What Romans 8:28 Actually Means

"For God works all things together for the good of those who love him." -Romans 8:28

This statement made by Paul in the New Testament is packed full of hope, isn't it? I love the promise of the idea that no matter what happens in my life, God will bring something good to me through that. An ugly situation will be weaved into something beautiful. Bad things will be turned around. That's the power of YHWH, the one who trades beauty for ashes.

This idea isn't limited in origin to Romans 8:28. Joseph told his brothers that what they had intended for evil, God had used for good. So I'm not saying that the common understanding of this verse is wrong. But it is limited. There is more to it than what sits above the surface.

Most of us have heard, or experienced ourselves, first hand accounts of this. The person that claimed the awful car-accident was the wake up call they needed to fix their marriage. Someone insisting that getting fired from a job was the best thing that ever happened to them. And yet...all of us have experienced deep heartache, grief and loss that can feel too heavy to bear.  There are certain pains in life where it seems cruel to say, "Not to worry - good will come from this." 

And that's where we need to see the deeper meaning of Romans 8:28.

The point of this passage isn't limited to all things somehow working out to be beneficial to followers of God, even if they don't see how in the world that could be true until eternity. Romans 8:28 also means that no matter what happens, it is our job to work with God to bring about good in this world.

Again, while I firmly believe that God is faithful to turn around the mess in our lives, we are also called to work with him in that! That means there is tremendous hope in each of our lives! Not just for good to happen to us. But to overcome the hard things and heartache, and continue to be faithful servants of YHWH, doing everything we can to bring about good into the world.

Many of us struggle to take our eyes off their hardships and the brokenness of our world. And I get that. There are far too many overwhelming situations and heartaches for most of us. And there are scary statistics and predictions about society, the economy, depression rates, and the environment on the news every day. It's easy to want to throw your hands up in the air and say "What's the point?" But truthfully, as the body of Messiah this is our time to step into the role that God created us for. It is your job to work with God to bring about good in your life, your family, your community, and our world, no matter what unwanted circumstances may arise.

Here's a better rendering of Romans 8:28

"We know that God works all things together for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose."

Related posts:

What Does 'No Greater Burdens' in Acts 15:20 Mean?
The Real Meaning of 1 Corinthians 14:34
The Beautiful Detail You've Never Heard from the Prodigal Son Parable

Understanding the Difference Between Unclean and Abominable Animals in Leviticus 11

What is the difference between unclean and abominable? Scripture uses both of these words in Leviticus 11 and elsewhere in regards to animal flesh. It's important for believers to make a distinction between these two words in order to correctly understand Scripture, and to understand Biblical eating guidelines.

One argument you're likely to hear against following the Bible's laws concerning what we eat is that it's not sin to become unclean, and certain animals - like pigs and shellfish - are "just" unclean. The logic is if it's not sin to become unclean, it must be okay to eat something that makes you unclean. However this is not what Scripture says!

It's true that being in an unclean state is not in and of itself sin. But it's not true that that certain animals are "just" unclean. If you take a look at Leviticus 11 you can see that it lists certain animals as abominable. The Hebrew word for abomination is seqes, and it means that that thing is detestable and can be related to idol worship! The connection to idol worship is not predicated on if the person eating abominable flesh means it to be idol worship or not; the connection remains regardless of intentions. The English word abominable can mean disgusting and if you read this chapter that is mostly the impression you get...in our culture today the idea of eating animals like dogs, bats, rodents, and such is a repulsive thought. The Bible is saying that it shouldn't even cross our minds to eat these things.

Please note that nowhere in Leviticus 11 or elsewhere in the Bible does it say that if you choose to eat certain animals you will become unclean.  When it talks about eating non-permissible animals it calls that an abomination! When the word 'unclean' appears later in Leviticus 11:24 it is in regards to simply touching the dead flesh of certain animals. That means you don't become unclean for petting a dog or cat or riding a horse - only if you touch or deal with the carcass of one. This certainly seems like a sensible regulation - if someone has just touched a dead racoon, you probably don't want to hold their hand or let them chop the vegetables for dinner. This passage of Scripture also gives us directions here for what happens if something unclean, like a mouse, ends up in a cooking pot.  

