that in a world that was blind, Armstrong saw with blurred
vision.
The tithe is badly needed to finance the work of teaching the truth of Torah and
Messiah as we "labor in the word". "Bring you the whole tithe into the
store-house, that there may be food in My house" (Mal. 3:10). Back during the
70's and 80's Armstrong's "World Wide Church of God" distributed millions of
free books and booklets and had a disproportionate impact on theology in
America. Their free "Plain Truth" color magazine had a circulation reaching
eight million! More than Time, Newseek and US News and World Report COMBINED at
the time! They had a weekly TV show and owned two colleges, not to mention a
world class auditorium. How was this small sect (they only numbered in the
thousands) able to accomplish so much? Because their members were actually
tithing!
Nazarenes need to get as serious. Nazarenes need to ask themselves if the cost
of the covenant is more than they are willing to pay. Others have paid with
their lives, just read 2nd and 4th Maccabees. They were tortured and killed..
Yeshua said:
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is comparable to a man that is a merchant, seeking
good pearls: Who, when he had found one precious pearl, went and sold all that
he had and bought it.
(Matt. 13:45-46)
Is the cost of the covenant to high for you?
Nazarenes need to be as serious about tithing as about the Sabbath and eating
kosher.
Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house,
that there may be food in YHWH's house.
(Mal. 3:10)
In a generous spirit pay homage to YHWH,
Spare not freewill gifts.
With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,
Was not, nor heaven's broad roof outstretched above.
What covered all? what sheltered? what concealed?
Was it the water's fathomless abyss?
There was not death -- yet there was nought immortal,
There was no confine betwixt day and night;
The only One breathed breathless by itself,
Other than It there nothing since has been.
Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled
In gloom profound -- an ocean without light --
The germ that still lay covered in the husk
Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat.
. . . . . . . .
Who knows the secret? who proclaimed it here?
Whence, whence this manifold creation sprang?
The Gods themselves came later into being --
Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?
That, whence all this great creation came,
Whether Its will created or was mute,
The Most High Seer that is in highest heaven,
He knows it -- or perchance even He knows not."
"Gazing into eternity . . .
Ere the foundations of the earth were laid,
. . . . .
Thou wert. And when the subterranean flame
Shall burst its prison and devour the frame . . .
Thou shalt be still as Thou wert before
And knew no change, when time shall be no more.
Oh! endless thought, divine ETERNITY."
[[Vol. 1, Page]] 27 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
COSMIC EVOLUTION.
In Seven Stanzas translated from the Book of Dzyan.
---------------------
STANZA I.
1. THE ETERNAL PARENT WRAPPED IN HER EVER INVISIBLE ROBES HAD SLUMBERED ONCE AGAIN FOR SEVEN ETERNITIES.
2. TIME WAS NOT, FOR IT LAY ASLEEP IN THE INFINITE BOSOM OF DURATION.
3. UNIVERSAL MIND WAS NOT, FOR THERE WERE NO AH-HI TO CONTAIN IT.
4. THE SEVEN WAYS TO BLISS WERE NOT. THE GREAT CAUSES OF MISERY WERE NOT, FOR THERE WAS NO ONE TO PRODUCE AND GET ENSNARED BY THEM.
5. DARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL, FOR FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL, AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON.
6. THE SEVEN SUBLIME LORDS AND THE SEVEN TRUTHS HAD CEASED TO BE, AND THE UNIVERSE, THE SON OF NECESSITY, WAS IMMERSED IN PARANISHPANNA, TO BE OUTBREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS NOT. NAUGHT WAS.
7. THE CAUSES OF EXISTENCE HAD BEEN DONE AWAY WITH; THE VISIBLE THAT WAS, AND THE INVISIBLE THAT IS, RESTED IN ETERNAL NON-BEING -- THE ONE BEING.
8. ALONE THE ONE FORM OF EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS, INFINITE, CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS SENSED BY THE OPENED EYE OF THE DANGMA.
9. BUT WHERE WAS THE DANGMA WHEN THE ALAYA OF THE UNIVERSE WAS IN PARAMARTHA AND THE GREAT WHEEL WAS ANUPADAKA?
[[Vol. 1, Page]] 28 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
STANZA II.
1. . . . WHERE WERE THE BUILDERS, THE LUMINOUS SONS OF MANVANTARIC DAWN? . . . IN THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR AH-HI PARANISHPANNA. THE PRODUCERS OF FORM FROM NO-FORM -- THE ROOT OF THE WORLD -- THE DEVAMATRI AND SVABHAVAT, RESTED IN THE BLISS OF NON-BEING.
2. . . . WHERE WAS SILENCE? WHERE THE EARS TO SENSE IT? NO, THERE WAS NEITHER SILENCE NOR SOUND; NAUGHT SAVE CEASELESS ETERNAL BREATH, WHICH KNOWS ITSELF NOT.
3. THE HOUR HAD NOT YET STRUCK; THE RAY HAD NOT YET FLASHED INTO THE GERM; THE MATRIPADMA HAD NOT YET SWOLLEN.
4. HER HEART HAD NOT YET OPENED FOR THE ONE RAY TO ENTER, THENCE TO FALL, AS THREE INTO FOUR, INTO THE LAP OF MAYA.
5. THE SEVEN SONS WERE NOT YET BORN FROM THE WEB OF LIGHT. DARKNESS ALONE WAS FATHER-MOTHER, SVABHAVAT; AND SVABHAVAT WAS IN DARKNESS.
6. THESE TWO ARE THE GERM, AND THE GERM IS ONE. THE UNIVERSE WAS STILL CONCEALED IN THE DIVINE THOUGHT AND THE DIVINE BOSOM. . . .
-------
STANZA III.
1. . . . THE LAST VIBRATION OF THE SEVENTH ETERNITY THRILLS THROUGH INFINITUDE. THE MOTHER SWELLS, EXPANDING FROM WITHIN WITHOUT, LIKE THE BUD OF THE LOTUS.
2. THE VIBRATION SWEEPS ALONG, TOUCHING WITH ITS SWIFT WING THE WHOLE UNIVERSE AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN DARKNESS: THE DARKNESS THAT BREATHES OVER THE SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE. . .
3. DARKNESS RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY INTO THE MOTHER-DEEP. THE RAY SHOOTS THROUGH THE VIRGIN EGG, THE RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL GERM, WHICH CONDENSES INTO THE WORLD-EGG.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] 29 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
4. THEN THE THREE FALL INTO THE FOUR. THE RADIANT ESSENCE BECOMES SEVEN INSIDE, SEVEN OUTSIDE. THE LUMINOUS EGG, WHICH IN ITSELF IS THREE, CURDLES AND SPREADS IN MILK-WHITE CURDS THROUGHOUT THE DEPTHS OF MOTHER, THE ROOT THAT GROWS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OF LIFE.
5. THE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND STILL OEAOHOO IS ONE.
6. THE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN EVERY DROP OF THE OCEAN OF IMMORTALITY, AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH WAS FIRE, AND HEAT, AND MOTION. DARKNESS VANISHED AND WAS NO MORE; IT DISAPPEARED IN ITS OWN ESSENCE, THE BODY OF FIRE AND WATER, OR FATHER AND MOTHER.
7. BEHOLD, OH LANOO! THE RADIANT CHILD OF THE TWO, THE UNPARALLELED REFULGENT GLORY: BRIGHT SPACE SON OF DARK SPACE, WHICH EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT DARK WATERS. IT IS OEAOHOO THE YOUNGER, THE * * * HE SHINES FORTH AS THE SON; HE IS THE BLAZING DIVINE DRAGON OF WISDOM; THE ONE IS FOUR, AND FOUR TAKES TO ITSELF THREE,** AND THE UNION PRODUCES THE SAPTA, IN WHOM ARE THE SEVEN WHICH BECOME THE TRIDASA (OR THE HOSTS AND THE MULTITUDES). BEHOLD HIM LIFTING THE VEIL AND UNFURLING IT FROM EAST TO WEST. HE SHUTS OUT THE ABOVE, AND LEAVES THE BELOW TO BE SEEN AS THE GREAT ILLUSION. HE MARKS THE PLACES FOR THE SHINING ONES, AND TURNS THE UPPER INTO A SHORELESS SEA OF FIRE, AND THE ONE MANIFESTED INTO THE GREAT WATERS.
8. WHERE WAS THE GERM AND WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS? WHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN THY LAMP, OH LANOO? THE GERM IS THAT, AND THAT IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK HIDDEN FATHER.
9. LIGHT IS COLD FLAME, AND FLAME IS FIRE, AND FIRE PRODUCES HEAT, WHICH YIELDS WATER: THE WATER OF LIFE IN THE GREAT MOTHER.
10. FATHER-MOTHER SPIN A WEB WHOSE UPPER END IS FASTENED TO SPIRIT -- THE LIGHT OF THE ONE DARKNESS -- AND THE LOWER ONE TO ITS SHADOWY END, MATTER; AND THIS WEB IS THE UNIVERSE SPUN OUT OF THE TWO SUBSTANCES MADE IN ONE, WHICH IS SVABHAVAT.
** In the English translation from the Sanskrit the numbers are given in that language, Eka, Chatur, etc., etc. It was thought best to give them in English.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] 30 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
11. IT EXPANDS WHEN THE BREATH OF FIRE IS UPON IT; IT CONTRACTS WHEN THE BREATH OF THE MOTHER TOUCHES IT. THEN THE SONS DISSOCIATE AND SCATTER, TO RETURN INTO THEIR MOTHER'S BOSOM AT THE END OF THE GREAT DAY, AND RE-BECOME ONE WITH HER; WHEN IT IS COOLING IT BECOMES RADIANT, AND THE SONS EXPAND AND CONTRACT THROUGH THEIR OWN SELVES AND HEARTS; THEY EMBRACE INFINITUDE.
12. THEN SVABHAVAT SENDS FOHAT TO HARDEN THE ATOMS. EACH IS A PART OF THE WEB. REFLECTING THE "SELF-EXISTENT LORD" LIKE A MIRROR, EACH BECOMES IN TURN A WORLD.
-------
STANZA IV.
1. . . . LISTEN, YE SONS OF THE EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS -- THE SONS OF THE FIRE. LEARN, THERE IS NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST, FOR ALL IS ONE: NUMBER ISSUED FROM NO NUMBER.
2. LEARN WHAT WE WHO DESCEND FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SEVEN, WE WHO ARE BORN FROM THE PRIMORDIAL FLAME, HAVE LEARNT FROM OUR FATHERS. . . .
3. FROM THE EFFULGENCY OF LIGHT -- THE RAY OF THE EVER-DARKNESS -- SPRUNG IN SPACE THE RE-AWAKENED ENERGIES; THE ONE FROM THE EGG, THE SIX, AND THE FIVE. THEN THE THREE, THE ONE, THE FOUR, THE ONE, THE FIVE -- THE TWICE SEVEN THE SUM TOTAL. AND THESE ARE THE ESSENCES, THE FLAMES, THE ELEMENTS, THE BUILDERS, THE NUMBERS, THE ARUPA, THE RUPA, AND THE FORCE OF DIVINE MAN -- THE SUM TOTAL. AND FROM THE DIVINE MAN EMANATED THE FORMS, THE SPARKS, THE SACRED ANIMALS, AND THE MESSENGERS OF THE SACRED FATHERS WITHIN THE HOLY FOUR.
