prophets – The Core of the Bible

Resurrection part 4: The significance of Messiah’s resurrection

The belief in Yeshua as Messiah necessitates a belief in his resurrection, otherwise the whole of the Bible narrative falls apart and is robbed of its true meaning.

Core of the Bible podcast #124: Resurrection part 4 – The significance of Messiah’s resurrection

Up to this point in our resurrection series, we have covered a lot of ground in relation to the topic of resurrection.

In the first essay, we looked at individual resurrections in the Bible, and the teaching of Yeshua on the idea that eternal life was capable of being bestowed within this lifetime and then also to be carried on in the next.
Next, we reviewed how judgment and resurrection were described in the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Although they each prophesied of a collective physical resurrection of Israel from its captivity, it was an allegorical resurrection which pointed to their restoration in their land and their inheritance after their captivities of judgment were completed.
Last time, we reviewed the timing of Daniel’s prophecy of a final resurrection of judgment which also included not just a restoration to the inheritance, but a bestowal of eternal life. Due to the corruption of that first century generation, it appeared that judgment was carried out in the final days of national Israel in 68-70 AD, and spiritual life was granted in the establishment of prophetic Zion, the eternal city/Kingdom of God.

Now we come to the most famous of all resurrections, the resurrection of Yeshua Messiah, himself. As mentioned previously, the apostle Paul believed that Yeshua’s resurrection was absolutely a central doctrine of the nascent believing community:

1 Corinthians 15:13-14 – But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Messiah has been raised. And if Messiah has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

While in previous essays we looked at how Yeshua himself taught about the resurrection of others, today I would like to focus on Messiah’s own resurrection, and the meaning with which it is infused from the rest of the biblical writings in the Tanakh. To be clear, I will not be dealing with evidences for the resurrection of Messiah, as I believe that is well attested in many other commentaries and studies which are readily available for anyone to research further. I am assuming that most of you reading or listening to this today believe the resurrection of Messiah is true, as I do. In these studies I am choosing to look at resurrection as a theme or motif throughout the Bible, and what the implications are for the believer today.

To best understand Messiah’s resurrection, I think we would do well to understand it from his perspective, as much as possible. To do so, we will be looking at the evening of the day of his resurrection, and how he explained to his disciples what had happened. In two conversations, Yeshua was able to recount for his disciples the meaning of his resurrection in the context of the entire Bible.

Firstly, Yeshua encountered two unnamed disciples of his as they traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus, debating between themselves the meaning of what had occurred since the crucifixion and empty tomb had just been discovered that morning.

Luke 24:15-16 – And while they were discussing and arguing, Yeshua himself came near and began to walk along with them. But they were prevented from recognizing him.

As they discussed the confusion of the events of the day, Yeshua began to instruct them.

Luke 24:25-27 – He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! “Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

Later that same evening, Yeshua appeared to the eleven remaining disciples and repeated this same information.

Luke 24:44-47 – Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

While the details of these conversations that Yeshua had with these disciples and the explanation of how he fulfilled what was written in the Tanakh are not recorded for us, I believe we can still glean some of the passages that he may have represented to those disciples by reading how the early believing congregations interpreted key passages from Moses, the psalms, and the prophets. His followers would memorialize some of these passages within the New Testament writings which we can reflect on in the context of Yeshua’s fulfillment of these things.

WRITTEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES

Even during his ministry, Yeshua made it clear he was fulfilling the very scriptures in which the Jews continually searched for their Messiah.

John 5:45-47 – Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?“

In what ways did Moses write about Messiah over a thousand years before Yeshua even walked the earth? One of the most prominent statements from Moses was his prediction that God would raise up a prophet like himself from among their own people.

Deuteronomy 18:15 – “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear…”

Early in the gospel of John, we find Philip recognizing this very passage being fulfilled in the person of Yeshua as he excitedly tells Nathanael about him.

John 1:45 – Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Yeshua, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

The apostle Peter even urgently preached this very passage to those Jews who witnessed the healing of the lame man in the temple courts:

Acts 3:22 – Moses said to the fathers, ‘Yahweh your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’

That Yeshua was to be a prophet like Moses can be illustrated by reviewing some parallels between the lives of Moses and Yeshua:

They both spoke the words of God to the people

Exodus 4:12 – Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

John 12:44, 49 – And Yeshua cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. … For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment–what to say and what to speak.

They both provided the source of life

Numbers 21:8 – Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

John 3:14-15 – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

They both provided the bread of heaven

Exodus 16:14-15 – When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food Yahweh has given you to eat.”

John 6:32, 35 – Yeshua said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. … Yeshua replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

They both proclaimed the commands of God from a mountain

Exodus 24:12 – Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

Matthew 5:1-2 – When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”

Yeshua’s resurrection proved that everything Moses was for the natural, fleshly nation of Israel, Yeshua was going to be for the spiritual, heavenly kingdom of God.

That Yeshua was not just like Moses, but was also a prophet is illustrated by these few examples.

He foresaw his own death and resurrection. Mark 8:31: “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.“
Yeshua also prophesied of the expansion of the worship of the one true God beyond the land and leadership of Israel. John 4:20-21 – [The woman at the well said] “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Yeshua told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
He foresaw the complete destruction of the temple within that generation. Matthew 24:1-2, 34 – As Yeshua left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.” … “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.“

What other kinds of things can we find in the books of Moses that illustrate the work of Messiah?

In God’s condemnation of the serpent in the opening chapters of Genesis, we find a prophecy about the “seed of the woman” who would gain dominion over the power of the serpent:

Genesis 3:15 – I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

After sparing Isaac on the altar, God related to Abraham how his offspring would bring blessing to the rest of then nations.

Genesis 22:18 – “And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

This blessing to all nations was to come through the seed of Abraham. The apostle Paul writes about the nature and identity of this seed.

Galatians 3:16 – Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Messiah.

It was through this Messiah, the seed of Abraham, that these blessings would be poured out into the world.

Additionally, the entire narrative of the closing fourteen chapters of Genesis, 28% of the whole book, are consumed with telling the story of Joseph, one who was separated from among his brothers, was considered dead, and yet was discovered to be alive and ruling over the entire known world at the right hand of the supreme ruler of the world of that time, Pharaoh. The parallels in the story of Joseph to the life of Messiah have been enumerated over the centuries and illustrate in true allegory the role and character of Messiah.

Even the biblical calendar described in the law of Moses explains the work of Messiah. While all of the annual moedim or seasonal appointments illustrate Messiah, two in particular are stark indicators of his ultimate glory:

Day of Atonement: the sacrifice of Messiah for Israel’s sin illustrated by the double-goat ceremony, one who dies and one who yet lives.
Yom HaShemini/Eighth Day: the eternal Kingdom illustrated by the Eighth Day, the day beyond the seven days of this natural world cycle.

These examples only scratch the surface of the ways Messiah had been prefigured in the writings of Moses, and how his work was to move Israel from the natural (represented by following Moses and doing the letter of torah) into the spiritual (represented by following Messiah and doing the torah of God from the heart). Only a resurrected Messiah could accomplish what was to become eternal and spiritual.

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Yeshua not only represented to his disciples that Moses had written about him, but also the prophets. What are some examples of prophetic writings that he may have discussed with them on that road to Emmaus?

WRITTEN IN THE PROPHETS

From Peter’s speech in the temple:

Acts 3:24 – “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

What kinds of things were foretold within the writings of Israel’s prophets?

Israel was promised a King

Most believers are very familiar with a verse in Isaiah which usually becomes very prevalent around Christmastime:

Isaiah 9:6 – For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

But if we keep reading into the very next verse, we find that a very great promise is provided to Israel:

Isaiah 9:7 – The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will accomplish this.

This prophetic announcement of the permanent rule of Messiah over God’s Kingdom, a David-like figure, became the hope of Israel. Even to this day, Jews are expectantly awaiting their Messiah. Sadly, they do not recognize that he has come and he is already reigning in the eternal kingdom of God.

The angelic messenger Gabriel is also recorded as conveying this kingship of Yeshua to Mary, Yeshua’s mother, of the significance of her miraculous child:

Luke 1:31-33 – “Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.“

Micah 5:2, 4 – Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times. … He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of Yahweh, in the majestic name of Yahweh his God. They will live securely, for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah 9:9 – Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

This prophecy is even declared by the writers of scripture to have been fulfilled by Messiah in the final week of his life.