If you touch a carcass of an unclean animal - whether that's to put bacon in a skillet or to cleanup an animal that died - you become unclean. But if you eat the carcass of one of these animals that is an abomination according to Leviticus 11:11! Doing something that the Bible says is an abomination is sin.

The Bible calls animals like dogs, pigs, horses, and monkeys unclean, and by touching their carcasses we become unclean as well. Again, being in an unclean state is not a sin, and sometimes it is unavoidable. But the Bible does not say that being in an unclean state is all the consequence there is to consuming forbidden animals. The issue with eating these things is not that we would become unclean, but that we would be in sin!  It is wrong to to eat animals that the Word of God made a point of telling us not to. 

Many people believe that the New Testament changed the commandments around this, but if you study those passages you will see that the foundational dietary principles of Scripture that were outlined in Leviticus 11 remain unchanged.

Related posts:
Understanding 1 Corinthians 10:27
Four Distinctions We Need to Make to Understand Scripture
Peter's Vision Was About People - Not What We Eat

Who the Dragon Waged War Against in Revelation 12:17

Who is the evil dragon waging war against in the book of Revelation?

This post will explain the attributes of who the dragon raged against, and help us understand the identity of this woman.

"And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments and have the testimony of Yahusha." -Revelation 12:17

This people group is defined in two ways:
-as having the testimony of the Messiah
-as keeping the commandments

Why is this significant? Because here is another New Testament passage where followers of the Messiah are keeping Biblical law...and the forces of evil hate this! It's not the kingdom of Heaven waging war against this group; it's the Dragon, the most blatantly evil being in Scripture. This leader of darkness does not like when believers in the Messiah also keep the commandments. This should draw our attention that something very powerful happens when we put the word of God into practice!

The testimony of Messiah is the most important thing in this world. I am not discounting his life or sacrifice, but we need to see that the Dragon is not waging war against all the people who know the Messiah or that identify as saved or Christian or Bible believing, etc. Believing in the Messiah is a wonderful starting point, but the Dragon won't be waging war against you unless you start keeping the commandments of Scripture as well.

On the surface, this can seem like an easy way to avoid persecution. Just don't keep the commandments and all will be good, right? But in Matthew 5:12 we are told to rejoice when we are persecuted! Not because it is pleasant, but because it is better to be persecuted for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven than it is to be honored and praised for works of darkness. For those that the book of Revelation speaks of, this persecution is the surest sign that they are on the right track.

Keep in mind that in addition to foretelling the last battle of good versus evil at the end of days, Revelation was the last book of the Bible to be written. When John had these visions, it was decades after the Messiah had ascended into Heaven. Most, or possibly all, of the original Disciples were dead, and the writings of Paul were completed. And angels were speaking to John that YHWH's people would be keeping his commands! This wasn't talking about before the Messiah's day when it was a given that Biblical law would be followed. Many pastors would tell you that Biblical law was done away with when the Messiah ascended, but here, decades later, John didn't believe that to be the case.

The Dragon hates when those who follow the Messiah also keep the commandments, and the Dragon hates what YHWH loves. Keeping Biblical law is so important to the Creator that the forces of evil actively work to stop it. If believers today don't keep the commands, are they aligning with the Dragon's side or the King's?

Note: This is not to say that those who don't keep the commandments and have the testimony of the Messiah will have it easy. If you are in a war zone, things are going to be hard. In wartime, even collaborators suffer. But it's very different to be a bystander to war than having war waged on you. 

More posts to understand Scripture:
What You Need to Know When You Read Galatians
Did the Messiah Break Biblical Law?
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture

What You Need to Know When You Read Galatians

Galatians is a popular book in the New Testament that everyone seems to have a different take on. Traditional Christianity uses verses from Galatians as justification for setting aside Biblical commandments. Messianic believers might tell you that it's just talking about oral or Jewish law. Others read through it and think it contradicts itself repeatedly, or just feel confused. What is Galatians about?

How can we make sense of this important part of Scripture? This post will tell you how to read and study Galatians, so that you can understand how it is relevant today!