4. THIS WAS THE ARMY OF THE VOICE -- THE DIVINE MOTHER OF THE SEVEN. THE SPARKS OF THE SEVEN ARE SUBJECT TO, AND THE SERVANTS OF, THE FIRST, THE SECOND, THE THIRD, THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH, THE SIXTH, AND THE SEVENTH OF THE SEVEN. THESE "SPARKS" ARE CALLED SPHERES, TRIANGLES, CUBES, LINES, AND MODELLERS; FOR THUS STANDS THE ETERNAL NIDANA -- THE OEAOHOO, WHICH IS:
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5. "DARKNESS" THE BOUNDLESS, OR THE NO-NUMBER, ADI-NIDANA SVABHAVAT: --
I. THE ADI-SANAT, THE NUMBER, FOR HE IS ONE.
II. THE VOICE OF THE LORD SVABHAVAT, THE NUMBERS, FOR HE IS ONE AND NINE.
III. THE "FORMLESS SQUARE."
AND THESE THREE ENCLOSED WITHIN THE ARE THE SACRED FOUR; AND THE TEN ARE THE ARUPA UNIVERSE. THEN COME THE "SONS," THE SEVEN FIGHTERS, THE ONE, THE EIGHTH LEFT OUT, AND HIS BREATH WHICH IS THE LIGHT-MAKER.
6. THEN THE SECOND SEVEN, WHO ARE THE LIPIKA, PRODUCED BY THE THREE. THE REJECTED SON IS ONE. THE "SON-SUNS" ARE COUNTLESS.
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STANZA V.
1. THE PRIMORDIAL SEVEN, THE FIRST SEVEN BREATHS OF THE DRAGON OF WISDOM, PRODUCE IN THEIR TURN FROM THEIR HOLY CIRCUMGYRATING BREATHS THE FIERY WHIRLWIND.
2. THEY MAKE OF HIM THE MESSENGER OF THEIR WILL. THE DZYU BECOMES FOHAT, THE SWIFT SON OF THE DIVINE SONS WHOSE SONS ARE THE LIPIKA, RUNS CIRCULAR ERRANDS. FOHAT IS THE STEED AND THE THOUGHT IS THE RIDER. HE PASSES LIKE LIGHTNING THROUGH THE FIERY CLOUDS; TAKES THREE, AND FIVE, AND SEVEN STRIDES THROUGH THE SEVEN REGIONS ABOVE, AND THE SEVEN BELOW. HE LIFTS HIS VOICE, AND CALLS THE INNUMERABLE SPARKS, AND JOINS THEM.
3. HE IS THEIR GUIDING SPIRIT AND LEADER. WHEN HE COMMENCES WORK, HE SEPARATES THE SPARKS OF THE LOWER KINGDOM THAT FLOAT AND THRILL WITH JOY IN THEIR RADIANT DWELLINGS, AND FORMS THEREWITH THE GERMS OF WHEELS. HE PLACES THEM IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE -- THE CENTRAL WHEEL.
4. FOHAT TRACES SPIRAL LINES TO UNITE THE SIXTH TO THE SEVENTH -- THE CROWN; AN ARMY OF THE SONS OF LIGHT STANDS AT EACH ANGLE, AND THE LIPIKA IN THE MIDDLE WHEEL, THEY SAY: THIS IS GOOD, THE
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FIRST DIVINE WORLD IS READY, THE FIRST IS NOW THE SECOND. THEN THE "DIVINE ARUPA" REFLECTS ITSELF IN CHHAYA LOKA, THE FIRST GARMENT OF THE ANUPADAKA.
5. FOHAT TAKES FIVE STRIDES AND BUILDS A WINGED WHEEL AT EACH CORNER OF THE SQUARE, FOR THE FOUR HOLY ONES AND THEIR ARMIES.
6. THE LIPIKA CIRCUMSCRIBE THE TRIANGLE, THE FIRST ONE, THE CUBE, THE SECOND ONE, AND THE PENTACLE WITHIN THE EGG. IT IS THE RING CALLED "PASS NOT" FOR THOSE WHO DESCEND AND ASCEND. ALSO FOR THOSE WHO DURING THE KALPA ARE PROGRESSING TOWARDS THE GREAT DAY "BE WITH US." THUS WERE FORMED THE RUPA AND THE ARUPA: FROM ONE LIGHT SEVEN LIGHTS; FROM EACH OF THE SEVEN, SEVEN TIMES SEVEN LIGHTS. THE WHEELS WATCH THE RING. . . . .
-------
STANZA VI.
1. BY THE POWER OF THE MOTHER OF MERCY AND KNOWLEDGE -- KWAN-YIN -- THE "TRIPLE" OF KWAN-SHAI-YIN, RESIDING IN KWAN-YIN-TIEN, FOHAT, THE BREATH OF THEIR PROGENY, THE SON OF THE SONS, HAVING CALLED FORTH, FROM THE LOWER ABYSS, THE ILLUSIVE FORM OF SIEN-TCHANG AND THE SEVEN ELEMENTS:*
2. THE SWIFT AND RADIANT ONE PRODUCES THE SEVEN LAYA CENTRES, AGAINST WHICH NONE WILL PREVAIL TO THE GREAT DAY "BE-WITH-US," AND SEATS THE UNIVERSE ON THESE ETERNAL FOUNDATIONS SURROUNDING TSIEN-TCHAN WITH THE ELEMENTARY GERMS.
3. OF THE SEVEN -- FIRST ONE MANIFESTED, SIX CONCEALED, TWO MANIFESTED, FIVE CONCEALED; THREE MANIFESTED, FOUR CONCEALED; FOUR PRODUCED, THREE HIDDEN; FOUR AND ONE TSAN REVEALED, TWO AND ONE HALF CONCEALED; SIX TO BE MANIFESTED, ONE LAID ASIDE. LASTLY, SEVEN SMALL WHEELS REVOLVING; ONE GIVING BIRTH TO THE OTHER.
* Verse 1 of Stanza VI. is of a far later date than the other Stanzas, though still very ancient. The old text of this verse, having names entirely unknown to the Orientalists would give no clue to the student.
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4. HE BUILDS THEM IN THE LIKENESS OF OLDER WHEELS, PLACING THEM ON THE IMPERISHABLE CENTRES.
HOW DOES FOHAT BUILD THEM? HE COLLECTS THE FIERY DUST. HE MAKES BALLS OF FIRE, RUNS THROUGH THEM, AND ROUND THEM, INFUSING LIFE THEREINTO THEN' SETS THEM INTO MOTION; SOME ONE WAY, SOME THE OTHER WAY. THEY ARE COLD, HE MAKES THEM HOT. THEY ARE DRY, HE MAKES THEM MOIST. THEY SHINE, HE FANS AND COOLS THEM. THUS ACTS FOHAT FROM ONE TWILIGHT TO THE OTHER, DURING SEVEN ETERNITIES.
5. AT THE FOURTH, THE SONS ARE TOLD TO CREATE THEIR IMAGES. ONE THIRD REFUSES -- TWO OBEY.
THE CURSE IS PRONOUNCED; THEY WILL BE BORN ON THE FOURTH, SUFFER AND CAUSE SUFFERING; THIS IS THE FIRST WAR.
6. THE OLDER WHEELS ROTATED DOWNWARDS AND UPWARDS. . . . THE MOTHER'S SPAWN FILLED THE WHOLE. THERE WERE BATTLES FOUGHT BETWEEN THE CREATORS AND THE DESTROYERS, AND BATTLES FOUGHT FOR SPACE; THE SEED APPEARING AND RE-APPEARING CONTINUOUSLY.
7. MAKE THY CALCULATIONS, LANOO, IF THOU WOULDEST LEARN THE CORRECT AGE OF THY SMALL WHEEL. ITS FOURTH SPOKE IS OUR MOTHER. REACH THE FOURTH "FRUIT" OF THE FOURTH PATH OF KNOWLEDGE THAT LEADS TO NIRVANA, AND THOU SHALT COMPREHEND, FOR THOU SHALT SEE . . . . .
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STANZA VII.
1. BEHOLD THE BEGINNING OF SENTIENT FORMLESS LIFE.
FIRST THE DIVINE, THE ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT; THEN THE SPIRITUAL; THE THREE FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM THE ONE, AND THE FIVE FROM WHICH THE THREE, THE FIVE, AND THE SEVEN. THESE ARE THE THREE-FOLD, THE FOUR-FOLD DOWNWARD; THE "MIND-BORN" SONS OF THE FIRST LORD; THE SHINING SEVEN.
IT IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH LANOO. THEY, WHO WATCH OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH.
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2. THE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. LIFE PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM OF FORM. THROUGH THE COUNTLESS RAYS PROCEEDS THE LIFE-RAY, THE ONE, LIKE A THREAD THROUGH MANY JEWELS.
3. WHEN THE ONE BECOMES TWO, THE THREEFOLD APPEARS, AND THE THREE ARE ONE; AND IT IS OUR THREAD, OH LANOO, THE HEART OF THE MAN-PLANT CALLED SAPTASARMA.
4. IT IS THE ROOT THAT NEVER DIES; THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME OF THE FOUR WICKS. THE WICKS ARE THE SPARKS, THAT DRAW FROM THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME SHOT OUT BY THE SEVEN -- THEIR FLAME -- THE BEAMS AND SPARKS OF ONE MOON REFLECTED IN THE RUNNING WAVES OF ALL THE RIVERS OF EARTH.
5. THE SPARK HANGS FROM THE FLAME BY THE FINEST THREAD OF FOHAT. IT JOURNEYS THROUGH THE SEVEN WORLDS OF MAYA. IT STOPS IN THE FIRST, AND IS A METAL AND A STONE; IT PASSES INTO THE SECOND AND BEHOLD -- A PLANT; THE PLANT WHIRLS THROUGH SEVEN CHANGES AND BECOMES A SACRED ANIMAL. FROM THE COMBINED ATTRIBUTES OF THESE, MANU, THE THINKER IS FORMED. WHO FORMS HIM? THE SEVEN LIVES, AND THE ONE LIFE. WHO COMPLETES HIM? THE FIVE-FOLD LHA. AND WHO PERFECTS THE LAST BODY? FISH, SIN, AND SOMA. . . . .
6. FROM THE FIRST-BORN THE THREAD BETWEEN THE SILENT WATCHER AND HIS SHADOW BECOMES MORE STRONG AND RADIANT WITH EVERY CHANGE. THE MORNING SUN-LIGHT HAS CHANGED INTO NOON-DAY GLORY. . . . .
7. THIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL, SAID THE FLAME TO THE SPARK. THOU ART MYSELF, MY IMAGE, AND MY SHADOW. I HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF IN THEE, AND THOU ART MY VAHAN TO THE DAY, "BE WITH US," WHEN THOU SHALT RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF AND ME. THEN THE BUILDERS, HAVING DONNED THEIR FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT EARTH AND REIGN OVER MEN -- WHO ARE THEMSELVES. . . .
The Way is nothing and they are something
light no more than darkness is
there no true darkness and no true light
darkness is illusion I play in the light/darkness because it takes light to see even color black
Therefore the Torah brings freedom. This is completely contrary to what most people have been taught. The common wisdom is that the Torah is bondage and that "freedom in Christ" means freedom from Torah. For example one author writes:
Many Christians today would return to Sinai.
They would put upon the church the yoke of
bondage, the Law of Moses.
(God's Plan of the Ages; Louis T. Tallbot; 1970; p. 66)
However as we shall see the scriptures teach that exactly the opposite is true.
The central story of Judaism is that of the Exodus from Egypt. The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt. God promised to gring them out of bondage and give them freedom. Upon leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, YHWH led them to Mt. Sinai where he delvered the Torah to them. Note that the theme of this central story is that God promised freedom from bondage and gave the children of Israel Torah. Now why would YHWH lead the people out of bondage in Egypt, lead them to Mt. Sinai, and deliver them right back into bondage again? And why would he at the same time promise them freedom. God is no liar. He promised the people freedom and he gave them Torah because the Torah is freedom from bondage. The Torah is truth (Ps. 119:142) and the truth will make you free (John 8:31-32).
This truth is proclaimed by the Psalmist:
So shall I keep your Torah continually forever and ever,
And I will walk in freedom: for I seek your precepts.
