Sunday, June 19, 2011

ALL OR NOTHING

This past week, in prayer and sharing with others, the Spirit was pointing out that in order for the two houses of Israel to come together into the oneness of YHVH's life, each will have to be cleansed of everything that is not of Him. The House of Judah has tried to keep the Torah, while the House of Israel made a "go" at the righteousness of Faith. But each has fallen short of the goal that has been set before them; Judah has rejected the Messiah of Israel, and Ephraim the Torah of Moses. The solution seems quite obvious: both must come to the recognition of the whole counsel of YHVH, and dispense with that which isn't of Him (His Word).

Reading the book of Hebrews, I came across the following passage: "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Torah of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of Elohim, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:26-29).

What stood out to me was the statement: "if anyone sets aside the Torah of Moses [he] dies without mercy"!! This is what Ephraim had done and has been reaping the consequences ever since. In addition, aside from rejecting Torah (which is the Word) he has also trampled underfoot the Son of Elohim by not living out His holiness.

Yeshua scolded the devoutly religious for observing the easy and less weighty Torah laws and neglecting the more substantial ones, around which they worked their way out somehow, thus rendering themselves hypocrites. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others" (Matthew 23:23).

Now, many in Christendom would maintain that they, on the other hand, are fulfilling the weightier matters, but in so doing often fail to take responsibility and attend to the other Torah requirements. Could it be this kind of attitude that the writer of Hebrews was addressing in the above scripture? We really cannot pick and choose when it comes to YHVH's Word, otherwise we could find ourselves "halting between two opinions" or, put another way, being "doubly minded". YHVH's Word made flesh - His Son - never made light of any of the commandments.

Another area of the Word that seems to be neglected, is the Word of Elohim spoken by the mouths of His holy prophets from of old. Daniel, in his repentance prayers emphasized this fact:

"We have sinned and committed iniquity; we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land" (Daniel 9:5-6).

If we reject or lay aside any aspect of YHVH's Word, we are committing a sin of which we need to repent not in thought and intent only, but also by deeds/actions. When we live by the power of the Spirit of Holiness, we will be living in the Spirit of the Word and thus we will know the Son of the Most High. The "Word" will become life in us and we will find ourselves fulfilling (that is doing) the Torah and the prophets.

Ephraim

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