John 12:12-16 – The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel! ” Yeshua found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

Most importantly, within the prophetic books Israel was promised an eternal inheritance:

Daniel 2:44 – “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

We see how this eternal kingdom would be set up “in the days of those kings”. The kings mentioned in the vision were the feet of iron mixed with clay, which most commentators equate with the Roman empire. This kingdom to be established by God was to be set up in those days, and it was to endure forever.

That this Messianic figure would be killed and rise from the dead is not only illustrated allegorically by the story of Joseph (said to have been killed by wild animals, but is then discovered alive), but the resurrection is conveyed by Yeshua’s own use of the story of Jonah from that prophetic book:

Matthew 12:40 – “For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Luke 11:30 – “For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

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WRITTEN IN THE PSALMS

Now that we have looked at some of the indications of Messiah in the writings of Moses and the Prophets, we turn to the Psalms. While there are many psalms which have Messianic overtones, Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted passages in the New Testament writings.

Psalm 110:1-4 – A Psalm of David. Yahweh says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Yahweh sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

This teaches us how Yeshua’s resurrection established him not only as the permanent ruler of God’s Kingdom, but also a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The writer to the Hebrews explains how this oath of God ensured that Messiah had to rise from the dead in order to establish the eternal priesthood within his Kingdom.

Hebrews 7:20-25 – And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.'” This makes Yeshua the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently,because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

The Psalms also speak of his resurrection before his dead body would become decayed.

Psalm 16:10 – For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Yeshua’s resurrection demonstrated that he was truly the Son of God, his King, receiving the Kingdom assigned to David.

Psalm 2:6-8 – “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

This psalm confirms that the King that Yahweh desired to place on the throne of his Kingdom, the prophetic New Jerusalem of Zion, was to be his own Son. He would inherit not just the land of Israel, but have the nations before him.

These qualities were also brought out in Paul’s sermon in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, as he quoted several of the psalms regarding the resurrection of God’s own son, reigning on the throne of David:

Acts 13:30-35 – But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Yeshua, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

We have already seen how strongly Paul felt that the resurrection of Messiah was central to the story of redemption, and here we see him piling on these several passages from the Prophets and Psalms that we have just reviewed to corroborate that Yeshua fulfilled what was written and promised to their fathers in generations past.

1 Peter 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Messiah. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Yeshua Messiah from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

An inheritance that was to be imperishable, undefiled, and unfading would only be possible with an ever-living Prophet, King, and Priest. Israel’s eternal inheritance was bound up together with a living representative of an everlasting covenant so that the Kingdom of God would be firmly established and would never pass away. The resurrection of Yeshua accomplished all of these things.

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We saw in our last essay how the kingdom was always meant to be spiritual, because only spiritual things can last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18 – So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The resurrection of Yeshua enabled all of these qualities to become true, not just for a generation or even for a particular earthly reign, but forever.

Israel was promised a prophet like Moses, and Yeshua’s resurrection allows him to be that prophet forever.
Israel was promised a king like David, and Yeshua’s resurrection allows him to be that king forever.
Israel was promised a priest like Melchizedek, and Yeshua’s resurrection allows him to be that priest forever.

Therefore, the resurrection of Yeshua was an absolute necessity which is why Paul would write:

1 Corinthians 15:14 – and if Messiah has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

The belief in Yeshua as Messiah necessitates a belief in his resurrection, otherwise the whole of the Bible narrative falls apart and is robbed of its true meaning. One cannot be true without the other: a resurrected Messiah makes no sense without the full context of the rest of the biblical narrative and promises made to Israel, and the biblical narrative and promises require an eternal Prophet, King, and Priest.

Without an eternal Prophet, we cannot know the will of God. Without an eternal King, we have no righteous authority. Without an eternal Priest, we have no atonement for sin. However, the whole thing put together results in a beautiful harmony of God’s three-fold provision for his people, and for any who choose to align themselves with the God of Israel. He has established his eternal King upon his throne, an eternal Prophet who reveals the will (or Word) of God to his people forever, and an eternal Priest who always lives to intercede for those who come to him.

This is why Messiah has supremacy over Adam, because he has conquered not only sin but death.

Romans 5:17 – If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man [Adam], how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Yeshua Messiah.

This is why Messiah has supremacy over Moses, since Moses faithfully created and cared for the Kingdom of God on the earth (the house of Israel) in his generation, but it is through Messiah that the new creation of the eternal Kingdom of God has been built.

Hebrews 3:2-3 – He [Yeshua] was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God’s household. For Yeshua is considered worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder has more honor than the house.

If Yeshua truly is our Prophet, King, and Priest, then for believers there really is no need any longer for earthly prophets, kings, or priests. Our primary allegiance belongs to Yahweh through his provision of our ultimate Teacher, Authority, and Intercessor, Yeshua, not to some earthly counterfeit. While we still need to abide by the rulers of this earth, our ultimate allegiance belongs only to Yahweh through his Messiah, Yeshua. This is why no natural nation, entity or organization can claim supreme authority as the “true” people of God or belief system because only a spiritual entity, the Kingdom of God, is eternal; all else is subject to death and corruption. Only God’s Word and his Kingdom with his designated and chosen Prophet, King, and Priest is eternal.

Because of his resurrection, only Yeshua Messiah has the right to stand in authority over all other belief systems. By conquering death he has validated forever the truth that he taught, fulfilling all that was written about him in the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, just as he had explained to his disciples. By being raised from the dead, he became the genesis of a whole new creation, a new heavens and a new earth!

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 – So from now on we have known no one according to the flesh, and even if we have known Messiah according to the flesh, yet now we know him no more; so that if any one is in Messiah — he is a new creature! The old things did pass away; behold, all things have become new.

God has renewed, restored, and resurrected his people in Messiah Yeshua. The very real and tangible resurrection of Messiah after his crucifixion was the physical token revealing the genesis of this new creation; in Messiah, all things are already new! Because of Messiah’s resurrection, believers today can have not only hope through the struggles in this life, but the ultimate hope in an instantaneous and eternal existence in God’s presence once this life is through.

Speaking to Martha at the tomb of her brother Lazarus, Yeshua uttered what I believe were the most important words to give believers hope in this life:

John 11:25-26 – Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrectionand the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Well, this series has been a long journey and has taken us into some areas that are not typically reviewed in the context of resurrection. However, I truly hope that through all of these scriptural detours and rabbit holes that there are at least a couple of concepts and ideas to encourage you to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Resurrection part 1: What Yeshua taught

According to Yeshua, the resurrection is eternal life. This is both the present state and the living hope of every believer.

Core of the Bible podcast #121 – Resurrection part 1: What Yeshua taught

Today we are starting a new, four-part series on the topic of resurrection. When believers today consider the topic of resurrection, they will typically be focusing on the resurrection of Messiah, and they would be right to do so. The resurrection of Messiah has immense significance, and because of this, we will be concluding this series with a whole episode on its ramifications.

However, if most Bible believers today are discussing personal or general resurrection, they will usually point to the lengthy passage on resurrection penned by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. In fact, the apostle Paul explains how the concept of resurrection is an essential doctrine for those who believe in Messiah.

1 Corinthians 15:12-14 – Now if Messiah is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Messiah has been raised; and if Messiah has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

Paul’s logic is simple and bold: if there is no such thing as resurrection, then Messiah has not been raised, and therefore the faith stemming from Messiah’s teachings is pointless and of no value. This is because one of the key things Messiah taught was that not only was resurrection was a reality, it was that he himself was the embodiment of resurrection and life. Therefore, personal resurrection is an integral hope of every believer in Messiah.

Like every other grand doctrine in the Bible, the topic of resurrection is not without its own complexity. I have found that resurrection is a wide-ranging topic in the Bible. Within its pages there are mentions of many individual resurrections, but there are also indications of collective types of resurrection, as well. Additionally, in a prophetic sense, resurrection is tied together with aspects of judgment which helps to illustrate the national arc of ancient Israel. All of this is combined with the use of ancient metaphorical and literary word pictures which can further distance us from the culture in which these concepts are presented.

The complexity of this concept is evident even among the Jews in the time of Yeshua, as there was sharp disagreement between the Pharisees and Sadducees on the nature and reality of resurrection, a topic we will touch on in today’s episode as we explore Yeshua’s teachings on this subject.

