Torah, Torah, Torah Part 2

The next area I will discuss is that of dietary laws. Now, many of my Christian friends declare that God did away with dietary laws when He gave Peter the dream about eating unclean animals. Of course, only people that don’t actually read their bible would believe that. Yes, Peter had a dream about unclean foods being set before him and that God told Peter that nothing He made was unclean. However Peter, having walked with Yahoshua himself, realized he needed some clarification. So, he ASKED for the meaning of the dream. The answer he got wasn’t “oh, I was just letting you know I did away with the dietary laws”. No, the dream was in response to a Jewish man made custom of not entering into the home of non-Jews. Yahowah clearly told Peter there was a non-Jew that loved Him and needed some instruction – God was sending Peter to the man to instruct him on the ways of following God. God was saying that PEOPLE are not “clean” or “unclean” based on their racial or cultural make-up – it is the heart and the ways of a man that determines whether or not he belongs to God, not His DNA. How people got eating pig, bat, rat, and horse were now good from that Scripture I will never know.

No, one doesn’t have to be “legalistic” about what we eat, we can simply ponder and study why God made the dietary rules He did to discover if they still need to be followed. There is ample information to know that God, who made all the animals, knew exactly what He was doing when He decided between “clean” and “unclean” animals. He also was clear in not eating things that had been sacrificed to idols (where the pronouncement to not eating a lamb boiled in its mother’s milk comes from). Now, will eating unclean animals make you unfit for eternal life? I don’t think so, but I am not the final authority on who goes where after death. However, scientific research today is conclusive that every animal deemed “unclean” by Yahowah in the Torah is a food that isn’t fit for human consumption. Many illnesses that we battle with today are a direct result of eating unclean foods, with pig being one of the worst culprits. God is smarter than man, no matter what we think. He came up with some very good instructions and it is up to us to decide whether or not we chose to follow them.

However, whether one follows the dietary guidelines established by Yahowah in His Torah isn’t the issue, it is knowing them and understanding why they are there and what He was saying that we must ponder. Now, I have heard the concept that the dietary laws were put into place because there wasn’t refrigeration back then. However, this statement is intellectually dishonest – okay, it’s just stupid! While refrigeration is great, drying of meat and salt preservation are 1000% better. So, there was a way of preserving meat and not getting sick. So no, God wasn’t saying don’t eat pork or bat or horse until man invents the GE frost free freezer.

The designation between clean and unclean animals is just that – some animals are clean and some animals are NOT clean. In fact, exactly the animals He said were clean are clean – He didn’t make any mistakes. What makes pigs unclean is the nature of the pig and the purpose the pig serves on the earth. Pigs are garbage dumps. No matter how “clean” we try to make them by free range farming or feeding them a corn based diet – they will still eat ANYTHING. I have seen reports of cancerous pigs needed to be separated from other pigs (all still going to slaughter for human consumption mind you) because the pigs will eat the tumors right off of their fellow pigs. Not only are pigs nasty, their digestive systems are simple. A simple digestive system is NOT good for cleaning. Because pigs have such a simple digestive simple, insects, worms, and other parasites that rest in their digestive tracts are still there – alive, well, and kicking after they go to slaughter. These parasites continue to live through the slaughtering process. In fact, they survive through much of our cooking processes; it takes a pork chop being cooked dry and burnt for those parasites to die. This isn’t the case for a cow. The cow’s digestive system is so complex that even a cow fed a corn based diet (which tends to harbor ecoli bacteria), if fed a grass based diet (otherwise known as the food they were created to eat) for seven days before slaughter – all that ecoli bacteria would be processed out of their body before slaughter. Unfortunately, many of the food manufacturers in the US love money so much they won’t feed cows grass for seven days before slaughter – which is why we still have many ecoli outbreaks even in beef. Which tells us a lot – including man is so stupid we even have the ability to turn what God made clean into something unfit for human consumption.  The point is, Yahowah didn’t create these instructions to punish you – He designed them out of His love for you and being a Loving Father He is giving you good advice to live by. You can ignore Him if you like, it won’t keep you out of eternal life; however, you should really consider “why” you are choosing to ignore Him.

