Sunday, May 30, 2010

A CALL FOR RIGHTEOUS LIVING IN AN UNRIGHTEOUS WORLD

Ezekiel 14

message preached on Friday 28 May 2010

Praise the almighty name of YHWH, for He is good and His love endures forever, amen! We serve a wonderful and awesome Creator, YHWH we praise your name, HalleluYah! As children of the Most High, we are called to righteous living, called to live blameless; shining as a light in the darkness of a wicked and ungodly world. In spite of the opposition we face, let me tell you, it is possible for us to live righteous right here right now. When you see all the chaos in the news – people threatening to make Cape Town city ungovernable, all the strike action taking place of late and then to top it off – the slaughtering of a bull at a rugby match calling on the ancestors by 1000+ sangomas to come and bless the stadiums and land – these are idolatrous times. Many people have set up many idols in their hearts and have turned from worshipping YHWH in Spirit and in Truth, yet they come to YHWH when all else fails and demand His hand to move miraculously. How sad it is when we see people treating YHWH like a genie in a bottle that must jump when they scream, despite their lack of obedience. I want us to look and learn from Ezekiel 14 tonight on the need to guard our hearts from turning from the truth and keeping idols from setting up shop in our hearts. My message is called “A call for righteous living in an unrighteous world”. Let us read Ezekiel 14:

To set the scene for you; Israel was told by Jeremiah that they would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years, but false prophets had come along and told the people that it wouldn’t be 70 years; YHWH was going to destroy Babylon and set the captives free. It was Ezekiel’s task to tell the people that YHWH was going to destroy Jerusalem and not Babylon just yet, but that a glorious restoration of the people would come and the temple would be rebuilt in Jerusalem. So here we pick up the story where some of the elders come to Ezekiel to seek a word. To the elders YHWH had simply become to them just one of many ‘gods’ of whose prophets they consulted. The others had not come through for them (obviously – for there is no other!) and so as a last resort, they come to inquire of YHWH. How true that is today with many of us – only when all else fails do we come running to YHWH for an answer!!!
The Word of YHWH comes to Ezekiel – it is interesting to note that almost 50 times in Ezekiel do we see the phrase, “The Word of YHWH came to me”, and this is an encouragement to us in that YHWH’s Word is not far from us, it is very near, in our hearts and on our lips that we may obey – His Word is never far from us, if we will but only listen!
The elders had come to hear what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear – let me tell you a true prophet will tell the people what they need to hear and a false prophet will tell the people what they want to hear. A true prophet points out sin, even hidden sin, and calls sinners to repentance speaking the Truth of the Word. This was the Word from YHWH to Ezekiel – He showed him that these elders had set up idols in their hearts – this was a sharp Word from YHWH.
You see, here Israel are taken from Jerusalem into captivity because of their idolatrous behaviour and still they continue in their idolatry which was now even more evident in their hearts – you can take people away from the sinful environment, but you cannot take away from the heart that desires to keep on sinning! Geographical changes do not always relieve problems for a heart change is necessary. Idolatry is a heart issue – it is about who or what you give yourself to, what you give of your time, your intellect and your resources to. To whom do you give of yourself to – in other words, what have you set your heart on?
You see some of the elders, not all of them only some had come to Ezekiel to hear; although they did not really come to hear the truth – they simply came to hear what they wanted to hear!!! YHWH knew their hearts and that they were not devoted to Him, they were not sold out for Him. James describes this state as double minded, unstable in all their ways!!! What the elders didn’t realise is that you cannot have YHWH as a backup plan or last resort – He must be the only way!!! Elijah put it plainly on Mount Carmel – choose whom you will serve – either Baal or YHWH, interesting to note that Baal in Semitic languages means ‘lord’ – so is it Baal (Lord) or is it YHWH! YHWH is our source and when we do not know what to do or we are unsure of something James again tells that whoever lacks wisdom must ask YHWH and it will be given, but we must not be double minded that is! What the elders had done here was simply make the very Word of YHWH just one of many options that they could hear and that is called compromise!!! They did believe YHWH to a certain degree, but also wanted info from other sources, including the enemy in whose territory they were held captive!
They had set stumbling blocks before there own eyes, and this is such a powerful statement for what starts out to be something that seems harmless and small can become a stumbling block into sin, which is ‘missing the mark’, walking out of Torah, which is separation from YHWH. Let me remind you that a little sin can lead a valley of separation where you find yourself so far from the truth; you do not know what to believe anymore. What the elders and false prophets wanted to do, which you cannot do, was to sugar-coat the very Word of YHWH. The Word is sharper than a double edged sword – it shoots straight and here YHWH was revealing by His very Words what was wrong! Have you ever been there? When you have been compromising your lifestyle and you think that you can come and hear what you want from YHWH and the Word cuts deep!!!
The people had idols upon their hearts – the Torah teaches us that we are to have the very Word and Law/Torah of YHWH upon our hearts. What we must realise is that temptation is inevitable – it will come and it comes all the time – but giving it space is not inevitable – we can choose to give it space or not! These guys were putting idols in the place where they could not miss them, as a constant reminder – the very thing we are to do with the Word of YHWH. So these leaders were giving a wrong message and were a bad example to the nation.
People in ancient times were accustomed to worshipping objects of stone and wood etc and each idol was linked to a particular purpose which matched the desire of the human heart. Ba’al Peor for example was worshipped so that one could have more authority in the underworld after death. Asherah was worshipped for the sake of fertility etc. The images were but just symbols, but in making them, the worshipper felt they were more in control of the demon behind them.
1 Corinthians 10:20 tells us that the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to Elohim, and we are not to participate with demons!

Today we may not necessarily bow down to carving, although many still do, but many still worship their desires by putting them first. YHWH says in Psalm 103 that He satisfies our desires – nothing else should. An idol can be anything you set your heart on and be something as simple as your right to your own opinion!!! Career, sport, hobbies etc can all become idols we put before our eyes. How about those rugby mad guys – of which I used to be one to a degree – have the schedule on your fridge (before your eyes) so you wont forget, and at the same time you desecrate the Sabbath by running after your idols and dare to call on YHWH and expect Him to respond your way!!! When we cannot get what we desire, what typically happens for the majority of Believers? We come to YHWH, even though we are in essence still wearing the lipstick and perfume of our illicit behaviour with other idols and we expect YHWH to do something for us!

Do you know what happens when we come to Him with mixed worship? Well firstly mixed worship is not worship in YHWH’s eyes. ‘Sunday’ “Sabbath” worship – as sincere as it may seem – is not worship to YHWH! Yes we are to worship YHWH every day, but we are to ‘remember The Sabbath (7th day – Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) by ‘keeping it holy’ set apart for rest in Him! Sunday is not Sabbath – go and check Scripture yourself – see if you can find anywhere where Sabbath was changed to Sunday – you will not – because man changed it – way back in 341 CE by the newly established ‘church of Rome or Roman Catholic Church’! Come to YHWH with ‘mixed worship’ and like these elders whose hearts were already set on believing a lie, YHWH will answer according to the idols in the heart as judgement upon those who have mixed/vain worship.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 “For this reason Elohim sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
When you go with a heart filled with idolatry to inquire of YHWH, He will answer you according to your idolatry!!
Here there is a solemn call for repentance – turning away from anything that has taken up residence in their hearts which has no place in worship to YHWH. YHWH was saying that anyone who comes to inquire of the prophet concerning Him and has idols in His heart, YHWH will answer them Himself!!! When living for YHWH there can be no room for another. Once one knows the truth, tolerance or acceptance of anything else is a fault!!!
YHWH had told the prophet not to answer them and so I any prophet spoke to those filled with idolatry. It would be for blinding those whose minds were made up anyway, and so the prophet would be giving a false message and be as guilty!
These hypocritical elders came to the True Living Elohim, while they were whoring after other idols in their hearts. YHWH asks Ezekiel, “should I let them inquire of ME?” YHWH was not obliged to answer when they refused to acknowledge His sovereignty. So instead of giving them what they desired, He gave them what they needed – YHWH’s attitude toward idolatry. When you come to YHWH will idolatry in your heart, He will deal with that idolatry, in order to recapture your heart for Him!
This passage is a call to righteous living, uncompromised worship unto YHWH. YHWH speaks of His judgment that was to come on the land through the famine, beast, sword and plague and declares that only the righteous will survive.
This is important for us to understand today as we see in Revelation these four judgements coming upon the earth during the Great Tribulation:
Revelation 6:8 “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
What will keep one safe during these judgements? Our righteousness – and righteousness is defined in:
Deuteronomy 6:25 “And if we are careful to obey all this law before YHWH our Elohim, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.
We cannot ride on the coattails of anyone else’s righteousness. We must observe and guard His Torah, now written on our hearts – we are to guard our hearts with the good deposit we have received from Him. Walking in Him will keep us free from harm, amen!
This chapter describes 3 key men in Scripture – Noah, Daniel and Job – three men who lived righteously from which we can certainly learn and be encouraged by as we live in an unrighteous world.
NOAH
Noah lived righteously in the midst of a vile culture. What is culture? Well it is the way of thinking, living and behaving that defines a people group and underlines its achievements. It is a nation’s collective mind, its sense of right and wrong, its perception of reality and definition of self. It is the obligations we acknowledge toward our neighbours, our community and government. It is the standards we set and enforce for ourselves and others; culture is our definition of duty, honour and character.
So what was the culture like in Noah’s day?
Genesis 6:5 “And YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously.
Noah lived in an extremely evil age – so much so that Genesis goes on to tell us YHWH was sorry he made man!!! Man was filled with wickedness. The faithful had intermingled with the wicked and had become absorbed into the evil world culture. All mankind had corrupted itself. Noah had remained righteous in the face of all this and by his faith became the heir of righteousness that comes by faith. Yahshua tells us that the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. We are certainly living in wicked times. The world we live in today is described as:
1 – Secular – where there is little or no place at all for YHWH in the hearts of many!
2 – Materialistic – Most are driven by possessions and greed and not love for YHWH!
3 – Sensual – Most are motivated by pleasure and love for self.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Elohim— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
We are living in terrible times and we must guard the righteous deposit in us and walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh. When living in a world where everyone limps, a person who walks normal is sadly considered abnormal! May we walk normal in a crooked generation; for it is possible to remain faithful in a sinful world – we are in the world but not of this world – Noah walked righteous and so too can we, empowered by the Spirit of Elohim.
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of Elohim lives forever.
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of Elohim that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great Elohim and Saviour, Yahshua Messiah, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness (lawlessness) and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
DANIEL
Daniel lived righteously and undefiled under a repressive and wicked government. We can certainly be encouraged by Daniel’s faithful endurance to not compromise worship unto YHWH, despite the laws of the land. There is coming a time at the end of days where the worship of the beast will be enforced, taking upon the mark of the beast, which I have spoken of recently, as Scripture clearly shows us that our sign or mark as followers of Yahshua is keeping His Sabbath!
Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile his worship – his heart was free from idolatry, equipping him to live righteously before YHWH and therefore he walked in the provision, favour and grace of YHWH.
JOB
Job lived righteously, even under the greatest of personal trials. He had an overly critical wife who told him to renounce YHWH. His wife was killed as well as his children, he lost his wealth (bearing in mind he was the wealthiest in the east!) and lost his health to severe sicknesses, such that no one had ever endured. To top it all off – he had 3 critical friends who found fault with him and criticised him extensively – talk about beating a man when he is down! In his darkest hour his friends turned against him. And all that was happening to Job led others to believe that their must have been some secret sin in his life. They intimated that if he was righteous he wouldn’t be suffering like he was. Do you know what? They were all wrong in their criticisms. What we can learn from this is that a wrong spirit is a critical spirit! Often a person with hidden sin in their own lives will most certainly try to uncover sin in another person taking the focus off of themselves – how can you tell your brother to take the speck out of his eye when you have a log in your own!!!
Job remained faithful in honouring YHWH even under the severest moments in his life. Discouragement can often overwhelm those who are undergoing long trials – be encouraged by the example of Job and Daniel and Noah for the best thing to do is to come before YHWH in prayer. As you study the life of Job you find that YHWH vindicates Job and restores all that he had lost by giving him back double honour and he shook up Job’s critics by ordering them to go to Job for prayer, for Job’s prayer was acceptable before YHWH:
Job 42:8 “So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

