God’s Secret Blueprint for Christians Unveiled - Hidden in Hebrew Letters

Let’s break this down. 

There are approximately 613 laws in Torah.

I am going to place more importance on the ones harder to keep, the ones that cannot be arrived at via subjective intuition, which is simply asking yourself what God wants you to do, and then answering the question yourself, without consulting the one you’re supposedly trying to please. What!? Yes, this IS the mental gymnastics olympics.

But first, a little rant. Enjoy.

We do not see things as "they are". We see things as "we are". Your world is your own reflection. You reflect your desires and dictate your wants, thus creating your own personal God, limited by how He should be instead of how He is.

 The facts we don’t check and decide to believe in shape our modern day idol, our 21st-century personal golden calf. This beast adds on weight with every unverified fact we believe in through the authority of the person before us, and becomes intertwined with our lives, causing shame and guilt to be linked with the idea of change.

We bow down to our creation, which extends to the corners of our comfort zone. If being a child, blaming your siblings for leading you into a stupid idea, of which you took part, did not exonerate you, why do you think the same argument will work on judgment day? Not to offer your biases the red pill without prior consent…

 

BEST ARGUMENT AGAINST keeping Torah:

"-Torah is only for Jewish people, Jesus came to do away with the law once and for all, as it was condemning us to sin, since nobody was or is able to keep it perfectly, except for Jesus (Yeshua), who blamelessly died for us while keeping the entire law, so He could redeem us from under the penalty of sin, once and for all."

 If you're in line with the above statement, chances are you're focusing on internal issues and trusting that the Holy Spirit will provide you with an individual moral compass to personally decide right from wrong, depending on the situation at hand. Your mind is focused on loving others, showing kindness and trying to be a light in this world, to the best of your abilities.

Being led by the spirit and morality is a peculiar combination for those that believe Torah is not for today. One can surely see that without a strong baseline, on what could be dividing issues, everybody interprets their own version of right and wrong. 

It becomes nearly impossible to define sin, so strange things become common. Give 'common' time, and it becomes the norm. Shortly, to be right, is to be in opposition...

Did you know there are over 40.000 (yes forty-thousand) different Christian denominations, all based on their 'personal' interpreting of one book? Do you think all are right?

Is God's wish to be interpreted by humans instead of Himself?

Was Jesus called Yeshua, was he Jewish, and did he keep the entire law Himself? 

Do you find that human reaction is to go against anything that imposes on our free will, even if it would benefit us?

Would you be concerned to find out that there is no Christmas or Easter in the bible? Is it ok for you to celebrate your wife on your ex-wife's birthday because you've always done it like that and you're just used to it? Would your wife accept this? Maybe Jesus does?? History is a funny thing... You see, after 400 years of Jacob's family living in Egypt, and greatly multiplying, the Egyptians forgot who they were, and why they ever came there, and their perspective towards them completely changed. Time obscures knowledge and truth.

ISSUE WITH keeping Torah:

 This bit is not to fight claims for or against keeping Torah today, it's to say what's wrong with those that know the truth but become vain and spiritually proud, becoming an island rather than a bridge for others. When the truth becomes clear, it provides such security, that it often leads to pride in knowledge. Combined with a 'set-apart' in the wrong context mindset, and you've got an overzealous Messianic follower of 'the way', who delights in the chasm of knowledge between him and others unable to grasp it.

The main issue with keeping Torah, (or better said human issue - Torah is perfect), is that it often leads to a neglect of relationship and genuine kindness, internal aspects of the way. Humans like to think in black and white, and focusing too much on something tends to take away from something else, as a general rule of thumb. Combine this with the feeling of accomplishment and self-worth for external observances, and you find yourself lost in debates over less important aspects of keeping Torah.

Internal issues, like fasting, prayer, genuine love and kindness towards others, and time spent with Jesus get side-tracked because of the observance of Torah, which is crucial, but then again, only a baseline, under which we are not allowed to fall.

Messianic congregations tend to make it the end-goal, the highest point on the journey, when it's just a starting point... Much more is required, as Jesus expanded in the 'Sermon on the Mount'. Torah is to be kept, but going beyond basic requirements should be the norm. Have you ever been congratulated for passing a test with 50 out of 100? 