Because of this complexity, I am going to be spending the next several episodes reviewing resurrection from several different perspectives, grouped into four broad categories:

Instances of individual resurrections, and also how Yeshua taught about resurrection
Prophetic indications of collective resurrection and judgment
The resurrection at the last day
The implications of the resurrection of Messiah

So, to begin with, let’s start our journey by looking at some of the original language definitions of what resurrection actually means. In the Hebrew of the Tanakh several different words describe resurrection: chaya meaning to live or be revived, quts meaning to awaken (as from sleep or death), and qum meaning to arise or stand up. As we move into the Greek of the New Testament writings, the terms which include resurrection, or being raised, combine to form one of the most pervasive topics in the New Testament as a whole, occurring in all four gospels and over one hundred times total in the Greek. In the Greek, resurrection is based primarily on the Greek word anistemi which means to arise or stand up, very closely aligned with the Hebrew qum. It is used in the sense of arising as from a seated or lying position to standing, to raise up (either from the dead, or as an instance of causing to be born), or to rise up against an enemy.

Now that we have some basic definitions in place, we can begin reviewing a biblical record of resurrections in the Bible. Did you know that there were at least 8 different individuals listed in the Bible as being resurrected from the dead besides Messiah? In each of these instances, based on the original language definitions we have just reviewed, the individual was described as being revived, awakened, and then they rose up.

Resurrection of the widow’s son in Zarephath through the prophet Elijah (1 Kgs 17:17–22)
Resurrection of the Shunammite’s son through the prophet Elisha (2 Kgs 4:18–37)
Resurrection of the man thrown into Elisha’s grave (2 Kgs 13:20)
Resurrection of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:41)
Resurrection of the young man at Nain (Luke 7:14)
Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:38–44)
Resurrection of Tabitha/Dorcas (Acts 9:36–42)
Resurrection of Eutychus (Acts 20:7–12)

So, what is it that we can discern from reviewing all of these instances of physical, individual resurrections throughout the Bible?

First of all, I think it’s worth noting that there are quite a few; eight individuals who were raised from the dead! Interestingly, if you have listened to the previous study on the biblical holiday of Yom HaShemini, the Eighth Day, you may recall how the number eight is typically used throughout the biblical narrative in the context of new beginnings and new life, and here we see eight individual raised to life!

Additionally, if you take the time to read each of these accounts, you may find some striking similarities between these events.

An individual has died but then is brought back to physical life through the actions or the presence of a prophet or man of God.
God is glorified
The ministry of the prophet is validated

And while we don’t have scriptural records to indicate this, there is no reason to think that any of these individuals were raised to physical eternal existence; it is assumed that they once again died ordinary deaths at some point after having been raised.

For now, we can see how resurrection is simply an accepted reality throughout the entire Bible to demonstrate the power of God and to validate the teachings of his prophets. God repeatedly used these individual resurrection events to encourage his people that his power extends beyond death, and how this physical life is only one part of our conscious existence. What these accounts do for us is to set a baseline understanding that something is going on with the conscious existence of those whom God loves: they appear to continue to exist as individuals beyond their physical life, and are somehow “brought back” to live out the remainder of their physical lives.

For each of these individuals, their bodies were dormant and cold, and yet through the process of resurrection, their life returned, their bodies grew warm, and they opened their eyes and began to move again, as if simply being awakened from sleep. So, one of the primary metaphors used for death is this idea of sleep. Yeshua used this term in speaking of his friend Lazarus.

John 11:11-13 – He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.” Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” Yeshua, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep.

The apostle Paul also used this metaphor of sleep for death.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 – We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, in the same way, through Yeshua, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

So, here’s something a little off the beaten path to consider: because of this symbolic relationship of death with sleep, what if the natural process of sleep and awaking from sleep is simply a daily illustration that God has given us of the very real hope of life after death? Just as we all sleep, we all are subject to death. But as we all awake, we are all subject to the power of God in maintaining our essence, our spiritual existence, beyond this physical life.

While this may be an interesting rabbit hole to go down, for now, we must keep the biblical passages in their context and what these events accomplished. Through each of the individual resurrections, God was glorified through his servant, and the authority of his prophets and disciples in conveying the truth of God was confirmed. This is a powerful testimony to the work of God in establishing the principles of his Kingdom in this world, and providing hope to his people that some form of conscious existence continues beyond this physical lifetime.

Now, let’s turn to the teaching of Messiah on this subject. As I have said many times before, Yeshua did not arrive on the scene in first century Israel and just invent a bunch of new ideas, including the idea of resurrection. What he taught about it builds on examples and representations, sparse as they may be, that come from the Tanakh, or Old Testament. These expectations would have been the ones he was building on as he explained the true meaning of resurrection as it is intended for those in the Kingdom. Besides the references to individual resurrections in the Tanakh that we just reviewed, there are really only three main passages which discuss a larger, corporate resurrection of some kind:

Isaiah 26:19 – Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.
Ezekiel 37:12 – “Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel.
Daniel 12:2 – Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.

So, while I mentioned resurrection is only briefly described in these few passages of the Tanakh (each of which we will review in more detail next time), there is an understanding that of the two ruling religious groups in Israel at the time of Yeshua, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, only the Pharisees believed in a collective resurrection. The Sadducees were not fully accepting of the prophetic writings outside the core books of Moses, and therefore would not typically give much credence these passages we just reviewed. So, in order to justify their own position and to possibly discredit Yeshua, they planned to confront him and test him to see what his doctrine was on the topic of resurrection. To do so, we can see how the Sadducees posed a “thought experiment” that was designed to force Yeshua to choose sides on the resurrection question, and potentially disqualify him as the Messiah.

Matthew 22:23-28 – That same day some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up to him and questioned him: “Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second also, and the third, and so on to all seven. Last of all, the woman died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had married her.”

We know they didn’t really believe in the resurrection, so they just took the concept and mockingly strung together a logical conclusion based on the Mosaic rules of Levirate marriage, or the familial responsibility for close relatives to maintain the family name. However, rather than take the bait of their straw man argument, Yeshua decides to take a different tack, and in so doing, he reveals for us an aspect of resurrection that many to this day may not have seen.

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So, after hearing the carefully staged question of the Sadducees regarding how the rules of marriage could possibly apply in the resurrection, Yeshua provides a direct response:

Matthew 22:29 – Yeshua answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.”

Right to the point, Yeshua immediately recognizes their attempt at creating conflict with an absurdly speculative scenario on a point of Mosaic law. He simply shrugs it off by saying, “You’re wrong.” He then implies their non-acceptance of the prophetic writings is also incorrect by saying, “you don’t know the Scriptures.” And finally, he states their ignorance of the truth demonstrates they don’t really understand “the power of God.”

Then he directly answered their thought experiment: “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven,” (Matthew 22:30). Yeshua states there is no marriage in the resurrection state, therefore the Levirate rules of marriage would no longer apply. But he decided to take this opportunity to push their thinking on the topic a little further and in the process provides insight on what true resurrection looks like:

Matthew 22:31-32 – “Now concerning the resurrection of the dead [that is, since you brought it up], haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

By redirecting their focus to the story of the burning bush in Exodus, he now confronts them squarely on their own turf, as they would be forced to agree with a concept directly taught from one of the books of Moses. He basically pulled a checkmate on their little thought experiment, and then redirected them to a passage they would have to agree was Scripture, and he confounded them in the process.

So what exactly was Yeshua driving at by bringing up this statement of Yahweh at the burning bush? This same passage is related by Matthew, Mark and Luke, so it obviously carried some heavy weight with the early believers. By saying that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” Yeshua appears to be teaching that at least the righteous dead (exemplified by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were to be considered alive to God, and therefore, already in a resurrection state. While the Sadducees were talking of a general resurrection in a future tense (who’s wife will she be?), Yeshua speaks about it in the present tense (they do not marry and are like angels in heaven). This implied that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of whom had lived physical lives fifteen hundred to two thousand years prior to the time of Yeshua, by the power of God had been retaining their identities and were to be considered already living in the resurrection state.

Luke’s account adds even a few additional snippets of information in Yeshua’s response to the Sadducees.

Luke 20:34-36 – Yeshua told them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage. “But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can no longer die, because they are like angels and are children of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.”

In this telling, Luke emphasizes a new facet of this confrontation: that Yeshua contrasts what he calls “this age” (marrying and giving in marriage) with “the resurrection from the dead” (where no marriage takes place). But he distinguishes a conditional participation in this resurrection (those who have been deemed deserving).