We must continue to remain true to worship unto YHWH no matter where we live, the times we live in or the circumstances we find ourselves in – we must hold on to the hope we have in Messiah.
1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Yahshua Messiah is revealed.

We are to live upright, holy lives – righteous living in an unrighteous world! And there are certainly benefits and promises for us who live right in Messiah. By faith we have become the righteousness of Elohim in Messiah. That means we by faith appropriate what Messiah has done for us and now live in Him and walk as He walked – living righteously led by the very indwelling Spirit, having the Torah now written on our hearts; we are to have hearts that are not defiled by idolatry but filled with His Word, amen!

The reward and assurance for righteous living in an unrighteous world is amoung many benefits:
1 – Deliverance: Ezekiel 14:14 “Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Master YHWH.
2 – Prosperity – Daniel 6:28 “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
The Wicked may rule and reign on the earth but YHWH will cause the righteous to prosper, amen!
3 – RestorationJob 42: 12-13 “YHWH blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
Job’s life was restored and received a double fold restoration! Has the enemy stolen from you? Hold on and persevere in righteous living for your restoration is at hand.
4 – RedemptionHebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Living in a world that is unrighteous we have the assurance of our Father, we have His abiding presence and protection, He knows us by name and in our lives His name is exalted. May we understand the blessing Yahshua speaks of in the Beatitudes when He says “Blessed are you when you are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
May we be strengthened to live righteous in an unrighteous world, not coming to ‘demand’ stuff from YHWH when we know that our lives are full of compromise – get rid of all compromise and live by His Word given to us as a gift. Live as a faithful Bride remaining true to the marriage covenant. In this world you will have trouble says Yahshua, but we are to take heart for He has overcome the world, therefore as we walk in Him we too are overcomers, amen! Righteousness is imputed to individuals by faith, not based on your family history, denomination, nationality or heritage – it is by faith and no one else can believe for you – we will all give an account of ourselves before YHWH (Romans 14:12).
Each person alone chooses to accept Yahshua and thereby choose to obey and follow and live for our Messiah. You alone have the choice to live righteous in an unrighteous world. Do not compromise your worship unto YHWH and approach Him with ulterior motives in your heart, seeking only what you want to hear, but come to Him with an open heart to be filled with His love – with His Word. Let us be encouraged to live right and not wrong, no double minded living but rather wholehearted devotion to YHWH.
James 4:7-10 “Submit yourselves, then, to Elohim. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to Elohim and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before YHWH, and he will lift you up.
Let us not be like those elders that came to Ezekiel, and like the false prophets of the day who were comfortable in their ways instead of being faithful to YHWH, who lived ‘fast’ and ‘loose’ refusing to hear YHWH calling them to repentance but rather accepted falsehood as opposed to Truth, as the false prophets were declaring a message that was contrary to the very Word of YHWH – they did not want to change their behaviour so they changed their message!!! We see that happening big time today, let us not fall into that trap. To understand YHWH’s truth you must be obedient to YHWH’s will – and that is to obey Him!
Some of the false notions that are spoken or thought of by many today are:
- We have got plenty of time; let us do what we want now!
- We can play with the Truth, it won’t hurt anyone! Let me remind you that they way is narrow and few find it!
- We can place well on the team! Some think that if others do all the obedience then they will be ok, because were all on the same team right!!! No, each member must do his part and not be lacking in reverent worship to let the team be unified in worship!

May we live pure, holy and upright lives, living free of all compromise. It is the condition of our heart that determines our response to YHWH’s tests!

Is there anything hidden in your life today, perhaps the message of the prophet Ezekiel has pointed out hidden areas that need to be changed? Can you honestly say that your life lines up with YHWH’s Word in your relationship with Him? If yes, keep on going, praising Him all the way. If not, then come and turn from whatever has taken you away from Him and Walk in Him afresh today – this is a call for righteous living in an unrighteous world!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

SHAVUOT – THE FIRST SHOFAR

Message preaced on Shavuot/Pentecost 23rd May 2010

Praise YHWH this wonderful day of Shavuot/ Feast of Weeks/ Pentecost – the ‘Bread Feast’! This is His feast, which we are commanded to celebrate and it carries with it great joy and celebration of His appointed times and revealed plans for us His people, amen!
As we gather here today, a holy set apart time of worship, let us enjoy this wonderful day together with Him.
Shavuot is so important to us, and following on from what I shared on Friday night, it teaches us that our salvation experience is not complete until the Spirit of Elohim has filled us – and the purpose of the infilling of The Holy Spirit, the ‘Ruach Ha Kodesh’ = ‘Spirit of the Holy One’ – is to establish His righteousness in us by writing His laws – His Torah – His Love Language, His marriage contract on our hearts if you will, on our hearts!
Hebrews 8:10 “Because this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says YHWH, giving MY laws in their mind, and I shall write them on their hearts, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
At Shavuot the shofar/trumpet is blown and is typically called the ‘first shofar’ and so the ‘last shofar’ is blown on the Feast of Trumpets, still to come later in the year – known as “Yom Teruah” and is also described in:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
So Shavuot and the ‘first shofar’ or trumpet is connected with the marriage union between YHWH and His people! And this is why I say this – for a Hebrew marriage consists typically of two stages, listen to this Scripture:
Deuteronomy 20:7 “Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.”
The word ‘pledged’ here, also translated as ‘engaged’, refers to the ‘pleading part’ or ‘engagement’ of a marriage known in Hebrew as ‘Kiddushin’. This is when the Bride says, “yes” to the proposal and receives the marriage contract – known as the “ketuva” and in so doing this she binds herself to her husband. This is considered as a legally binding contract that one cannot be divorced from except by death or adultery, and the parties – although not yet living together, they are legally married. This pledge / engagement known as ‘kiddushin’ is announced with a shofar. Now at Mount Sinai on Shavuot when the Ten Words were spoken – they heard the sound of the shofar – the very voice of Elohim – the sound of the first shofar announcing the marriage between Elohim and His people and he issued the Marriage contract – the Ten Words written on Tablets of stone. Israel was now legally married on Shavuot. Take a look at:
Exodus 19: 8 “And all the people answered together and said, “All that YHWH has spoken we shall do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people back to YHWH.
This is so amazing, as Moses acts like a marriage counsellor, and the people say in effect as one body, “I do”. It is important to remember that this is done before the Ten Words or contract is given!!! The Hebrew mindset chooses to obey YHWH no matter what, even before He has told them what He expects they say they will obey – that is faith and trust in YHWH’s ability to lead them into His promises – we will do whatever you tell us to, “I do”. Just as a Bride to be says yes when her husband proposes after which the legalities of the marriage are dealt with.
This acceptance was then announced with the ‘first shofar’ in Exodus 19: 16 and verse 19!!! Twice they hear the voice or found of the shofar/trumpet. The wedding was now announced and then the terms of the marriage are given in the form of the Ten Words! Israel was now pledged or betrothed and was now seen as legally married!!! When we say yes to Yeshua, there is a trumpet sound of victory and we become betrothed to Him and now walk in His Torah, Commands, marriage contract that is now written on our hearts!
The Feast of Trumpets, when the last shofar is blown, is typically called “the wedding ceremony of the Messiah”. This is when the marriage is consummated!!!
Now to understand this a little better, after the first step or stage in the Hebrew marriage process – the ‘kiddushin’ or betrothal, the bride, who is now legally married, goes home to her father’s house and prepares her wedding gown!!!
The bridegroom goes to his father’s house and prepares a dwelling for them. Only, and only, when the bridegroom father is satisfied that the bride and the bridegroom are both ready does he then give, ‘with a shofar blast’, his son permission to go and fetch his bride. Just imagine as the bridegroom, longing for his bride, making all the necessary preparation – eagerly waits for the sound of the last shofar!! When he hears this the son then goes, running I am sure, to the home of the bride’s parents and ‘lifts her up in the air’ and ‘takes her’ to his father’s house where the second stage of the marriage covenant is going to be taken. This is called in Hebrew ‘lakach’ which means ‘to take’ and ‘nissuim’ which means ‘to lift up’ for he takes her and lifts her up – ‘lakach nissuim’. This lift up and take is passive, as the bride cannot lift herself up and take herself to her husbands house – the bridegroom has to physically lift up and take his bride – the action is on the part of the bridegroom. How awesome picture we have here as you think how excited the bridegroom and bride would be when that shofar / trumpet is blown. The bride would be ready in her wedding gown, all clean and spotless and the groom would be running to fetch his long awaited bride and as he comes to her he with such joy and excitement he lifts her into his arms and takes her home!!!
Now listen to this – The Great Feast of Trumpets text in the Renewed Covenant (N.T.). speaking of Yeshua coming for us, His Bride is:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Master Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Messiah in the air. And so we will be with the Messiah forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Notice here in this passage the words ‘caught up’ – the ‘lakach’ and ‘nissuim’. The Bride will be taken and lifted up by the Bridegroom and so the second part of the marriage will take place when Messiah comes again and lift us up and takes us with Him to the great Wedding Feast. He is coming for His Bride who has made herself ready – He is not coming for part of His Bride – then coming for the rest – He is coming for His ready Bride!
We are now living in the season between the first shofar and the last shofar, which is at the second coming of the Messiah. We have been pledged to One Husband – the Messiah and we are legally married as we eagerly await His soon return from the Father’s house in heaven – when the Father sees that the Bride is ready and the time has come to sound the last shofar.
As Yeshua told us in Matthew 24:36 – only the Father knows when the last shofar blast will sound.

