Additions

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

This verse scares me. I think about it a lot. I don’t want to be judged any more strictly than I otherwise would have. Still, I feel compelled to write these little blog posts in the hope that they will cause someone to repent and turn to YHWH. So, here goes.

A few years ago I came to the conclusion that Yeshua taught that the commandments given to Moses by YHWH were still in effect. 

Matthew. 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

I still believe that. So, I have with limited success, tried to obey those commands. My failures in that regard are humbling. I started by trying to rest on the seventh day sabbath. I moved on to trying to follow the dietary laws. I had already tried to forgive everyone that has hurt me and I pray for them to turn to YHWH. Still, I know I fall short in a great many areas. Many times I find myself weak or angry or full of doubt. There are difficult passages in the Law. There are laws that I don’t understand the purpose of. There are laws pertaining to the wearing of mixed fabrics like linen and wool. With modern factory made clothing this law is especially troublesome. I think we are all guilty of picking and choosing which of the commandments we will obey and which ones we will ignore to some extent. The Christian churches do this regularly. Your pastor who doesn’t believe that the Law is still in effect still preaches on tithing (part of the Law) while having a belly full of bacon from his breakfast. Church buildings, images, Sunday worship, robes, statues, rosary, praise bands and worship teams, none of this is even hinted at in scriptures. It is especially difficult for us followers that live in a place and time where society and culture are in direct opposition to YHWH’s Law, to keep His commands. It should not be like this, but it is. Still, there is hope for us. It is written.

Deuteronomy 30:11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

Luke 1:5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

We are assured that it isn’t too difficult for us to obey the Law. It can be done, contrary to Paul and the teachings of western evangelical Christianity. I have already quoted what Yeshua had to say that the Law is still in effect until all things are fulfilled. What else did He say?

Yeshua was asked what was the greatest of the commandments and this is how he answered.

Mark: 12:28 Now one of the experts in the law came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

I take comfort in that verse. Even though I know that I fail from time to time, I also know that it is important to repent and keep trying to obey. We cannot stop trying just because we fail. If we do continue to try then perhaps, it will be enough. 

On most sabbaths I try to meet to worship and learn with a small group of like minded friends. We have no recognized clergy. We do not take up a collection. We have no building. We share. We read. We pray. Sometimes we study and even debate a little. Somehow it works. We have tried to model our meetings on what we know about how the earliest believers worshiped. We have tried to purge worldly or pagan influences from our worship. Recently someone suggested an addition to our service which was something done in the synagog since early times. It was decided though that it wasn’t mentioned anywhere in scripture and for that reason we would not include it. The scriptures below indicate why we did not accept it.

Deuteronomy 12:12 These are the statutes and ordinances that you must diligently observe in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to occupy all the days that you live on the earth.

2 You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. 3 Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God in such ways.

Deuteronomy 12:29 When the Lord your God has cut off before you the nations whom you are about to enter to dispossess them, when you have dispossessed them and live in their land, 30 take care that you are not snared into imitating them, after they have been destroyed before you: do not inquire concerning their gods, saying, “How did these nations worship their gods? I also want to do the same.” 31 You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. 

32 You must diligently observe everything that I command you; do not add to it or take anything from it.

Even though something was done in antiquity it may not be good. We are commanded not to add to or take away from the commands YHWH gave us. Yeshua had a few things to say about added, man made traditions.

Mark 7:1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders, 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

    but their hearts are far from me;

7 in vain do they worship me,

    teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8 “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!

Someone once said that “tradition is peer pressure from the dead”. When it comes to religious traditions I an inclined to agree. So, it is a fine line we have to walk and it is vitally important to walk it carefully. We must be careful to obey what we have been commanded. We must be careful not to make additions to our worship which YHWH has not commanded.

Matthew 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Walk carefully.