Many Christians will say “I’m under the law of Christ and we now follow His teachings!” So many of them feel as though they are walking in obedience to the commandments of YESHUA based off of this statement. So, did YESHUA change things? Did He bring a new teaching that was different than the Old Testament laws of the Torah?
Firstly, I would like to start with a prophecy:
Genesis 49:10
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until the coming of the One to whom the scepter belongs (YESHUA), to whom the GENTILES SHALL LOOK FORWARD.”
Isaiah 42:4 (Aramaic)
“He (YESHUA) shall not fail nor be discouraged till He has set justice in the earth; AND THE ISLANDS (GENTILES) SHALL WAIT FOR HIS TORAH (LAW.)”
The question I present is this: if the Torah (Law) is done away with as Christians have been taught and believe, then why is it prophesied that the gentiles will be waiting for the law? They were waiting for the truth with anticipation to obey it, not looking forward to rejecting it. The Scriptures cannot contradict themselves!
So, the gentiles were waiting for YESHUA’s law, so the question is which law did YESHUA teach? Before answering this question, I have to clarify the word HA’MASHICAH in Hebrew. Most translators today have translated “HA’MASHIACH” into “Christ” and in doing so the word has lost its meaning that is very important. The word HA’MASHICAH in Hebrew means “The Anointed One.” This is important because YESHUA is HA’MASHIACH the anointed KING, HIGH PRIEST, AND PROPHET! Now with that understanding let’s read another prophecy to see what law YESHUA would teach:
Deuteronomy 18:18-19
“I will raise up for them a PROPHET like you among their brethren, and will put MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH; and He shall speak to them all that I SHALL COMMAND HIM. WHOSOEVER WILL NOT HEARKEN TO MY WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME, I WILL REQUIRE IT OF HIM.”
This prophet that YAHWEH would send would only speak the words that He commanded Him to speak, which means He would not speak His own words. This is a prophecy of YESHUA the Son of YAHWEH the Anointed King, Priest, and Prophet who is EL (God) Who became flesh. So now let’s take Deuteronomy 18:18-19 and we will see that it matches:
John 12:49-50
“For I (YESHUA) did not speak of Myself; but the Father Who sent Me, HE COMMANDED ME WHAT TO SAY AND WHAT TO SPEAK. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; these things THEREFORE WHICH I SPEAK, just as MY FATHER TOLD ME, SO I SPEAK.”
John 3:35-36 (John the Baptist understood this as well)
“The Father loves the Son, and has placed everything under His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; and HE WHO DOES NOT OBEY THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE, but the wrath of ELOHIM shall remain on Him.”
John The Baptist says that anyone who does not obey the Son (YESHUA) will not have eternal life, why? Because YESHUA is speaking the words of His Father YAHWEH, not His own words which matches what we read Deuteronomy 18:18-19, John 12:49-50, and means if you disobey the words of YESHUA then you have directly disobeyed The commands of His Father Who gave Him the words to speak, and it will required of all of the lawless Christians on judgement day.
So, if YESHUA did not speak His own words but the words of the Father it should be even clearer that YESHUA COULD NOT do away with the law or bring a new teaching because His teaching wasn’t His own.
John 7:15-18 (Hebrew)
“How does this One (YESHUA) not learn, know literature? YESHUA answered and said, “My TEACHING IS NOT MINE, but it is from Him who sent Me. If any man desires to do the desire of EL (God), He will recognize the teaching whether it is from EL, or if his word is from himself. Whoever speaks of himself seeks his own honor.”
YESHUA’s words are so true and Paul understood this:
Acts 20:29-30
“Also from among yourselves, men shall arise, speaking perverse things to DRAW AWAY DISCIPLES AFTER THEM.”
So, Christianity’s teaching is from themselves and NOT from YAHWEH and they are seeking to honor themselves and not the Father, and in doing so they are speaking perverse things against the Torah and leading away disciples after themselves instead of leading them to the truth of YESHUA. YESHUA is EL (God) The Son of YAHWEH and did not speak His own words; therefore, how can any pastor have the authority to speak his own words? Especially that which is contrary to what the scriptures teach? Since YESHUA spoke the words of His Father this means YESHUA taught that all people including Christians must keep the commandments of the Torah which includes the Shabbat (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), dietary laws, celebrating the set-apart feast days in Leviticus 23 as they aren’t just for the Jews, again Isaiah 42:4 the gentiles would be waiting for the law not REJECTING IT!