-Galatians is not meant to be read on its own. I grew up thinking that Galatians was some sort of trump card, and even if the Bible said the opposite thing somewhere else it didn't matter because somehow Galatians was more relevant or important than the rest of Scripture. But it's not legitimate to use one Bible verse to write off other parts of God's word. The way we translate and teach Galatians needs to fit with the rest of Scripture, because the Living God did not create his word to be contradictory. All of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is cohesive. It fits together and all of the passages make sense with all of the other passages. If there is something in the Bible that seems to be contrary to other verses, that should call our attention to examine that topic more thoroughly. If something in Scripture is confusing, that's because I don't understand it well enough - not because it really is confusing.

-Different types of law are talked about in Galatians. Did you know that most Bible translations just use the word "law" for different types of law? That's about as clear as walking into a bridal dress shop and saying that you like the white dress! Specifications matter, and in this case Galatians talks about both Biblical law, and Levitical law. We need to rightly discern which type of law it talks about when. Otherwise this book will seem like it's contradicting itself and other parts of the Bible.

-The Bible says that Paul's writings are hard to understand. Peter wrote that in 2 Peter 3:16 and warned that Paul's writings often end up distorted or twisted. Here is a warning from the Bible that we need to slow down and study this book. It's unrealistic to think that a quick, cursory reading of an English translation will lead us to to proper meaning of Galatians when Scripture warns us that it is difficult to understand. That doesn't mean we can't understand it, but this indicates that the true meaning of Galatians might be different than what we've been taught!

Related posts: 
A Hebraic Perspective on Galatians
The Three Types of Laws in Scripture
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

Key Differences Between the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

Seeing that the Bible talks about two separate priesthoods was eye-opening for me. There are many differences between the Levitical priesthood, which was instituted after the sin of the golden calf, and the Melchizedek priestly order of the Messiah. Seeing these as two distinct entities will help you to better understand Scripture!

Scripture considers Melchizedek greater than Levi. (Hebrews 7:7)

The Melchizedek priesthood needs only the blood of the Messiah, and does not require animal sacrifice. (Hebrews 10:11-12)

The Messiah did not sin, and therefore did not need to atone for himself, whereas priests of Levi would first have to sacrifice sin offerings for themselves, before they could do so for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 7:27)

The Melchizedek priesthood is forever, but the Levitical priesthood was only for a time. (Hebrews 9:10)

The Levitical priesthood system is a copy and shadow of the heavenly Melchizedek priesthood. (Hebrews 8:5)

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats (the operation of the Levitical priesthood) to take away sin, but the Messiah saves completely through his priesthood. (Hebrews 10:4, 7:25)

Levitical sacrifices had to be offered up day by day, but the Messiah's offering of his blood under the Melchizedek priesthood was once and for all.

Related posts:
A Hebraic Perspective on Hebrews
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods
Why We Don't Sacrifice Animals

What the Bible Says about Passover

Today we are going to take a look at what the Bible has to say on the topic of Passover. While we don't hear much about it in the Christian church, the word Passover is used around 75 times in Scripture, including more than 25 times in the New Testament. The amount of times this Biblical holiday comes up should call our attention to the importance of this to the Creator. This post won't enumerate each verse, but will give us a general idea of what the Bible says about this often overlooked holiday.

What Scripture says about Passover:

"This is how you eat it: fully clothed, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of YHWH." -Exodus 12:11

"YHWH's Passover is to begin at twilight on the 14th day of the first month." -Leviticus 23:5

"Keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the first month. Then all the assembly of Israel shall slay it between the evenings. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted in fire - with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it." -Exodus 12:6-8

"No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal." -Exodus 12:43

"All the congregation of Israel is to perform Passover." -Exodus 12:47

"And when a stranger sojourns among you, then he shall perform the Passover of YHWH. He shall do so according to the law of the Passover and according to its right ruling. You have one law, both for the stranger and the native of the land." -Numbers 9:14

"Have the Israelites celebrate Passover at the appointed time." -Numbers 9:2

"When they celebrate Passover they must follow all of its regulations." -Numbers 9:12

"The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover." -Numbers 33:3

"Guard the month of Aviv and perform the Passover to YHWH your Elohim, for in the month of Aviv YHWH your  Elohim brought you out of Egypt." -Deuteronomy 16:1

"On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated Passover." -Joshua 5:10

"The King gave this order to all the people, 'Celebrate the Passover to YHWH your God, as it is written in the Book of the Covenant.'" -2 Kings 23:21