However, please note that Torah is perfect, we ourselves are not made perfect by keeping it, as it's just a starting point. (spiritual disclaimer)

Am I saying we can neglect Torah for love and a general feeling of overall 'Hillsongness'? Of course not, Torah is the centre of any congregation, however, because the movement is so new, people have not yet adapted from 'normal' Christianity to the new full of depth and authenticity - Torah observance combined with personal relationship and also going beyond.

Matters of the law should surely be hierarchical, discussing the right way to wear Tzitzit when for example there are still issues with hate that are so prevalent is just wrong. Am I saying don't wear Tzizit until you sort out all your issues? Of course not! But make sure to not be tricked into thinking that any external observance like keeping Shabbat, keeping the Festivals or dietary laws will ever replace your personal 1 on 1 relationship with Jesus (Yeshua) and completely getting rid of sin in your own life.

You'd think this was basic, but some advanced mental gymnastics, too much focus on less important Torah observances, you distance yourself from personal engagement with God and resolve a new winning formula that looks like this: 'God is happy with me as I'm doing what is required of me, and I see that other denominations are not doing this, so I am clearly ahead...'

Other denominations don't have this 'security', so they are forced to judge for themselves what God requires of them. As said, they are a Torah unto themselves and because they reject the Torah, they are forced to interpret it each in their own way. Paradoxically, they might be doing a better job at going beyond what is required, as they don't have any security in place, so they don't really know when to stop. It always feels like they're not doing enough, as there is no framework like Torah gives. 

Unfortunately, because Torah keepers have something else now, other than pure relationship, acts of kindness towards others, just prayer, they can replace all these with being Torah observant. Have a look around, everybody else is doing the same thing, some external validation, group behaviour reinforcement, and voila:

"I don't need to do all the other things other denominations are doing, I'm keeping Torah! We're already better!"(sarcastic)

What a sad sight on judgement day, where many that never heard of Torah, will be shown to have been a Torah unto themselves and will put to shame many that were gifted with the knowledge and opportunity to follow and understand the importance of keeping Torah!

Doing both at the same time, keeping Torah and going beyond what is required, without letting one take from the other will present you as truly wise and your head will be held high on the sea of glass.

I should also make clear that Torah clearly requires going beyond in the two laws that sum it up: Love God with all your heart, mind, strength and resources and love others more than yourself.

However, when you get so many clear instructions and you can pat yourself on the back for each one, you get so many pats on the back for these little ones, and it's so authentic, that one can surely become disengaged with true acts of kindness towards others and personal, deep relationship with God.

In any camp you might find yourself, whether you think Torah is or is not meant to be kept by us today, try to do your part, be more humble, and to better understand the other party. If you remember nothing else from this, don't forget: "You are called to be a bridge, not an island."

Finally, to clarify my position:

1. Torah is a basic ongoing requirement, except for sacrificial laws, which were fulfilled by Yeshua on the cross.
2. Torah is not the interpretation of humans and additions over time, but the 5 books of the torah. Avoid any interpretation or addition, or human tradition.
3. Don’t focus on Torah, because it’s aiming to get a 5 on the test. Aim for a 10 out of 10 by going above and beyond these minimum requirements, by asking yourself: Am I maxxing out Loving God and Loving other humans by X action?
4. There are Torah laws such as Sabbath, giving 10%, and yearly appointments that cannot be arrived at via subjective ‘wishing’ to ‘get close’ to God. - don’t miss out on these.

HOWEVER, I DID read Galatians, so let’s go through all the supposed commandments of the Torah one by one, see which ones a Christian would obey by default by trying to love God and others as himself, and then see what we’re going to do with the remaining ones.

So, as any normal person, we are going to go through the first 5 books of the Old Testament with a fine comb, list any suspect instruction/ commandment below, then add them up for a final number.

Then, we will organise them from the hardest to the easiest (subjective/ my own version/ written by me for me)

THEN, split them into 3 groups:

Group 1 - 99% of Christians keep by default - we don’t need to talk about these ones, just go through them to ensure alignment

Group 2 - Most Christians don’t keep these by default

Group 3 - Sacrificial Laws - fulfilled by Yeshua on the cross (obsolete)

-- but FIRST, here are all of them, in order:

GENESIS 1:

1. God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.”

GENESIS 2:

1.  God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.

GENESIS 4:

1. Adonai said to Kayin, “Why are you angry? Why so downcast? 7 If you are doing what is good, shouldn’t you hold your head high? And if you don’t do what is good, sin is crouching at the door — it wants you, but you can rule over it.

GENESIS 9

1. God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.
2. Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything — only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat.
3. And you people, be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it.