(Psalm 119:44-45)
As well as by Ya'akov HaTzadik (James the Just) who called the Torah "the Torah of freedom" (James 1:25; 2:12).
However the ANOMOS teachers today teach that the Torah is bondage and that Torah-lessness is freedom. They have exchanged the truth (Torah) of God for a lie (Torah-lessness) (Rom. 1:25). Of these 2Peter 2:19 states:
While they promise them freedom,
they themselves are servants of corruption:
for of whom a man is overcome,
of the same is he brought into bondage.
according to Kefa these men "turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2Peter 2:21) they promise freedom but deliver bondage.
By contrast Yeshua said:
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
(Mat. 11:28-30)
Now many of the teachers of Torah-lessness use this this passage as a proof text. To them this passage refers to freedom from the bondage of Torah. However notice the boldfaced portion. This bolfaced portion of Yeshua's statement is a quotation from the Tanak. A quotation which gives a great deal of context to Yeshua's statement. Lets look at this Tanak passage:
Thus said YHWH, stand you in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and walk therein, and you shall find rest for
your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein.
(Jer. 6:16)
Notice that this "way" which gives "rest" is "the old path". Now lets read a little further down in Jer. 6 to obtain more context:
But they said, we will not walk therein (Jer. 6:16)...
...they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my Torah, but rejected it.
(Jer. 6:19)
Notice that the "old path" that brings "rest for your souls" to which they said "we will not walk therein" (Jer. 6:16) is identified by YHWH as "my Torah". This takes us up a bit further in the text of Jeremiah:
...they are foolish, for they do not know
the way of YHWH, the requirements of
their God. So I will go to the leaders and
speak to them; surely they know the way
of YHWH, the requirements of their God."
But with one accord they too had broken
off the yoke and torn off the bonds.
(Jer. 5:4-5 see also Jer. 2:20)
Here we find that the "yoke" which brings rest is the yoke which was being rejected. The yoke of Torah. Now lets look again at Yeshua's saying:
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
(Mat. 11:28-30)
The yoke that Messiah asks us to take on ourselves, the yoke that will give us rest for our souls is the Torah. The Torah is freedom from the bondage of Torah-lessness. The freedom of Torah is freedom from the bondage to sin that results without Torah. Without Torah there is no true freedom, only bondage. True liberty does not include a license to sin (Rom. 3:8; 6:1-2, 15)
darkness is illusion I play in the light/darkness because it takes light to see even color black
with love and a holy kiss Roy
As I said earlier there is a spiritual battle taking place between light and darkness. Paul writes:
...what communion has light with darkness?
And what concord has Messiah with Belial...
(2Cor. 6:14b-15a)
Throughout the New Testament there are extended metaphores revolving around light and darkness. Believers are called "sons of light" (Lk. 16:8; Jn. 12:36; Eph. 5:8; 1Thes. 5:5). The full armour of God is also called the "armour of light" (Rom. 13:12). The New Testament speaks of those "who walk in darkness" (Jn. 8:12; 12:35).
But what does this idiomatic use of the terms light and darkness mean? For the answer let us turn to the Tanak:
For the commandment is a lamp;
and the Torah is light...
(Prov. 6:23)
Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)
To the Torah and to the testimony;
if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
(Isaiah 8:20)
...for a Torah shall proceed from me,
and I will make my judgement to rest
for a light of the people.
(Isaiah 51:4)
So according to the Tanak the Torah is a light for our paths. Those that walk in the Torah walk in the light. This is why the New Testament speaks of those who walk in darkness (Jn. 8:12; 12:35; 1Jn. 1:6; 2:11). These are those who do not walk by the light of Torah. Of these John writes:
And if we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness,
we are liars and we do not walk in truth.
(1Jn. 1:6)
Notice that John equates "walking in truth" with walking in the light.
As we noted previously "the Torah is truth" (Ps. 119:142) thus if "walking in the light" means "walking in truth" then both phrases refer to walking in the Torah. This takes us back to our passages from the Tanak given above. John also confirms this by writing the parallel statements:
...walking in truth.
...walk according to his commandments.
(2Jn. 1:4, 6)
Now lets look back at a moment to the full armour of God. As we have noted Paul also calls this armour the "armour of light" (Rom. 13:12). According to Paul we are involved in a spiritual battle with "the rulers of the darkness of this world." (Eph. 6:12) and thus he instructs us to put on this "armour of light" (Eph. 6:13 & Rom. 13:12)
Now several of the items of the "armour of light" also tie in with the Torah:
• The Belt of Truth
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)
You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)
• The Breatplate of Righteousness
What great nation is there that has
statutes and judgements as righteous
as this whole Torah which I am setting
before you today?...
(Deut. 4:6)
• The Shield of Faith
Remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your Torah.
I have chosen the way of faith;
I have placed your ordinances before me.
(Psalm 119:29-30)
• The Sword of the Word
...For the Torah will go out from Zion;
and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 2:3)
Thus the Armour of Light is the armour of the Torah which lights our path. There are two paths before us, one of darkness and one of light. On the one hand one may "walk in darkness" on the other hand one may "walk in the light" of Torah. The "son's of light" put on the "armour of light" and walk in the light of Torah, while the "sons of darkness" walk in the Torah-lessness which is the darkness of this dark world.
James, if you dont mind me asking...I'd like to know more about the actual lifestyles and practices of this way of the Nazarene and Essene Judaism you are pointing to. How did/do they live their doctrine? How are these different enough from the "false way" to live up to their legendary qualities in living practical reality today? How are these different enough from TWI in ways that are more than mere differences in translation and interpretation?
James, if you dont mind me asking...I'd like to know more about the actual lifestyles and practices of this way of the Nazarene and Essene Judaism you are pointing to. How did/do they live their doctrine? How are these different enough from the "false way" to live up to their legendary qualities in living practical reality today? How are these different enough from TWI in ways that are more than mere differences in translation and interpretation?
The basic concept is that Yeshua did not come to create a new religion, but to be the Messiah of the old one.
There is a lot of talk these days about getting back to the New Testament Church... but two things the New Testament Church did not have...
A "New Testament" (it was still being written) and s "Church" (they met in homes and synagogues)
Here are some free resources:
NazareneSpace
It's like MySpace or FaceBook for those interested in Hebraic Roots of the Faith
So you are excited about Torah. So you are ready to say "we will hear and do".
Not so fast… there is a disclosure to be made first.
In Rabbinic Judaism Gentiles seeking conversion are discouraged. Gentiles
seeking conversion are turned away three times. Then after being turned away
three times it is required to make a full disclosure of the financial
obligations of the Covenant. It is said that few Gentiles would willingly enter
the Covenant once they know the cost.
I'm hoping you didn't misunderstand me there James, with what I wrote concerning the Torah.. I am not seeking conversion. I certainly am not seeking to join anything.. I have studied in my past with a number of Messianic groups, possibly some you were a part of or even there at the same time(seeing we both lived in the same city), however I never felt a need to "join", only it was a great place to discuss and learn other's perpective. Which I did always find refreshing since most were very willing to openly discuss and didn't mind my weird questions.
Just thought I'd say that since it looked like your post was in response to mine...
I'm hoping you didn't misunderstand me there James, with what I wrote concerning the Torah.. I am not seeking conversion. I certainly am not seeking to join anything.. I have studied in my past with a number of Messianic groups, possibly some you were a part of or even there at the same time(seeing we both lived in the same city), however I never felt a need to "join", only it was a great place to discuss and learn other's perpective. Which I did always find refreshing since most were very willing to openly discuss and didn't mind my weird questions.
Just thought I'd say that since it looked like your post was in response to mine...
Sounds good :-)
"And, finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself;
that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and
has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human interposition
disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate,
errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them."
Lets study something wrote in a Book "What is truth? (John. 18:38) but study the full context "John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all." so Pilate understanding of truth?
Is the subject here not Jesus Christ understanding of truth as remember Jesus Christ his mouth or he did say a thing
the people are like today everybody wants the right answer but there not one
Another misunderstanding common in the church today is the concept that Torah and Grace are mutually exclusive ideas. For example one author writes:
A believer can not be under law and
under grace at the same time.
(God's Plan of the Ages; Louis T. Tallbot; 1970; p. 83)
Now let us be noble Bereans to see if this is true. Let us ask ourselves: "How were people saved in 'Old Testament' times? Were they saved by works or by grace?
The fact is that often when Paul speaks of how we are saved by grace through faith he often cites the Tanak to prove his point. Two of his favorite proof texts for this concept are from the Tanak:
And he believed in YHWH;
and he counted it to him as righteousness.
(Gen. 15:6 = Rom. 4:3, 22; Gal. 3:6)
...the just shall live by his faith.
(Hab. 2:4 = Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11)
So Paul is arguing from the Tanak that one is saved by faith alone appart from works. In fact the real truth is that men of the "Old Testament" times were just as under grace as we are today:
But Noah found grace in the eyes of YHWH.
(Gen. 6:8)
...you have also found grace in my sight....
...for you have found grace in my sight...
(Ex. 33:12, 17)
...and now I have found grace in your sight...
(Judges 6:17)
The people... found grace in the wilderness...
(Jer. 31:2)
Thus as noble Bereans we learn from the Tanak that people in "Old Testament" times were saved by grace through faith. They could not have earned their salvation any more than we could today, as Paul writes:
Knowing that a man is not justified by works
of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua the Messiah,
even we have believed in Yeshua the Messiah,
that we might be justified by the faith of Messiah,
and not by works of the law; and by the works
of the law shall no flesh be saved.
(Gal. 2:16)
In fact the "New Testament" contains more commandments than the "Old Testament". The New Testament contains1050 commandments [as delineated in Dake's Annotated Reference Bible; By Finnis Jennings Dake; N.T. pp.313-316] while the "Old Testament" Mosaic Law contains only 613 (b.Makkot 23b; see Appendix). Thus faith and grace are in the "Old Testament" and law and works can be found in the New Testament. People in Old Testament times were saved by grace through faith just like people in New Testament times. Now many anomians will agree to this fact on the surface, but lets follow this thought through to its fullest conclusion. Lets go beyond the surface and really think this through. If what we have shown to be true is true, then the people in the wilderness in the days of Moses were saved by grace through faith. Now lets look at the full impact of that statement. That means that people were under grace, and saved by faith alone and not by works, when Moses was stoning people to death for violating the Torah! Obviously then being saved by grace through faith in no way affects Torah observance.
So if grace and faith do not negate the observance of Torah, then what is the true nature of faith and grace? What is faith? What is grace? Let us once again turn to the scriptures for answers.
Now part of the reason that many people have come to think that there is more "grace" in the New Testament than in the Old Testament is a translation bias in the KJV and many other English versions.
There are two words for "grace" in the Hebrew Tanak. The first word is CHEN (Strong's 2580/2581) which means "grace or charm". The other word is CHESED (Strong's 2616/2617 ) which carries the meaning of "grace, mercy or undue favor."
These two words closely parallel the meanings of the two Greek words used for grace in the Greek Bible. These are CHARIS (Strong's 5485/5463) which means "grace or charm" and ELEOS (Strong's 1651/1653) meaning "grace, mercy or undue favor."
Obviously Hebrew CHEN = Greek CHARIS and Hebrew CHESED = Greek ELEOS. Now the KJV tends to translate CHEN/CHARIS as "grace" but tends to translate CHESED/ELEOS as "mercy". Now when we think of "grace" in biblical terms we are ussually thinking of the concept of CHESED/ELEOS "undue favor".
Now if we follow with the KJV translation scheme then it appears that there is much more grace in the New Testament than the Tanak, since CHEN only appears 70 times in the Tanak while CHARIS appears 233 times in the New Testament. But remember, the concept of "undue favor" is actually CHESED/ELEOS. CHESED appears 251 times in the Tanak, while ELEOS appears only 50 times in the New Testament. If anything there is far more "grace" in the Tanak than in the New Testament.