So here we are today, to realise and recognise that we, His Bride are betrothed – legally married and this day is the day when the ‘kiddushin’/ the pledging/ engagement / betrothal took place at Mount Sinai, which Israel broke by adulterating herself with foreign gods, and now through the Blood of Messiah, Our Kinsman Redeemer, we have been redeemed from sin – paid for, that the marriage could be renewed, restored, repaired and redeemed through His sacrifice for our sins. At Pentecost the very contract or ‘ketuvah’ – His Torah is no longer written by His finger on stone tablets but now, written by His Very Holy Spirit on our hearts! How awesome is that!!! As we eagerly look forward to the last trumpet blast – let us make ourselves ready by walking in His Torah given to us by His Spirit on this day of Shavuot. We walk in His marriage contract out of love, we are not saved by it, for HE has already saved us by grace through faith, we live out the married life as a faithful Bride right here and now in the season between the first and last shofar, declaring our true and total devotion to our Bridegroom, keeping the marriage pure in preparation for His soon return.

We also wave the two loaves of Bread today before YHWH, symbolising the Judah and Israel, coming together as a perfect Bride. We wave it sideways and forwards and back to symbolise the very Word of Elohim that goes out into all the world and the bread is also symbolic of the very Words spoken by YHWH given on Shavuot on two stone tablets on Mont Sinai and then on Shavuot put into the tablets of the hearts of Believers at Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The Very Word, by His Spirit now lives in us, and so we also celebrate today by feasting – and as I look at all these pastries and breads and jams and honey etc before us, boy are we going to celebrate – happy anniversary – we celebrate our marriage with YHWH today!!!
(Wave Two Loaves of Leavened Bread and give thanks)
Let us blow the shofar and let us celebrate our marriage with our Messiah, amen!
(Blow the Shofar and let us feast)

IT’S HARVEST TIME – LET US CELEBRATE THE WORD!

An overview of Shavuot / Pentecost / Feast of Weeks
Preached on Friday 21st May 2010
HalleluYah, it is so great for us to be together – praise YHWH – for He alone is worthy of our praise. I am truly excited as we begin this weekend together to celebrate YHWH, and celebrate in the way of celebrating one of His feasts. This Sunday 23rd May 2010 we will be celebrating the Feast of Weeks / Pentecost / Shavuot. Tonight I want to share with you some insight into this feast and why it is an important celebration for us today. My message is called “It’s Harvest time – let us celebrate THE WORD”.
I am almost not sure where to begin, as I have been so immersed in studying and researching this most amazing time in YHWH’s calendar. And I know that the more we learn about the feasts of YHWH the more we understand His Word and His plan and purposes for us. Shavuot or Feast of Weeks is described or spoken of many times in Scripture and is truly a significant time for us to celebrate the very Living Word that dwells within in us by His Spirit. The Torah/Law was given in the form of a Covenant at Mount Sinai on the first Shavuot, and so it is with the Renewed Covenant which was also inaugurated on Shavuot as the Commands of Elohim or the Torah was written on the hearts of the participants in the Renewed Covenant, where they were previously written on tablets of stone. This celebration also celebrates the fulfilling of the prophecy in Jeremiah 31 which speaks of a day when His Law would be written upon the hearts of His children, Israel.
I want to briefly share some parallels between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion in relation to Shavuot/Pentecost:
** Shavuot/Pentecost marks the day when YHWH entered into a covenant relationship with His people. At the first Shavuot he instituted the Mosaic Covenant from Mount Sinai where He spoke and gave the Torah in written form. The people heard the trumpet sound of His voice (known as the ‘first shofar’ which we will discuss on Sunday) and saw the thunder and lightning and the mountain in smoke – in other words they didn’t see YHWH physically but they heard and saw the ‘fire of His voice’ announced with the sound of a shofar/trumpet. Upon hearing and seeing this they trembled and stayed at a distance and after hearing the Ten Words they told Moses to hear the rest and come and speak it to them!
** At Jerusalem on Shavuot/Pentecost, YHWH established the Renewed Covenant from Mount Zion in which He wrote the Torah on the hearts of Yeshua’s disciples as they saw too what seemed to be ‘tongues of fire’ and heard the sound of a violent rushing wind from heaven (the first shofar) – they saw the fire of His voice coming to rest upon them. They didn’t stand at a distance this time – they received the very Spirit of Elohim and spoke in other tongues. This event in Jerusalem in essence reversed the experience at Babel. In Genesis 11:1-9 – you can read the account of the Tower of Babel where YHWH confused the language of the people as a result of their disobedience in using their unity for wicked purposes. The people at Babel were in unity – but in unity of worshipping themselves – the wrong form of unity! At Jerusalem YHWH caused the people, whose languages had separated them, to now understand what was being spoken and they began to praise YHWH – which is the correct use of unity – worship unto YHWH! Through worship unto YHWH, the Spirit causes us to understand His Word and is no longer foreign and confusing. At Babel they were confused, at Jerusalem on Shavuot/Pentecost the confusion was broken and they understood through obedient worship – obey His very commands that now enabled them to receive His very Torah, His marriage contract on their hearts!!!
** At Mount Sinai the Ten Words were written on stone tablets by the finger of Elohim
** At Mount Zion from Jerusalem the Torah was written on the tablets of the hearts of the disciples by the Holy Spirit. We now as believers are ministers of the Renewed Covenant! A covenant that Yahshua Himself restored and repaired through His Blood, writing His very love letter on our hearts!!!
2 Corinthians 3:3 “You show that you are a letter from Messiah, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living Elohim, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Hebrews 8:10 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel, after that time, declares YHWH. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their Elohim and they will be my people.
Shavuot my friends is a time to celebrate His Covenant with us and writing His Laws on our hearts – the marriage contract He has written on our hearts! Shavuot or Pentecost is our wedding anniversary celebration, or we are betrothed to Him.
** At Mount Sinai Israel was betrothed to YHWH – I spoke on this last month on living the married life.
Jeremiah 2:2 “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to YHWH, the firstfruits of His harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty and disaster overtook them, declares YHWH
Israel was now betrothed – they were legally married and were the firstfruits of His harvest – the first fruit of the fullness of the Bride that was to be make herself ready - they were His and were not to be given over to another and those who devoured her were held guilty and punished by disaster. We are His bride and the symbolic nature of the firstfruit offering is declaring that the Bride is all His. Our whole being belongs to Him and we show that by giving of our first, giving of our best – giving of our all!
Ezekiel 16:8-9 “Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you and you became Mine, declares the Master YHWH. I washed you in water and I washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.

YHWH washed His bride – this, as I have described before, speaks of the ‘mikvah’ or baptism of the Bride before being presented to the groom, presenting her spotless and clean. ‘Mikvah’s’ were very common in Israel – no one could go into the temple without having passed through the ‘mikvah’ and so YHWH after having redeemed her through the Blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of their homes and He saves them by grace through the Blood Covenant of Salvation by Grace made with Abraham and He brings them out of ‘darkness’ into His ‘light’ as then He washed Israel His bride taken her through the Red Sea with the walls of water on both sides (full immersion) and cleansed her and then at Mount Sinai He proposed to Israel in which they responded “we will do” in chapter 19 and then He entered into contract with her, His written Torah given as the marriage contract.
** And at Mount Zion/ Jerusalem He has once again washed His Bride, through the Blood of Messiah, the Passover Lamb and firstfruit offering and has now written His marriage contract – His Torah on our hearts. The reason I am emphasising this is that this truly is a celebration of His Love for His bride – that is us, amen!

