Category Archives: Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law

Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Obeying God, Traditions / Holidays

YHWH Speaks Of Appointed Times… Again

As a man who grew up exposed to Christian churches in the US, I was totally unfamiliar with YHWH’s appointed times. They just are not taught. However, as I simply read through the Bible I find that YHWH spoke about them a lot in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, and Yeshua and His disciples celebrated them as well. Generally when He speaks about something a lot, when He keeps coming back to it over and over,  we should pay close attention. We should read the scriptures and pray He enlightens us. We should caution ourselves against any biases created by what we were taught by man and focus on what the Bible actually says. It was inspired by YHWH and written by those who were very close to Him.

The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths

      1“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2“You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name. 3“You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4“For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.5“You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the LORD your God is giving you; 6but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7“You shall cook and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8“Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.

      9“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.10“Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you; 11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 12“You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

      13“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 15“Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

      16“Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.

      18“You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19“You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20“Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

      21“You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22“You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.

Pray for wisdom and discernment. Don’t ignore what scripture teaches because it is unfamiliar or uncomfortable at first. Explore it and seek to understand it. You can get more information to understand these holy days of YHWH fairly easily, but you need to test everything against scripture. Some aspects are not completely clear and people have varying opinions on them. I suggest starting with Leviticus 23, but I have also included some additional websites I have found helpful below.

Hebrew For Christians

119 Ministries

Set Apart People

The Moedim

Test everything against scripture, including whatever traditions our churches have adopted or chosen to omit in teaching us as followers of Christ. When it comes to YHWH’s appointed times, remember that the Bible does not refer to them as “Jewish holidays” but as the appointed times of YHWH. I have found that celebrating these is a wonderful way to reinforce YHWH’s relationship with His people and to teach our children about significant events in the past and events to come regarding our faith.  Even for those who want to debate YHWH’s words that these are required for all generations, ask yourself the following… “Whether or not we are required to celebrate these appointed times, is it honoring to YHWH and an opportunity to further build relationship with Him by celebrating them or is it in any way detrimental?” Maybe the question changes from “Do I have to?” to “As a follower of Christ, why wouldn’t I want to?”

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy / Set Apart, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Study the Word

We Are Called To Be Holy, Set Apart, For The Lord

We are called to be holy, set apart, as God’s people. This means we explicitly are commanded to be different from others around us not only in our attitudes but also in some physical behaviors we are to demonstrate in obedience to God. These differences help to set us apart from non believers and also honor God through obedience to His instruction. Further, it reminds us to obey God in all aspects of our life, including our daily eating habits and tithe.

It is not a matter of salvation, that comes by grace through faith in Christ and that alone. However, obeying YHWH is how we show Him we love Him. Take care not to disregard all His instructions, including those that Jesus Himself obeyed, in the name of “Christian freedom”.

Obedience to His instructions is the fruit of our salvation and relationship with Him, not the root of it.

Deuteronomy 14

Clean and Unclean Animals

      1“You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

      3“You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4“These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6“Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7“Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8“The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.

      9“These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

      11“You may eat any clean bird. 12“But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14and every raven in its kind, 15and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19“And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20“You may eat any clean bird.

      21“You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

      22“You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23“You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24“If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26“You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27“Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

      28“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29“The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

For those of us who grew up in western Christian churches, we have been taught that all of God’s law is obsolete. It is funny how the church teaches that the dietary law is obsolete, but not the tithe. God’s word instructs on both side by side. Jesus Christ died and His sacrifice replaces the prior system of sacrifices which provided a path to reconciliation with God. However this does not mean that what God calls us to do in how we live our lives has changed outside of that aspect of reconciliation.

Seek the Holy Spirit and study scripture. Jesus Himself says He did not come to abolish the law and that not a single jot or tittle goes away until the end of the age. So why is it so many disregard most of what God instructed us to do in the Old Testament as if it has gone away? Is it the end of the age? Certainly not.