"And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the House of YHWH to perform the Passover of YHWH Elohim of Israel." -2 Chronicles 30:1

"They sent to all Israel from Beersheba to Dan, to come to perform the Passover to YHWH Elohim of Israel since they had not done it for a long time." -2 Chronicles 30:5

"Josiah provided to the lay people 30,000 lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings, and 3,000 cattle - all from the king's own possessions. His leaders also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders in the House of YHWH gave to the priests 2,600 Passover offerings, and 300 cattle." -2 Chronicles 35:7-8

"Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did, with the priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people in Jerusalem." -2 Chronicles 35:18

"On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated Passover." -Ezra 6:19

"Every year, Yahusha's parents went to Jerusalem for Passover." -Luke 2:41

"When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles he was doing." -John 2:23

"When he came to Galilee the Galileans received him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, for they had been there." -John 4:45

"As you know, the Passover is in two days - and the son of man will be handed over to be crucified." -Matthew 26:2

"I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house." -Matthew 26:18

"The disciples did as Yahusha had directed and prepared the Passover." -Matthew 26:19

"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you." -Luke 22:15

"Get rid of the old leaven, so that you are a new batch, as you are unleavened. For the Messiah our Passover was slaughtered for us." -1 Corinthians 5:7

"When you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the death of the Messiah until he comes." -1 Corinthians 11:26

"By faith Moses performed the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the first born would not touch the firstborn of Israel." -Hebrews 11:28

The frequency of Passover appearing in the Bible should call our attention to the importance that the Creator puts on this holiday. By comparison, birthdays are mentioned two or three times in Scripture, and the holidays of Christmas and Easter aren't mentioned at all in the Bible. Keep in mind that the verses here represent only a portion of the word Passover in the Bible, and don't go into parts of Scripture that deal with something happening on Passover, such as the last supper or death of the Messiah. Genesis 18 where Sarah makes unleavened bread for the visiting angels could possibly be another instance of Passover. Take time to study this popular theme of Scripture!

Related posts:
Things the Messiah Said at Passover
Comparing Passover and Easter
Five Reasons Why Believers Should Keep Passover

The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture

When I was growing up we typically went to church twice a week, but I never once heard that there were two houses of Israel in Scripture. I distinctly remember in my teens reading through the whole Bible and wondering why in Kings it kept going back and forth between mentioning Judah and mentioning Israel. Weren't these the same thing?

It has been said by Biblical scholars that if you don't realize that there are two houses of Israel then you're going to misunderstand seven-eighths of the Bible! I heard that quote before I knew about the two tribes and, in all honesty, I didn't believe it. Sure, I wasn't a Bible expert, but I grew up in church and was very familiar with Scripture. How could a topic that seems like it is barely brought up keep me from understanding properly almost 90% of the word?

Originally there was only one kingdom of Israel, which was made up of twelve tribes, named after the sons of Jacob/Israel. The tribes had their own territory, comparable to the states making up the USA. However, the kingdom split after King Solomon died. A great portion of Scripture relates to the two houses becoming unified again.

Where we see the two houses of Israel and Judah in Scripture:

1 Kings 11:31 - The prophet Ahijah tore his garment into twelve pieces, and told Jeroboam to take ten, because YHWH was tearing the reign from Solomon and giving it to Jeroboam. This was happening because Solomon had forsaken YHWH and worshipped Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech and did not follow Biblical law (verse 33). Since Jeroboam is not given all twelve tribes, this makes two separate kingdoms of YHWH's people.

1 Kings 12 - This is where the people rebelled against Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, on account of heavy labor and taxation. Verse 20, "It came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only." David's grandson, Rehoboam was now king of Judah (and also Levi, since the temple was in Jerusalem, where he reigned), while Jeroboam was now king of Israel. (Note that the birthright to the name of Israel was given by Israel/Jacob himself to his grandson Ephraim in Genesis 48. This is why the ten tribes were called Israel.)

Jeremiah 31:31 - "The days are coming," declares YHWH, "when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." There are many verses like this in the Bible, that we just won't be able to make sense of unless we acknowledge the split between Israel and Judah. It's significant that both houses are involved in the new covenant! The Gospel is not just for people of a certain bloodline or background, forgiveness and redemption is available to all. 