One of the major themes of Shavuot is revival! When He poured out His Spirit on the disciples – they were revived!!! We too must daily ask YHWH for the reality of Shavuot to be ever present in our lives, the very presence of the Spirit of Elohim, amen!
Shavuot is also a picture of Jubilee. Jubilee cycle consists of 7 weeks of seven years each. Every seven years is a Sabbatical year where the land is rested and debts are cancelled. And so Jubilee serves to bring freedom to the oppressed – freedom to the captives! The land would lie fallow in order to provide produce for the poor free of charge and so at Shavuot the poor and strangers are to be invited to partake of the festivities – please invite others for Sunday!!!

The feast of weeks was when the firstfruits that had been picked during this harvest time between the barley and wheat harvest would be brought and presented before YHWH and then presented as a wave offering with great joy trusting YHWH for the rest of the harvest to come! And so the sanctification of the firstfruits consecrates the entire harvest as His. The first represents the whole and so it was with those who were resurrected with Yeshua and presented as a firstfruit offering to YHWH representing the whole harvest of souls upon the return of Messiah. Those who rose from the dead and appeared to many in the holy city are a guarantee and assurance to us of what is to come as we wait for the Blessed hope in Messiah’s return for us His Bride. The meaning of Shavuot or Feast of Pentecost is to be lived out everyday in our lives as we are inwardly renewed daily by the Spirit and able to bear the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control, which we are able to offer back to YHWH as a daily living sacrifice unto Him!
This harvest or festival is a harvest of freewill offerings and rejoicing. As disciples of Messiah, when we come before YHWH, we are to give of ourselves completely to Him, including our time, our talents, our money and resources and present them to Him with a joyful heart. Let us see how joyful were the early believers, those who had now received the infilling of the very Spirit of Elohim – how did they live out this joy daily by the indwelling of the Spirit they had now received?
Acts 2:42-47 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising Elohim and enjoying the favor of all the people. And YHWH added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Well as we can see – they ‘devoted’ themselves – Spirit filled believers devote themselves – to what? To the Apostles teaching! What did the Apostles teach? TaNaK (O.T) – that is the Torah – the teaching, the Nevi’im – the Prophets and the Kethuvim – the writings (poetry). In other words the Apostles taught what we refer to as the O.T. They Spirit filled believers were also devoted to fellowship and this is so powerful for us here for teaching and fellowship must go together, amen. We see here that being Spirit filled will cause you to being devoted to learn the Word and to fellowship!!! They were devoted to the breaking of Bread and prayer – that is opening up the Word together, gaining knowledge and insight and wisdom in the Word and praying together. Notice that they did this together and so everyone was filled with awe – that is reverence or fear of YHWH! They shared everything – if there was a need they would help each other, not simply look out for themselves.
They met everyday – you know the world tells you that if you see too much of each other you will irritate each other and ruin the friendship – well I want to say that is not Scriptural – for those filled with the Spirit of Elohim can fellowship daily and the relationship never weakens – it only strengthens!!! Can the Spirit of Elohim be seen in your life – does your life represent that of what we have just read – represent that of a Spirit filled Believer?
This festival is not only an historical event of what Israel received in the desert or what the early believers received in Jerusalem, no, it is a feast that has been fulfilled by the work of Yeshua Messiah and shows us how we are to walk and live before YHWH today, amen! This Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost is the completion of the Spring Feasts!
One of the books that is typically read at this Feast of Weeks is Ruth, a book which, on the surface, seems just like a simple story of romance which takes place during the time of the judges. However Ruth, from its inception, was intended as a story of redemption and woven into that story of redemption is a prophecy of the redemption of mankind. We will read Ruth on Sunday, but for now I will give you an overview and look at some pivotal points.
In essence the story starts when Elimelech, which means Elohim is my King, leaves Bethlehem to go and stay in Moab because of a famine that hit the land. He left with his wife, Naomi which means ‘pleasant’ and his two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. Elimelech died and the two sons married women from Moab, named Orpah and Ruth. Naomi’s sons also died and she was then left with two daughters in law who had no sons.
When she heard that YHWH had come to the aid of His people with food in Judah, Naomi and the 2 daughters in law prepared to go back to Naomi’s land. Then Naomi tried to stop them and she succeeded with one – the other - Ruth – said she would not leave Naomi and here Ruth makes probably one of the most profound declarations of faith in Scripture in chapter 1:16-17 “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your Elohim my Elohim. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May YHWH deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me. Ruth was declaring her love to Naomi and then confessed her faith in YHWH the true Living Elohim declaring that she will serve no other!!!
In the days of Isaiah’s ministry Israel was dispersed throughout the world because of the poverty of hearing the very words of YHWH when He declared it time to return – there was a famine for the Word, the very Bread of Life and Shavuot being a wheat harvest or bread festival is significant in giving thanks for YHWH’s provision, and we know that Bread in the Word is associated with the Word of Elohim. So why is this relevant to Ruth’s story? Well it was in this harvest time between firstfruits and weeks, between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest that this story unfolds and Ruth sets out to glean wheat in the field of Boaz, who sees her, inquires of her and is taken aback by her care of the Israelite women.

Because of her association with Naomi, Boaz orders that extra gleanings of wheat are dropped for Ruth to pick up for her use. During this Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23 it states that when one reaps the harvest they were no to reap to the edges or pick up the gleanings, which are those parts that are left after the reaper goes through – this was for the poor and the alien.
Naomi hears about this and then instructs Ruth what to do in order to be redeemed.
** On the feast of Shavuot Ruth lay herself at Boaz’s feet to ask for his protection, in the same way we come to the feet of the Messiah, the very Bread of Life, and receive His protection.
Boaz gives her enough food for her and Naomi to see them through until he returned from making arrangements to redeem them together. This is very symbolic as through Yeshua we are given His Spirit and Word to see us through while He is away making final arrangements for our complete redemption.

It is at this point where I would like us to pick up from the story of Ruth as we read together from Chapter 4 of Ruth (Read).
In this chapter we see how Boaz became the ‘kinsman redeemer’ for the land of Naomi and Ruth and so married Ruth as part of the redemption price. The law of the kinsman redeemer is given in Leviticus 25 and the law governing levirate Marriage is in Deuteronomy 25 and the purpose of these laws was to preserve the names and property of the families in Israel and ensured that a dead man’s family name did not die with him and that his property was not sold outside of the tribe or clan.
The Word Redemption means “to set free by paying a price”. And in the case of Ruth and Naomi, Elimelech’s property was up for sale or under mortgage and that they couldn’t pay the redemption price and the rights to the property had passed to Ruth’s husband Mahlon who was dead, and she was too poor to redeem the land.
This is an amazing picture for us, as when it comes to our spiritual redemption, for none of us are able to redeem our lives back – all of us have sinned and fallen short and were in bondage to sin, unable to free ourselves, then Yeshua came and gave His life as a redemption price – as a ransom for sinners – and faith in Him sets captives free!
Not everybody could perform the duties of a kinsman redeemer – there were certain criteria, let us look at these:
1 – THE KINSMAN REDEEMER HAD TO BE RELATED – Boaz was related to Ruth, although there was one who was closer. Yeshua Messiah was born in order that He too would become related to us so as to redeem us. He became flesh and Blood – The Very Word – the Very Torah became Flesh and Blood and dwelt amoung us – called us - taught us – showed us the Way and then died for us. When He was born he became our kinsman redeemer – the one who could redeem us from sin and HE remains our kinsman Redeemer for eternity, amen – there is no other!
2 – THE KINSMAN REDEEMER HAD TO BE ABLE TO PAY THE REDEMPTION PRICE
To qualify the kinsman had to be related and able to pay. Now Ruth and Naomi definitely could not pay the redemption price of the land – they were too poor to redeem themselves, but Boaz had all the resources to set them free! You see when it comes to the redemption of sinners, nobody and I mean nobody but Yeshua Messiah is rich enough to pay the price. It is sad to see that in the early years of church history the Catholic Church devised a money making scheme telling people they could pay for ‘indulgences’. Let me make one thing clear – you can be the richest person alive – none of that money can save you!!! It doesn’t matter how many charities you give to or how many handouts you give – that cannot pay for your sin. No amount of money can set you free – you get people who are slaving away for money thinking it can buy them freedom – money can not buy your freedom – only the shedding of the precious Blood of Yeshua the Messiah has once and for all accomplished redemption for all who will believe and receive it. Freedom has been purchased by His Blood – there is redemption in the Blood of Yeshua, amen!
3 – THE KINSMAN REDEEMER HAD TO BE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE
Not only did the kinsman redeemer have to be related and able to redeem, he had to be willing to redeem. In this story of Ruth we see that there was a nearer kinsman than Boaz who had the money, but was unwilling to redeem in fear of his own estate. This opened up the way for Boaz to redeem the land together with Naomi and Ruth.
Now we know that there is no one other than Yeshua who could pay the redemption price and He was willing. The Father loved us so much – he was so willing – that he sent His only Son to die for us. Yeshua was related in birth, he paid the price – with His death and He willingly came that while we were still sinners He died for us – how awesome is His redemptive love!!
The words ‘redeem’, purchase’ or ‘buy’ is used at least 15 times in chapter 4 and so amplifies the point that there can be no redemption without a price! From our point of view, salvation and redemption is free – a free gift by grace through faith, but from YHWH’s point of view, according to His Torah there had to be a price paid and it was a costly one too – it cost Yeshua His life!
Boaz was related, he was able and willing and paid the redemption price and then married Ruth to whom Obed was born, who became the father of Jesse, the father of David from whom was given the great privilege of being the ancestor of the Messiah!