Matthew 5:17-19

      17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Read more: Understanding The Law – What It Means Today

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discerning / Judging, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Idols / False Gods, Obeying God, Prayer, Seeking God, Teachable

Shun Idolatry; Seek Out And Obey The Instructions of YHWH

The LORD has told us in advance that there will be false prophets that perform signs, but will propose chasing new and different doctrine that YHWH Himself told us to follow and is recorded in the Bible. He told us to reject such people as false prophets who are leading rebellion against Him.

We are called to test everything against the commandments of YHWH. We are not to simply follow anyone who can seemingly perform a miracle or sign, though it may seem compelling. This is perhaps where people end up following false teaching and false religions.

Ironically this is also where many Jewish people struggle in accepting Christ. Don’t misunderstand, it is not because Christ taught a different doctrine… He certainly did not. However, when one encounters most or nearly all Christian churches, one finds that the doctrine and commands they teach do not line up with the commands of YHWH as given to Moses. Much has been discarded as “Jewish” that should have been kept as “God’s commands”. Many claim that much of God’s instruction is obsolete. They pick and choose which commands to follow (e.g. they say adultery is still bad, but sabbath is no longer called for or “the Old Testament  is obsolete, but you still need to give a tithe”).

We are to shun idolatry. We are to shun anything that would take the primary  place in our hearts which was created for YHWH. We are to shun anything that teaches us to discard YHWH’s commands and instructions. For most today, that means we are to make serious changes.

Deuteronomy 13

Shun Idolatry

      1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.4“You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5“But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

      6“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9“But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10“So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11“Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

      12“If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, 15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword.16“Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORDyour God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17“Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers, 18if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Pray for insight and clarity from the Spirit. Open yourself to listen to Him, even if He calls you to change. Odds are if you are growing up in culture today, even if you are in a church, you are not following all of YHWH’s commandments. It is not about “salvation”. That is received by grace through faith in Christ. Obedience is the fruit of our salvation, not the root of our salvation. Seeking to understand God’s instructions instead of being complacent “as we are” or “as we are told is acceptable” is a sign of love. Study the Bible. Really study it. Pray for discernment. Be ready and willing to make even emotionally difficult changes. If you choose to hold tight to something other than what God calls for us to do, then that is rebellion and idolatry. You are putting something else in a higher priority than obedience to Him.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Idols / False Gods, Obeying God, Praise / Worship / Glorify God, Worldliness

Blending With False Religions Is Not A Virtue

The message I am about to share will be upsetting to many and many will speak against it. Many are influenced by our worldly culture and not clear on what YHWH has actually said.

YHWH is not tolerant and accepting of the worship of other gods. He does not tolerate us worshiping Him according to our own ways, but rather according to the ways He determines. He does not want us to simply worship Him with offerings associated with the holy places or practices of false religions. He does not want us to blend with other worship practices. He wants us to be pure and focused on Him and His ways.  We are to do as He commands, not as we desire or what is easiest for us.

Deuteronomy 12:1-14

Laws of the Sanctuary

      1“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. 2“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3“You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. 4“You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God. 5“But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6“There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7“There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

      8“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 10“When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, 11then it shall come about that the place in which the LORD your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the LORD. 12“And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.

      13“Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, 14but in the place which the LORD chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

      15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. 16“Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water. 17“You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand. 18“But you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings. 19“Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

      20“When the LORD your God extends your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you desire. 21“If the place which the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire. 22“Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23“Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24“You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. 25“You shall not eat it, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you, for you will be doing what is right in the sight of the LORD. 26“Only your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. 27“And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the flesh.