2 Kings 17:23 - "Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, as it is to this day." This happened in roughly 740 BC, later we see the house of Judah taken into Babylonian captivity around 600 BC. We simply cannot reconcile the accounts of the Bible unless we look at Israel and Judah as separate entities at this point. It's also imperative to recognize that while the house of Judah returned from exile after 70 years and their culture was intact at the time of the Messiah, the house of Israel was scattered and 'lost,' which leads us to a major theme in Scripture of YHWH regathering and restoring his people.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - Do you know the story of the dry bones? If not, please read it because it's amazing! But it's not just a euphemism for areas of our lives that feel hopeless. The Bible explains in verse 11, "These bones are the house of Israel." 

Ezekiel 37:15-28 - YHWH instructs Ezekiel to connect two sticks that he has written on. One says, "For Judah," and the other, "For Ephraim." This was a visual illustration of all twelve tribes being reunited, even though by this time the people of house of Israel had been scattered abroad.

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) - While you are probably familiar with this story, it's interesting to see that the Messiah is acknowledging the separation of the tribes here. In his story, the first two people that pass the man who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead were a priest and a Levite, so they would be from the house of Judah. Many people in Samaria at that time were from the house of Israel. The Messiah's point is not that one tribe is better than the others here. Since many of those in Judah looked down on those from the house of Israel, he used this story to say that he didn't look down on those from Israel or think they were all bad.

1 Kings 22:2 - "King Jehoshaphat of Judah went down to visit King Ahab of Israel." As the chapter goes on they speak to each other and talk about going to war together, showing the houses operate as separate entities from each other with their own armies, etc. Many people read through Kings and don't catch that Israel and Judah are two distinct kingdoms, but in this chapter it's easy to see.

Hosea - The story of Hosea being told to marry a harlot makes a lot more sense when we look at it through the lens of the house of Israel. Judah wasn't perfect either, but the house of Israel went significantly astray from YHWH. Jeroboam's sin of not adhering to Biblical law would later lead Israel into the grievance of worshiping demonic entities, thereby committing harlotry against YHWH. Hosea's action was a beautiful foreshadow of him lovingly coming after the unfaithful house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24 - "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Raise your hand if you've understood this verse to mean that the Messiah came only for Jews. Raise your other hand if you've believed that the Gospel was only made available to everyone because Jewish leaders rejected the Messiah. I have both arms up. I used to read this verse and feel slightly rejected because I am not from the tribe of Judah, but that's not what the Messiah is saying here. He said he came for the house of Israel, a people that had been in captivity and scattered in the nations for more than 750 years when he made this statement. Most of these people weren't serving YHWH, didn't know his instructions (let alone follow them), and wouldn't have known that their ancestors were part of Israel and the family of YHWH. That's significant because he's still after people like that.

Acts 13:46 - "It was necessary that the word of YHWH should be spoken to you first; but seeing as you push it away, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles." This happened shortly after Peter's vision about not believing that certain people were unclean or unfit for the Gospel. It was after that revelation that the Gospel was preached outside of the house of Judah. Up until then, New Testament leaders struggled with manmade teachings about those from Judah being superior to those from the house of Israel, or other nations.

Hebrews 8:8-9 - "I shall make with the house of Israel and house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers when I lead them out of Egypt." Another reiteration of YHWH bringing the houses back together and making covenant with the people of both houses.

These are a handful of examples, but once you recognize this distinction you will start to see it throughout the Bible. The prophets frequently specify which group they are talking to, and once you realize that, they don't sound wishy-washy, saying one thing and then another, because you realize different messages were for the different houses! Kings is another great example, the story of Elijah calling fire down from heaven happened in Israel; the evil Athaliah, who murdered all but one of her grandchildren, was Queen of Judah. These distinctions matter and will help you to better understand the word!

Related posts:
Understanding the Other 88% of the Bible

Commandments or Traditions: Understanding the New Testament
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

Did the Messiah Break the Law?

To cut to the chase: no. The Messiah never once broke Biblical law. But he was often accused of breaking the law.

I used to read my Bible and think that when the Pharisees accused the Messiah of breaking Biblical law, they were correct. I figured that as the son of God, the Messiah had license to take some liberties. Just like the son or daughter of a business owner can, typically, get away with more slacking off than the average employee. And if keeping the law wasn't important to the Messiah, why on earth should it be to me?