The marriage of Boaz to Ruth is a picture of Yeshua Messiah and His Bride – He has paid the redemption price and at Shavuot we can celebrate our marriage contract that has been written on our hearts, having been redeemed and renewed through the shed Blood of Messiah Yeshua. His love language – His Torah – His marriage contract is written on the hearts of every believer as they receive Yeshua Messiah as Saviour. We have His Torah on our hearts and when Yeshua said to the woman at the well that a day will come when the true worshippers will worship YHWH in Spirit and in Truth, he was speaking of the day that the very Spirit of Elohim would be poured out into the hearts of His followers, equipping them by His grace to live Torah –to live the married life faithfully unto Him.
This feast is the culmination of the spring feasts – Passover and Unleavened Bread – Firstfruits and now Shavuot or Weeks.
Shavuot is also often regarded as the wedding anniversary – when Israel was betrothed to YHWH and now through Yeshua that covenant has been renewed in His Blood sealed by His Spirit. This feast was 50 days after Firstfruits and 50 is the number of freedom (Jubilee) and we do know that it is for freedom that Yeshua has set us free – we are free to worship Him – to walk in His ways – to walk in His very Torah given to all Believers at Pentecost.
The two loaves of Bread now with yeast; as we know yeast often is symbolic of sin and so during the feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread Yeshua who was sinless was offered first with no yeast – And here at this feast, the Feast of Weeks/Shavuot/Pentecost it depicts the two houses – Judah and Israel who still have leaven in them, but also represents the completion of the kingdom in our lives so that we can come to full maturity as His unified household. So there is also a right kind of leaven – that is the very presence of the Word working in and through us to perfect us:
Matthew 13:33 “…The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until; it worked through the dough.”
One loaf represents the house of Judah and the other the lost sheep of the House of Israel – the sheep scattered amoung the nations – that is you and me! That is why Paul tells us to remove the old leaven so that the right kind of leaven could have its full effect! The two loaves also represent the Living Word now in the Body – in the Bride to make herself ready!
As we tonight understand the joy and significance of this His feast – let this be a time to allow your hearts to be open before YHWH – open for His Truth to be rooted in your heart – let this be a time that we too can reflect on our need for His written Torah on our hearts to be alive and active that we may truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and that His Truth will permeate His body bringing us to maturity.
On Sunday we will look at the love of a Bridegroom for His Bride as we come together to celebrate Shavuot and feast in Him with great rejoicing offering up our lives as a living sacrifice, amen! On Shavuot the message I will be sharing is called “Shavuot – The First Shofar”. Come and be blessed in celebrating our Marriage with The Bridegroom!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

THE SOWER THE SEED AND THE HEART

 THE SOWER, THE SEED AND THE HEART

Luke 8:1-15
Message preached on Friday 14th May 2010
Good Evening to you all, YHWH bless you all as we come together as family of the True Living Elohim, Amen! In light of what we have been going through, in the process of change and transformation through the Word, as a family, I want to talk about ‘how’ we receive into our hearts the very truth of His Word and ‘how’ we act on these truths. My Message is called, “The Sower, the Seed and the Heart”, and I ask that you turn with me to Luke 8:1-21 and let us learn from the teachings of our Rabbi and Saviour Yeshua. (Read)

One of the major themes in Luke 8 is ‘how’ to get faith and ‘use’ it in our everyday experiences in life. As we look at His teaching here, we can clearly see that faith comes through receiving, by hearing, the Word of Elohim into an ‘understanding’ heart – not understanding in the sense that we have to have it all figured out and we know it all, no - understanding in the sense that we ‘accept’ His Word as final authority on all matters. You know, when we learn truth through hearing His Word and as faith grows as we begin to act on His Living Word – then that very growing faith gets tested! Come on be honest – how many of you have faced some major tests of late – wrestling with the faith you have through the seed of His Word that has been deposited in your heart? Most of us, I am sure don’t mind and in fact probably enjoy, studying Scriptures (at least I hope so), however as much as many love to learn, they simply do not want the exams that follow the lessons!!! It is in the perseverance and endurance through the tests of life that faith can really grow and draw us closer and closer to Yeshua, amen!
Everyone lives by having faith in something or someone. The difference between a true disciple of Yeshua and as unbeliever is not that one has faith and the other not – for they both have a belief system of sort. The difference is the object of their faith – and faith is only as good as its object – and we faithful obedient disciples of Yeshua have put our faith in Messiah, and we base our faith on the Word of Elohim and actively live it out, so that our faith is seen by our ‘deeds’ or ‘good works’ – and what are those deeds or good works that He prepared in advance for us as described in Ephesians? It is walking in obedience to His instructions – to His Torah.
I want to assure you that there is no trick for knowing YHWH’S will for your life, and there is no stumbling block that is so big that it can stop you walking in His will! How do I know this? Well here Yeshua Himself said that His mother and brothers are those who ‘hear’ the Word of Elohim and ‘put it into practice’. In other words His family are identifiable by those who ‘hear’ His Word and ‘obey’ His Word!!!
I sent out by email the difference between a Biblical or Hebrew mindset vs. a Western/ Hellenistic/ Greek Mindset which I would like to repeat tonight:

HEBREW / BIBLICAL ORIENTATION TO THE WORLD vs. A GREEK-WESTERN WORLD VIEW:
• To the Hebrew / Scriptural mind REVELATION knowledge of the Omnipotent Elohim and conformity to His moral law is of ultimate importance!!
• To the Hellenistic / Western point of view - no revelation is considered ultimate because REASON takes precedence over revelation. And this reason is used to analyse, rather than to submit to the revelation. Submission to any form of instruction is resisted until reason can produce sufficient proof to submit, even then it is reluctant.
• To the Hebrew / Scriptural mind the ‘ultimate wisdom’ is to seek YHWH; the ‘ultimate virtue (love)’ is to obey YHWH; and the ‘ultimate freedom’ is in obedience to YHWH
• To the Hellenistic / Western mind there is no law to which he bows except self expression; and the ‘ultimate freedom’ is the freedom to SELF. “I will do it my way! I’ll do what I want!”
• The Hebrew typically asks, “What must I do?”
• The Greek would ask, “Why must I do it?”

Why am I saying this to you all? Well I know that it is vitally important to us in how we receive His Word by faith, and how open are our hearts in receiving His truth. Many struggle to know the will of YHWH for their lives – and this I must tell you is not difficult. The way to know the will of YHWH is simply to do His will – it is in the doing that the understanding grows – love expressed through obedience takes precedence over reasoning ‘why’! The highest expression of our love to YHWH is in our obedience to His Word. The way to know His will is to know His Word – His Word is the place to find His will.

