So far in our Torah studies, we have studied in great detail the Biblical Feasts, the sacrificial system and the many rules and ordinances connected to these God-ordained institutions.
At this juncture, now is as good a time as ever to remind you of the oh-so-important and fundamental truth that Yeshua did NOT come to abolish the Law, but rather he came to fulfill it.
What the Father did through the Biblical Feasts, the Sabbath rest, and the building of the Tabernacle (later the temple) was to provide us a VISIBLE means by which we could comprehend heavenly truths and spiritual principles.
Later, what Yeshua did when he came was take all of these PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS and bring them to their ultimate divine purpose.
I know that what I’m about to say is diametrically opposed to what has been taught as a foundation doctrine of the gentile church but Yeshua did NOT throw the Torah in the trash and start all over again with a whole new set of principles and commandments.
I will never get tired of saying this.
Yeshua did NOT come to do away the TORAH and all of its principles and prophecies.
Whenever you’re confronted with pastors or friends who still believe that the Law is dead and gone, point them to Matthew 5:17-19 (copied below).
I think it would do good to have everybody memorize those verses.
What Yeshua is saying is that rather than doing away with the Law, he was bringing to light the highest meaning and intent of each of the commands and prophecies.
The best way to look at the Torah is to consider it like a blueprint of God’s plan.
What is a blueprint?
A blueprint is an overall but precise picture, a bird’s eye view of God’s vision if you will that details how each piece of the heavenly plan is to look and operate.
Let me use an illustration to explain the current situation the Christian church finds itself in today.
Let’s say you drew up plans and blueprints to build a house and then contracted a builder to put your vision into reality.
A good six months or so go by and then you receive a phone call from the builder telling you your house is done.
You go to check out the finished product and you’re aghast!
“What the hell did you do?!” you say to the builder.
“I asked for a wooden roof, instead I got a metal one!”
“I asked for a 4-story house, but it’s only 2 stories!”
“I asked for windows in the kitchen area but I don’t see any windows!”
In the midst of your rage, the home-builder responds as follows:
“Well, take it easy now.”
“Look, you wanted 2 bathrooms and I built you 2 bathrooms.”
“You wanted a living room with a home office and I built that for you”
“You wanted exactly 3 bedrooms and I gave you that.”
“I don’t understand what’s the problem?”
“Al the rest of what you’re talking about are just details.”
“WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?!?!?!” you shout back.
“The problem is you didn’t follow the plan, plain and simple!”
“I don’t know whose house this is but it isn’t my house”!
You’re so unhappy, you tell the builder to take the house he built and shove it.
The builder, stuck with the house, puts it on sale at a steep discount and ends up selling it to a family who likes the house exactly at is.
They see it as a great bargain and happily move in.
Now what this new family doesn’t know is that the house they’re living in wasn’t built per the Creator’s original intentions.
They’ve never seen nor studied the original blueprints, so how are they supposed to know?
As far as they’re concerned, the house meets all their living needs just fine, so they’re basically satisfied.
And that’s the great danger.
Because they haven’t seen the original blueprints, THEY WILL NEVER KNOW HOW GREAT AND GLORIOUS THE HOUSE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN.
They will never know that what they’re living in barely resembles the Creator’s original vision.
But the family living in the house doesn’t care.
They’re comfortable and don’t wish to have what they’re now familiar with overturned.
Even if they were given the chance to look at the original blueprints, they wouldn’t want to, because it could be too troubling for them.
I know this isn’t a perfect analogy but that’s kind of how the gentile church is.
When you study about the life of the Messiah and the coming Kingdom of God in the New Testament before gaining a solid foundation of the blueprints or Torah, you end up living in the wrong house.
The blueprint for the coming Kingdom IS THE TORAH.
I would say that’s the biggest problem for the gentile church.
They just don’t possess the proper foundation because they have NOT studied the original blueprints.
In fact, many church leaders will teach that it is a bad thing to read the original blueprints because to do so will just confuse us at best or pull us away from the faith at worse.
Some folks will even go so far as to claim that the Creator threw the original blueprints away and came up with a whole new plan.
Therefore, it would be a waste of time to study them old blueprints anyway they say.
To close, I need to ask you, which house are you living in?
You will never know if you are living in the Father’s house or not unless you are familiar with the original blueprints.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not think that I came to abolish
the Law or the Prophets;
I did not come to abolish,
but to fulfill.
For truly I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or stroke
shall pass away from the Law,
until all is accomplished.
So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot
and teaches others to do so
will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But whoever obeys them
and so teaches will be called
great in the Kingdom of Heaven”
-Matthew 5:17-19
I have been doing a lot of study on this and something keeps weighing on my mind concerning following the Torah Laws today. It seems like to actually follow these we should be making burnt offerings and sacrifices but we do not. It seems that we pick and chose which ones to follow. It’s all very confusing to me. I come from a gentile church where I have been indoctrinated into believing Jesus did away with the laws and I am just trying to understand and ensure that I am living in the Word.
Thanks for your comment Becky. It’s important to understand that some commandments can’t be done like the sacrifices because they’re dependent on the temple. However, the “principles” and “truths” behind all of the Torah commandments including the ones we can’t keep still stand and when applied to our lives will bear much fruit. My way of thinking is to do the best I can with what I’ve been given.