Just like the other passages, he also focuses on the (then) present nature of that resurrection age by saying that the dead are raised, and God is not the God of the dead, and that all (who are worthy) live to (or in) him. All of these points would have been revolutionary considerations for the Sadducees who were confronting him. This is why the passage concludes:

Matthew 22:33 – And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

Yeshua would have made his point clearly that the Sadducees not only did not understand the true nature of Scripture but also the power of God to provide life after physical death for the faithful. In these passages Yeshua seems to me to be implying that the righteous dead are already living in a resurrected state of some sort. For us, this broadens the meaning of the resurrection to become illustrative of the reality of life after physical death for believers.

To illustrate this further, in other instances Yeshua also teaches that those who could kill the body are unable to kill the true living essence of the individual; however, God has the ability to do so.

Matthew 10:28-31 – “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [Gehenna]. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
Luke 12:4-7 – “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into [Gehenna]; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

In these passages, Yeshua appears to be making a distinction between the body and the soul (life). One (the body) is able to be killed by men, but the other (soul/life) is not. However, God has the ability to destroy both body and soul/life of those who do not fear him, represented by the fires of the Gehenna trash dump. This is also brought out in another famous passage:

Matthew 25:41, 46 – “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! … “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Now, to be fair, none of these statements made by Yeshua were provided in the context of a teaching on the reality of some sort of conscious existence beyond this life, but instead these ideas are intermixed with teachings of the coming judgment upon that generation. However, this aspect of God as the life-giver and life-taker is a corroboration with the rest of Scripture that all life is in God’s hands; he provides life, and he can also cause those who remain rebellious to perish.

Job 33:4 – The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Even in one of the most famous passages of the Bible, Yeshua is quoted as speaking of belief in him as the Messiah is an indication of an eternal life that will never perish.

John 3:14-16 – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Now, to also carry the idea of “sons of the resurrection” forward that Luke had mentioned previously, I am reminded of Yeshua’s discussion with Nicodemus earlier on in this same passage.

John 3:3-7 – Yeshua replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can anyone be born when he is old? ” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born? ” Yeshua answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.”

Yeshua seems to be teaching that being born again or born from above is a spiritual reality that doesn’t have to wait for some future resurrection, but is something that can begin to be experienced in this life. This is also what he appears to have been discussing with Martha at the tomb of Lazarus before Lazarus was raised from the dead.

John 11:23-26 – “Your brother will rise again,” Yeshua told her. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

This seems to indicate to me that this resurrection life, exhibited by faith in Messiah, overlaps and is contemporaneous with this physical life. Here is another indication within John’s gospel:

John 5:21, 24 – “For just as the Father raises [present tense] the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives [present tense] life to whom He wishes…Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

Again, Yeshua seems to be teaching that eternal life was something that was being bestowed within the physical lifetime of the believer, where a future judgment was already bypassed due to the possession of this life by being faithful to God’s word in believing in his Messiah. However, he was also clear that this was not to forego the coming judgment upon those who refused to believe.

John 5:25-29 – Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth;those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

In this passage Yeshua appears to be teaching of a (then) present reality of passing from death to life, but also an event which was yet to happen in which the prior dead would come forth to a resurrection of judgment, both good and bad. In reality, he is drawing on the prophetic imagery of a collective resurrection and judgment which we encountered earlier from Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. This theme of collective resurrection and judgment in the prophets has a unique and significant meaning. Because it is so critical to our understanding of resurrection, these passages will be the subject of our next couple of visits to the resurrection topic.

From our brief introduction to the concept of resurrection today, we can summarize some of the main ideas of what we have examined in the following statements:

Individual resurrections hinted that conscious existence for the faithful is maintained beyond this lifetime.
The individual resurrections glorified the power of God, and validated the ministries of those who participated in them.
In the New Testament writings, Yeshua seems to be redefining resurrection with the Sadducees to mean something more than just a future, collective event. It was instead a present and active activity of the Father with the righteous dead who still consciously lived, since “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Resurrection as defined by Yeshua also seems to have been connected as a continuance of conscious existence for the righteous who have been “born again” and who believed in him as Messiah, since “he who believes in me will never die.”

Yeshua had modeled in prayer for his disciples what eternal life was.

John 17:3 – And this is [present tense] eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Yeshua Messiah whom you have sent.

The disciples would then carry this message forward to the scattered Israelites among the nations.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10: “But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Yeshua Messiah, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.“

According to Yeshua, the Old Testament saints experienced a resurrection state since he taught that they “all are alive to God.” In his view, it seems eternal life was a by-product of a life lived by simple faith in Yahweh. It was not necessarily an end to be sought in and of itself, but it was a consequence or result of being a faithful believer in Yahweh, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were. And, in New Testament times, if one truly believed in Yahweh, then it follows they would believe in the testimony he provided about his son, Messiah Yeshua.

According to Yeshua, the resurrection is eternal life. This is both the present state and the living hope of every believer. I believe it is in this sense that Yeshua truly conquered death and provided life eternal in the Kingdom for those who were to believe in him.

Next time, in the second installment of this study, we will explore the prophetic teachings of a collective future resurrection and how that concept squares with these ideas of eternal life.

Well, it’s my sincere hope that this introduction to the topic of resurrection has brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

The eternal Torah of the whole Bible

It is when we act reflexively with the spirit and intent of torah that we know life has actually come into being and changed us.

Core of the Bible podcast #105 – The eternal Torah of the whole Bible

Typically in these articles, we review the core bible principles of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom, integrity, vigilance, holiness, trust, forgiveness and compassion. But if you’re a regular listener you may remember that I’ve begun a year long journey of exploring some of the bigger doctrines in the Bible, and how those core principles apply to the larger biblical worldview.

As we go through these doctrinal statements in the coming weeks and months, I think you’ll find I typically do not hold to traditional perspectives on many of these topics, which is one of the reasons I am very excited to share them with you and possibly help you explore concepts and ideas that you may not have previously considered.

In today’s episode, we will be talking about and defining what torah is, what its purpose is, and how it is relevant for believers today.

So let’s begin with: what is torah? Torah is instruction. Torah is also known as the law of God. Anytime God commands or gives direction to something or someone, torah exists. I believe torah is through every fiber of the Bible, from the first page of Genesis all the way through the Revelation; yes, even into the New Testament.

Of course, this goes against the common understanding of the Torah being relegated only to the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy. This is even how Jews view their own holy writings, as we discussed in our last lesson. Their holy writings, what most Christians call the Old Testament, are made up of the Torah (law), the Nevi’im (prophets) and the Ketuvim (writings); the Tanakh.

However, regardless of this tradition the word torah itself simply means instruction or direction. It comes from a Hebrew root word, yara, meaning to throw or shoot, as in shooting an arrow toward a target. This is what torah’s purpose is, what it is designed to do; to point us to the target, or goal, that God would have us accomplish. This is why I believe that torah is all through the Bible: the whole collection of these writings is designed to point us toward the goal God has for every one of us: Messiah-like obedience as God’s children in the Kingdom of God. One of the primary reasons that I believe torah is eternal and not just from Sinai forward is because both Noah and Abraham are said to have kept God’s torah.

Many people don’t realize that Noah was given direction as to the making of a distinction between clean and unclean animals.

Genesis 7:2-3, 5 – “You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.” … And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.

How is it that Noah knew about clean and unclean animals when he lived over thousand years earlier than Moses receiving the commandments at Sinai? This implies that God’s torah was revealed previously, even if only in oral form at that point.

With Abraham also, even though he lived about five hundred years earlier than Moses, the Bible tells us that he followed God’s torah. In the book of Genesis when God was reinforcing the promises to Isaac that he had promised his father Abraham, God recounted to him how Abraham had and kept his commands and statutes.

Genesis 26:4-5 [God speaking to Isaac] “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws [torah].”

If God is here explaining how Abraham kept torah five hundred years prior to Moses and Sinai, and we’ve seen how Noah was diligent to maintain torah over a thousand years earlier than that, it should come as no surprise, then, how the whole Bible is is based on torah, or instruction, from God. And if this is true, then it becomes obvious why I believe torah is relevant for believers today, since it is essentially God’s eternal word that he always expects his people to abide by.

We have an understanding of torah first and foremost from the books of Moses, whose narrative describes the back-story and beginnings of the nation of Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then to Joseph and Moses, preparing them as a people to enter the land of Canaan. Those principles established in that root story are repeated and expanded through the Prophets and the Writings of the Tenakh (OT), along with the writings of the Messianic Believers (NT).

