James 1:22 "But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says, otherwise you are only fooling yourselves.
For weeks and weeks I have been reading and thinking about Yeshua's words in Matthew 5. Matthew is the FIRST BOOK of the New Testament. Really it is where the crux of the anti-Torah vs pro-Torah "argument" comes from in the Church's mind, right? They preach and teach everyone that Jesus came and abolished, or did away with, the Torah, that he nailed it all to the cross and we no longer have to concern ourselves with all those antiquated and outdated Old Testament rules that even Jesus said are too hard for anyone to follow. (Bunny trail for study: Did he really say that? Re-read it -- was he talking about the Bible or all of the traditions and man-made rules the Pharisees had added to the people?)
Yeshua is quoted over and over (in all four gospels) saying the same thing. Everything that he says is clear and concise, and yet man has taken his words and screwed them up into knots, confusing themselves --- and others. Matthew 5 warns against this!
Yeshua's words are often twisted to mean that he DID do away with, or abolish, the Law and Prophets. This is NOT TRUE! Read the words of Matthew yourself, in ANY version of the Bible. It does not say what we have been taught in our churches. How ANYONE can read the words that he clearly spoke and understand it in exactly the opposite way is hard to understand. Read the words again in purple below. It is IMPOSSIBLE to understand it as done away with, unless you make words mean the OPPOSITE of what they actually mean. He absolutely, specifically says, "I DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH..."
Matthew 5: 17-19 “Do not think that I have come to destroy {abolish} the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy {abolish} them, but to fulfill (pleroo) them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all [of it] takes place. Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps them and teaches them, this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Important note: From a word study I did last year (http://set-apart-prairie.weebly.com/word-studies.htm), I learned that the word fulfill, in verse 17, in Greek, is PLEROO. This particular Greek word means:
- to fulfill, i.e. to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfillment,
- to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally
- magnify, magnify abundantly
It does not mean to finish or abolish, or do away with! The "complete" that is meant is akin to saying that "a husband and wife complete each other". They aren't by any means done, or finished, or perfect, and they certainly don't abolish or do away with one another by being together, but together they are two parts now become one, that are a portion of a larger puzzle, and make that portion complete as they continue to work toward perfection and completion in the Savior within their marriage until ultimate completion on Judgement Day.
Revelation is the LAST BOOK of the New Testament. Quoted below are a couple of verses that I do not ever remember reading before last night. TC and I went to the Casting Crowns concert yesterday evening. It was a good night all around. TC and I had a good time out together and I really enjoyed having a driver, instead of being a driver. :-) Casting Crowns' encouragement and words straight from scripture have been a blessing and light over the years that helped to keep me afloat in some very difficult and terrible times. They mean a lot to me, so I could not pass up seeing them again. During most of their songs, the lyrics flash on a giant screen (much like you see in some churches). I don't know which song it was, but something in one of them triggered a reminder that I had an email in my inbox that I hadn't read and told me I needed to read it as soon as I got home. Matthew 5 was still heavily on my mind, especially as I looked around at the hundreds and hundreds of people around me in the stadium, I wondered how many of them believed that Jesus did away with the law and the prophets? How many of them were hurting? How many of them felt like there is more to what they have been taught but they can't figure it out quite yet? Even though I was there having a good time with my son, and ready to enjoy so really great music and worship my King, I was sad. I felt heavy inside. It was making me cry. When we got home, I headed straight for my inbox. I only had to read the first two sentence:
Revelation 14: 12-13 "Here is a call for the endurance (patience) of the saints, those who keep the commandments of YHWH AND the faith OF Yeshua. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in YHWH from now on'. Blessed indeed, says Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"
and Revelation 22:7, 18-19 “And behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and from the holy city that are written in this book."
There you have it: Matthew = 1st book; Revelation = last book. Bam! Done! Clarity! Simplicity!
Praise His Name!
Now, all this scripture together:
Yeshua said, "Do not think that I have come to destroy {abolish} the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy {abolish} them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all [of it] takes place. Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps them and teaches them, this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[And}] here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of YHWH and faith OF Yeshua. And I (John) heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “in order that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow after them.”
“And behold, I {Yeshua} am coming quickly! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” I {Yeshua} testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, YHWH God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, YHWH God will take away his share of the tree of life and from the holy city that are written in this book.
Amen.
If you wish to read more on this and dig deeper, please, fasten your seat-belt and click here:
http://hethathasanear.com/index1.htm