Now let us turn to the Tanak to get a better understanding of what grace really is. According to the Scriptures there is a close connection between "grace" and the "fear of YHWH":
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his grace (CHESED)
toward those who fear him.
(Psalm 103:11)
Oh let those who fear YHWH say,
"His grace (CHESED) is everlasting.
(Psalm 118:4)
By grace (CHESED) and truth
iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of YHWH
one keeps away from evil.
(Proverbs 16:6)
And the fear of YHWH, according to the Tanak, includes Torah observance:
...that he may learn the fear of YHWH his God,
to keep all the words of this Torah
and these statutes, to do them:
(Deut. 17:19)
...that they may hear, and that they may learn,
and fear YHWH your God,
and observe to do all the words of this Torah.
(Deut. 31:12)
Therefore there is clearly no conflict between grace and Torah. In fact the Torah is closely connected to grace.
The next word we need to examine is "faith". The Hebrew word is EMUNAH. EMUNAH can mean "belief, faith or trust" and is best translated "trusting faithfulness". When we speak of "faith" in YHWH we are not merely speaking about "belief" but "trusting faithfulness". If someone were to ask you if you are faithful to your spouse, you would not reply by saying "Yes, I believe my spouse exists." That is because it is clearly not an issue of what you believe but in whether you are faithful. Imagine a man who stays out late at night every night committing adultery with various women. Each night he comes home to his wife and tells her how much he loves her, and insists that since he believes in her existence that he therefore is faithful to her. Is this man faithful to his wife? Absolutely not! This understanding is confirmed to us in the Scriptures as follows:
Remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your Torah.
I have chosen the way of faith;
I have placed your ordinances before me.
(Psalm 119:29-30)
Now I want to make it clear that we are not saying that one earns ones salvation by keeping Torah. At times I have been asked "Do I have to keep Torah to be saved?". I reply by saying "Of course not.... do you have to get cleaned up to take a bath?"
You may ask, "Well if we don't keep the Torah for salvation, then why do we keep the Torah?" First of all, keeping the Torah SHOWS our faith (Titus 3:5-8; 1Jn. 2:3-7; James 2:14-26). Secondly there are rewards for keeping the Torah (Titus 3:8). The Psalms tell us that it "restores the soul" (Ps. 19:7). Yeshua promises that those who keep the Torah and teach others to do so will be called first in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 5:19). Additionally, Jews who keep the Mosaic Torah are given a long list of other promises (Deut. 28).
Now if the Torah is good and everlasting then it stands to reason that it should be observed. Paul tells us that we should not use grace as an excuse to sin (Rom. 6:1-2, 15) and that the only way to know sin is through the Torah (Rom. 7:7). Yeshua tells us that if we love him we will keep his commandments (Jn. 14:15, 21, 23-25; 15:10). The fact that we are saved by faith is all the more reason that we should keep the Torah, as the Scriptures tell us:
..not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom
he poured out on us abundantly through Yeshua the Messiah
our Savior, that having been justified by his grace we should
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is
a faithful saying, and I want you to affirm constantly, that those
who have believed in God should be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
(Titus 3:5-8)
And by this we know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments. He who says, "I know him," and does not
keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is
perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He
who says he abides in him ought himself to walk just as he
walked. Brothers, I write no new commandment to you,
but an old commandment which you have had from the
beginning. The old commandment is the word which you
because what the verse says John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all."
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chockfull
Carrying on conversation. Matthew 19:8 and Mark 10:5 carry the idea that the Messiah and his teachings were superseding the Torah.
Thoughts?
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James Trimm
From my Hebraic Roots Commentary on Matthew
http://www.lulu.com/nazarene
Unfortunately Hebrew/Aramaic fonts appear as gibberish.
(19:1-12 Yeshua on divorce)
Mt. 19:3-9 Yeshua’s Halacha on Divorce
The Torah passage in question is:
When a man takes a wife and marries her,
and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes
because he has found some unclean matter in her,
and he writes her a bill of divorcement,
puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,...
(Dt. 24:1)
Here Yeshua presents a Yalemmedenu Homiletic Midrash on Gen. 2:24 & Deut. 24:1. The keywords for the midrash are: "man"; "put away" and "wife." The Midrash takes the following format:
Question/dialog:
19:3 And the P’rushim approached him, and tempted him,
saying, “Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”
Initial passages:
19:4 And he answered and said to them:
"Have you not read that he who made man the beginning,
'made them male and female' (Gen. 1:27)
19:5 And said,
'Wherefore shall a man shall leave his father
and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' (Gen. 2:24)
Exposition:
19:6 And now then, they are no more two but one flesh
only. What therefore Elohim has joined together
man cannot separate."
Further question/second text:
19:7 But they said,
"And why then did Moshe then command
to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away
if she was not pleasing in his sight?” (Deut. 24:1, 3)
Exposition:
19:8 And he answered them and said,
"Because Moshe on account of the hardness of your hearts,
allowed you to put away your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
19:9 And I tell you,
every man that has put away, or shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and takes another,
commits adultery. And whoever takes the divorced also
commits adultery.
Yeshua's midrash is very relevant to first century Jewish halachic debate on this issue. Yeshua's use of Gen. 1:27 to prove his halachic position is paralleled in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
...they are caught in two traps:
fornication, by taking two wives in their lifetimes
although the principle of creation is:
"male and female He created them."
(Damascus Document Col. 4 line 20 - Col. 5 line 1)
except for the cause of fornication – This halacha of Yeshua is given four times in Scripture (Mt. 5:31-32; 19:3-9; Mk. 10:2-9 & Lk. 16:18) but only in Matthew is this “escape clause” included giving men the right to divorce their wives in a case of the charge of twnz rbd essentially “a word of fornication”.
The Torah passage in question is:
When a man takes a wife and marries her,
and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes
because he has found
some unclean matter (rbd twr() in her,
and he writes her a bill of divorcement,
puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,...
(Dt. 24:1)
In the first century a major debate was ongoing as to the meaning of the words for "unclean matter" (rbd twr() in this text. (The Hebrew word rbd davar can mean “word” or idiomatically “matter”. The debate is recorded in the Mishna as follows:
The House of Shamai say,
"A man should divorce his wife only because
he has found grounds for it
in unchastity (hwr( rbd)
, since it is said,
"Because he has found in her
an unclean matter in anything (Dt. 24:1)"
And the House of Hillel say,
"Even if she spoiled his dish, since it is said,
"Because he has found in her
an unclean matter in anything (Dt. 24:1)"
Rabbi Akiba says,
"Even if he found someone else prettier than she,
since it is said,
"And it shall be if she find no favor in his eyes (Dt. 24:1)"
(m.Gittin 9:10)
The controversy surrounded the ambiguity of the phrase "matter of uncleanness." This phrase in Hebrew can be taken literally, or can be taken as an idiomatic expression for fornication. Yeshua interprets rbd twr( to mean twnz rbd which the Peahitta (both here and in Mt. 19:9) literally translates )twynzd )tlm but which the Old Syriac paraphrases with )rwg hyl( rm)t) “it is said against her ‘adultery’” and in Mt. 19:9 )rwgd )tlm “a word of adultery”.
fornication – Exactly how this offense is to be understood is another question. The Hebrew word twnz can refer to sexual immorality, usually by a woman, but it can have other meanings as well. This word can refer to one who is an idolator (Lev. 17:7; 20:5-6; Deut. 31:16) or to one that goes astray from YHWH (Ps. 73:27). Ben Sira writes:
Allow no outlet to water,
and no boldness of speech in an evil wife.
If she does not go as you direct,
separate yourself from her.
(Ben Sira 25:25-26)
It may be that we are to understand Ben Sira’s qualifier “evil wife” to presuppose a wife who is guilty of twnz or perhaps we to understand twnz to include a wife who “does not go [as her husband] directs” as having gone astray from YHWH on the basis that the Torah statement “and he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3:16).
Now lets examine Yeshua's position. Yeshua uses Gen. 1:27 & 2:24 to argue for the stricter interpretation of "unclean matter" in Deut. 24:1. In Mt. 19:8,Yeshua makes an important observation. Deut 24:1 is not presented in the Torah as the will of YHWH. A careful reading of Deut. 24:1-4 shows that 24:1 is an incidental statement in a larger Law which deals with remarriage of the divorced. However 24:1 says:
When a man takes a wife... and it happens
that she find no favor in his eyes...
Deut. 24:1 simply says matter of factly, "when [divorce] happens" and then discusses the issue of YHWH’s Torah on remarriage. Yeshua points out that this is YHWH's recognition of man's will on the subject and not YHWH's will itself, which he finds in Gen.1:27 & 2:24. All of this he uses to argue for the strictest interpretation of "unclean matter" in Deut. 24:1.
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Gen-2
That sort makes the whole marraige thing sound like it's not worthwhile to a gal like me. in either time. Most people today view marraige differently, even many religious people. Marraige is simply a legal contract anymorewhich ends in death or property/custody disputes. But just saying "I divorce you", BY writing a bill of divorcement and putting it in her hand, and sending her out of the house, means nothing, except that he'll be in the back of a squad car soon.
I assume this is another one where the law has lost it's edge because the Temple is no more. Unless you like being tossed in jail.
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James Trimm
Interestingly it is only comparatively recently that governments got into the marriage racket. In Israel the government does not marry anyone and thus the government does not divorce anyone. If you want to get married you go to your Church, Synagogue or Mosque, and likewise if you want a divorce, you go to the same. Historically marriage was a religious rather than secular act.
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Gen-2
It is interesting though, reading through all this, just how much of it is common sense. Most people that have lives that are not all Messed (F'd) up are pretty much following the law, whether they realize it or not. And if you love God and you love your neighbor, you're going to find yourself fulfilling the majority of the law. If you don't love God and love your neighbor, your neighbors are probably going to not love you, right back and cause you problems, and those problems are probably comparatively small, when compared to the damage you'r doing to yourself by bucking against God's Laws.
And I should mention that a good wife that loves her husband, won't be out finding ways to make him hate her...
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Gen-2
An example of why the Torah makes so much sense, can be found in our humor. Good Humor is often based on common sense with a twist that allows us to laugh at ourselves for the stupid things we all do and can relate to.
Here's one little Gem:
"What's a couple?" I asked my mother.
She said, "Two or three."
which probably explains why she's divorced now.
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chockfull
I'm going with the "Urban Dictionary" style commentary on this. You'll have to excuse me as I don't have stores of commentary to draw upon to flesh out all thoughts in more detail.
So in other words the Torah says you can't divorce your wife unless she is full of $h1t. (all right, liberal translation of 'unclean matter').
Jesus taught that the only reason you think your wife is full of $h1t is that you were full of $h1t first.
So climb down off your horse and work it out, dude.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There, how am I doing? Do I have a future in Rabbinic interpretation?
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Gen-2
lol,... YES! Chockfull, that is such a good point!
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
And to use modern terminology myself,... It takes two to Tango!
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TrustAndObey
Yeah, that's a pretty good statement..
I think a problem that many people have, especially coming from a Christian standpoint, is they don't understand the Torah. Torah means teaching or instructions more than it means laws in our language. It's purpose is not to bind people to a requirement, but to teach and instruct. Being under the law doesn't mean you are required to do the law, that's a misunderstanding of being "under" something. It instead means that you are under it's covering. Just as being under a rock puts you under it's cover. The rock doesn't require you to do anything to it, it is just the relation you have to your current position or standing. We are not under the law. The law provides ZERO cover for us, instead it is Christ who is our cover, the one who has made us clean. That is, if we decide to make Christ so..
