What does YHWH require of you?

Devarim 10:12 - And now Israel, what does YHWH your Elohim require of you? To fear YHWH, your Elohim, to have your halacha in all His halachot, and to love Him, and to serve YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and being.

This Scripture in Deuteronomy is the answer to a lot of questions. What should I do with my life? What am I hear for? What does God want from me? He wants your love and fear and he wants you to walk in his halachot.

What is a halacha? It means way, the way to walk, or to conduct's one life. Halachot is simply the plural form of that.

Conduct your life in YHWH's ways. Walk the way Yeshua did.

Yochanan 14:6 - Yeshua said to them, I am the Derech, the Emet, and the Chayim: no man comes to my Abba, except through me.

We are familiar with this Scripture translated as, "the way, the truth, and the life." Yeshua describes himself as the way. Have your way in his ways. We can see that since the beginning YHWH desired his people to walk in The Way.

The first century believers in Yeshua were known as "followers of the way." (See Acts 9) Because they both believed in Yeshua, and walked out the lifestyle that YHWH desires us to. So what does YHWH want from you? To serve Yeshua and to keep his commands.

She Who Sows Righteousness

There are many outdoor projects at our house this summer. My husband and I are working on landscaping, planting some bushes, and digging an asparagus patch. He has worked as a landscaper and is used to fresh produce from his grandma's garden, and I have a deep love for rare plants. You can imagine we have specific thoughts about how our yard should be.

Our property is not a disaster zone but it could definitely use some sprucing up in the landscaping department.  There was already a garden when we bought the house but it had been neglected for several years. It was overgrown, full of weeds and thorny things. It's a long way from Eden but it is coming along well this year, producing tomatoes, swiss chard, bok choi, and flowers. It's hard to believe that it's the same patch of ground.

That fascinates me about soil--it can produce wonderful fruit, nourishing vegetables, and beautiful flowers or it can produce thistles and weeds. It simply depends on how you cultivate it.

Are you familiar with Yeshua's words from Mattiyahu 13? In what is known as the Parable of the Sower the Messiah likens us to soil. He tells of himself scattering his Torah amongst the people. In some, his word flourishes and gives life. In others it gets devoured or choked out. His truth only grows in soil that is good.

Just like that small garden out my back door you can produce anything you'd like. You can put in lots of hard work to make your garden beautiful. Spend time planting seeds, weeding, watering, and caring for them. It's hard work to make a lovely place. It's easier to let the thorns take over.

A garden can only produce the seed that is in it. There will never be asparagus or berries growing in my yard unless I put in the effort to plant them. It's the same with us. If you want to be someone that bears the fruit of the Spirit you'll need to plant those seeds in yourself.

Galatians 5:28: The fruit of the Ruach Hakodesh is ahava, simcha, shalom, patience, chesed, rachamim, trust worthiness, gentleness, and self-control.

These things are not going to magically pop up one spring. You have to purposefully plant them. If you don't take care of your garden then the weeds that grow look more like anxiety, frustration, faithlessness, and bitterness. It's easy to let those thorns take over. It's much harder to curate yourself for love, joy, and peace.

Mishlei 11:18b To him that sows tzedakah shall be a sure reward.

This proverb tells us that YHWH even rewards the ones who sow righteousness in their lives, families, and communities. When you sow seeds of goodness you are rewarded by the growth. The beauty of the flower, the fruit of the vine, the shade of that tree. YHWH does reward you for being a bearer of the Ruach Hakodesh.

If I want fruit to grow in my yard then I will have to plant the seeds. If I want the fruit of the Spirit in my life then I will have to ask YHWH to plant it in me and intentionally care for myself by studying Scripture, spending time in prayer and worship, and attending congregation. Because you are the soil that Yeshua talked about. You can grow in shalom, in love, in kindness. But first you need to plant.

Was Everyone in the Bible Jewish?

Did you know that most of the people in the Bible weren't Jewish? A lot of people don't realize this fact, and discussing any sort of Biblical commandment beyond, 'Thou shall not kill,' I hear this phrase a lot: Biblical law was only for the Jews.

I've started asking a simple question - who are the Jews? - in response to this statement. The responses mention rabbis, those living in the modern country of Israel, people with Jewish ancestry, and, you know, all the people who are in the Bible!

Somehow most of us have been lead to believe that unless you've had a bar mitzvah and find yourself as a member of the modern Jewish religion, then God doesn't really expect you to actually do what he says.

I could not disagree more with this idea because of one simple detail. Most of the people in Scripture were not Jewish.

That's an unusual thought for most of us, but that doesn't mean it's not true. I mean no disrespect to the Jewish people. Indeed there are many people in the Bible, including the Messiah, who were from the tribe of Judah. I'm not arguing that. But we should be aware that Biblical law was given to many more people besides just one tribe of Israel.

In fact, did you know the word 'Jewish' isn't in Scripture all that much? If you do a word search, jewel or jewelry will come up far more often than the word 'Jew.' The words Jew, Jewish, or Judaism actually don't appear even once in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), and only pop up a few times in the entire Old Testament, mostly in the book of Esther. Jeremiah uses Jew once, as does Zechariah, and it appears twice in Daniel. That's it. (Depending on the translation you're using.)