As for unclean fish – oh man. Believe me, seafood is yummy. Well, it was until I really started to study what the big deal was in eating things like catfish and shrimp. Again, these creatures were designed to be garbage dumps and help to keep the oceans, rivers, and streams clean. They keep them clean by eating all the crap that falls into them. And again, they also have uncomplicated digestive systems. So simple that you can open the back of a shrimp and get a good look at its digestive system. It’s all black with filth – filth that is still sitting in there as you take a big bite. As I found this information out I asked myself a simple question – if someone told me roaches tasted good, would I be tempted to take a bite? No! Then why was I so quick to drop the instructions of my loving Father because shrimp taste good? They eat the exact same diet as roaches, crap! Again, eat whatever you want, but don’t allow any religious leader to keep you away from understanding the absolute love and GRACE Yahowah was providing for us in His Torah. He wanted His children healthy, strong, and full of life.

Then there is food sacrificed to idols. Think we don’t have to worry about that today – think again! Just Google “halel meat” and see how many of your local grocers carry it. Some won’t even label it as such. Also, check some of the logos your favorite foods are wearing. Everyone who knows me knows I drank a Starbucks Mocha Frappucino EVERYDAY for over seven years. That all stopped when I found out the truth of their logo. I was surprised when I found out that innocent looking bare chest lady was really a pagan goddess. Yes, look it up for yourself (you need to do some of this work yourself). Now, some people will say that it doesn’t make a difference now and we can eat whatever we want. However, why not spend some time with Yahowah and figure out why He didn’t want you eating foods sacrificed to idols. I choose not to consume foods boldly dedicated to idols (like Starbucks) because my goal is not to enrich those who willingly chose to stick their middle finger up at God and mock Him openly.

And, just to be clear – eating as Yahowah advised in the Torah is NOT the same as eating Kosher. Kosher dietary laws added immensely to the words of Yahowah. They added burdens on to the people and turned loving advice from the Father into mindless rituals having nothing to do with relationship. This is why you must read the Torah for yourself and find what Yahowah had to say to you.