      28“Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

      29“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31“You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

      32“Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Let us take seriously YHWH’s instruction for us to worship Him according to His ways and in His places. Let us not blend with and accept other beliefs. Remain set apart and holy for His purposes.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Government, Guide, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Obeying God, Prayer

The 10 Commandments Matter To God and They Should Also Matter To Us

Many probably forget this, but when Moses came down off the mountain(Deuteronomy 9) with the 10 commandments the first time, he found the people sinning in rebellion to YHWH. He was so angry he broke the tablets with the 10 commandments on them. It was quite a dramatic scene. Once the situation was addressed, however, YHWH must have thought it was important because He told Moses to come back so He could provide a replacement set of the commandments.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5

The Tablets Rewritten

     1“At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood for yourself. 2‘I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3“So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4“He wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, the Ten Commandments which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. 5“Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the LORD commanded me.”

The commandments are important to our Father. They are not all inclusive of all instructions He has provided, but they are an important summary and for many a good starting place. They are not obsolete. Neither YHWH nor human nature nor sin have changed in thousands of years. YHWH’s instructions are there for our benefit, not His. We should honor and respect that which our Father has provided to help guide us.

Ask yourself… Do you know what the 10 commandments are? When is the last time you reviewed them and prayed over them for the Spirit to show you what changes you need to make in your life?

Ask also… What can we do to ensure that the commandments are honored throughout our country instead of constantly being under attack by atheists. Are we as Christians, fighting as hard to protect the ten commandments and instructions of God throughout our culture as the atheists are fighting to eliminate them? Pray for guidance on how you can get involved to help.

Praying for our nation is a great spot to start… for our nation to embrace YHWH and His ways rather than reject them. Pray for the plans of the wicked to be destroyed and the righteous to be lifted up and protected.

The 10 commandments matter to YHWH and they should also matter to us.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Knowing, Blessed, Character of God, Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Faithful, Father / Yahweh, Guide, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Prayer, Pride, Protector / Deliverer, Through Prophets

All The Commandments That I Am Commanding You Today You Shall Be Careful To Do

Over and over again in scripture YHWH emphasizes a very key point which is lost on most Christians today. He calls for us to live according to His commandments and be blessed, remembering Him and He contrasts that with a dire warning about ignoring His commandments and growing prideful and diminishing His role in our lives.

We can certainly see this today as many Christians declare “Christian freedom” as an excuse to not obey God’s clear instructions. They ignore more and more of His instructions over time. We can see it even in looking back over our own lifetime, let alone over the past thousands of years since Jesus walked among us in the flesh. Today most who identify as Christian do not love God above all other things. They may use those words, but many things take His place in their heart and how they spend their time, money, and talent declare they love other things more than God. We are a culture of coveting. Sabbath is ignored and considered “odd” and “unnecessary”. Children do not honor their parents. The majority of people in the USA identify as Christian, but as a culture we tolerate the murder of unborn children and embrace “diversity” amongst those who worship false gods. We allow persecution of Christians for living God’s instructions regarding failing to honor homosexual marriage but are told to tolerate all manner of sinful behavior amongst people who reject or ignore God. We let Atheists continually chase God out of our public schools and government and mainstream life. Surely we are not on the path God calls us to follow as a nation.

Deuteronomy 8

God’s Gracious Dealings

     1“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. 2“You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. 4“Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5“Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6“Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10“When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

      11“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16“In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17“Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18“But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19“It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20“Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

I believe this passage is incredibly relevant today for the USA and most western nations. As we continue to diminish God and chase after sin He will surely remove His blessing from our country and leave us to the depravity of our own minds. For those of us who are followers of Christ, we must not tolerate sin and false religion. (Atheism is a religion too… it is not a “neutral” position.)

Pray for Christians throughout our nation and the world that we would be passionate and courageous for Christ. Pray for our nation to humble themselves, repent and turn back to God.  Pray for those who identify as Christian to live as Christ called us to do. Pray that the plans of the wicked would be defeated and God would lift up the righteous in His right hand and bring victory.

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Promises Of YHWH

What promises did YHWH make to the people of Israel regarding their obedience to the ten commandments? Quite a strong covenant as we read in Deuteronomy 7. But a covenant requires agreement and action between both parties. We can see in great detail what YHWH commits to, but let us not overlook the part the people are to commit to to receive His blessings… “because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them…” When His people chose not to obey Him, they broke the covenant which He so lovingly offered for their benefit.