One of the major themes of the New Testament that gets overlooked is the Messiah's harsh rebukes for manmade traditions. Many of us have made the assumption that the laws Yahusha stands against are from the Bible, buried deep somewhere in the Old Testament. But this is not the case. The laws he stood against were manmade, Jewish laws. It's important to know that Judaism has literally added thousands upon thousands of rules to their religious system that aren't found in Scripture. We see the Messiah's contempt for this in Mark 7:8, "You lay aside the commandments of YHWH, and instead hold to the traditions of men."

The Messiah frequently upset religious leaders. As did his followers. They frequently set aside manmade tradition or Jewish laws that weren't found in the Bible. But they didn't break the commandments of Scripture!

Some examples...

-Messiah accused of breaking the Sabbath day by healing someone. -Matthew 12:10
In Matthew 12:12 Yahusha responds to his accusers. He says, "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." That was not a new idea. He's not bending the rules or saying that it is lawful just because he says so. He is correcting his accusers. He's saying the Bible teaches this is lawful. He was not re-writing the Torah or making an "anything goes" loophole policy. He is explaining to them what the Bible says. While the Pharisees might say it is against their own laws to heal on the Sabbath, the Bible does not say this. Of course this means the Messiah did not break the law with his Sabbath healings.

-Followers eating grain on the Sabbath. -Luke 6:1-5
I think the Messiah almost brags a little here.... It's the Sabbath and some of his disciples are hungry, so they picked some kernels of wheat in a nearby field and threshed them in their hands to take off the hard chaff. While the Bible says we aren't to work on the Sabbath it does not say that you can't peel an orange to eat (which would be somewhat similar to what the disciples were doing). Yahusha told the accusers he was the Master of the Sabbath, as in I'm the best at this and I know what's permissible or not. No one knows more about what's lawful on the Sabbath than I do.

-Accusation of eating with unwashed hands. -Mark 7
Scripture tells us that there are certain animals we are not to eat, and that we are not to eat blood, and that's about it. So, yes, there are dietary laws but the Bible doesn't say that we need to do a ritual hand washing before we eat, otherwise that food magically becomes unclean or defiling. The "tradition of the elders of ritual hand washing" is not a commandment of YHWH, it's a tradition of men, and the Messiah did not stand for it. See more about that in this post.

-Peter's vision of going to the Gentiles. -Acts 10
Throughout Scripture non native born Israelites have been welcomed into the family of YHWH...the Israelites left Egypt with a "mixed multitude" of Egyptians who wanted to serve YHWH after seeing his mighty acts. Women like Rahab and Ruth were not born Israelites but are celebrated in the Messiah's lineage. Caleb was not a native born, and the prophet Obadiah is believed to be from Edom. Not allowing people like this into the faith is unbiblical. This practice was prevalent in the early church, which is why YHWH gave Peter a vision and said, "What I call clean, you do not call unclean." After this the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles.

-Paul confronting Peter about not eating with Gentiles when Jews were present. -Galatians 2:11-15
Paul tells Peter here that he shouldn't be following rules that aren't from the Bible. When he says, "You have discarded the Jewish laws, why are you trying to make these Gentiles follow Jewish tradition?" he means exactly that...Jewish tradition, not Scriptural commandments. He is in no way permitting or encouraging new believers to not follow the Biblical commandments.

"They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." -Matthew 15:9
The Messiah's statement here should be a stern warning to us not to place any human ideas or manmade traditions higher than what Scripture actually says! This goes for family traditions, Jewish law, and common Christian beliefs. None of these things should be treated as doctrines and they should never be deferred to over the commandments of the Bible.

Throughout the New Testament we see the Messiah and the apostles correcting these manmade laws. If we are going to correctly understand Scripture it is absolutely essential to realize the differences between the manmade traditions of Jewish law, and the commandments of YHWH. When the Messiah and his followers clashed with leaders of the Jewish faith, it was never because they weren't keeping a Biblical commandment. Religious leaders were upset because the Messiah was against their laws.