The regulating principle of God’s torah

Now here is something interesting about torah. The torah or instruction of God has a simple, self-regulating principle: anything that claims to be instruction from God but is not conforming with the revelation provided through the books of Moses (that is, Genesis-Deuteronomy) is not considered a valid teaching from God. These five books are the baseline recorded narrative of God’s interactions with men since the beginning, which is why they have collectively come to be primarily known as THE Torah. And this conformity to the revelation provided to Moses isn’t just my opinion, let’s see what the Bible says about it.

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.

Deuteronomy 12:32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

Therefore, if some new doctrine or teaching comes along that does not fit the principles, patterns, and standards of torah as previously revealed, then it cannot be considered a legitimate spiritual teaching from God, and should not be heeded.

As the biblical books and writings of the prophets were being written and added to the body of the Tanakh or Old Testament writings, they were being judged as to whether they were aligning with the revelation provided to Moses in those earlier books. For believers in Messiah, they also were also faced with ensuring the apostolic teachings were also in alignment with the principles, patterns, and standards of torah as revealed to Moses. We see that the New Testament writings are based on the teachings and revelation of Yeshua as the Messiah. So, for believers, we see Yeshua as the “prophet who was to come” whom Moses spoke of.

Deuteronomy 18:15 – “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. You shall listen to him…”

The coming of this Prophet was the ultimate goal and expectation of the revelation to Moses, along with all of the rest of the Tanakh, so much so that Jews today are still waiting for a Messiah since they don’t believe in Yeshua.

Since Yeshua did not add or take away from God’s torah, but simply clarified and fulfilled it, we must take care that we don’t add to or take away from what he taught, as well. Taking away something that has been previously revealed is equally as destructive as adding something that does not belong. Yeshua was careful to demonstrate he was not advocating taking anything away from God’s torah.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law [torah] or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law [torah] until all is accomplished. 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.

This idea of adding or taking away from torah is essentially a principle of testing. Moses warned about false prophets:

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ “When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Yeshua also warned about testing false prophets in a similar way. Just as Moses instructed that the results of a prophet’s prediction will prove him right or wrong, Yeshua explained the same principle using the fruits that are produced by those who have false teachings as an indicator of their falsehood.

Matthew 7:15-17, 20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. … So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

In this way, Yeshua demonstrated that his teaching on the testing of prophets was established upon the same principles of God’s torah as revealed to Moses.

The early believers in Messiah were also commanded to carry on this same practice of testing false teachers.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits [of the teachers] to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

How would they know what was “good” and what was false? Since they didn’t have a “New Testament” to go by, they were instructed to examine everything in light of the only torah that was already established, the Tanakh, which includes the torah originally related by God to Moses, to ensure they would not be led astray. In the process of following the Tanakh by believing in its fulfillment in Messiah, some of them then created the letters and epistles that have become the New Testament writings of today.

Fulfillment of Torah

True torah cannot be added to or diminished, but according to Yeshua, it can be fulfilled or brought to fruition. Yeshua fulfilled the ultimate purpose of torah, but that does not mean there is no longer a need to follow the principles of torah. He is our example of how to be obedient to the Father. He did not come to destroy torah, but to fulfill it. If he fulfilled it, so should we.

1 John 2:3-6 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

As we fulfill God’s torah by following its direction, then it accomplishes the intent that God had for it in the first place. This in itself is a principle of torah that the prophet Isaiah spoke of.

Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

According to the apostle John, the very definition of sin is exemplified as not abiding by torah.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [literally: torah-lessness].

Therefore, the opposite must also be true: obedience to torah leads to non-sinfulness, that is, to righteous and holy actions.

Romans 7:12 So then, the Law [torah] is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

However, we must remember that torah obedience on its own does not totally accomplish freedom from sin. This is because even though we may become aware of God’s righteous commands, we many times still desire our own ways.

In a moment, we will dive a little further into why this is so important when it comes to keeping the torah of God.

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So, while we may understand with our minds the importance of keeping God’s word according to his instruction or his torah, many times we still struggle, desiring our own ways. This is primarily due to the fact that, even though we may know what the right thing is to do, our hearts are still not right and we can’t find the strength necessary to be obedient.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, Yahweh, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

Zechariah 7:8-12 Then the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah saying, “Thus has Yahweh of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts [like] flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.”

Torah can tell us the right things to do, but it can’t make us do the right things with the right attitude and for the right reason.

Yeshua accused the Jewish leaders of this very thing. They tried to follow the letter of the Torah in scrutinizing detail, even adding their own man-made traditions in an effort to ensure the Torah commands themselves would not be violated. However, they missed the intended goal of torah because their hearts were not right before God.

Matthew 15:7-11 “You hypocrites [the Jewish leaders], rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hear is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines [of God] the precepts of men.'”

Matthew 23:23, 27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, 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. … “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness [torah-lessness].

The Jewish leaders were guilty of what the apostle Paul calls following “the letter of the law”, but not the spirit of it, and it resulted in hypocrisy which led them further from torah. Following the spirit of the law, and not just the letter of it, is what brings life.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as [coming] from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Jewish leaders were trying so hard to follow all of the rules that they missed the intent or spirit of the rules in the first place. This can be likened to a person at a busy traffic intersection who wants to cross the street. However, they are focusing so hard on staying within the lines of a crosswalk that they forget to check for traffic.

The letter of torah alone can be deadly if misapplied with the wrong spirit or intent. This is why acting on Bible verses taken out of context is so dangerous. For example I’ve heard people who claim to be believers justify retribution against others by saying, “the Bible says, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'” Yes, it’s true the Bible does say that, but the context is ancient Israelite civil law, not current day individual morality. Yeshua made it clear we are to love our enemies and do good to others as a way of demonstrating the love of God to them.

In a similar way, even though the Bible tells us the right things to do, it cannot bring life on its own.

Galatians 3:21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

The righteousness that Paul is speaking of here is the type that says we have right-standing in God’s eyes because we are doing what’s right. Paul is saying it takes more than just following a set of rules to be exhibiting true faith in God. Faith that honors God is simply believing what God said is true, and then being obedient to it; not the other way around.

God continues to teach people about his ways and lead people to Messiah through the symbols and object lessons of all of his torah. But just like graduating from one grade to another does not make all of what you previously learned vanish, it simply indicates that you have now earned a basic understanding of the rudiments of that grade level, and can now apply and follow those things that you have learned as you continue to grow.

Galatians 3:23-26 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Messiah, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua.

This passage is famous for causing confusion, as most Christians take away from it that if Paul is saying believers are no longer under the tutor of the Torah, then it must be done away with. Since we have already seen that we cannot take away from God’s torah without violating it, we should understand that Paul must be trying to teach something else here.

Here’s an analogy that may help: Once you graduate from school, the lessons you have learned don’t disappear as if they no longer apply. You are now able to take what you have learned and use it in practical ways all the time, even though you are not in school anymore. Therefore, you no longer require the tutor or the teacher, because what the teacher taught you is now ingrained in you, and you now do textbook things naturally without always needing to reference the textbooks. Therefore, you are no longer “under” the tutor, who would need to constantly go over the basics with you. The textbooks are still valuable and still true, and you will still abide by the principles in the textbooks, you just don’t need to reference them because you are already understanding and practicing what they teach.

Remember what the apostle John wrote to the early Messianic believers:

1 John 2:4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…

1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

His commandments are his torah, his instruction, his direction. If we are not abiding by the principles of torah, then that is evidence that we haven’t had our hearts truly changed. This is why believers should still follow the principles of God’s torah, even though we technically no longer need it as a tutor. It is being fulfilled in us as we live it out in sincerity and truth.

It is true that torah can give us indications of the right actions to do that lead to life. But it is when we act reflexively with the spirit and intent of torah that we know life has actually come into being and changed us.

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will put My law [torah] within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

So, my question to those who would maintain that torah has been done away in Messiah is this: If God always intended to put his torah in the heart of his people, why would torah be done away with? It’s the very thing that he wants to reside in our hearts!

This is what Paul was trying to show in relation to God’s torah; it hadn’t passed away, but those in Messiah were to consider themselves as passed away, jointly dead with Messiah. He wanted believers to consider themselves as dead to the letter of the law (i.e., from trying to earn their favor with God through it) so they could instead obey the spirit of it from the heart. This is because they had simply believed God, just like Abraham, and become risen as new creations in Messiah!