Deuteronomy 7:12-26

Promises of God

     12“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. 13“He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 14“You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. 15“The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. 16“You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

      17“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ 18you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. 21“You shall not dread them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22“The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. 23“But the LORD your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24“He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25“The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26“You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.

The USA was founded on faith and Christian principles. The founding documents all are based on a population living moral and righteous lives according to the instructions of Christ. We have been given great blessings as a nation for hundreds of years. However, as a nation, we are throwing away these blessings over time. We have largely rejected Christ and His teaching, even inside many churches. As we move further and further away from our Father and live in increasing disobedience as a nation, so too we do not live up to the covenant offer of blessings for obedience.

Pray for our nation… its people, its leaders, its laws… daily. Pray that the Lord defeats the plans of the wicked and raises up the righteous and protects them and lifts them to positions of power and influence. Pray that our people would turn back to YHWH in repentance for sin and live in obedience to His word, seeking relationship with Him.

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YHWH Is Faithful To Those Who Love Him And Keep His Commandments

Often, people get confused and perhaps prideful, associating their relationship with YHWH to their own personal accomplishments. The Lord does not choose us based on our own merit or accomplishment. Often He chooses what we would consider the underdog or someone who can never accomplish what He calls them to do on their own. He does so to make it clear to His people that it is He who delivers the victory and not them on their own. This actually helps us not to get prideful and independent from Him. It helps draw us near to Him and reminds us we can depend on Him as our faithful, loving Father.

Another common mistake people make is that YHWH will accept and bless everyone the same just how we are, no matter what amount of sin we embrace and accept. Quite simply, this is wrong. He is faithful to those who keep His covenant, who love Him, who keep His commandments. He repays those who hate Him. The warning is clear and direct.

Deuteronomy 7:7-11

     7“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9“Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11“Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.

There is no excuse for our churches and culture to ignore this and teach that all are accepted as they are regardless of behaviors and attitudes filled with sin or holiness. They are leading people away from YHWH and on a path to hell.  Be sure you do not accept the common false teaching that helps people get complacent accepting their sin. We are called by YHWH to repent of sin and obey His commandments faithfully. It affects our relationship with Him dramatically. Our behaviors and attitudes are a reflection of whether we love ourselves or YHWH more. If we say we love YHWH but do not obey Him, the truth is not in us.

John 14:15, 21-24

 15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

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21“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

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Tolerance of Sin Is Not A Virtue

YHWH does not consider tolerance of worship of false gods to be a virtue. This may come as quite a hard message for many who are desensitized by worldly influences which constantly preach tolerance of all types of sin as if it is a virtue.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6

     1“When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3“Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. 5“But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. 6“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

YHWH inherently recognizes and warns His people not to intermarry and not to accept their false gods and worship practices. He instructs His people to tear down even their altars and pillars and idols.

Why?

Because these things are dedicated to sinful worship of false gods. Their continued existence, certainly with intermarriage, will draw some of YHWH’s people away from Him into false worship of worthless things. It separates YHWH from His people.

The same is still true today. Tolerating sin generally, and tolerating the worship of false religions or gods specifically, is not a virtue, but rather a trap. It separates YHWH from His people and leads to destruction for those individuals. We do not help them by tolerating and accepting their false beliefs and idols. We certainly don’t help those that are to come later by leaving all the pagan temples and idols around for them to consider in the future.

YHWH instructed His people rather directly and boldly to be set apart from these things and maintain a very important separation from those things which would in turn separate YHWH from His people. He did so for their benefit, not His. We should apply this principle still today with vigilance.

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You Shall Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart

The ten commandments do not represent the sum total of God’s law or instruction for His people. However. He saw fit to focus on these 10 as He addressed the people. Much more detail was shared with the people through Moses and is available for us to study and learn in scripture. The point is, that learning and obeying these 10 commandments is not sufficient but it is a good place to start.