When He took the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery, they did not know Him or know His will. He spoke to them the ‘Ten Words’ and then the rest through Moses and He revealed who He is and what His will is. He gave them instructions on how to worship Him – and this was His love language for His people – giving them the ‘rules for holy living’, and then He sent them into the world to be a light (evangelism) that the nations may see who YHWH is through the lifestyle and obedience of His called out, chosen ones; and so cause the world to want to be a part of His family. Yeshua, through His Blood sacrifice, has opened up the way for all who, by faith, receive the grace of Elohim to become a part of the called out, holy assembly and live by His way. When we begin to stray form His Word, we inevitably stray from His will.
In the Parable of the Sower, the Sower is Yeshua and the Seed is His Word. The Sower also represents for us today any of Yahweh’s people who share the Word of Elohim. Like seed the Word has life and power and can produce great spiritual fruit. But the seed can do nothing until it is planted. When a person hears and receives the Word it is then planted in their heart. What happens after it is planted is dependant upon the nature of the soil – soil representing the heart. This parable could also be called the parable of the soils – for the seed without the soil is fruitless and the soil without the seed is pretty much useless!
Let me repeat that – the seed without the soil is fruitless and the soil without the seed is useless! The human heart is like the soil; if it is prepared properly it can receive the Word of Elohim and produce a fruitful harvest.
In this parable Yeshua described four different kinds of hearts, three of which did not produce any fruit – in essence you could say only 25% of all the hearts produce fruit – in the worlds economy that is a failure –yet not in Yahweh’s economy – a remnant can produce a bountiful harvest of fruit, amen! The proof of our walk with Him or that we are saved is seen in the fruit of our walk, not simply just by listening only or making a verbal profession of faith in Messiah and not doing anything else. Yeshua made it clear that we will be recognised by our fruit. Let us briefly look at the four different soils or rather hearts that Yeshua speaks of. This can and does represent four different hearts, and can also even represent how the same heart can go through carrying phases described here – our quest is to always keep our hearts pure and good: let’s take a look at the four soils:
1 – HARD SOIL / HARD HEART (v5, 12)
This soil represents those who receive the Word (so they are attending in some way), but immediately allow the devil to come and snatch it away! You got to ask yourself, “but how?” or rather “how did the heart become hard?” He speaks of the seed falling on the path –the path would be hard by all the people walking on it – lots of foot traffic!!! So many on this path – with hardened hearts! It also represents being on the outside or on the sidelines so to speak, in other words they never are engaged in the labour of the field – they hear the Word yet chirp from the side. In fact those with the hard hearts are the biggest commentators and criticizers of those who are actively doing their utmost in living out a life of love for YHWH expressed in disciplined obedience to His Word. The other danger on being on the path is that many walk by and comment too – and this is dangerous for this can lead to confusion and cause one to easily become disillusioned by the Truth that gets all twisted! Whatever goes into the ear or eye finally enters the heart and so one must always be careful who is ‘walking over’ your heart – causing it to become hard. This soil speaks of one who hears the Word and then they hear hundreds of differing opinions to that Word – even form those who appear to be in the field yet are simply also walking on the sidelines, and this causes a resistance to the plain Truth that requires obedience, rather surrendering to trying to reason out the ‘why must I’ and sadly find satisfaction in becoming hardened, without realising it, towards the power of the Truth to change the heart, and so will go with the flow of the masses on the path – the broad path – how do you know they are walking on the broad way? Well check the fruit of obedience – is it easy for them to simply obey YHWH or do they have many reasons why not to obey everything? This is where replacement theologies etc. are birthed. Let us not be a people on the sidelines, get in and co labour with the family of Elohim keeping our hearts from being hardened by every wind of teaching that only leads to a hardening.
2 – SHALLOW SOIL / WEAK HEART (v6, 13)
This illustrates the emotional hearer – who will quickly respond emotionally, yet the interest is lost very quickly as the emotions change and so do not continue in what they first received. What I like about what Luke writes is that there is no moisture! For me this clearly speaks of one who walks not by the Spirit but simply by the flesh and so it is all based on whether they feel like it or not! Water is often linked to representing the Holy Spirit and so here no moisture is a significant picture of a shallow heart or weak heart. They may tend to ‘put on a show’ to look the part – but have no depth of character and certainly bear no lasting or real fruit. Their walk is dependant upon their mood or emotions. When up they will go for it, when they are down they will run or hide. In many parts of the Israel you will find a layer of limestone beneath the surface covered with a thin layer of soil. The shoot can grow up, but the roots cannot go down, and the sun withers the rootless plant. The sun here represents the testing that comes to all professing believers to prove their faith. Sun is good for plants if they have roots. Persecution can deepen the roots of a true Believer and cause great growth, yet the sun or ‘heat test’ can also expose the shallowness of the false/ shallow Believer. We cannot simply make decisions based on emotions – for emotions change, and if we base our faith simply on our emotions then our faith will be easily weakened when trials come. This soil represents one without moisture, always led by the flesh and it has no grip, no staying power, and no endurance and is exposed under trials!
3 – CROWDED SOIL / COMPROMISED HEART (v7, 14)
This soil represents the heart of one who hears the Word yet does not repent and ‘weed out’ those things that hinder the harvest. There is enough soil in the heart and the roots can go down yet there is little room for fruit to grow as it is crowded out by weeds. This is a person who actively hears the Word yet lives a compromised life – they will not let go of things – “You cannot take my ‘Friday night’ and my ‘Saturday’ away from me! I will worship how I want to! I have a relationship with Him – my heart doesn’t condemn me – don’t tell me I have to anything!!!” Sound familiar? You see when change comes through the receiving of the Word we are required to rid the soil of our hearts from compromise or weeds, and this weeding can often be too hard for some and so they just simply and conveniently settle for living a double standard, trying to mix Yahweh’s standards and their own together! This is called syncretism – the mixing of worship styles or standards. YHWH has one standard – His Word, we cannot afford to mix it with any other for the sake of ‘ease’ or ‘custom’ or ‘tradition’. This can only cause great frustration. The crowded heart will gladly read study and even learn the Word as long as they can still have their own way! As soon as they may have to change or let go of something then they resist the change and still claim to be totally obedient! What happens in this case is that the ‘cares’ or ‘worries’ and the ‘riches’ and ‘pleasures’ of life come and choke out that very Word that is planted. I believe that this state of the heart represents the majority of professing Believers today – they are unwilling to let go of what they think is important to them and even tradition can take precedence over the Word. In other words, they truly have not considered the cost of being a disciple. The 12 disciples left everything to follow Yeshua Messiah. The 70, on the other hand, when the teaching became too hard for them they ceased to follow Yeshua!!! When Yeshua told them that unless they eat His flesh and drink His Blood they will not have any part with Him! Often when we get into the ‘meat’ of His Word – the crowded / compromised heart will not eat it and simply spit it out as ‘too hard – you are asking too much of me!’, they may even use terms like ‘legalism’ etc. as a reason not to obey His Word, expressing love to YHWH by His love language! Are there things in your heart that is taking up space – crowding it out with compromise! If there is chuck it out and let the Seed begin to harvest great fruit! We must be a people who can get past only drinking the milk of His Word!
Hebrews the writer tells them that they ought to have been teachers by then and that they need milk all over again and anyone who lives only on milk, being still an infant in the Word, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Solid food is for the mature who have by constant use trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14) Constant training means you are in the field – not in and then out and then in and then out as other stuff crowds out your commitment!!! A crowded heard never can fully give their all as ‘self’ still takes priority in their lives!
4 – GOOD SOIL / OPEN HEART (8, 15)
This soil alone is fruitful – in other words – full of fruit. “Open the eyes of my heart YHWH” – “Search me and know my heart – test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting create in me a pure heart” (Psalm 139: 23-24). “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight
These were the words of a man after the heart of YHWH – David - he understood the importance of having an open heart – open for the Word of YHWH to fill it and so be emptied of self. It is out of the overflow of our heart that we speak – I have asked this before and will ask again – how is your speech? – it will give you an indication of what is in your heart!!!
Good soil or an open heart hears the Word and receives it, believes it and acts upon it in faith equipped by His grace. All Believers may not produce the same amount of fruit, but all true believers will produce fruit as evidence of a life lived in Spirit and in Truth. Our life is lived in Spirit and in Truth – the Truth is Yeshua – the very Word of Elohim – the Living Torah. We live by and are led by His Word – the Truth enabled by His Spirit that dwells within us, having written His Love language – His Torah on our hearts. The fruit produced from good soil may include many things such as winning others to Yeshua, giving money to the work of Elohim, greater character of a Believer, good works as you grow in the knowledge of Elohim and praise to YHWH etc. We are to revere His name, proclaim His name, love His name, and worship His name!
His name is YHWH!

This parable also shows that Yeshua is not necessarily impressed by the “crowds” that followed Him for He knew that most did not truly “hear” and receive the Word into their hearts. This parable was used to encourage His disciples in their future ministry and is used to encourage us today too. If you just think about how much, preaching and teaching and witnessing goes on in the course of a month or a year you - can often wonder why there is such a small harvest. The fault is clearly not with the Sower or the Seed – the problem is the soil – the hearts!!!
AW Tozer: “Faith is not a matter of IQ or education – it is a matter of humbly preparing the heart to receive God’s truth.”
You see our ability to understand is not based on how smart or educated we may or may not be, it is upon the willingness to have ones heart ready and free from clutter to receive His Word that it may produce in us faith to follow after Him. We may not always understand, yet with the right mindset – a Hebrew / Scriptural mind - we lovingly obey without trying to always reason out ‘why’ we must but rather ask ‘what’ we must do and then the ‘how’ comes clearer as we walk in the truth obediently by faith. Our thinking must change – when Romans 12 says that we are no longer to conform to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, for then we will know how to test and approve the will of YHWH – then let us understand what really this passage is telling us – we need to change the way we think and His Word is the way we can do that! Stop always trying to reason why and simply by faith do what YHWH asks of us through the revelation knowledge of His Word. We are to rid our selves of ‘stinking thinking’ - that way of thinking that does not seek to obey YHWH!

We must also be aware that just as there are good seeds – the seeds of His Word – there are also bad seeds – the seeds of the Devil – the seeds of lies and deception. Lies are untrue statements with intent to deceive. The Devil is very clever is making untrue statements in order to deceive us – “Surely the Word doesn’t really mean that…” How often do we hear this being used when people find themselves easily escaping obedience when it doesn’t suit them! When Jeremiah 16 speaks of the Day of Disaster and many will ask, “why, what have we done wrong, what sin have we committed against YHWH?” He says, “It is because your fathers forsook me and followed other gods and served and worshipped them and did not keep my Torah. But you have behaved more wickedly than them by following the stubbornness of your hearts instead of obeying me.” He goes on to write in verse 19 that the Gentiles will come from the ends of the earth and say “Our fathers have inherited lies…
In Acts 17: 30 we are told that in the past He overlooked or ‘winked at’ ignorance, but now He is commanding all people everywhere to repent. The devil has been sowing bad seed for many centuries – lies that have come and twisted the Truth leading many astray into a form of selfish worship – for they worship according to their selfish desires and not according to the will of YHWH as is written in His Word.
Where do weeds come from? They are the lies of the enemy that even comes from within as man has not guarded the Truth.
Think about weeds for a moment – weeds represent the lawless ones – weeds don’t need much soil to grow and take root. Weeds can grow quickly into an unkempt heart. Often, in the smallest cracks, a weed seed can blow in and before you know it takes over – just like weeds in between bricks on a pathway. The longer they are left the harder it is to get out. Just think about it – for centuries lies have been rooted in and become the accepted way of worship and those weeds are hard to get out!!!
We are to be diligent in keeping our hearts open before YHWH and kept pure through walking in Him – walking out of His will opens the door for compromise where weed seeds can easily drift in through ‘every wind of teaching’ sowing confusion and strife. We are to always be obedient to the Word.
There are many examples for us of great men of faith who by not obeying found themselves in trouble; here are a couple of examples:
1 – Abram – In Genesis 12 and 13 you can read of the account of how Abram was called by YHWH to leave his country and follow YHWH which he did, until the test came and the going got rough – famine was in the land and without asking YHWH Abram went to Egypt for help where he faced a new set of problems. As soon as you try run from one test you will face another!
He moved from trusting to scheming, from confidence to fear, from others to self until he left Egypt and went back to the very place he had fled from – He returned to YHWH and then let YHWH choose for him.
2 – Moses- Moses in Numbers 20 was told by YHWH to speak to the rock to bring our water and Moses being so ticked off with the disobedience of the Israelites struck the rock and as a result was told by YHWH that because he did not trust in YHWH enough to honour Him as holy before the people, he would not bring them into the Promised Land.
3 – Elijah – In 1 Kings 19 Elijah ran from Jezebel and YHWH asked Him what he was doing their and sent him back the way he came.
4 – Jonah – tried to run away from obeying YHWH and ended up in the belly of a big fish which spat him up on the place YHWH had commanded him to go
5 – Peter – the man whose confession of faith in Yeshua was commended by Yeshua, acted like a little coward when confronted by a little girl the night he denied Messiah.