Just as Yeshua was risen from the dead, believers were to consider themselves as also alive from the dead; the dead obedience of rote tradition to the letter of the law. The torah was never meant to be done away, but it was meant to be fulfilled; fulfilled in God’s children as they obey it from the heart! It was to serve as an ongoing foundation for the believers heart-service to God which has only become possible based on the new life of faith in Messiah.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

So, as long as there are people who don’t know the God of the Bible, these principles, patterns, and standards of God’s torah will continue to lead people to the truth of his Messiah. This is how and why torah must be eternal. It is through the torah of God that they can become born from above, renewed in heart as new creatures in Messiah. Therefore, God’s torah is ultimately still a tutor for all among the nations, so that people will continue to learn and practice his ways and be led to new life in the Messiah where they can then obey it from the heart. As they come to believe in and follow his Messiah, the torah of God will then reside in their hearts and bear fruit among all men.

Psalm 119:142, 144, 152 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law [torah] is truth. … Your testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding that I may live. … Of old I have known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever.

Micah 4:2 Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh And to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law [torah], Even the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

Zion is the New Jerusalem, the residence of believers everywhere.

Hebrews 12:22-24 – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the gathered throngs and assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Yeshua the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

It is from Zion, this place of believing heart-obedience, that God’s eternal torah goes forth into all the world. This is how God’s kingdom is, and will continue to be, established on the earth.

Alright, so let’s quickly review some of the key points we covered today:

I believe torah is not just limited to the first five books of the Bible. Torah is instruction or direction from God that is throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis through Revelation.
Torah has a self-regulating principle. For something to be considered torah or instruction from God, it must be in agreement with the patterns, principles and standards that were revealed within the books of Moses. This applies to the teachings of Yeshua and the apostles, as well, since Yeshua clearly taught that he had no intent on abolishing torah, and in fact, upheld and fulfilled it.
The purpose of torah is that we also would fulfill it, not by simply following the letter of the law, but by fulfilling it in spirit from the heart, as new creations in Messiah. This is the intent that the prophets looked forward to in the New Covenant in Messiah.
Torah continues to instruct people and direct them to Messiah; that is its eternal purpose. We who are inheritors of the Kingdom of God shine forth from the prophetic city of Zion, the New Jerusalem, for the rest of the nations to be healed and brought into fellowship with their Creator.

Ultimately, I believe the core principles of the Bible, the basics of the eternal torah of God, were revealed through the Ten Commandments revealed to Moses and substantiated through the principles of the Sermon on the Mount taught by Yeshua. They can be summarized as follows:

Separate yourself to seek first the Kingdom with vigilance.
Love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength, trusting him for everything.
And love others as yourself with integrity, forgiveness, and compassion.

Next time, we will look at the doctrine of there being only One True God. This was the fierce monotheism of the ancient Hebrew people. I hope you can join us.

Remember, there is a Core of the Bible virtual study group that is hosted through the Marco Polo video chat app. It is designed to discuss the topics that we cover each week and to help people with responses to questions that may come up. If you are interested in joining the discussion, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group. And if you’re not sure about joining the group, you can always just email any questions you may have, as well.

Cultivating godly leaders of integrity

The fruit of a life lived in harmony with God’s Word is beneficial to all.

Matthew 5:20 – “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.”

With these words, Yeshua sets a contrast that he will continue to illustrate over and over in the gospels: the person of integrity will not simply follow outward rules but will be obedient to God from the heart. Through these contrasts which were on display by the majority of the religious establishment, Yeshua demonstrates that the opposite of integrity is not just lawlessness, but hypocrisy.

Matthew 23:2-3 – “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.”

Yeshua had warned about recognizing false teaching by evaluating the fruit of those who teach these things. If their lifestyles did not match what they were teaching about, then they could be ignored.

Matthew 7:15-17 – “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.”

The fruit of the religious leaders of Yeshua’s day had become so corrupt they no longer fairly represented Yahweh, and by their lifestyle they were judged by him as lawless. The third commandment of the Ten is to not take Yahweh’s name in vain, yet their entire religious lives centered on their vanity.

Matthew 23:27-28 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

His condemnation of the leaders was not just a rebellious act against authority, but a condemnation of their hypocrisy. Leaders, by the very nature of their responsibility, must be held to a higher standard.

James 3:1-2 – “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.”

Maturity in a leader is that they will be consistent between what they say and what they do. As believers, we should all be striving for that level of integrity in everything, and as God sees fit, godly leaders will then rise to prominence among his people. The flashy charisma of hypocritical false leaders will be shown for what it is as the fruit of a life that is not truly yielded to God. However, the leaders of integrity will demonstrate a heart for truth and obedience to God’s Word. This is the goal of integrity for all believers: to harmonize truth with actions.

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.

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Consistent compassion based on love for God

The heart of the Bible lies in the simplicity of its core message.

There are two great summaries in the Bible of the conduct that
God expects of mankind. To believers in Messiah, one of them comes to the surface of our thinking rather easily.

Matthew 22:35-40 – And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest? ” He said to him, “Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. “This is the greatest and most important command. “The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

According to Yeshua, to love God and to love our neighbor is the summary of all of the Law and the Prophets. However, there is another summary in the Old Testament that was spoken to the nation of Israel during one of their most turbulent times in their history.

The second of the great summaries of conduct that God expects of people occurred just prior to the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. A prophet by the name of Micah was tasked with lining out the sins of the nation as a witness against them of the impending judgment of God. The book of Micah is one long condemnation of their idolatrous and ungodly practices. Yet, even amidst the darkness of their actions, Micah provides a glimmer of insight: they ultimately knew the right thing to do but insisted on their own ways instead. He ironically presents their case as sarcastically asking, “What does God expect of us? Sacrifices of our animals or even the first born of our children?”

Micah 6:6-7 – What should I bring before Yahweh when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my own sin?

To this foolish complaint, the prophet Micah provides the bedrock of God’s just judgment:

Micah 6:8 – Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is Yahweh requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah then states what they already knew but were choosing to ignore. They were simply to perform true justice, to seek after merciful interactions with one another, and to be humble in their godly walk. Is this not saying the same thing as “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself?”

Micah could say that God had shown them what was good and what Yahweh expected of them, because he already had during the time of Moses.

Deuteronomy 6:5 – “Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 10:12 – “And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask of you except to fear Yahweh your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship Yahweh your God with all your heart and all your soul?

Leviticus 19:15 – “Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.
Deuteronomy 5:20-21 – “Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor. “Do not covet your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Leviticus 19:18 – “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.

When Yeshua stated the greatest commands, he was simply quoting Moses. This then, demonstrates how this simple principle of loving God and loving one’s neighbor is consistent throughout all of Torah: from Moses, to the Prophets, and into the New Testament with the teaching of Yeshua. This is the very basis, and the goal, of all biblical teaching.

If we are truly to love our neighbor, we must act in just ways, doing what is right by them according to God’s Word. We must also love them by demonstrating mercy when it is in our power to do so. And we must act in these ways with humility because of our respect and honor for God as we seek to walk in his ways.

1 John 4:7 – Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

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Which teachings in the Bible should we focus on the most?

God’s word directs us and establishes us in the correct paths that we may remain faithful and fruitful for God’s kingdom.

Core of the Bible podcast #60 – Which teachings in the Bible should we focus on the most?

Today we will be looking at the topic of vigilance, and how the quality of our walk with God will be directly proportionate to the amount of time we spend with God understanding and meditating on his commands. But just which commands are the most fruitful to focus our time and energy on?

In one of the most famous (and the longest) chapter in the Bible, we can gain some understanding of this principle.

Psalm 119:133 – Make my steps secure through your words, and do not let any wrongdoing control me.

Psalm 119:148 – I am awake through each watch of the night to meditate on your words.

If we take the immediate, surface meaning of each verse, we can see that abiding by God’s words makes our steps secure, they are firm and established on right principles. When we take the right steps, we will not be allowing any wrongdoing to control us; our sinful actions will be brought under the authority of the words of God.

Additionally, we can see the vigilance with which the psalmist illustrates the frequency with which we should be associated with the words of God. He states that he is “awake through each watch of the night” to meditate on God’s words.

Now a watch of the night is generally considered to be three hours, such as 6-9 pm; 9-midnight; midnight to 3 am; and 3-6 am. Of course, these are estimates since timekeeping devices were rude and not as accurate as our timepieces today. However, through the use of gravity water clocks or other visual star-based tools, general timekeeping could be maintained throughout the night and defined these various watches.

