When the topic of whether Christians should be following the Torah/Law today, many will point to Matthew 22 and declare that these are the only two commandments that must be followed. Is there more to this verse than what Christianity has accepted as truth? We must always remember that YESHUA never spoke any idle word.
Matthew 22:35-40
“And one of them who was a Torah expert asked a question to trap Him: Rabbi, which of the commandments in the Torah is the most important?” He told him, “You are to LOVE YAHWEH your ELOHIM with ALL YOUR HEART and with ALL YOUR SOUL and WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ This is the greatest and most important commandment. And a second is similar to it, “You are to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ All the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two commandments.”
Luke 10:25-28 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“An expert in Torah stood up to try and trap Him by asking, “Rabbi, what should I do to OBTAIN ETERNAL LIFE? But YESHUA said to him, “What is WRITTEN IN THE TORAH/LAW? How do you read it?” He answered, “You are to LOVE YAHWEH your ELOHIM with ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, with ALL YOUR STRENGTH and with all your understanding; and YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” THAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER,” YESHUA said. “DO THIS, AND YOU WILL HAVE LIFE.”
We can see how much weight this adds to YESHUA’s words in connection with Matthew 22:35-40 because the subject is about how to obtain eternal life, and how does YESHUA respond? By asking him what is written in the Torah! And once the Torah expert quoted the Torah YESHUA said that was the right answer and if you do this you will have eternal life, which matches other verses in the Torah/law and prophets, which says:
Leviticus 18:5 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“You are to observe MY LAWS AND RULINGS; if a person DOES THEM, He will HAVE LIFE THROUGH THEM; I AM YAHWEH.”
Ezekiel 20:21 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But the children too rebelled against Me. They did NOT live by My LAWS OR OBSERVE MY RULINGS, TO OBEY THEM, which, if a person DOES, he will HAVE LIFE BY THEM; and they profaned MY SHABBATS.”
The first thing I would like to point out is that when YESHUA said to love YAHWEH and your neighbor, He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviticus 19:18 which is in the Torah/Law. In other words, YESHUA is pointing back to the very law that Christians say is done away with!
Deuteronomy 6:4
“Hear, Yisra’el. YAHWEH is our ELOHIM, YAHWEH is One. And you shall LOVE YAHWEH your ELOHIM with all YOUR HEART, and with ALL YOUR SOUL, and with ALL YOUR MIGHT.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF; I AM YAHWEH.”
What does this look like? Do we just read the scriptures every day? Do we pray daily? Do we just shout out loud to the heavens and say, “YAHWEH I love You” and “I also love my neighbors too?” Is it just a public confession with no action to back up these words? Suppose you are married, and you say to your husband or wife “I love you!”, then you immediately go next door and commit adultery with your neighbor’s wife. Your actions have proved that you don’t love them and that your words meant nothing!
Matthew 15:7-9 (Hebrew)
“Rightly did Isaiah speak about you, saying, “This people which honors Me WITH WORDS but their heart is far from Me, they honor Me in VAIN, imposing your instructions and commandments of the men.”
Words mean very little if they aren’t backed up with action! It reminds me of the saying “Talk is cheap!” And YESHUA knows that talk is cheap and worthless without showing it:
Luke 6:46-49 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Why do you call Me, ‘Master! Master! BUT NOT DO WHAT I SAY? Everyone who comes to Me, hears My words and ACTS ON THEM—I will show you what he is like: he is like someone building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on bedrock when a flood came, the torrent beat against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it was constructed well. And whoever hears My words but DOESN’T ACT ON THEM is like someone who built his house on the ground without any foundation. As soon as the river struck it, it collapsed and that house became a horrendous wreck!”
As we see hearing the words must be followed up by action!
Luke 11:28 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But He (YESHUA) said, “Far more blessed are those who HEAR the word of ELOHIM AND OBEY IT!”
Romans 2:13 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“For it is not merely THE HEARERS of Torah whom ELOHIM considers righteous; rather, it is THE DOERS OF WHAT TORAH SAYS who will be made righteous in ELOHIM’s sight.”
James 1:22 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Don’t DECEIVE YOURSELVES by ONLY HEARING what the Word says, BUT DO IT!”
So, YESHUA said to love YAHWEH with all our heart, soul, and might! Are you hearing His words and putting them into action? How does scripture define how we love YAHWEH with all our HEART, SOUL, AND MIGHT?
2 Kings 23:25 (Amplified Bible)
“Before him there was NO KING LIKE JOSIAH who turned to YAHWEH with ALL HIS HEART and ALL HIS SOUL and ALL HIS MIGHT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL THE LAW/TORAH OF MOSES; nor did anyone like him arise after him.”
So, how do we love YAHWEH with all our HEART, SOUL, AND MIGHT? Scripture defines it as keeping the commandments in the Torah/Law just as Josiah the righteous king did. When YESHUA quoted these words in Matthew 22, it was already understood by the hearer that the two greatest commandments was the entire TORAH, because the entire Torah is summed up in love. So, looking at the 10 commandments we see a summary of the entire Torah. The first 4 commands show us how to love YAHWEH which includes the weekly seventh day Shabbat (Saturday) and the last 6 show us how to love our neighbor as ourselves!
So now armed with the scriptural understanding of how we love YAHWEH according to His prescription we see why YESHUA says:
John 14:21, 24
“Whoever has My COMMANDS and KEEPS THEM is the one who LOVES Me, and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” Verse 24 “Someone who DOESN’T LOVE ME DOESN’T KEEP MY WORDS—and the word you are hearing is not My own but that of the Father who sent Me.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that ELOHIM has prepared for those who LOVE HIM.”
This promise is only for those who LOVE YAHWEH and we have defined from the scriptures exactly how to do that which is by keeping the commandments! Ask yourself do you love YAHWEH according to how He says in scripture? Or have you made up your own version of how to love Him and trying pass it off as truth?
1 John 5:3-4 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“For LOVING ELOHIM means OBEYING HIS COMMANDS. Moreover, His commands are not burdensome, because everything which has ELOHIM as its Father overcomes the world. And this is victoriously overcomes the world: our trust. Who does overcome the world if not the person who believes that YESHUA is the Son of ELOHIM?”
Revelation 14:12 (Hebrew)
“Here is the hope of the set-apart ones, and here are those who DO THE COMMANDMENTS OF YAHWEH, AND BELIEVE IN YESHUA.”
We are to obey the written Torah and trust in YESHUA who is the written Word that became flesh The Living Torah! As always may YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!