We need to take heed what we hear, how we hear and why we hear:
WHAT WE HEAR – the Word is what we need to hear – that it can be rooted in our receptive hearts to create faith to walk out the fruitful abundant life
HOW WE HEAR – We receive to share with others. The more we receive the more we have to share. If we receive carelessly, we will have nothing to give. If we are always hearing with a critical heart – we will only receive what tickles our ears and so be a lamp without oil! YHWH shares His secrets with us, not to be kept for ourselves or hidden but to be shared with others! Hence the teaching of the lamp on a stand straight after the Sower! How we receive it is critical – our hearts must be pure and motivated by love in receiving His Truth and instructions that we may lead others too.
WHY WE HEAR – We are not to just hear the Word only to increase knowledge and try and boast about what we know – no we are to hear the Word because we want to grow in knowledge of YHWH and obey Him. If we truly desire intimacy with Him we must listen to His Word, receive it with joy and obey what it says. Obedience not only enables us to learn more truth – but it also brings us closer to YHWH.

This parable helps us examine our hearts and determine the attitude of our hearts and how we respond to the Word. Hearing alone is not the total answer – we must hear, trust, believe and obey/do the Word! Let me ask you – are your trusting and obeying skills as good as your listening skills or are you just listening? Perhaps only listening to what you want to hear?
It is a serious thing to hear and obey YHWH, because this puts on us an obligation to share with others the Word we receive. Everyone who receives the good seed becomes a sower of that seed, a light bearer of the Truth. If we simply keep it for ourselves we will lose it – however if we share it we will receive more. How good is the soil of your heart – is it receiving the good seed, bearing fruit to give out and able to receive more?
As His disciples, we must take heed what we hear and how we hear for we will be held accountable with what He has given us, and He has given us all His commands written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit – the seed of His Word has been sown upon Salvation – it is a question whether one keeps the soil good and open, free from weeds or becoming weak or hardened. Listening to the wrong things, or even listening to the Truth with the wrong attitude, will only rob us of truth and blessing.
Being a part of the family of YHWH is much more important than any human relationship and is based on obedience to His Word – this is what identifies us as His. It is not simply enough to just hear His Word; we must also keep His Word. You know it is so easy today to think that we are very ‘spiritual’ because we listen to one preacher after another, and maybe even take a few notes or even mark our Bibles, yet never really test the validity of what is taught or really put into practice what we learn through careful study and application. We will only be fooling ourselves. As believers we must stop being simply an auditor if His Word, we must become doers of His Word, amen!
His Commands are written on our hearts by His very Spirit – are we living them? It is sad to see that to keep His commands as an expression of love is so hard for many to do for this identifies us as His family – those who hear His Word and put it into practice. A small example is a simple command to remember His Sabbath by keeping it Holy – is it so hard for us to do – because tradition has dictated otherwise? What about proclaiming His name – something again tradition and the rules of men have suppressed! His name is mentioned more times in Scripture than any other Word – that says a whole lot- HE wants us to love, worship, revere, honour, respect and declare His name – YHWH. This has all been given to us in the form of good seed – how are our hearts receiving it is the question. Just think for a moment – what would be the best way for the enemy to deceive us? In our identity – many have an identity crisis. What gives you an identity or by what can one been identified by? Firstly it is by a name! Now the name of our Elohim (God) is not just a title as in The Lord, no His name is YHWH or YAHWEH! And so when we do not know or proclaim the name of our Creator, how do we identify ourselves as His.
Secondly YHWH has given us the Sabbath as a sign between us and Him forever – that is like our ‘wedding ring’ that shows that we are His and we belong to Him. The enemy has been very crafty and deceptive for centuries in causing many to forsake the sign of Sabbath remembrance by keeping it holy and set apart – instead he has counterfeited it with another sign – Sun-day – a pagan rooted day of worship to sun-deities. The enemy has used deception in the form of ‘tradition’ that has robbed many of an identity in YHWH, and our hearts need to be opened to be cleansed, purified by and filled with the very Living Seed of YHWH. May our hearts be open to receive the good seed and walk in the ‘love language’ of YHWH – obedience to His Word!
Our hearts may not be visible to each other, but YHWH knows our hearts and they are visible to Him – what condition does HE see your heart in – is it hard and critical over His truth, is it weak and emotionally driven, or is it crowded with compromise or it is good and open to receive His truth gladly? Allow the Sower to sow the Good Seed into your prepared heart today, that you may bear fruit – much fruit, amen! YHWH bless you!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

REVIEWING THE MARRIAGE VOWS

Exodus 20

Sermon preached on 23rd April 2010
Welcome to you all, I am so filled with great joy that we can be here tonight together, to come and remember Our Wonderful Saviour and His finished work, amen! Making change is not always easy, and so it is with great love and perseverance that we endeavour to continue to love our God Yahweh with all our heart, soul and strength. So why the Sabbath, what’s the deal? Well Sabbath is a sign between Yahweh and us His Covenant people, His Bride.
Ezekiel 20:20 “Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your Elohim.”
Exodus 31:12-13 “Then Yahweh said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, “You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am Yahweh, who makes you holy.