But, you may be saying, the people of Judah became the Jews. But please note, that does not mean everyone in Scripture.

We've talked briefly before about the fact that Abraham wasn't a Jew. Jacob's son Judah could arguably be referred to as the first Jew, though that's a stretch. I don't call my sister a Jordanite, just Jordan. Anyway, let's take a look at some other famous non-Jews in the Bible.

In addition to Abraham and Sarah, everyone before Judah was not Jewish. Including Adam and Eve, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, as well as Noah and his family. And realistically the people of Judah weren't referred to as Jews for centuries after Judah, the son of Jacob, lived.

Who else in the Bible wasn't Jewish.

-Moses. Yes, the very giver of the law supposedly only for Jews wasn't one himself. Moses, his brother Aaron, and their sister Miriam were from the tribe of Levi. (Exodus 2:1)

-Joshua. The man who lead Israel into the promised land was from the tribe of Ephraim. (Numbers 13:8)

-Caleb. He and Joshua were the spies that came back with the good report and were the only people from the generation that left Egypt to see the promised land. Caleb wasn't a natural born Israelite at all, but a Kenezite who chose to follow YHWH. (Joshua 14:14)

-Rahab. She assisted the Israelite spies in Jericho, but was not an Israelite herself. She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. (Joshua 2:1, Matthew 1:5)

-Gideon. He was the judge who fought in battle to liberate Israel from the Midianites, from the tribe of Manasseh. (Judges 6:15)

-Samson. Israel's most famous judge was from the tribe of Dan. (Judges 13:2)

-Samuel. Israel's last judge and a prophet came from the territory of Ephraim and was raised in the Tabernacle by a Levite. (1 Samuel 1:1)

-Saul. The first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Samuel 9:1)

-Ruth. King David's great-grandmother was from Moab. (Ruth 1:4)

-Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Both prophets were from families of Levitical priests. Jeremiah's family resided in the land of Benjamin, and Ezekiel lived in Babylonian exile. (Jeremiah 1:1, Ezekiel 1:3)

-Obadiah. In addition to writing the book of his name, Obadiah hid a hundred prophets from Jezebel and Ahab. Scripture doesn't say for sure but since he worked in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, we have no reason to believe he was from Judah. (1 Kings 18)

-Micah. Being from Moresheth he was not a biological part of Israel, but he was still counted a member of the people of YHWH. God spoke through him to the people as well. (Micah 1:1)

-Elijah. Described as Tishbite from Gilead, Elijah was from one of the ten northern tribes, and not Judah. (1 Kings 17:1)

-Elisha. He was from a city called Abel-meholah in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and was from one of the northern tribes. (1 Kings 19:16)

This list is by no means exhausting. The tribal ancestry of most of the characters in the Bible is not listed. This is also not to say that those grated in or from a different tribe are better or worse than those from Judah. There are exploits of faith and sins attributed to those from Judah and Ephraim. There is no racial superiority in the Kingdom of Heaven, and God does not give different commandments depending on your family tree.

As one of from the tribe of Benjamin wrote in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile...for you all are one in the Messiah Yahusha." In other words, it is irrelevant if you were born Jewish or from another tribe or if you're a foreigner altogether. The Messiah makes his people one. Regardless of your genealogy, all believers are grafted in YHWH's people Israel.

Related posts:
Why Biblical Law is for All Believers
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Why Paul Withstood Peter in Galatians 2

Keeping the Commandments Because of Love for Messiah

This weekend I heard a beautiful analogy. I was listening to a pastor and she spoke these words:

"I am not faithful to my husband because I am afraid of what he would do to me if I wasn't. I am faithful to him because I love him and want to honor him."

She went on to talk about the good things that come from faithfulness in marriage. Reliability. A stable family for their children. Relationships filled with trust and peace. A home where everyone can flourish.

Her point was this works the same way in our relationship with YHWH. We don't work to keep his commandments because we are scared he might punish us if we don't. We follow YHWH's instructions because we love him and want to bring honor to him. This issue is so central to his heart that Yahusha spoke of it.

As the Messiah said in John 14:15:

"If you love me, keep my commands."

If we love him, our actions should reflect that!

Which commands exactly is he talking about? The Hebrew word for commands is 'mitzvoth', and it means YHWH's commandments or obedience in keeping Torah. The Messiah is calling us to be obedient to Scripture's instructions, including things found in the Old Testament such as Sabbath, Biblically clean eating, and the set apart times. We aren't called to these things because God is really angry with us, but because he wants us to live as closely to him as possible! YHWH does not want us to reap the consequences of disobedience and distance from him, just as a loving spouse longs for faithfulness from their beloved. He desires that we follow his ways so our lives may be filled with good things. If you love him, choose to honor him. The point isn't to avoid punishment or even to receive blessing. Simply honor him by keeping his word because he is worthy.

Related posts:

Ten Commandments as Marriage Vows
Traffic and Laws and the Benefits of Scripture's Instructions

King David's Final Advice