Matthew 28:18-20
“And YESHUA came and said to them, “YAHWEH gave Me power in the heavens and in the earth. Therefore go preach to ALL THE PEOPLES (Including gentiles), and immerse/baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son and of THE RUACH HA’KODESH (The Set-Apart Spirit) and TEACH them, and keep ALL THAT I COMMANDED YOU. And I will be with you in all time, until the end of the world.”
YESHUA says preach to all nations which includes the gentiles who were waiting for His law, and to teach the nations everything that He commanded! So what did YESHUA command them?
Matthew 5:17-18 (Hebrew)
“Do not think that I came to throw down the Torah and the Prophets, ON THE CONTRARY (THE OPPOSITE), I came to CONFIRM. I say unto you in truth, that NOT ONE WORD WILL BE DIMINISHED from the Torah…”
We have established that YESHUA did not speak His own words but the words of the Father and here again, He plainly states that He did not come to get rid of the Torah or prophets, but the exact opposite of that, He came to confirm it! Oxford dictionary defines “confirm” as “ESTABLISH THE TRUTH OR CORRECTNESS OF SOMETHING, previously believed, suspected, or feared to be the case.” Christians have believed the Torah is done away with YESHUA says NO, I’m confirming that it stands! And that we are to walk in it just as He walked:
1 John 2:6
“He (believers) who says he abides in Him (YESHUA) ought himself also to walk even as HE WALKED.”
Scripture shows us that YESHUA upheld the Torah and confirmed the words of YAHWEH the Father; and we are to walk just as YESHUA walked and not according to the traditions of men. The Jews added their oral torah the man-made traditions they placed over the written Torah and YESHUA came to correct and rebuke them for it and to establish/confirm that the Torah is kodesh (set-apart) and good.
Lastly, many Christian pastors will point to a scripture in John as proof that YESHUA changed things and taught a new law. Most translations read:
John 13:34
“I am giving you a NEW COMMAND: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other.”
John 13:34 (Hebrew)
“And now I will tell you a RENEWED COMMANDMENT, that you must love one another in unity as I love you that you may love one another among yourselves.”
Doesn’t the Hebrew which is the language of the scriptures make more sense? The other translations have mistranslated this verse. We know that loving YAHWEH and each other is not a new concept in the scriptures at all! YESHUA reiterated a commandment from the Old Testament because again, He did not speak His own words:
Leviticus 19:18, 33-34
“You shall not bear enmity (hatred) against the children of your own people, but you shall LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself; I am YAHWEH” Verses 33-34 “And when a proselyte sojourns with you in your land, you shall not wrong him; but let him be among you AS ONE OF YOU; and the proselytes who sojourn among you, you must LOVE THEM AS YOURSELVES; for you were also sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am YAHWEH your ELOHIM.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“Hear, O Yisra’el: YAHWEH our ELOHIM is One YAHWEH; and you shall LOVE YAHWEH your ELOHIM with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
The other commonly misinterpreted verse used to promote lawlessness and to say YESHUA is teaching a new doctrine is:
Matthew 22:35-40
“And one of the teachers of the law asked YESHUA, tempting Him, and saying, “Rabbi, which is the highest commandment in the law? YESHUA said to him, “You must love your ELOHIM with all your heart and with all your nephesh (soul) and out of all your understanding. This is the first and very greatest commandment. And the second is like this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself. ALL THE TORAH and the prophets are hung on these two commandments.”
So, just as we discussed above, is that love is not a new concept in the scriptures, so YESHUA isn’t saying that there are literally only two commandments to keep, what He did was point us back to the 10 commandments! The first four show us how to love YAHWEH and the last 6 show us how to love our neighbor as ourselves, and the 10 commandments are a summary of the ENTIRE TORAH! Many believe that merely saying you love YAHWEH and YESHUA with your mouth fulfills this commandment. All you have to do is say “YAHWEH I love you so much” and that’s it! What does scripture say? YESHUA says your love for Him requires action.
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments with him and OBEYS THEM is the one who LOVES ME; he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Conclusion:
2 John 1:9-10
“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the teaching of Messiah does NOT HAVE ELOHIM. He who abides in His doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not welcome him to your house, neither bid him to eat; for he who bids him to eat is partaker of his evil works.”
Whoever does not obey the teachings of YESHUA does not have the Father, because they have outright disobeyed the words of YAHWEH being that YESHUA spoke the words of His Father and not His own. As Revelation 14:12 says we are to have faith in YESHUA and keep the commandments of YAHWEH! This is true doctrine anything else is evil.
As always may our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!