The other problem, especially for dispensationlists, is they think there is no benefit to knowing the Torah.. And I'm not talking about keeping the TORAH to the nTH degree, I mean, how much common sense, and understandable, and the purpose behind the 613 teachings of the TORAH, as instructions in righteousness. As guides to the blind, not as requirements that stifle. You don't get that without understanding the purpose. Just as the tithe. If you just think of it as, they were taught to give 10% to the Levites, it does you no good. But when you understand why, the purpose and heart, you realize there is a reason, and something that can be related to today. The heart of the tithe, was to take care of those in need. The fatherless, the poor, the Levites who had nothing. That was it's purpose, it's heart. It was not a religious thing. It was the heart to love your neightbor and care for others which is EVERYONE's responsibility and not the church leadership to decide. Which is why things get so screwed up cause people then give to churches thinking they're doing a required thing (as if a law) instead of from the heart and the true heart to give to those in need. And every teaching(Torah) is like this. Common sense when broken down and as Galatians says, loving your beighbor and loving God is keeping the torah, because they all stem from those 2.
What I forgot to mention also was, the thinking in TWI was that in old times, people weren't saved, cause of the law. But that's not true. They were. The same way we are today. By believing. This why Abraham is the Father of those who believe. He believed unto righteousness. Heb 11, those who believed God.. The Torah was a teacher, and still is, that's all. Was never a way for salvation. Never a way for righteouness. Just teachings of God, his ways. Christ, or The Messiah, was taught from the start, by Moses and David, etc. They trusted(believed) God to send the Messiah, and that was accounted to them for righteousness. They didn't trust in the law to become righteous. What Romans talks about, those people under the law, isn't talking about Israelites or Jews only. It is talking about anyone who wants to try and work at their righteouness. Saying our works are our covering our salvation. Yet God has always promised salvation to those who trust in Him, grace. It's not just a today or this administration thing, Abraham believing unto righteousness should tell you that..
Ok, well, then again, those are my thoughts.. You know, my usual disclaimer, cause really, I know so little, and I'm learning like the rest. So feel free to share your thoughts, disagreements..
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James Trimm
There is a spiritual battle taking place. A battle between light and darkness. A battle between truth and deception.
Paul writes:
and put on all the armour of Eloah, so that you may be able to stand against the strategies of 'Akel Kartza,
because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and with authorities and with the possessors of this dark world and with the evil spirits that are under heaven.
Because of this, put on all the armour of Eloah that you may be able to meet the evil one, and being prepared in everything, you may stand firm.
(Eph. 6:11-13 HRV)
Paul goes on to describe the parts of this armour as:
• The Belt of Truth
• The Breastplate of Righteousness
• The Shoes of the Goodnews of Peace (Shalom)
• The Shield of Faith
• The Helmet of Salvation
• The Sword of the Word
Now Paul is making a play on words here. The Aramaic word for "Armour" is ZAYNA while the Aramaic word for for "whiles" is TZEN'TA. Paul is contrasting the ZAYNA with the TZEN'TA. The four fixed (non mobile) pieces of armour correspond to the four whiles of HaSatan which are depicted in the Tanak:
• Deception/Lies (Gen. 3)
(Belt of Truth)
• Temptation/Pride (1Chron. 21:1)
(Breastplate of Righteousness)
• Oppression (Job)
(Shoes of Peace)
• Accusation (Zech. 3:1-5)
(Helmet of Salvation)
Now we will not cover each of the items here, instead we will concentrate only on the belt of truth.
Now it should be understood that the armour Paul is speaking of is not Roman armour, it was not inspired by Roman Soldiers. The armour was originally inspired by the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:5; 52:7 and 59:17) as well as the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon (5:17-20). Therefore the subject of this passage is ancient Hebew armour and not Roman armour at all. Now ancient Hebrews wore a skirt like garment. Before going into battle a Hebrew warrior would gird himself with the a belt, he would gather his skirt-like garment up and tuck it up under his belt to allow free movement. This prevented him from getting tripped up in his own garment while trying to fight.
Now when he was on trial before Pilate Yeshua said:
For this I have been born,
and for this I have come into the world,
to bear witness of the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
(John 18:37-38)
To this Pilate asked the all important question:
What is truth?
(John. 18:38)
Let us look back to the Tanak to find the answer to Pilate's question:
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)
You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)
This definition explains many phrases in the New Testament:
"Obey the truth" (Gal. 3:1)
"But he that does truth..." (Jn. 3:20)
And I rejoice that I found your children
walking in the truth, as we have received
a commandment from the Father.
(2Jn. 1:4)
The Tanak definition of truth gives whole new meaning to Yeshua's words:
For this I have been born,
and for this I have come into the world,
to bear witness of the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
(John 18:37-38)
Yeshua came to bear witness of the Torah, those who hear the Torah hear his voice. This leads us to another important saying from Yeshua:
Then Yeshua said to those Jews who believed
on him, if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31-32)
Paul, however, speaks of those "who changed the truth of God into a lie" (Rom. 1:25) Now if Messiah came to bear witness of the truth then what has HaSatan to bear witness to? The scriptures tell us:
He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not the truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own:
for he is a liar, and ther father of it.
(John 8:44)
...HaSatan, who deceives the whole world...
(Rev. 12:9)
When HaSatan speaks a lie, he is merely speaking his native language.
Now if the Torah is truth, then what is HaSatan's lie? His lie is that there is not a Torah, that the Torah has been done away with. There is a Greek term for this teaching. This term is ANOMOS (Strong's Greek #459). ANOMOS is made up of the Greek prefix A- (there is not/without) with the Greek word NOMOS (Torah). ANOMOS means "without Torah" or "Torah-lessness." While Messiah came to bear witness to the Torah, HaSatan comes to bear witness of ANOMOS (Torah-lessness). Two entire books of the New Testament (2Kefa and Jude) are dedicated to combating this false ANOMOS teaching. Yeshua tells us that these teachers will be called "least" in the Kingdom (Mt. 5:19).
Now lets take a look at how the Bible uses this term ANOMOS:
...I [Yeshua] will profess to them, I never knew you,
depart from me, you that work ANOMOS.
(Mt. 7:23)
...and they [angels] shall gather out of his Kingdom
all things that offend, and them which do ANOMOS.
(Mt. 13:41)
And many false prophets shall rise,
and shall deceive many.
And because ANOMOS shall abound,
the love of many shall grow cold.
(Mt. 24:11-12)
For the mystery of ANOMOS does already work...
And then shall the ANOMOS one be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth,...
whose coming is after the working of HaSatan
with all power and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness...
because they received not the love of truth...
That they might be damned
who believed not the truth...
(2Thes. 2:7-12)
Many people have been taken in by the ANOMOS teaching. In fact two of Christendom's largest theological sub-sets, Dispensationalism and Replacement Theology, submit detailed theories to explain why they teach that the Torah is not for today.
Dispensationalism is a form of Premillennialism which replaces the eternal "covenants" with finite "ages". Two of these finite ages are "The Age of Torah" which basically encompasses "Old Testament times", and "The Age of Grace" which basically encompasses "New Testament times". According to these Dispensationalists, during "Old Testament times" men were under Torah, but during "New Testament times" men are under grace. Some Dispensationalists, called "Ultra-Dispensationalists", even teach that men were saved by Torah in "Old Testament times," but are saved by grace in "New Testament times." As a result, Dispensationalists teach that "the Torah is not for today" or "we have no Torah."
Replacement Theologians teach that G-d has replaced Israel with the Church; Judaism with Christendom; The Old Testament with The New Testament; and Torah with grace. As a result, they too teach that "the Torah is not for today" or "we have no Torah."
Now you may be saying to yourself: "Ok, so they teach Torah-lessness, but don't the Torah-less teachers of 2Peter & Jude go so far as to teach sexual immorality? Surely the Torah-less teachers of within the church would never use their "the Torah is not for today" teaching to promote sexual immorality." Wrong! Some of Christendom's teachers have already carried the "the Torah is not for today" reasoning to its fullest and logical conclusion. A sect of Christendom known as "The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches" has published a tract which does just that. The nameless author of the tract writes:
Another Scripture verse that is used to show
that the Bible condemns the gay lifestyle is found
in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, 18:22,
"Thou shalt not lie with a man as thou would with
a woman." Anyone who is concerned about this
prohibition should read the whole chapter or the
whole Book of Leviticus: No pork, no lobster,
no shrimp, no oysters, no intercourse during
the menstrual period, no rare meats, no eating blood,
no inter-breeding of cattle, and a whole host of other
laws, including the Law to kill all divorced people who
remarry.
As Christians, our Law is from Christ. St. Paul clearly
taught that Christians are no longer under the Old Law
(for example in Galatians 3:23-24); that the Old Law is
brought to an end in Christ (Romans 10:4); and its
fulfillment is in love (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14).
The New Law of Christ is the Law of Love. Neither
Jesus, nor Paul, nor any of the New Testament Scriptures
implies that Christians are held to the cultic or ethical
laws of the Mosaic Law.
(Homosexuality; What the Bible Does and Does not Say;
Universal Fellowship press, 1984, p. 3)
Thus the teaching that "the Torah is not for today" is already being used to "turn the grace of our Elohim into perversion." (Jude 1:4; see also 2Pt. 2:18-21)
There is indeed a spiritual battle taking place. It is a battle between the truth and a lie. It is a battle between light and darkness. It is a battle led by the one who came to bear witness to the Torah, and the one who comes to bear witness to Torah-lessness. The Torah is truth. The belt of truth is the belt of Torah. Gird yourselves with the belt of Torah that you may withstand the Torah-less one.
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James Trimm
The Tithe of YHWH
The Cost of the Covenant
By Jame Scott Trimm
So you are excited about Torah. So you are ready to say "we will hear and do".
Not so fast… there is a disclosure to be made first.
In Rabbinic Judaism Gentiles seeking conversion are discouraged. Gentiles
seeking conversion are turned away three times. Then after being turned away
three times it is required to make a full disclosure of the financial
obligations of the Covenant. It is said that few Gentiles would willingly enter
the Covenant once they know the cost.
To begin with we must understand that EVERYTHING belongs to YHWH (Ex. 9:29; 2Kn.
19:15; Is. 66:1-2; Jer. 27:5; Job 12:9-10; Ps. 89:11; 95:3-5; Dan. 4:7; Neh.
9:16; 1Chron. 29:13-14). He owns this universe, all of its resources, all of its
energy, and he owns YOU. YHWH is entitled to ask for 100%. In His CHESED, in His
undue favor, He allows us to keep 90%.
Now one might ask: Where in the Mosaic Torah is the commandment "Thou shalt
tithe?". The answer is, nowhere. When Moshe went up on Mount Sinai to receive
the Torah, he did NOT receive a commandment to tithe. Nowhere in the Mosaic
Torah is there the Tithe instituted. Instead the very first mention of the tithe
in the Mosaic Covenant is not until the end of Leviticus where we read:
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the
fruit of the tree, is YHWH's: it is Set-Apart unto YHWH.
31 And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it, the fifth
part thereof.
32 And all the tithe of the herd, or the flock, whatsoever passes under the rod,
the tenth shall be Set-Apart unto YHWH.
33 He shall not inquire whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it.
And if he change it at all, then both it, and that for which it is changed, shall be
Set-Apart; it shall not be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments, which YHWH commanded Moshe for the children of
Yisra'el in mount Sinai.
(Lev. 27:30-34)
Notice that this first mention of the "tithe" does not initiate the tithe, it
simply recognizes the fact of the tithe saying "it is Set-Apart unto YHWH".
Notice also this first passage says nothing about Levites or Priests. It does
not say that the tithe belongs to the Levites, but rather to YHWH.
When next we read on the Tithe in the Mosaic Torah is in the book of Numbers:
And unto the children of Levi, behold,
I have given all the tithe in Yirae'el for an inheritance,
in return for their service which they serve,
even the service of the tent of meeting.
