One of the benefits of looking at Scriptures without someone looking over your shoulder to check if your “church doctrine” is not out of line, is the joy of discovering truths that are truly life-changing. Shaúl the apostle tried to put this into words, when he wrote the following:
2 Cor 4:6-9 For Elohim, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts for the enlightening of the knowledge of the esteem of Elohim in the face of Y’shua Messiah. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power might be of Elohim, and not of us – being hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; being perplexed, but not in despair; being persecuted, but not forsaken; being thrown down, but not destroyed …
Notice the contrast: hard pressed, but not crushed
being perplexed, but not in despair
persecuted, but not forsaken
being thrown down, but not destroyed
It is a matter of looking at life and looking at ourselves the way Yahweh is looking. Not allowing our understanding to be corrupted and contaminated by the thought patterns of this world. Not even by the thought patterns of mainstream religions like Christianity and Judaism. Many of us have done this already (in various degrees), but let us remind ourselves once again: We need to re-align our thinking continuously, in order to come to a greater understanding of our own standing in this world and to allow the light of the true knowledge of Yahweh to remove all traces of darkness that may still be part of our lives. Let us look at a few more of these “but not” statements that are most prominent in the way Scriptures define the basics of our belief.
1.REJOINED BUT NOT REPLACED. The view of Replacement Theology that the “church” has replaced the people of Yisrael as Yahweh’s new chosen people, is without any Scriptural foundation. Yahweh has not abandoned Yisrael. He has not given up on them. They are still very much part of his plans for the future. As a proof of this, we have hundreds of prophesies concerning Yisrael in Scriptures that have not yet been fulfilled – and not a single one of these prophesies ever hints that the entity of Yisrael will someday, somehow, be replaced by another entity. Scriptures are clear, however, that those outside of Yisrael may join, and those with former connections with Yisrael, may rejoin and thus become part and parcel of this group of people that are described as the apple of Yahweh’s eye (Zecharyah 2:8); Yahweh’s firstborn son (Shemot 4:22) and the servant of Yahweh (Yeshayahu 41:8).
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree.
2.SHADOWED BUT NOT SHUT DOWN. Many people tend to think of a shadow in a very negative way, especially when it is applied to activities that are promoted in the Torah like keeping a Shabbat or a Scriptural Feast or coming together on the evening of the new moon. Scriptures, however, do not use the word “shadow” to indicate something “temporary” or something that at some stage was, or needs to be shut-down or terminated. When Scriptures like Col 2:16-17; Heb 8:5 and Heb 10:1 refer to “shadow”, the intention is to remind us of Torah’s purpose to prepare us for our future in heaven, which is the “real object”. Our living here on earth is but a “shadow” of what is to come. So too is Torah, the Shabbat, the Feasts, etc. But we do not have the luxury of casting off this shadow – this is not an option. The shadow is Yahweh’s way of teaching us, little by little, about the things He had prepared for us. Let us accept this teaching process with joy and expectation.
Heb 8:5 This shadow of the heavenly (reminds one of the time when) Mosheh was warned … “See that you make all according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
3.PRIVILEGED BUT NOT PRESSURIZED. The criticism is sometimes heard that believers in Messiah who follow Torah, have been pressurized to do so by leaders with a twisted view of Scriptures. These same critics are oftentimes quick to conclude that keeping the Torah is toiling and depressing – a very heavy, unbearable yoke that is hampering one’s freedom and restricting one’s joy. When looking at the lives of those who have chosen this route, however, quite the opposite seems to be true. Their experience is that Torah is a privilege, not a burden. The Torah has restored the joy and the shalom in their lives. They have come to discover the truth of verses like Ps 19:7 (The Torah of Yahweh is perfect); Ps 119:92 (If Your Torah had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction); Yesh 8:20 (To the Torah and to the witness! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no light) and Rom 7:2 (The Torah is set-apart and righteous and good).
Jam 1:25 But he that looked into the perfect Torah of freedom, and continues in it, not being a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah.
4.FLOURISH BUT NOT JEWISH. Those who have rediscovered the roots of Scriptural belief are often confronted with the question: Have you now turned Jewish? This is to be expected, based upon the perception that keeping the Shabbat, observing Pesach, refraining from eating pork and calling upon the Almighty by using a Hebrew Name, is something “Jewish”. Somehow, when people refer to something as “Jewish”, they attach a negative connotation to the word. The use of the word “Jewish”, in itself, is somewhat negative and degrading. Most of the English words ending in “-ish” are conveying a negative, almost unfriendly picture of the object or person being described. Think of sheepish, spookish, womanish and babyish. We, ourselves, need to be careful when we use this word “Jewish”. At the same time, however, we need to keep in mind that we have never chosen to become Jewish or, for that matter, Hebrew or Israeli or followers of Judaism. We have chosen to connect or reconnect ourselves with the Elohim of the Jews or the Hebrews or the people of Israel. Connect ourselves with the words spoken by this Elohim and the writings inspired by Him. Since we have done that, we have flourished like never before in our lives: our understanding of Scriptures have grown with leaps and bounds and our outlook on life has become meaningful and filled with expectancy.
Isa 56:5 To them I shall give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters – I give them an everlasting name that is not cut off.
5.ONE BUT NOT THREE. At the very foundation of our belief, lies the conviction that Yahweh is one, not two or three, nor a twinity or a trinity that can only be described in complicated, philosophical terms and finds no place in the Scriptural evidence concerning Yahweh the Almighty and his Son, Y’shua the Messiah. There are numerous Scriptures (both Pre Messianic and Post Messianic) confirming the truth of this most essential element of our belief, including the first commandment (You shall have no other mighty ones before me); Deut 6:4 (Hear, O Yisrael: Yahweh is our Elohim, Yahweh is one); Isa 42:8 (I am Yahweh, that is My Name, and My esteem I do not give to another); Isa 44:6 (I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no Elohim); Joel 2:27 (And you shall know that I am in the midst of Yisrael, and that I am Yahweh your Elohim and there is no one else); Mat 19:17 (Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim); Eph 4:5-6 (one Master, one belief, one immersion, one Elohim and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.); 1 Cor 8:6 (for us there is one Elohim, the Father, from whom all came and for whom we live, and one Master Y’shua Messiah); 1 Tim 2:5 (For there is one Elohim, and one Mediator between Elohim and men, the Man Messiah Y’shua). This one-ness and uniqueness of the Almighty is not something complicated and confusing and should simply be understood within the normal definition and parameters of the word ONE (Hebrew: “echad”).
Jud 1:4 For certain men have slipped in, whose judgment was written about long ago, wicked ones perverting the favour of our Elohim for indecency, and denying the only Master Yahweh and our Master, Y’shua Messiah.