"The Law" and Grace

I have found nothing can divide a room of Christians more than mentioning "the Law". Wait isn't true, it doesn't truly divide the room - it causes everyone to be in agreement about one key thing - we are not, under any circumstances, never, never ever, did I mention never - to obey "the Law". When I inquire as to why exactly I get the "we are not under the Law, we are under Grace" comment. So, Christians are "lawless"? I am told we are not really lawless, we are just not "under the law". What exactly does that mean? We either have to follow the Law or we don't have to follow the Law. Am I to believe that a God who was very clear in the "Old Testament" somehow became a bit muddled in His ideas in the "New Testament". Do we follow the Law or do we not?
I know, Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law - but what does that mean? Many Christians interpret this to mean that He finished it, since He obeyed it we are exempt from obeying it. Okay. This comment makes sense only if we chose not to define exactly what this Law is.
The Law is often referred to as the Torah. Many Christians fail to realize there are two different "Laws" mentioned in the New Testament. The first is God's Law, that is the Torah. The second, commonly referred to as the Oral Torah was man's law. In an effort to keep people from disobeying the Torah, rabbis' and priests over the years chose to put a "fence" around the Torah. These were rules that were more strict than the Torah to keep people far enough away from the Torah that they would never transgress it.
This introduced a couple of problems. The first is that one command in the Torah is to not add or take away from it. So, in adding the "fence" around the Torah those Hebrew leaders were in fact - breaking the Torah! The second is Moses was already clear that the Torah wasn't too hard for people to obey. They didn't need any help in obeying it, it wasn't too high, too hard, or too much. The third is that God never puts a "fence" around sin. When God put Adam and Eve into the garden He didn't put a fence around the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His Word should be fence enough. If you love Him you obey. Finally, many rules added to "fence" the Torah would automatically require people to break the Torah to obey them and they even made the Torah too hard to obey!
When I first started my journey to understand the foundations of my faith, I didn't know much about the Torah. Yes, I can admit I didn't even know the "Laws" I could now freely break or not break or kind of break or break but be forgiven - well, I didn't know the Torah! I thought the Torah was just about sacrificing birds and bulls on an alter so that my sins could be "forgiven" and of course Jesus did that! Well, that actually isn't what the Torah is about. Yes, there are sacrifices - but those don't "forgive" your sins - was was just an atonement until Jesus came. Also, you couldn't sacrifice just anywhere, you could only sacrifice in the temple. So, today there is not temple and hasn't been for almost 2000 years. So, no burning birds on the alter.
However, the other rules for living according to the Torah are, for lack of a better word, brilliant! They discuss how to conduct business, how to treat your employees, how to treat your neighbor, how to treat your spouse. They discuss keeping God's appointed times (those things we refer to as Jewish holidays - when they were created before there was a people called "Jews").
So, if Jesus came to "fill all the requirements" of the Torah, does that mean one no longer has to pay their employees on time? Does that mean one no longer has to lend to the poor? Does that mean it is now good and acceptable to touch dead bodies? See, when you become familiar with the Torah you begin to see the absurdity of thinking it was done away with. The Torah doesn't even mean "Law", that was a Greek to English translation error. Torah refers to the first five books of the Bible and there were 613 Torah commands within those five books.
As a note - Jesus never broke one Torah command in his life. Some might say - no, the Bible says he healed on the Sabbath and that was against the Torah. No, it wasn't. There is no command in the written Torah, the Torah given by God that one cannot heal on the Sabbath! Now, the oral law created by the Pharisees, did have such commands. Jesus often did things that were against the Pharisee additions to the Torah (the Oral Torah) just to show that one needs not obey man, but one must obey God. Jesus was our example, our guide, and our example.
Another point before I go from this blog posting - the Torah never saved! To say that we no longer need to obey the Torah because we have Jesus is crazy. Jesus said He alone was the Way, the Truth, and the Light and NO MAN can go to the Father except through Him. Period. Even if Abraham and Moses kept EVERY statute of the Torah, they still could not ascend to the Father until after Jesus died and rose and took dominion over death and hell. Abraham, Issac, and Jacob all needed the Messiah just as you and I. Jesus stepped out of time and redeemed all the people of God - those who died before He came and those who died after He came. Obedience is not salvation. Obedience is our outward manifestation of our hope of and belief in our salvation. How can we get more clear than the words of Jesus Himself: If you love Me, keep my commandments. John 14:15. Interestingly - when Jesus spoke of the greatest two commandments "Loving God with all your heart and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself" - He was speaking of two specific commands in the Torah. And yes, that does sum up all the Torah. The rest of the Torah (including the Ten Commandments) go on to tell us HOW to do those two things.
For those wondering - I do not at this time obey the entire Torah. The reason is because I am still learning the Torah. I belong to a religion that has neglected not only the following of, but the teaching of the Torah for over 1500. The more I learn, the more I try to do. I honestly don't even know if I am doing it "right", I am hard pressed to find Christian resources on following the Torah, even our of choice and not obligation.
Again, let me be clear that obeying the Torah will NOT get me into Heaven. The ONLY way to the Father is through Jesus and there is nothing I can do to earn that. However, like any child - I still have to obey my Father. He saved my life, now He gets to tell me how to live that life, which belongs to Him. I don't have to wonder how God wants me to live - He was clear about that thousands of years ago. I don't assume perfection even when I learn it - the children of Israel disobeyed shortly after being delivered miraculously from Egypt. I don't have to be perfect, but I do need to try. I only need to work to stay within the guidelines of the written Torah, not the additional man made commands clearly demonstrated by Jesus to be outside the Torah. And again, even if I were to be perfect in each and every one - they would NOT make me "saved" and it wouldn't make me any more "saved" than a person not following any of the Torah. The Torah is not about salvation, it is about how God expects His people to live on the earth. It is Creator detailing how He expects His creation to interact with Him and with their fellow man. Yes, someone can follow the Torah and not be saved because Jesus said He was the Way and no one gets to the Father except through Him. Yet He also clearly indicated in John 14 that a sign of our love for Him was following the Torah. The Torah is a bit like an engagement ring. It simply identifies to others that you belong to someone. It is a sign of your love, not your love itself. Once can be engaged without a ring - but it makes people suspect about that love. One can also wear a ring and be unfaithful and even have no intention in truly going through with the wedding. The ring isn't magic just as the Torah isn't magic. The ring can change the heart and God looks at the heart. However, it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks and when we loudly declare we are not subject to the commands of God - well, I will leave that to the reader to decide.