(Num. 18:21)
Notice that these are two different precepts of Torah. Lev. 27:30 recognizes
that the Tithe belongs to YHWH, while a separate commandment in Num. 18:21 tells
us that the Levites were to be paid out of the tithe, for their service in the
Tabernacle (later Temple). The tithe was not directly paid to the Levites, it
was paid to YHWH and from that "fund" the Levites were paid. This was so that
the Levites could devote themselves to full time Torah Study (2Chron. 31:4-5) so
that they could in turn teach Torah to the people of Israel (Deut. 14:22-23;
Ezek. 44:23-24).
Nowhere are we told to pay the Tithe to the Levitical priesthood. We are told
only that the Tithe is paid to YHWH and YHWH gave the Levites payment from the
Tithe "for their service."
THE SECOND AND THIRD TITHES
Now before moving on from the Mosaic Torah we should also cover the second and
third tithes. Some lump these together as "the second tithe" because they are
never paid on the same year.
There are actually two tithes in the Mosaic Covenant which were tied to the
seven year cycle of the Land. The first tithe (Masserot) is due every year.
The second tithe (Maaser Sheni) was converted to money and used to make a
personal pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The "pilgrim" could spend this money however
he liked on the pilgrimage but was expected to treat the Levites to a feast as
well upon his arrival and any surplus was given to the Levites (Deut. 14:22-27).
Every third year however the tither used this second tithe (some all this third
year tithe as a "third tithe") to feed the needy and local Levites (Deut.
14:28-29). Thus the Mosaic tithing schedule goes like this:
Year
1. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
2. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
3. First Tithe: Levites; Third Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
4. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
5. First Tithe: Levites; Second Tithe: Pilgrimage and Levites
6. First Tithe: Levites; Third Tithe: Feeds the needy and Levites
7. The Sabbath of the land, only the First Tithe was paid on any volunteer crop
and on other non-planted produce.
(The first tithe could only be converted into money by paying a 20% penalty
(Lev. 27:31) however the second tithe was generally converted to money as a
matter of course (Deut. 14:25).)
The three Tithes are laid out in the book of Tobit as follows:
6 And I went to Yerushulayim at the appointed times as it is written in the
Torah of YHWH concerning Yisrael in firstfruits and tithes and firstlings.
7 To the priests, sons of Aharon and new wine and fat and labors and
pomegranates and from all fruits of the ground to the sons of Levi, ministers
before, the presence of YHWH in Yerushalayim, and the second tithe. (8) And the
third tithe to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow. And I would go in
every year with all these, to Yerushalayim by the commandments of YHWH and
according to that duty upon me, Devorah mother of my Father.
(Tovi (Tobit) 1:6-7 HRV – From our ongoing work :-) )
ABRAHAM TITHED
Now as we have shown, the Tithe was not initiated in the Mosaic Torah. Instead
the first mention of the Tithe in the Mosaic Covenant only acknowledges that the
Tithe is YHWH's. The principle of tithing did not originate in the Mosaic
Covenant. Avraham tithed in Genesis 14 long before the Mosaic Covenant (or even
the Abrahamic Covenent) was entered into.
Lets examine Gen. 14 and see what the Torah tells us about this pre-Mosaic
tithe.
18 And MalkiTzadek, king of Shalem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was a
cohen of El Elyon.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Avram, of El Elyon--Maker of heaven
and earth.
20 And blessed be El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And
he gave him a tenth (tithe) of all.
(Gen. 14:18-20 HRV)
Who was this Melchizedek and why did Abraham pay the tithe to him? The answer
may be found in the Book of Jasher also known as Midrash Sefer HaYashar. The
Book of Jasher contains this same account but with some important additional
information:
And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem,
went out with his men to meet Abram and his people,
with bread and wine, and they remained together
in the valley of Melech.
And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him
a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of
his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.
(Jasher 16:11-12)
Now according to the Book of Jasher Abraham tithed to Melchizadek (or
Adonizadek) because he was a "priest". How is it that Melchizadek is called a
"priest"? Although Melchizadek was not a Levite (there were not yet any Levites)
we do have a clue in Jasher as to why he is called a "priest". Jasher reveals
the identity of Melchizadek saying
"the same is Shem" (this identity of Melchizadek is also recorded in the Talmud
in b.Ned. 32). Now this is very important because the Book of Jasher also
records the fact that Shem had been Abraham's Torah teacher:
And when Avram came out from the cave, he went to Noach and his son Shem, and he
remained with them to learn the instruction of YHWH and his ways, and no man
knew where Avram was, and Avram served Noach and Shem his son for a long time.
And Avram was in Noach's house thirty-nine years,
and Abram knew YHWH from three years old, and he went in the ways of YHWH until
the day of his death, as Noach and his son Shem had taught him;
(Jasher 9:5-6)
Thus Abraham paid the tithe to Shem because Shem had been his personal Torah
teacher. (If you do the "Bible Math" you will find that Noach and Shem died
AFTER Avraham was born, a point that surprises some people.)
Note that Abraham's tithe in Gen. 14 was not being made on agricultural produce
but on "all" (Gen. 14:20) and specifically in this case the "spoils of his
enemies" (Jasher 16:12; also Hebrews 7:4). This dispels the theory taught by
some, that the Tithe is only paid on agricultural produce.
Now some have taught that the tithe Melchizadek paid was not the same Tithe
mentioned in the Mosaic Torah from which the Levites were paid. This is also not
true, as Paul argues in the book of Hebrews:
4 Consider and see his greatness, which also Avraham our father, gave to him a
tenth from the spoil.
5 And also the sons of L'vi collect for the priesthood, having received a
commandment to collect the tithe from the people, according to the decree of the Torah. And
this is of their brothers, although having come from the loins of Avraham.
6 Truly he who is not from their tribe, has received the tithe from Avraham, and
blessed those, who are blessed, to him.
7 And behold, this no one disputes: that the lesser is blessed by the greater.
8 Behold here, sons of man which die, receive tithes: but sleep received he of
whom it is said that He lives.
9 For so to say, that to he who was accustomed to take the tithe, he also tithes
through Avraham.
10 For He was yet in the loins of the Father, when He met, he who was called
Malki-Tzedek.
(Heb. 7:4-10 HRV)
The whole logic of Paul's argument here is based in the fact that the tithe that
Avram paid to Melchizadek was EXACTLY the same tithe that the Levites were paid
from.
Another example of the pre-Mosaic tithe is the vow Jacob made to tithe saying to
Elohim "and of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth onto you"
(Gen. 28:22). Note that Jacob tithed on all that Elohim had given him and not
simply on agricultural produce. In fact Jacob even tithed from his sons. In the
Midrash Rabbab there is an important story related to Jacob's tithe told by
Rabbi Joshua of Sikaan in the name of his teacher Rabbi Levi:
A certain Curthean (Samaritan) attempted to trap Rabbi Mier
in a question concerning Jacob's vow to HaShem to give a
"tithe of all."
You Jews teach that Jacob gave a tenth of all to HaShem;
yet Jacob had twelve sons: Jacob also said, 'Ephraim and Manasseh are mine.'
That makes fourteen sons of Jacob, yet Jacob gave only one son to HaShem and
that was Levi," spoke the Curthean, implying that Jacob the Jew had broken his
vow to HaShem.
"How," continued the Curthean, "can only one of fourteen sons
be reconciled as a tithe of fourteen sons?"
Rabbi Mier replied, "How many matriarchs of Jacob's sons were there?"
"Four," answered the Curthean," Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah."
'True," answered Rabbi Mier. "Then how many were sanctified by Pid-yon-ha Ben or
the Redemption of the Firstborn?
"Four," responded the Curthean.
"True," responded Rabbi Mier. "And what is redeemed as holy
need not be sanctified again. Therefore, since there were four
firstborn sons sanctified by the redemption of the firstborn,
they need not be sanctified by the tithe of Jacob's sons.
Hence, Levi, who was not the firstborn of Leah; was given
by Jacob of his nine remaining sons: Jacob gave more than
one ninth, he gave one tenth of his sons, more than fulfilling
his vow to "give a tenth of all."
(Midrash Rabbab, 70:7-8, page 640)
YESHUA UPHELD THE TITHE
Yeshua also upheld the principle of Tithing:
Woe to you, scribes and P'rushim; hypocrites--who tithe mint, and rue, and
cumin, and have neglected those things which are weightiest in the Torah: judgment,
lovingkindness, and trust. Those things ought you to have done, neither to have
rejected these.
(Matt. 23:23 HRV)
When Yeshua says "neither to have rejected these" he is speaking in part of
tithing even on produce of garden herbs.
THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS WAGE
But let us look to see what the Scriptures say about this very important matter.
The prophet Malachi writes:
1 Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me; and the
Adon, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the
covenant, whom you delight in, behold, he comes, says YHWH Tzva'ot.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap;
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and there shall be they that
shall offer unto YHWH offerings in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim be pleasant unto YHWH, as
in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against
the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers; and
against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me,
says YHWH Tzva'ot.
6 For I YHWH change not; and you, O sons of Ya'akov, are not consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances, and
have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, says YHWH
Tzva'ot. But you say: 'Wherein shall we return?'
8 Will a man rob Elohim? Yet you rob Me. But you say: 'Wherein have we robbed
You?' In tithes and heave-offerings.
9 You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My
house, and try Me now herewith, says YHWH Tzva'ot, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than
sufficiency.
(Malchi 3:1-10)
Now it is very clear that this is speaking of the last days judgment "And I will
come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness" (Mal. 3:5). In this
context, YHWH calls the Body to return to keeping Torah, and the Body says
"Wherein shall we return" (3:7) in other words "But YHWH, we HAVE been keeping
Torah." Then YHWH informs them to their surprise that they have failed to keep
his Torah because they have failed to tithe, though they did not even realize
that they were not tithing (3:8). The context here is clear, why would YHWH
rebuke his last days people for not tithing, if there is not obligation to tithe
in these last days?
We also get a reminder here. We do not GIVE the Tithe to YHWH, it was already
His. He GIVES the 90% to us. When we do not tithe, we are not simply choosing
not to give, we are actually stealing from YHWH!
Tithing is not restricted to the Mosaic covenant. Those who labor in the Word
and teach the community, are entitled to be supported by the tithes and
offerings of the community. In these last days YHWH says to his people "Return
to my Torah". The people say "But we are Torah observant." YHWH responds, "Then
why are you stealing from Me?". The people say "what do you mean, stealing from
You?" and YHWH says "You have been stealing My tithe".
These are people in the last days who think they are Torah Observant because
they have convinced themselves that they do not need to tithe. They are keeping
the 612 commandments.
But to the contrary, they are oppressing the laborer in His Word, denying him
his wage, when the laborer is worthy of his wage.
Now lets look at the phase "against those that oppress the hireling in his
wages" (3:5).
What does this mean?
Yeshua said:
for nothing you have received,
for nothing you will give.
(Mt. 10:8)
Sadly for years this passage has been quoted out of context and misused by many
to "prove" that those in the ministry should not receive community support for
our efforts.
In fact the verse in question is, in context, saying exactly the opposite of
what these people represent it as saying.
Actually, Yeshua in the next few verses following this statement instructs his
talmidim to request and subsist on community support:
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor lesser coin in
your belts. Pack not for the journey, either two coats, or sandals, or a staff,
for the laborer is worthy of his food. And into whatever city or town you will
enter, enquire who in it is honorable, and there abide until you go out from
there."
(Mt. 10:9-11)
Some light on this text may be acquired by examining a statement by Josephus
concerning the first century Essene
sect of Judaism:
...and if any of their sect come from other places,
what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own;
and they go into such as they never knew before,
as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them.