The Messiah always upheld and kept YHWH's instructions in the Torah. When he was accused of violating Biblical commandments, his accusers were in the wrong having applied their own traditions and customs to how the Bible is understood. Let us be careful today to not do the same thing!

More on the law:
Traditions or Commandments - Understanding the New Testament
The Faith of the Bible
The Three Types of Law in Scripture

Biblical Law and the Woman Caught in Adultery

Many of us have been told that when the Messiah let the woman who was caught in adultery go free, instead of being stoned to death, he changed Biblical law. Is that what happened?

This story comes to us from John 8. You're probably familiar with it. Jewish leaders brought a woman who had been caught in adultery before the Messiah. They said that in the Torah, Moses commanded that adulterers be stoned. What did Yahusha say about this?

They were looking for a way to trap him theologically. They wanted him to disagree with Moses. Keep in mind that they were not coming to him for advice or because it was required of them. They were experts in Biblical law and they had the authority to carry it out. This was either a trap or a test. He could have dazzled them with his wisdom, as he had before. But what did he do? He stooped down, and used his finger to write in the dirt like he didn't hear them. (John 8:6)

The Bible doesn't say exactly how long the Messiah wrote in the dirt, or what words he put down. Did he write out the passage they were referring to? Did he reference another part of Scripture? Did he write their names or sins? Did he write Psalms of repentance or about the hope of forgiveness through him? Did he write the truth about this situation?

They kept questioning him, and eventually he stood up and said one of his more famous phrases. "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7)

He stooped back down and went back to his writing. One by one the accusers and crowd went away, from oldest to youngest. After that he spoke to the accused woman. She told him that no one had condemned her. "Neither do I," he said to her. "Go and sin no more." (John 8:11)

Does this prove that the Messiah is altering Biblical law?

Deuteronomy 22:22 does say that adultery is a sin punishable by death:

"When a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman. Thus you shall purge the evil from Israel."

Biblical law says she deserves death. But not so fast. It also says here that both the man and the woman involved are to be put to death. Where is the man? If the religious leaders were so concerned with rightly dealing with sin, why didn't they bring him to the Messiah? There is no way for the woman to be "caught in" adultery, but not the man. It's not like they didn't know who he was. This seems to imply that something fishy is going on...did they lure her into a trap? Did someone come to them and accuse her falsely? Had she committed adultery with one of the accusing religious leaders and now they were hoping to do away with her while avoiding their own punishment?

Biblical law also says that someone can't be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. It would require two or three. While this passage of Scripture makes it sound like a fairly sizable group was present (she was brought by both scribes and Pharisees, both plural), it would seem extremely suspicious if everyone in this group was a firsthand witness to this sin. This indicates that many people present were accusing her on hearsay alone, which would be wrong and unfair. Since Scripture doesn't tell us that she was caught by at least two or three witnesses, we can't be 100% sure that there were enough witnesses to justify stoning. That means we can't be certain that the Bible truly calls for her to be stoned here.

Deuteronomy 17:7 says that the witnesses who caught her would be required to throw the first stones at her. I believe this was intentional by YHWH to prevent deaths unfairly...if you were going to accuse someone of a weighty sin, then you had to be ready to have their blood on your hands. This means it would be a sin to throw the first stones at someone caught in adultery, if you were not one of at least two witnesses to this sin. Scripture does not definitively say that the witnesses were present in John 8. If they weren't, it would have been wrong to stone her.

The man was not present, and it's not clear if there were first-hand witnesses present. This would make it against Biblical law to stone her, even if she truly had been caught in adultery. Would it be just to put someone to death on hearsay when the other alleged perpetrator of the crime is not even charged? It would not be, according to the laws given in the Torah.

Yahusha followed Biblical law by not stoning her. As a result it was a beautiful foreshadow of his taking the punishment that we all deserve for our sins. His death doesn't mean that adultery or breaking other Biblical commandments is now okay, but it means that forgiveness and redemption are possible when we repent of our mistakes.

"Go and sin no more," doesn't mean what she did was permissible. The Messiah calling it sin tells us it was definitely sin. By telling her not to sin, he was telling her not to break Biblical law. Even as this woman receives mercy and redemption, the Savior calls her to uphold the commandments of Scripture.

Related posts:
Commandments or Traditions - Understanding the New Testament
Stoning in the Bible
How the Bible Defines Sin