Some immediately want to say that this is out of date, “Didn’t Jesus say to love God and love others was all we need to do?”

Matthew 22:34-40

     34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Context is important. This is not a new commandment replacing the others. Jesus lived obeying the law of Moses and quoting from it in His teaching. He explicitly said He did not come to change the law.

Matthew 5:17-19

      17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus is essentially saying is that He can summarize God’s instruction down to loving God and loving one another. However, we don’t get to define what that means on our terms. All too often people today define that as accepting sin and encouraging people that they do not have to repent of sin to be in right relationship with God. God already defined what it means to love God and love one another. As a starting point, we can use the 10 commandments. The first four are about our relationship with God and the next 6 are about our relationship with each other. This is not an all inclusive list, but it is a good place to start and to a health check on our relationship with God and others. We focus today on our relationship with God.

Deuteronomy 5:6-15 (the first four commandments)

      6‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

      7‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

      8‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

      11‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

      12‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your Go

You shall have no other gods before Him. This is not just limited to pagan worship of false gods. This includes also anything we put our primary loyalty or devotion to instead of God. The best way to measure that is looking at how you spend your time, money, and talent. Love of money is common. Career or power/prestige. Even something as simple as sports can take the place in your heart and life where God should be. Even a relationship with a spouse or children should not replace God as your primary focus. Don’t assume you are putting God first. Prove it to yourself. Where is the evidence, or fruit of Him being first in your life? Complacency is an enabler on the path to hell and separation with God. We should be pursuing a relationship with God like we pursued with our spouse while we were dating with intent to marry. We wanted to be with them, know them, learn about what is important to them. Do we do this with God?

You shall not make an idol to worship. Do not make even a graven image of God to worship. Worship God Himself. It is too easy for us as people to get focused on the image instead of God. This makes Him angry. He makes a point here to say how He shows “lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Loving God and obeying His commandments go together. If you love Him, you obey Him. If you refuse to obey Him, you do not love Him, despite what your feelings tell you. You could say you love your spouse, but do you really if you ignore their desires and wants or even reject them directly? God promises to show lovingkindness to those who obey Him, not to those who don’t. We are not worthy of His love and He does not owe it to us just for existing. That is not how love really works.

You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. This includes not misusing His name. Today it is shameful that people who may claim to follow Christ use the words we use to refer to “Jesus” and “God” as if they are curse words to be uttered carelessly. I recognize these are not the actual names of God but that is not the point. This extends to also how we talk about God. How we talk about someone, their reputation, also reflects on their “name”.  Someone may have a “good name” or a “bad name” based on reputation. All too often many who claim to follow Christ speak poorly of our Lord or change what it is the Bible documents from what He taught and what He followed (e.g. Old Testament). People frequently blame God when something goes wrong but give Him no credit when things go well. We are called to rejoice always… to trust Him when things are tough and when things are going well. Our complaints and blaming of God reflects more our sour heart than any failing on God’s part.

Observe the Sabbath day. God set one day apart in seven. He set apart by the Hebrew calendar what we now consider Fri at sunset until Sat at sunset.  This is the seventh day of the week and it is to be holy, set aside even during harvest and busy times when we have seemingly important stuff to do. There are other Sabbath’s also associated with the holy days God instructs us to obey as well. All too often today, Sabbath is completely ignored. (I am not focused in this discussion on those who celebrate Sabbath on Sundays vs. Saturdays. Their hearts are obedient toward God in seeking to obey Sabbath.)

Don’t just assume you are doing everything well. Consider this a health check on your relationship with God. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Most of us would admit we have further to go to live up to this standard… and we need God’s help to get there. Ask for Him to help you love Him more. Then look to understand more about how to demonstrate love for God through your decisions and attitudes of submission and obedience to Him.

Continue with related article, You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself, focused on the last 6 of the 10 commandments.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.