For which reason they carry nothing with them
when they travel into remote parts,
though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly
there is, in every city where they live,
one appointed particularly to take care of strangers,
and provide garments and other necessaries for them.
(Josephus; Wars 2:8:4)
Yeshua's talmidim had for the most part, come from an Essene back ground. It
would appear that they were therefore able to travel within Essene circles from
town to town without having to carry additional supplies. Yeshua felt that his
twelve were entitled to be supported by the community.
Yeshua drives the point home saying "the laborer is worthy of his food." A
saying which Paul later cites to prove that "those who labor in the word and its
teaching" are worthy of "double honor" which in context seems to indicate that
they have the right, like any other laborer, to expect to be paid for their work
in the ministry. In fact he even quoted this statement by Yeshua (Mt. 10:10) to
support the point:
Those elders who conduct themselves well
should be esteemed worthy of double honor,
especially those who labor in the word and
in teaching, For the Scripture says that
`you should not muzzle the ox, while threshing,' (Deut. 25:4)
and `the laborer is worthy of his wage." (Mt. 10:10)
(1Tim. 5:17-18)
Paul also expands on this thought in 1Cor. 9:6-14:
Also, I only, and Bar Nabba, have we not the power not to work?
Who is this who labors in the service (ministry) by the expanse of his nefesh?
Or who is he who plants a vineyard and from its fruit does not eat?
Or who is he who tends the flock and from the milk of his flock does not eat?
Do I say these [things] as a son of man?
Behold, the Torah also said these [things]. For it is written in the Torah of
Moshe,
`You shall not muzzle the ox that threshes.' (Deut. 25:4)
It is a concern to Eloah about oxen? But, it is known that because of us he
said [it] and because of us it was written, because it is a need [that] the
plowman plow unto hope and he who threshes, unto the hope of the harvest. If we
have sown spiritual [things] among you, is it a great [thing] if we reap
[things] of the flesh from you? … those who labor [in] the Beit Kodesh [the
Temple] are sustained from the Beit Kodesh and those who labor for the alter
have a portion with the alter?
So also, our Adon commanded that those who are proclaiming his goodnews should
live from his goodnews."
(1Cor. 9:6-14)
Certainly the context of Yeshua's statement "for nothing you have received, for
nothing you will give." (Mt. 10:8) was that of a society in which all things
were held in common and each person's needs were taken care of by that community
(Mt. 10:9-11 and Acts 2:44 & 4:32) but we do not live in such a society, and so
citing Mt. 10:8 to those in the ministry today, is akin to asking us to make
bricks without straw.
To the contrary Paul quotes the verse shortly afterward (10:10) to reach a
principle by which those who are proclaiming his goodnews should be supported
for doing so, just as those who labor in the Temple and for the alter are
supported for doing so. In other words, Paul draws a midrash from the fact that
Levites and Priests received tithes and offerings to teach a principle that
"those who labor in the word and teach" should be supported with tithes and
offerings.
POURING OUT A BLESSING
"Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My
house, and try Me now herewith, says YHWH Tzva'ot, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than
sufficiency."
(Mal. 3:10)
The Old Worldwide Church Of God under Hebert W. Armstrong are a good example of
what tithing can accomplish. From time to time I have been asked my opinion of
Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. Let me begin by saying
that I do not agree with everything Armstrong taught. However Armstrong taught
many truths that were definitely on the cutting edge for his time.
Armstrong taught seventh day, evening to evening Sabbath observance, while
exposing the pagan origins and nature of Sunday Worship. Armstrong taught the
Scriptural feasts (which also happen to be the Jewish Holidays) while exposing
the pagan origins and nature of the Pagan holidays like Halloween, Christmas and
Easter. Armstrong also criticized pagan customs in general, not just Pagan
holidays and Sunday worship.
And long before the so-called "Two House" movement, Armstrong was teaching:
"The peoples of the United States, the British Commonwealth nations, and the
nations of northwestern Europe are, in fact, the peoples of the Ten Tribes of
the House of Israel. The Jewish People are the House of Judah."
(The United States and Britain in Prophecy, ninth ed. P. 144; Herbert W.
Armstrong)
Not long before his death in 1986, Armstrong finally came to the following far
reaching conclusion:
"Satan has deceived this world's churches into the
belief that God's law was done away-that Jesus, rather than paying the
price in human stead for transgressing the law, did away with
it-"nailing it to his cross." The expression used by Protestants
"nailing the law to his cross" can mean only one thing. This is
Satan's teaching that by being nailed to the cross, Christ
abolished the law, making it possible for humans to sin with impunity.
What actually was nailed to the cross was Christ our sin bearer, who
took on himself our sins, paying the death penalty in our stead, so
that we are freed from the ultimate penalty of sinning, not made free
to sin with impunity. The very basic teaching, belief AND DOCTRINE OF
God's true Church therefore is based on the righteousness of and
obedience to the law of God."
(Mystery of the Ages; Herbert W. Armstrong p. 274)
For this reason I say that in a world that was blind, Armstrong saw with blurred
vision.
The tithe is badly needed to finance the work of teaching the truth of Torah and
Messiah as we "labor in the word". "Bring you the whole tithe into the
store-house, that there may be food in My house" (Mal. 3:10). Back during the
70's and 80's Armstrong's "World Wide Church of God" distributed millions of
free books and booklets and had a disproportionate impact on theology in
America. Their free "Plain Truth" color magazine had a circulation reaching
eight million! More than Time, Newseek and US News and World Report COMBINED at
the time! They had a weekly TV show and owned two colleges, not to mention a
world class auditorium. How was this small sect (they only numbered in the
thousands) able to accomplish so much? Because their members were actually
tithing!
Nazarenes need to get as serious. Nazarenes need to ask themselves if the cost
of the covenant is more than they are willing to pay. Others have paid with
their lives, just read 2nd and 4th Maccabees. They were tortured and killed..
Yeshua said:
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is comparable to a man that is a merchant, seeking
good pearls: Who, when he had found one precious pearl, went and sold all that
he had and bought it.
(Matt. 13:45-46)
Is the cost of the covenant to high for you?
Nazarenes need to be as serious about tithing as about the Sabbath and eating
kosher.
Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house,
that there may be food in YHWH's house.
(Mal. 3:10)
In a generous spirit pay homage to YHWH,
Spare not freewill gifts.
With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,
and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.
(Sira 35:8-9 HRV)
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year2027
God first
thanks James Trimm
The Way is nothing and they are something
light no more than darkness is
there no true darkness and no true light
darkness is illusion I play in the light/darkness because it takes light to see even color black
with love and a holy kiss Roy
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James Trimm
The Torah is Truth (Ps. 119:142) and Yeshua said:
... if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31-32)
Therefore the Torah brings freedom. This is completely contrary to what most people have been taught. The common wisdom is that the Torah is bondage and that "freedom in Christ" means freedom from Torah. For example one author writes:
Many Christians today would return to Sinai.
They would put upon the church the yoke of
bondage, the Law of Moses.
(God's Plan of the Ages; Louis T. Tallbot; 1970; p. 66)
However as we shall see the scriptures teach that exactly the opposite is true.
The central story of Judaism is that of the Exodus from Egypt. The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt. God promised to gring them out of bondage and give them freedom. Upon leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, YHWH led them to Mt. Sinai where he delvered the Torah to them. Note that the theme of this central story is that God promised freedom from bondage and gave the children of Israel Torah. Now why would YHWH lead the people out of bondage in Egypt, lead them to Mt. Sinai, and deliver them right back into bondage again? And why would he at the same time promise them freedom. God is no liar. He promised the people freedom and he gave them Torah because the Torah is freedom from bondage. The Torah is truth (Ps. 119:142) and the truth will make you free (John 8:31-32).
This truth is proclaimed by the Psalmist:
So shall I keep your Torah continually forever and ever,
And I will walk in freedom: for I seek your precepts.
(Psalm 119:44-45)
As well as by Ya'akov HaTzadik (James the Just) who called the Torah "the Torah of freedom" (James 1:25; 2:12).
However the ANOMOS teachers today teach that the Torah is bondage and that Torah-lessness is freedom. They have exchanged the truth (Torah) of God for a lie (Torah-lessness) (Rom. 1:25). Of these 2Peter 2:19 states:
While they promise them freedom,
they themselves are servants of corruption:
for of whom a man is overcome,
of the same is he brought into bondage.
according to Kefa these men "turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2Peter 2:21) they promise freedom but deliver bondage.
By contrast Yeshua said:
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
(Mat. 11:28-30)
Now many of the teachers of Torah-lessness use this this passage as a proof text. To them this passage refers to freedom from the bondage of Torah. However notice the boldfaced portion. This bolfaced portion of Yeshua's statement is a quotation from the Tanak. A quotation which gives a great deal of context to Yeshua's statement. Lets look at this Tanak passage:
Thus said YHWH, stand you in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and walk therein, and you shall find rest for
your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein.
(Jer. 6:16)
Notice that this "way" which gives "rest" is "the old path". Now lets read a little further down in Jer. 6 to obtain more context:
But they said, we will not walk therein (Jer. 6:16)...
...they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my Torah, but rejected it.
(Jer. 6:19)
Notice that the "old path" that brings "rest for your souls" to which they said "we will not walk therein" (Jer. 6:16) is identified by YHWH as "my Torah". This takes us up a bit further in the text of Jeremiah:
...they are foolish, for they do not know
the way of YHWH, the requirements of
their God. So I will go to the leaders and
speak to them; surely they know the way
of YHWH, the requirements of their God."
But with one accord they too had broken
off the yoke and torn off the bonds.
(Jer. 5:4-5 see also Jer. 2:20)
Here we find that the "yoke" which brings rest is the yoke which was being rejected. The yoke of Torah. Now lets look again at Yeshua's saying:
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
(Mat. 11:28-30)
The yoke that Messiah asks us to take on ourselves, the yoke that will give us rest for our souls is the Torah. The Torah is freedom from the bondage of Torah-lessness. The freedom of Torah is freedom from the bondage to sin that results without Torah. Without Torah there is no true freedom, only bondage. True liberty does not include a license to sin (Rom. 3:8; 6:1-2, 15)
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God first
thanks James Trimm
that is not what ask you
Torah is nothing and something
who are you talking to me or some other person
with love and a holy kiss Roy
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James Trimm
As I said earlier there is a spiritual battle taking place between light and darkness. Paul writes:
...what communion has light with darkness?
And what concord has Messiah with Belial...
(2Cor. 6:14b-15a)
Throughout the New Testament there are extended metaphores revolving around light and darkness. Believers are called "sons of light" (Lk. 16:8; Jn. 12:36; Eph. 5:8; 1Thes. 5:5). The full armour of God is also called the "armour of light" (Rom. 13:12). The New Testament speaks of those "who walk in darkness" (Jn. 8:12; 12:35).
But what does this idiomatic use of the terms light and darkness mean? For the answer let us turn to the Tanak:
For the commandment is a lamp;
and the Torah is light...
(Prov. 6:23)
Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)
To the Torah and to the testimony;
if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
(Isaiah 8:20)
...for a Torah shall proceed from me,
and I will make my judgement to rest
for a light of the people.
(Isaiah 51:4)
So according to the Tanak the Torah is a light for our paths. Those that walk in the Torah walk in the light. This is why the New Testament speaks of those who walk in darkness (Jn. 8:12; 12:35; 1Jn. 1:6; 2:11). These are those who do not walk by the light of Torah. Of these John writes:
And if we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness,
we are liars and we do not walk in truth.
(1Jn. 1:6)
Notice that John equates "walking in truth" with walking in the light.
As we noted previously "the Torah is truth" (Ps. 119:142) thus if "walking in the light" means "walking in truth" then both phrases refer to walking in the Torah. This takes us back to our passages from the Tanak given above. John also confirms this by writing the parallel statements:
...walking in truth.