Regardless of the method, the result is that the psalmist relates how passionate he is to mediate on the commands of God, “through each watch of the night.” That is a commitment that few of us may realize today.

Now beyond the surface meanings which we can take away from these verses, I found an interesting underlying principle in the use of the Hebrew text where the word is translated either as word, or commands, or promise of God. Now, to me, these all have different meanings, so I wanted to try to understand more fully the intent of what is being described here and how it applies to the surface meaning we just discussed.

Now some of the English versions will translate the Hebrew for “words” as “promise,” as in “Make my steps secure through your promise…” However, as the the Keil and Delitzcsh commentary states: “imrah is not merely a “promise” in this instance, but the declared will of God in general.”

Is the “declared will of God” the same as the word of God?

I think we use the term “word of God” a bit loosely in our modern vernacular, meaning anything from the whole Bible, to a specific text, to the name of Messiah, to a personal prophecy one claims to receive. In my own writings, I will typically interchangeably use Word or Word of God with Torah, or the instruction of God. But in this case, I think we need to refine this distinction a little further.

When it comes to good and fruitful Bible study, I find it really helps to define terms and to follow those terms throughout various passages to see how they are applied and what kind of contexts they occur in. When we simply assume what a phrase means, we can many times inadvertently assign the incorrect meaning to a passage.

Looking at the two verses in Psalm 119 where this term occurs, it is actually a Hebrew phrase (beimratecha) that only occurs in this form in these two verses. The first is how following it keeps us firmly away from wrongdoing, and the second is that if we are passionate about it, we will meditate on it at all times.

Now Hebrew words have base forms that establish a root of a word, and most times we can gain a broader understanding of a word or passage by looking at the root word in different contexts. In this case, the root for beimratecha is imrah. We saw how the Keil and Delitzsch commentary defined this as the “declared will of God.” Yet, when we look at how imrah is used in other contexts, we begin to see a different emphasis. Here are some examples:

Genesis 4:23 – Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words [imrah]. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

Deuteronomy 32:2 – Let my teaching fall like rain and my word [imrah] settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

Psalm 17:6 – I call on you, God, because you will answer me; listen closely to me; hear what I say [imrah].

First of all, we can notice how these examples having nothing to do with the word of God per se, but with the spoken words of each of these individuals: Lamech, Moses and David. So this word imrah gives us the idea of speech or spoken words.

Every other instance of this Hebrew root-word imrah relates to to the word or words of God, and almost all occur throughout the psalms.

In one sense, we know that all true prophecy is ultimately from God, however, it was spoken (and written down) by men, even spoken by Yeshua.

2 Peter 1:20-21 – Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 1:1-2 – Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son…

This fascinates me, and makes me think of what words were specifically spoken by God, what words are the result of God’s actual speaking to his people?

I think you may know where I am going with this, because there are only a few specific instances where it is said God spoke decisively to the assembled group of people at once, where they directly heard the voice of God: Sinai and in the ministry of Yeshua.

Let’s look firstly at Sinai.

Exodus 20:1 – Then God spoke all these words: [and the passage goes on to list the Ten Commandments].

This incredible revelatory event freaked out the people so much that they begged for Moses to receive the instruction from God and relate it to them, but not for God to speak to them any longer.

Exodus 20:19 – “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”

This instance of God speaking directly to the entire congregation has a large emphasis throughout Hebrew thought even to this day. Jewish rabbinic lore even suggests that after every commandment spoken by God, the whole congregation physically died, and God brought them back to life each time. There are also legends that say all the people actually saw the voice or the soundwaves of God’s voice, and that it reverberated through the entirety of their bodies, through every atom or molecule.

While we may view these legends as fanciful embellishments to the story, they nevertheless present a basis for understanding just how significant an event this was in the life of Israel, and indeed, the world. God spoke directly to them, and the words he spoke were the Ten Commandments.

If we now revert to our study of the word imrah and view these passages as focused primarily on the spoken words of God, we find that the “word” that the psalmists focus on as being the primary way of keeping from sin is the spoken instruction of God: the Ten Commandments.

Psalm 12:6 – The words [imrah] of Yahweh are pure words [imrah], like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.

Psalm 18:30 – God – his way is perfect; the word [imrah] of Yahweh is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.

These instances of God’s spoken word make an interesting study. If we consider that the primary instruction that is spoken of as being the meditation of the righteous and the ensuring of avoiding sin is the Ten Commandments, we can see that an in-depth appreciation and ongoing evaluation of God’s words to his people has much benefit. The Ten Commandments are the basis of all of God’s word to his people, and the path to life that even Yeshua speaks of when asked of a bystander.

Matthew 19:17-19 – “‘… If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ ‘Which ones?’ he asked him. Yeshua answered: ‘Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Yeshua validates the keeping of the imrah, the spoken words of God that were known to his audience, but what of the other spoken words of God? The gospels reveal some other instances that we can also draw inspiration from.

At the beginning of the public ministry of Yeshua, John the baptizer received a sign that Yeshua was the One whom he had the privilege of revealing to Israel.

John 1:32-34 – And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. “I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on – he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ “I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The text is not clear that everyone else also saw the Spirit of God descending on him, but Matthew, Mark and Luke make it clear that God did make a spoken announcement at the same time to ensure everyone knew of the significance of Yeshua.

Matthew 3:16-17 – When Yeshua was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

Mark 1:10-11 – As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

Luke 3:21-22 – When all the people were baptized, Yeshua also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

So, these examples are from the beginning of Yeshua’s ministry and establish validity for the works and teaching of Yeshua over the course of the next three and a half years.

There still remains another instance where the spoken word of God is mentioned, and that is at the conclusion of Yeshua’s ministry.

John 12:26-30 – “If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say – Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Yeshua responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you.”

If the voice from heaven in these instances was indeed the voice of God heard by the assembled people, then it brings great significance to both the beginning of Yeshua’s ministry and the conclusion of it, validating who Yeshua was and also foretelling the glory that would be realized through his soon-coming crucifixion and resurrection.

This imrah or spoken words of God regarding his Son Yeshua presents a strong witness to the ministry of Yeshua and gives great weight to his teachings. In fact, Yeshua himself said repeatedly that he only taught whatever the Father instructed him to say.

John 12:49-50 – “For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. “I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

John 14:10, 24 – “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. … “The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

If we agree that the teaching of Yeshua is the teaching of the Father, then I submit that the greatest summary of the Father’s teaching that Yeshua provides us is in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua admonished his hearers that all stumbling-blocks to righteousness must be removed from their lives with extreme diligence. He uses the powerful imagery of going to the extent of cutting off body parts to maintaining purity and vigilance in obedience to the commands of God if necessary (Matthew 5:29-30).

This level of vigilance now brings us full-circle to the meditation on the imrah or spoken words of God throughout the watches of the night, as the psalmist suggests. Vigilance involves extreme dedication exemplified by staying up all night to study and meditate, or to remove body parts that are used in sinful activities. It’s not that these are actual physical things that we could realistically do, but it’s having the same sense of tenacity and passion for the spoken words of God to do so in striving for obedience to God in all things.

This is why I conclude that the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount are the core of the Bible message; these are the two primary sources of the purest instruction from God that we have recorded for us in the Bible.

The principal ideas conveyed in these passages is that the word of God establishes our way, makes a firm place for us to walk when we are struggling with the vanity of our own efforts. It implies that, left to our own ways, we will ultimately exhaust ourselves, panting breathlessly with those things that have the sum value of zero in the end.

By contrast, God’s word through the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount protects us, directs us, establishes us in the correct paths that we may remain faithful and fruitful for God’s kingdom. Let’s remember the surface teachings of the two primary verses in Psalm 119: When we take the right steps, we will not be allowing any wrongdoing to control us; our sinful actions will be brought under the authority of the words of God. By aligning our lives by the admonition of God through these passages, we can experience the life that God has designed for mankind since the beginning of time, and so his Kingdom can be realized in real time on the earth.

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The Anointed One is the exclusive Lord of the Kingdom

Yeshua has a radical message in light of a culture of inclusion.

1 John 2:21-23 – I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? This one is the anti-messiah: the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

The apostle John lays out some ground rules for spiritual truth and error. He begins with “no lie comes from the truth.” This statement on its own would do much to identify false teaching we see in the world today if we would simply take it at face value. Anything that is not true cannot be from the truth; simple in its profundity.

But then John takes it a step further by claiming that anyone who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah is a liar. This is strong language in today’s culture of inclusion. But the Bible is not limited by any cultural definitions. It can’t be, or it could not have survived for the millennia of its existence. The Bible rises above all culture because it is eternal.