It is Yahweh who makes us holy, set apart, sanctified for Himself!
Keeping Sabbath is a sign between us and Yahweh, just as a wedding ring is the sign of the covenant between a man and his wife. Try telling your spouse that you no longer wish to wear your wedding ring and see how they respond!!!
The Commandment in Torah regarding Sabbath is to remember to keep it – it existed in Eden and is a lasting instruction spoken and written by Yahweh Himself! The principle in NOT to keep one day in seven a rest – any day you choose – no that is the teaching of man. The commandment of Yahweh is to rest on the day He rested – the 7th day. We are to remember what Yahweh has done for us. Yeshua was resurrected on the day after the Sabbath and we can therefore see that Sabbath is a reference for the resurrection, not replaced by it!
It seems only fitting for us as we take another step in walking in total obedience to His instructions that we go back tonight to the ‘Ten Words’ or as we know them as being called the “Ten Commandments”. As we will see, these ‘Ten Words’ are in effect 10 ways to express our love to Yahweh our Elohim. Now we all want to love Him, and how are we told to: lets read what is known as the ‘Shema’ in Hebrew which means ‘hear’ and in the Hebrew mind this is a prayer that is declared daily:
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one. 5Love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Yeshua repeated this command in:
Matthew 22:37 “Yeshua replied: “Love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your mind.” 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
These two Scriptures are clear that they teach that the Law or rather Torah is all about loving Yahweh with your all, all your heart, soul, strength and mind – and so everything in Yahweh’s instructions hangs on this command of love. Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 22:39 teach us also that Living in His instructions is also about loving one’s neighbour as oneself. So in essence as we look today at ‘The Ten Words’, we will see that they are in effect ‘Ten Principles’ of righteousness and justice – the very foundation of Yahweh for it is certainly the right thing to do in His eyes, amen! They are ten principles of life and true freedom. In Exodus 20 these ‘Ten Words’ are introduced by: “And Elohim spoke all these words: I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
He was clearly reminding them that He has saved them – and it is by Grace through faith in Him that they were saved out of slavery. This introduction to the “Ten Words” does not teach us that if you keep these He will bring them out – No – He had already brought them out. I want to clearly reiterate that Salvation is and always has been by Grace through Faith in Yahweh – a clear picture of the Abrahamic Covenant in which there were only blessings and promises and the only requirement was to believe – Abraham believed Yahweh and it was credited to Him as righteousness. These words we are looking at today are known as the Mosaic Covenant – His marriage contract as we discussed last week. He has called us out, delivered us by Grace through the Blood of the Lamb and set us apart as His Bride, giving us the Marriage vows showing us how we live out our new set apart life as His Bride, amen! Now the sign of this marriage is Sabbath – Remembering to keep it is a sign between us and Him of this Covenant that we may know that He is Yahweh our Elohim, amen! The Law’s or Torah’s primary function is simply how to “stay free” and live out the life of love and justice in relationship with Yahweh and with each other. The ‘Ten Words’ can also be for us 10 warning signs if you will – warning signs that will keep us from potential slave masters who are ready to ruin our freedom. So having said all this let’s take a look at the Ten Commandments or rather Ten Words spoken by and inscribed by Yahweh Himself in Exodus 20:1-17. Yeshua said in Matthew 4:4 when being tempted by the devil: “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Elohim.” He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. So as we read these words of Yahweh our Elohim, let us realise that these are from His mouth and are His words to live on, amen! (Read Exodus 20:1-17)
I know most of you, if not all are acquainted in one way or another with the Ten Commandments, but let us look at these words individually. As I said earlier the introduction of Yahweh is once again a reminder that we are saved by grace, not by works so that no man can boast. The Abrahamic Covenant reveals this Covenant of grace, as I have said and then He led His bride out and gave them a marriage contract, outlining how they were to live as His Bride, which had conditions attached. Let’s see how each one the Ten Words written on stone and Now written on our hearts expressed through obedience reveals our intimate love for Him.
1 – “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
No other god’s before or besides Him. This is the very first way our love is expressed toward Him – making Him the only Elohim, the true Living Elohim in our lives. Nothing else is to take His place of worship and centrality in our lives – He is first, above all, and He commands our all for we are His, amen! Today you may not see people worshipping physical or visual ‘gods’ as we would understand in the days of Moses, yet in fact they are very physical and visual, only they carry a seemingly different appearance. Think about all the ‘gods’ there are – besides all the ‘other religions’ how about things like ‘sport’ – the soccer world cup is coming up and there are many, even ‘Christians’ I might add who will put that before their worship unto Yahweh. Rugby, Cricket you name it – not that there is anything wrong with sport – I enjoy sport – it cannot become a god stealing away our worship to Yahweh. Careers is another – total devotion to climbing the ladder – forsaking all to get to the top – sounds a little like Babel! Relationships can be another ‘god’ that comes before or besides Yahweh. People worship other people. I have known people who will put their parents before Yahweh and Yeshua warns against this
Yahweh is the one and only Elohim, amen! Devotion to Him in this declares our true love for Him. In Matthew 4:10 Yeshua rebuked the devil and said, “Away from me Satan; is written ‘Love Yahweh your Elohim and serve Him only.”
2 – Make no idols in any form!
Yahweh is a jealous Elohim punishing to the 4th generation of those who hate Him but showing love to a 1000 generation to those who love Him and keep His commands. 1000 generations!!! Our devotion and love impacts our future generations – let us impact it well by loving Him faithfully, amen! We don’t love Him by putting Him in a box so to speak – by substituting who He is by some fixed image. We cannot substitute any image or object for His dynamic living presence speaking and acting in our daily lives, for He is the Living God – The Living Elohim. This shows our reverence toward Him – we cannot bow down to images or idols in any form. Once again we can easily see how people make for themselves ‘idols’ in many shapes and sizes and worship it with their all. Don’t make anything become an idol – idols are simply objects of worship unto a false ‘god’. What things do you have to have or else!!! You can’t live without it – cause everybody has one!!! Well what are they worshipping?
Remember Yahweh is jealous for us!
3 – Do not misuse His name!
Our first act of verbal communication is to speak the name of another and saying often and with respect sets the stage for the relationship. We are to learn the name of Yahweh and His Son Yeshua and speak it with respect. Proverbs 30:4 asks us the question, “who knows His name and the name of His Son, can anyone tell me?” We His Bride know His name, how – because He called us out set us apart and declared, “I am Yahweh your Elohim”. His name is above all names, salvation is in His name – Yeshua – Yahweh is Salvation! Knowing and speaking His name is the third way we express our love to Him. For centuries leaders suppressed the love of speaking His name and reserving it only for the High priest, declaring that it was blasphemy to speak His name, and so substituted His name with a title. Around 6823 times is the name of Yahweh mentioned in Scriptures – His name is to be known, and proclaimed amoung the nations – and we His Bride know His name and are to speak it with great joy and respect – honouring Him! How crafty the enemy has been to silence the Bride over the years, but His true Bride will not be silenced, amen! When we speak His name our lives must reflect the name that we are married to and not misusing it.
4 – Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy!
As I have said this is the sign that we are married or betrothed to Him and we rest on His Sabbath. We show love to Him by working unto Him and we also show our love to Him by stopping our regular work and remembering Him, honouring Him, taking time out to be with Him. It is the first of His 7 appointed feasts, that reveal the Messiah and is a prophetic calendar for us His Bride. One of the key words here is to remember, and we remember His Sabbath by keeping it holy, set apart for Him – not doing what we would normally be doing – but devoting it to resting in Him – showing as a sign our love for Him. I am excited that we as a fellowship or assembly of Believers have crossed the Jordan so to speak – the Jordan was in effect a barrier to promises and so by faith in His instructions we have stepped into His promises by getting our feet wet and passing through dry ground into His designated inheritance for our lives, amen! Let us never forget His Sabbath, set art for Him.
5 – Honour your Father and Mother!
Honour means to treat with respect – and we are to treat with respect those who have been Yahweh’s instruments in bringing us life and truth. Anybody who plays these roles (however imperfectly I might add) is to be honoured, as this shows love to The One who sent those He chose to use in our lives. Yahweh chose your Father and Mother – honouring them is showing love to Him for His choice. Ephesians 6:2 repeats this command and reminds us that this is the first command with a promise!
6 – Do not Murder
The Words now turn toward relating to others and still reflects love for Him as we follow these obediently. We show love to Yahweh by protecting life – the life that He has created. I love that Yeshua came, not to take away the Torah, but to reveal the heart of Torah. In Matthew 5:21-22You have heard it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder. And anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Yeshua was not abolishing the Torah command, He was revealing the heart of it – He sees our heart and often we may even say and think that our heart is ok by justifying our actions – understand that in Jeremiah we are told that the heart is deceitful above all things and we must allow Him to renew a pure heart within us – and He does this through His Word – through His Torah – His instructions are a great gift to purify and perfect His Bride. Yeshua was revealing that murder begins in the heart and so having now the commands written on our hearts equips us to follow the heart of Torah, amen!
7 – Do not commit adultery!
What Yahweh has put together let no man separate. We show love to Yahweh by protecting relationships that He has put together. Marriage is such relationships we are to protect - adultery is an attack or violation of a covenant relationship.
In committing adultery we are in effect violating our marriage covenant relationship with Yahweh. Marriage is an institution given by Yahweh that reflects His marriage to His Bride, the body of the Messiah; and so in the same way we show love to Him by not adulterating ourselves with other ‘gods’. Yeshua once again in Matthew 5:27-28 reveals the heart of this command: He gets right to heart of the issue and says that ‘…anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Our eyes are to be fixed on Yeshua our Messiah as we run with perseverance the race set before us. When our eyes are fixed on Him then they will not lust after another. Yahweh is jealous for us and He sees our hearts. Let us embrace His marriage covenant written in the Blood of Yeshua on our hearts, amen!
8 – Do not steal!
Ephesians 4:28 “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
We are to protect the material infrastructure that others have. Yahweh knows what we need, what we need to eat, what to wear and where to sleep and we must not worry but be diligent in working unto Him with our all. We are not to go and take what others have. Ephesians here is greatly revealing the heart of this command – you see stealing is about self – what I need, what I want and so selfishness leads to taking for oneself irregardless of the effect on others. Paul writes here, listen stop stealing and work, work so as that you can actually help and give – do you see the heart – stop looking at self – don’t always look inward – start looking up and out – then Yahweh can use your greatly. Stealing harms where equipped to give heals and reveals our love and devotion to Yahweh, working diligently!
9 – Do not lie!!!
Avoiding falsehood, gossiping, slander truly reveals how much we love Yahweh and is expressed toward others as we speak the truth in Love. Paul tells us in Ephesians to put off falsehood and speak truthfully. When we lie then the truth is not in us!
James 2:3-4 “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, “I know Him”, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth in not in him.
We would do very well in loving Yahweh by putting off falsehood and stop speaking falsely of others, and boy do we all find ourselves doing that at times – hear today this command – do not lie and speak falsely about others or anything for that matter.
10 – Do not covet!
We are to have pure hearts – this is what Yeshua came to reveal and show us – pure hearts that thinks and wills according to Yahweh’s Word. Coveting simply wants what others have and can so often lead to lust, anger, greed, jealousy, envy, prejudice and even hatred towards another. Not coveting reveals our love for Yahweh and is expressed towards others. We cannot say we love Yahweh and we covet what another has. Coveting can lead to jealousy and hate and we are told that if we say that we love Yahweh yet hate our brother we are a liar. Coveting is a dangerous door that can just harm our relationship with Yahweh and others. Paul learnt to be content in all situations – whether he had or didn’t have. This reveals our trust and intimacy of our relationship with Yahweh. We live in a very materialistic world, and we must learn to be at peace and content with what we have – obey His commands brings greater blessings that what the world has to offer. We are to ‘throw off’ coveting – it hinders our ability to love.

Hebrews 8:8-10 “But Elohim found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares Yahweh. 10 This is the covenant I will make with house of Israel after that time, declares Yahweh. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, I will be their Elohim and they will be My people.
Yahweh found fault with the people not with the law – there was and is nothing wrong with His Law/ His Torah. The Israelites simply failed to obey and this quote in Hebrews is from Jeremiah 31 and the Greek word here for laws is ‘nomos’ meaning law, translated from the Hebrew word in Jeremiah31 – Torah! Yeshua came to refresh the Covenant made at Sinai and now His Torah is no longer on tablets of stone but now written in our hearts! The renewed covenant is based on the same commands. They are to be written on our minds which means we have to learn the commands and meditate on them day and night and they are to be written on our hearts showing that we should want to obey them as the meditation of our hearts becomes pleasing to Yahweh! 9 times in the N.T. the term New Covenant is used, and in Greek there is two words for New – one is ‘neos’ and carries the idea of brand new or numerically new and the other word is, ‘kainos’ which means refreshed, renewed, or repaired. 8 times out of the 9 the word ‘kainos’ is used and it is used in this passage we just read. Yeshua came not to bring a brand new covenant- He came to repair what was broken and to refresh and restore it so as to give us, by His life, death and resurrection a restored relationship with Him. We are no longer under Torah but live in Torah as we live in our Marriage Covenant with our betrothed. These 10 words of Yahweh were expanded, giving us clear instructions to live the righteous life and in the Apostolic writings or N.T. as we know it lists 1050 such instructions that define and reveal the heart of our walk of righteousness as Spoken and written by Yahweh. His commands are not burdensome – The yoke of Yeshua is easy – let us be filled as we truly see the wonderful heart of expressing our love to Yahweh in keeping His instructions living faithfully together as His bride, amen!
I just thought I would like to end with some of the words of David in Psalm 119. May we capture David’s heart - a man after Yahweh’ heart – who loved Torah. 23 verses where the words the law is translated from Torah – lets read:
Psalm 119: 1;18;29;34;44;51;53;55;61;70;77;85;92;97;109;113;126;136;142;150;153;163;174
To Love Him is to obey His commands – may we continue to love Him, amen!
Psalm 119: Torah verses!!!
1: “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the Torah of Yahweh”
18: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your Torah.”
29: “Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your Torah.”
34: “Give me understanding, and I will keep your Torah and obey it with all my heart.”
44: “I will always obey your Torah, for ever and ever.”
51: “The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your Torah.”
53: “Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your Torah.”
55: “In the night I remember your name, O Yahweh and I will keep your Torah.”
61: “Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your Torah.”
70: “Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your Torah.”
77: “Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your Torah is my delight.”
85: “The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your Torah.”
92: “If your Torah had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”
97: “Oh, how I love your Torah, I meditate on it all day long.”
109: “Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your Torah.”
113: “I hate double-minded men, but I love your Torah.”
126: “It is time for you to act, O Yahweh, your Torah is being broken.”
136: “Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your Torah is not obeyed.”
142: “Your righteousness is everlasting and your Torah is true.”
150: “Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your Torah.”
153: “Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your Torah.”
163: “I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your Torah.”
174: “I long for your salvation, O Yahweh, and your Torah is my delight.”