...walk according to his commandments.
(2Jn. 1:4, 6)
Now lets look back at a moment to the full armour of God. As we have noted Paul also calls this armour the "armour of light" (Rom. 13:12). According to Paul we are involved in a spiritual battle with "the rulers of the darkness of this world." (Eph. 6:12) and thus he instructs us to put on this "armour of light" (Eph. 6:13 & Rom. 13:12)
Now several of the items of the "armour of light" also tie in with the Torah:
• The Belt of Truth
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)
You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)
• The Breatplate of Righteousness
What great nation is there that has
statutes and judgements as righteous
as this whole Torah which I am setting
before you today?...
(Deut. 4:6)
• The Shield of Faith
Remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your Torah.
I have chosen the way of faith;
I have placed your ordinances before me.
(Psalm 119:29-30)
• The Sword of the Word
...For the Torah will go out from Zion;
and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 2:3)
Thus the Armour of Light is the armour of the Torah which lights our path. There are two paths before us, one of darkness and one of light. On the one hand one may "walk in darkness" on the other hand one may "walk in the light" of Torah. The "son's of light" put on the "armour of light" and walk in the light of Torah, while the "sons of darkness" walk in the Torah-lessness which is the darkness of this dark world.
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God first
thanks James Trimm
I do not see it
but in your mind because is it not really darkness
I walk in darkness/light and I see light by the darkness I overcome
the Torah is only a book
but light shines and it gives off darkness like the earth was born in
did you know it takes light to see the color black so what color is darkness
with love and a holy kiss Roy
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sirguessalot
James, if you dont mind me asking...I'd like to know more about the actual lifestyles and practices of this way of the Nazarene and Essene Judaism you are pointing to. How did/do they live their doctrine? How are these different enough from the "false way" to live up to their legendary qualities in living practical reality today? How are these different enough from TWI in ways that are more than mere differences in translation and interpretation?
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James Trimm
The basic concept is that Yeshua did not come to create a new religion, but to be the Messiah of the old one.
There is a lot of talk these days about getting back to the New Testament Church... but two things the New Testament Church did not have...
A "New Testament" (it was still being written) and s "Church" (they met in homes and synagogues)
Here are some free resources:
NazareneSpace
It's like MySpace or FaceBook for those interested in Hebraic Roots of the Faith
http://www.nazarenespace.com
(Over 1,000 members worldwide!)
I ESPECIALLY recommend this free book:
The Apostasy and Restoration
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_68/8676000/8676568/2/print/restore2.pdf
Test your Faith Bible Quiz
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/2324000/2324355/1/print/biblequiz.pdf
Davar Bible School: Free Bible correspondence Course
http://nazarenespace.ning.com/group/davarbibleschool
Is the Torah for Today?
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/2276000/2276560/1/print/booklet.pdf
What do you mean... "Church"?
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/2277000/2277151/1/print/church.pdf
What is Nazarene Judaism?
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/2277000/2277304/1/print/naz.pdf
Which Day is the Sabbath?
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/2286000/2286389/2/print/sabbath.pdf
What do you mean... "Salvation"?
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TrustAndObey
I'm hoping you didn't misunderstand me there James, with what I wrote concerning the Torah.. I am not seeking conversion. I certainly am not seeking to join anything.. I have studied in my past with a number of Messianic groups, possibly some you were a part of or even there at the same time(seeing we both lived in the same city), however I never felt a need to "join", only it was a great place to discuss and learn other's perpective. Which I did always find refreshing since most were very willing to openly discuss and didn't mind my weird questions.
Just thought I'd say that since it looked like your post was in response to mine...
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James Trimm
Sounds good :-)
"And, finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself;
that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and
has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human interposition
disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate,
errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them."
Thomas Jefferson
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year2027
God first
thanks everybody
Lets study something wrote in a Book "What is truth? (John. 18:38) but study the full context "John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all." so Pilate understanding of truth?
Is the subject here not Jesus Christ understanding of truth as remember Jesus Christ his mouth or he did say a thing
the people are like today everybody wants the right answer but there not one
it depends on context of the time when it spoken
every context is different
with love and a holy kiss Roy
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James Trimm
Let us look back to the Tanak to find the answer to Pilate's question:
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)
You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)
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James Trimm
Another misunderstanding common in the church today is the concept that Torah and Grace are mutually exclusive ideas. For example one author writes:
A believer can not be under law and
under grace at the same time.
(God's Plan of the Ages; Louis T. Tallbot; 1970; p. 83)
Now let us be noble Bereans to see if this is true. Let us ask ourselves: "How were people saved in 'Old Testament' times? Were they saved by works or by grace?
The fact is that often when Paul speaks of how we are saved by grace through faith he often cites the Tanak to prove his point. Two of his favorite proof texts for this concept are from the Tanak:
And he believed in YHWH;
and he counted it to him as righteousness.
(Gen. 15:6 = Rom. 4:3, 22; Gal. 3:6)
...the just shall live by his faith.
(Hab. 2:4 = Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11)
So Paul is arguing from the Tanak that one is saved by faith alone appart from works. In fact the real truth is that men of the "Old Testament" times were just as under grace as we are today:
But Noah found grace in the eyes of YHWH.
(Gen. 6:8)
...you have also found grace in my sight....
...for you have found grace in my sight...
(Ex. 33:12, 17)
...and now I have found grace in your sight...
(Judges 6:17)
The people... found grace in the wilderness...
(Jer. 31:2)
Thus as noble Bereans we learn from the Tanak that people in "Old Testament" times were saved by grace through faith. They could not have earned their salvation any more than we could today, as Paul writes:
Knowing that a man is not justified by works
of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua the Messiah,
even we have believed in Yeshua the Messiah,
that we might be justified by the faith of Messiah,
and not by works of the law; and by the works
of the law shall no flesh be saved.
(Gal. 2:16)
In fact the "New Testament" contains more commandments than the "Old Testament". The New Testament contains1050 commandments [as delineated in Dake's Annotated Reference Bible; By Finnis Jennings Dake; N.T. pp.313-316] while the "Old Testament" Mosaic Law contains only 613 (b.Makkot 23b; see Appendix). Thus faith and grace are in the "Old Testament" and law and works can be found in the New Testament. People in Old Testament times were saved by grace through faith just like people in New Testament times. Now many anomians will agree to this fact on the surface, but lets follow this thought through to its fullest conclusion. Lets go beyond the surface and really think this through. If what we have shown to be true is true, then the people in the wilderness in the days of Moses were saved by grace through faith. Now lets look at the full impact of that statement. That means that people were under grace, and saved by faith alone and not by works, when Moses was stoning people to death for violating the Torah! Obviously then being saved by grace through faith in no way affects Torah observance.
So if grace and faith do not negate the observance of Torah, then what is the true nature of faith and grace? What is faith? What is grace? Let us once again turn to the scriptures for answers.
Now part of the reason that many people have come to think that there is more "grace" in the New Testament than in the Old Testament is a translation bias in the KJV and many other English versions.
There are two words for "grace" in the Hebrew Tanak. The first word is CHEN (Strong's 2580/2581) which means "grace or charm". The other word is CHESED (Strong's 2616/2617 ) which carries the meaning of "grace, mercy or undue favor."
These two words closely parallel the meanings of the two Greek words used for grace in the Greek Bible. These are CHARIS (Strong's 5485/5463) which means "grace or charm" and ELEOS (Strong's 1651/1653) meaning "grace, mercy or undue favor."
Obviously Hebrew CHEN = Greek CHARIS and Hebrew CHESED = Greek ELEOS. Now the KJV tends to translate CHEN/CHARIS as "grace" but tends to translate CHESED/ELEOS as "mercy". Now when we think of "grace" in biblical terms we are ussually thinking of the concept of CHESED/ELEOS "undue favor".
Now if we follow with the KJV translation scheme then it appears that there is much more grace in the New Testament than the Tanak, since CHEN only appears 70 times in the Tanak while CHARIS appears 233 times in the New Testament. But remember, the concept of "undue favor" is actually CHESED/ELEOS. CHESED appears 251 times in the Tanak, while ELEOS appears only 50 times in the New Testament. If anything there is far more "grace" in the Tanak than in the New Testament.
Now let us turn to the Tanak to get a better understanding of what grace really is. According to the Scriptures there is a close connection between "grace" and the "fear of YHWH":
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his grace (CHESED)
toward those who fear him.
(Psalm 103:11)
Oh let those who fear YHWH say,
"His grace (CHESED) is everlasting.
(Psalm 118:4)
By grace (CHESED) and truth
iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of YHWH
one keeps away from evil.
(Proverbs 16:6)
And the fear of YHWH, according to the Tanak, includes Torah observance:
...that he may learn the fear of YHWH his God,
to keep all the words of this Torah
and these statutes, to do them:
(Deut. 17:19)
...that they may hear, and that they may learn,
and fear YHWH your God,
and observe to do all the words of this Torah.
(Deut. 31:12)
Therefore there is clearly no conflict between grace and Torah. In fact the Torah is closely connected to grace.
The next word we need to examine is "faith". The Hebrew word is EMUNAH. EMUNAH can mean "belief, faith or trust" and is best translated "trusting faithfulness". When we speak of "faith" in YHWH we are not merely speaking about "belief" but "trusting faithfulness". If someone were to ask you if you are faithful to your spouse, you would not reply by saying "Yes, I believe my spouse exists." That is because it is clearly not an issue of what you believe but in whether you are faithful. Imagine a man who stays out late at night every night committing adultery with various women. Each night he comes home to his wife and tells her how much he loves her, and insists that since he believes in her existence that he therefore is faithful to her. Is this man faithful to his wife? Absolutely not! This understanding is confirmed to us in the Scriptures as follows:
Remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your Torah.
I have chosen the way of faith;
I have placed your ordinances before me.
(Psalm 119:29-30)
Now I want to make it clear that we are not saying that one earns ones salvation by keeping Torah. At times I have been asked "Do I have to keep Torah to be saved?". I reply by saying "Of course not.... do you have to get cleaned up to take a bath?"
You may ask, "Well if we don't keep the Torah for salvation, then why do we keep the Torah?" First of all, keeping the Torah SHOWS our faith (Titus 3:5-8; 1Jn. 2:3-7; James 2:14-26). Secondly there are rewards for keeping the Torah (Titus 3:8). The Psalms tell us that it "restores the soul" (Ps. 19:7). Yeshua promises that those who keep the Torah and teach others to do so will be called first in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 5:19). Additionally, Jews who keep the Mosaic Torah are given a long list of other promises (Deut. 28).
Now if the Torah is good and everlasting then it stands to reason that it should be observed. Paul tells us that we should not use grace as an excuse to sin (Rom. 6:1-2, 15) and that the only way to know sin is through the Torah (Rom. 7:7). Yeshua tells us that if we love him we will keep his commandments (Jn. 14:15, 21, 23-25; 15:10). The fact that we are saved by faith is all the more reason that we should keep the Torah, as the Scriptures tell us:
..not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom
he poured out on us abundantly through Yeshua the Messiah
our Savior, that having been justified by his grace we should
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is
a faithful saying, and I want you to affirm constantly, that those
who have believed in God should be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
(Titus 3:5-8)
And by this we know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments. He who says, "I know him," and does not
keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is
perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He
who says he abides in him ought himself to walk just as he
walked. Brothers, I write no new commandment to you,
but an old commandment which you have had from the
beginning. The old commandment is the word which you
heard from the beginning.
(1Jn. 2:3-7)
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year2027
God first
thanks James Trimm
can you read?
because what the verse says John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all."
Pilate said is truth and Jesus Christ him not
this verse is about Pilate question Jesus
this verse is about Pilate understanding of truth
it does say whether Pilate was right or not
it does not matter
it was just telling a part of a story
with love and a holy kiss Roy
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