John then ties faith in Messiah to belief in God as the Father. To deny one is to deny the other. This is how closely Yeshua is identified with the teaching and character of the Father. Yeshua clarified this for us prior to his crucifixion in his conversation with Philip.

John 14:8-11 – “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Yeshua said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.”

John goes so far as to say that those who deny Messiah are antichrists, or anti-messiah. This also substantiates another teaching of Messiah.

Matthew 12:30 – “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.”

Not recognizing Yeshua as the Messiah results in opposition to the purpose and plan of God for all time. John equates not believing that Yeshua is the Messiah means one does not have God, either.

To believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, or the “Christ,” is to acknowledge that he was anointed by God, for this is what the term itself means. If he was anointed by God to do and to teach the things he did, as he explained to Philip, then he maintained the exclusivity of his relationship with the Father as God. This is why to have one is to have the other, and to deny one is to deny both. This is also validates the Bible, because he only taught what was prophesied in the prophets and Writings (i.e., the Old Testament, or Tanakh).

Luke 18:31- Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
Luke 24:25, 27 – He said to them, “How foolish and slow you are to believe all that the prophets have spoken! … Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

The Messiah is the Lord of God’s Kingdom. Trust in Yeshua as the Messiah provides stability beyond any cultural variability. This stability carries over into one’s personal life and provides the believer with a solid basis for consistent practice in harmony with God’s will.

And accomplishing God’s will on the earth is what the Kingdom of God is all about.

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God’s people are identifiable through this one practice

God simply desires his people to be a compassionate people.

Luke 6:31 – Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.

In one timeless and profound sentence, Yeshua encapsulates everything that God had been repeating to his people time and again through his prophets.

Ezekiel 18:5, 7-9 – “Suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right: … “He doesn’t oppress anyone but returns his collateral to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. “He doesn’t lend at interest or for profit but keeps his hand from injustice and carries out true justice between men. “He follows my statutes and keeps my ordinances, acting faithfully. Such a person is righteous; he will certainly live.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

Zechariah 7:8-10 – The word of the LORD came to Zechariah: “The LORD of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another. “Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
Zechariah 8:16-17 – “These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your city gates. “Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all this” – this is the LORD’s declaration.

This is the great social justice that the Law was designed to create among the nation of Israel: people taking care of one another’s needs, demonstrating love to one another in practical ways.

Romans 13:8-10 – Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

Love is the fulfillment of the Law; love toward God first and foremost, and love for others. This is the summary of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

In our current day, it appears we, as a society, have strayed from both of these aspects. Love for the God of the Bible may be present in our private beliefs, but is not as evident in our outward actions toward others. If we love God, then we should demonstrate compassion and love to those around us who need it most.

James 2:15-18 – If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.

1 John 2:9-10 – The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
1 John 3:10 – This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
1 John 4:8-11, 21 – The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. … And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Yeshua said he didn’t come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. If Yeshua fulfilled the Law through love, then we should, also. This is why John states that if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

With this much prophetic pronouncement and apostolic emphasis on this topic, there is no doubt that this practice of outward compassion should be the primary characteristic of God’s people.

Micah 6:8 – Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is Yahweh requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

God simply desires his people to be a compassionate people. He has made it abundantly clear that our lives should be examples of love, mercy and compassion. And in the actual doing of this, people will see God.

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service.

Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvR_aNEyA7WEZJtF4B8fZ6g

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

The Torah of the kingdom

Yeshua said he did not come to abolish the Law, and we should never think that he did.

Matthew 5:17-19 – “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished. “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

In this famous passage, Yeshua ties the Law and the Prophets (the Torah) to the kingdom of God. The essence of the kingdom is being obedient to and maintaining the Torah or instruction of God.

For those of us brought up with Christian theology, this sounds contradictory to our modern ears. We have been taught that the Law was all about works and has passed away because now we are relating to God on the basis of his grace and mercy towards us. Therefore (according to what we have been taught) the Law is done away with, and we no longer need to keep it. Yet Yeshua said he did not come to abolish the Law, and we should never think that he did. In fact, he tied Torah obedience and teaching of Torah to the kingdom, so this cannot be true, that is, if we want to follow Yeshua’s instruction on this topic.

When we review what the Law and the Prophets says about itself, we find that the Torah of God is his instruction, his guidance that is intended for all of mankind. God first revealed it to Israel, and then it would be revealed to the world.

Israel was prophesied to have their hearts changed and to obey the Law from the heart:

Jeremiah 31:33 – “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” – the LORD’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Ezekiel 11:19-20 – “I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, “so that they will follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Beyond the remnant of Israel coming back to the Torah of the heart, the nations would also stream to the instruction of God.

Jeremiah 3:17 – “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

The nations would no longer to walk in the stubbornness of their heart because they would also desire to learn of God’s Torah.

Micah 4:1-2 – And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law [Torah], Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

According to Micah, this was prophesied to come about in the last days of the nation of Israel. Yeshua, as he spoke to two disciples in one of his resurrected appearances, revealed that this prophetic occurrence was unfolding before their eyes, that they were witnessing these things in the first century.

Luke 24:45-48 – Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

If Yeshua, post-resurrection, was attesting to the fulfillment of the Torah of God going forth from Jerusalem to all the nations, then there is no contradiction of his earlier statement that “whoever does and teaches these commands (i.e., Torah) will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

This is why the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount go together as the core of the Bible message. The Ten Commandments are the core of the Law and the Prophets, and the Sermon on the Mount is the core of Yeshua’s New Covenant teaching on the Law. Yeshua taught that although heaven and earth would constantly be passing away, his words would never pass away because they were based on the eternal Torah of God.

Daniel 2:44 – In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

If the kingdom of God is an eternal kingdom, then it makes sense that an eternal kingdom requires an eternal charter, an eternal set of guidelines. Taking Yeshua at his word and seeing how the prophets spoke of all of this coming to pass at the passing of the nation of Israel, we should take a closer look at what we have been brought up to believe about the kingdom and the Torah of God. If we are followers of Messiah, we should take him at his word that Torah, the instruction for his kingdom, would never pass away.

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service.

Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvR_aNEyA7WEZJtF4B8fZ6g

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

The modern idolatry of cultural acceptability

We, like our spiritual ancestors, are attempting to worship the one true God in amongst the cultural distractions of our day.

Throughout its history, the prophets of Israel had to continually contend with a nation that was distracted with practices other than those that God had provided for them. They were perpetually seduced by the culturally acceptable practices of the nations around them, the very thing that Moses had warned them against when they became a nation.

Deuteronomy 8:19: “It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”
Deuteronomy 12:29-31: “When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land; take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” You shall not do so to Yahweh your God: for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done to their gods…”

By the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the country had become so corrupt that they were openly worshiping the local gods (the “queen of the sky”) in blatant defiance to the word of God that had originally been given them by Moses along with the urgent warnings of the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 44:16-17: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.”

The logic of the people in that day was that their rebellious practices actually provided a bountiful economy for their people, so they had no intention of changing their practices. This was a fateful choice that led to the destruction of the nation.

It’s easy to view these ancient examples and point the finger at the unfaithfulness of the people of that time. But how we are like our faithless spiritual ancestors! We attempt to worship the one true God in amongst the cultural distractions of our day, claiming a similar necessity to maintain the status quo within our society.

This culture today, at least in my corner of America, is infected with the philosophies and practices of many different idolatries: polytheism, gender rebellion, environmental authoritarianism and self-directed hyper-tolerance. These are only some of the prevalent new gods of this age.

We must be vigilant in maintaining our devotion to the one true God in the face of these culturally acceptable norms that are diverting this generation, and succeeding ones, away from God.

These idols, and many others like these, have arisen due to our lack of vigilance in successfully implanting our faith in our children. We have allowed the seductive nature of unregulated online communication and social media to easily capture their attention, exposing them to unhealthy spiritual alternatives which quickly take root among the fertile soil of immature spirits.

While there are many positive aspects to digital communication in this age, we must actively engage in helping them discern what is true and right, not only what is flashy and trendy. We must continually ask for God’s help in alerting this generation to the social errors they are repeating within the cycle of worshiping false gods of cultural acceptance that they are not even aware of. Our vigilance must be firmly placed in God’s Word as we seek to help them to recognize the truth of who God is and to be cognizant and respectful of his sovereignty in this world.

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.