Yes, here is the difference between where I am and what I do and probably 99% of all Christians. I believe the Torah of God is perfect and wonderful and wasn’t done away with the work of Yahoshua on the upright pillar. I know, I know – this is the exact opposite of everything you have ever been told. However, I have Scripture for my conclusion. I know, I know – you have Saul/Paul. Well, it seems we have to decide if we are going to believe Yahoshua and Yahowah or if we are going to believe Paul. Me, I think I will stick with God Himself.
I think the first thing to do is to look at what is “Torah”; contrary to popular belief Torah doesn’t mean “law” – it means instructions and commands for living. It was pertinent advice that God gave to man so that we would know how to have success in this life and be prepared to live with Him in eternity. I was always told as a Christian that the Torah was hard, oppressive, unforgiving, and imperfect. I never considered the irony of that stupid statement – the Torah was given ONLY to the people of God. It wasn’t exclusive, anyone who wanted to join with the people of God needed only to follow the Torah as well – and they too were considered one of God’s children. Why would God give His own children something oppressive that could never be followed? I never took the time to actually read the Torah, I just believed the words of pastors, preachers, teachers, and fellow Christians. It wasn’t until I actually started on my journey that I found out 1) What the Torah was, 2) What God said to do with it, and 3) What it really contained.
When you spend a bit of time reading the Torah, you find immediately how silly it is to believe it was “done away with” by the work of Yahoshua. Let’s take a look at what the Torah really discusses. The Torah discusses our relationship with God – how we are to present ourselves to Him, how we are to relate to Him, how we are to interact with Him. The second thing the Torah does is discuss how we are to interact with our fellow man – those in covenant relationship with God and those outside of covenant relationship with God. Why would that be done away with? For instance, the only place incest, child molestation, and rape are dealt with in the Scriptures is in the Torah – it specifically says “don’t do that”. If the Torah was done away with, what does that mean for these things? Also, there are some things that aren’t forbidden according to Torah – like drinking alcohol; however, you will find many Christian denominations that forbid the consumption of alcohol.
The first thing many jump to when discussing the Torah is the animal sin sacrifices – well, if you actually read the Torah there is only one authorized place for animal sacrifices – in the Temple in Jerusalem. So, no temple – no animal sacrifices. However, when we are told to “keep” the Torah – the word “keep” means to think about, consider, ponder, and understand. Those in Yahowah’s family should absolutely know the sacrifices, what they were, and why there were done. You cannot understand the work of Yahoshua without understanding the sacrifices. What did those sacrifices mean? What did they represent? What things needed sacrifices? How were those sacrifices to be offered? By studying those things we understand more about God, what He wants, what He requires, what His character is like.
When it comes to some things we consider controversial in the Torah, it definitely takes us pondering and thinking – let’s look at some of those things. One such area is that of multiple wives. First, Yahowah never commanded multiple wives. What His Torah says is that if one is going to take an additional wife – she MUST be taken care of financially, have a home, and get appropriate “conjugal” visits. Basically – a man was not allowed to collect women as trophies and not take care of them or leave them in despair, one could not take a wife to punish her or treat her wrongly. However, when we read the ENTIRE Torah (considered the first five books of Moses) we see God showed us very clearly what happens when a man takes additional wives. In EVERY case – one wife was wonderful and multiple wives caused multiple problems. God was showing us clearly that if man chooses to think himself some sort of super hero and take on more than one wife – it will be nothing but heartache and pain. God showed us the pattern for a perfect marriage – Adam and Hawwah. Even when Hawwah led Adam to fall, God didn’t say “okay lady – I’m going to make Him another woman who will fill his needs better” – nope, they stayed together in the good times and the bad as one unit. Also, the whole “therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife” loses its touch when you start taking more than one wife – you already left your parents, how does one do that again? In the Torah, a man was supposed to have one year free from work and even military service to dedicate to getting to know his new bride. That cannot happen when one takes multiple wives because he is still required to provide food, clothing, housing, and sex to all his wives. See – when we actually read the Torah we see that even in His instructions He gives us free will. And, that free will may just lead to our destruction – take more than one wife if you wish, but it won’t end pretty. God was just declaring that if you do chose more than one wife – you had darn sure better take care of ALL of His wonderful daughters. Now, some will try to point out that all of the “important” men in the Scriptures had more than one wife – okay. What God did through Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, David, etc. wasn’t about “them” it was about Him. God had a plan and that plan was going to be done – in spite of the imperfections of men. It also proves that God never required perfection for relationship.
It’s funny that the two areas of Torah that many have the biggest problem with are Set Apart Times and dietary rules. I will never understand the rejection of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was to be a continuous reminder of the plan of God 6 + 1, six days of work and one day of rest. It shows us that we cannot work our way into eternity, only God can give us eternity. It also reminds us weekly that the work of God was completely at the foundation of the world. It reminds us to consider that He rested because He was finished – He did it ALL, it is done, there is nothing more to be done. It also reminds us that He is God and we are not. If we belong to Him than we do what He says. There were very few rules associated with the Sabbath in the Torah (there are hundreds of rules in the Jewish Talmud, but that is not the Torah). To reject the Torah is to reject the plans of God. And if God was going to change the Sabbath, I am pretty confident He would have written extensively about it. The early “church” still honored the Sabbath until Constantine took over the Christian religion. In order to appease pagans and get them to join the Christian religion, the Sabbath was changed to coincide with the “holy” day of the pagans – Sunday, the day of sun god worship. Yes, the New Testament says the disciples met together on the first day of the week – what does that have to do with what God said? Is this a relationship with God or man? In Acts, the disciples also clearly indicated people were expected in the synagog on the Sabbath - indicating they still adhered to the Sabbath, but that is neither here nor there. God said the Sabbath was to be a continuous sign and he declared that at the foundation of the earth. He blessed it and declared it “Set Aside” and to change it is to spit in His face. Trying to change the Sabbath is akin to the act of changing His personal name to “Lord” and changing the name of Yahoshua to “Jesus” – man did that to try and prove Himself equal to God. To follow it is to follow man and not God.
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