Which Law Do You Follow?
Without doing an exhaustive study, it is fairly easy to see throughout the Holy Scriptures, two laws, two standards, two basis for life;
- The Law of YHWH; spoken and/or written.
- The law of man; spoken and/or written.
For purposes of distinction let me suggest that the “law of man” is confirmed & established whenever man “adds to or takes away from” the Law of YHWH.
For example, in Genesis 2:16 – 17, YHWH states; ““Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
But, when Eve references this same Law in Genesis 3:2–3, she ADDS her own words (the first example of Attention Deficit Disorder???:>), and states that they are God’s! “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
The LORD GOD identifies this very problem in Deuteronomy 4:2 saying, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”
And in Proverbs 30:5 – 6 we see “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
In spite of these and numerous other examples and warnings in the Scriptures, neither the children of Israel, nor the professing Body of Messiah seem to have caught on to this VERY important concept!
Just as Messiah in Matthew 15:3 asked the scribes and Pharisees, ““Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” HE could ask the rabbis and pastors of our day the same question. It seems that they are also guilty of “adding to and taking away from” HIS Commandments, HIS Word. They have inserted man made Sabbaths, traditions, practices, holidays, etc. and have negated HIS Sabbaths, HIS Holy days, HIS Commandments entirely!
Traditional Christianity teaches that the Law of God has been done away with (they misapply the word “fulfilled”, by their application of it suggesting that it is “done away with) for believers today, by claiming that HE (Messiah) obeyed the Law of God, so that we do NOT have to.” Did you catch it? Let me help you. By their incessancy that the Law of GOD is NOT for today’s believer, they are actually guilty of “taking away” from The Word of GOD. And, by their incessancy that “because Messiah obeyed the Law of GOD, so that we do NOT have to”, they are guilty of “adding to” The Word of GOD! Not to even mention their additions of icons, images, practices and allegiances that are made up of various combinations of additions and subtractions to The Law of YHWH…
Messianic Judaism is also guilty of “adding to and/or taking away” from The Word of GOD through practices such as the Seder ceremony at Passover, traditional holidays of Hanukkah and Purim as well as their propagation of icons / images (such as The Star of David), along with their theories, doctrines and practices not found in The Holy Scriptures.
If these two expressions of religious traditionalism (Christianity and Messianic Judaism) are correct in their assumption that it is not necessary to adhere to what is written in The Scriptures, why is it that one of the very last statements, in the very last chapter, in the very last book of The Scriptures do we find it written; “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie”? Remembering that Messiah qualified “Thy Word”(which would have been The Old Testament at the time) as “The Truth.”(John 17:17) And in so doing HE qualified ANYTHING added to and/or taken away from The Truth as a lie!
So, I ask you; Are you committed to The Truth of GOD, HIS Word / Law? Or, are you following a set of laws, customs, traditions and practices that are the result of man “adding to and/or taking away” from HIS Word? If you are reading this, it’s NOT TOO late for you to change! Ask HIM today to begin to reveal HIS Law, HIS Commandments, HIS appointed times to you! HE says that HE will to those who receive the New Covenant, in Jeremiah 31:33, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” The decision as to which law you will follow is left up to you!
Amen, brother! This is the battle; who will we choose to hear – the voice of faulty men, or the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Living Torah? The battle is heating up with the age old argument that Paul and Yeshua dealt with in Scripture, and going all the way back to the beginning, as you’ve shown in this article. The middle wall of separation is still here and men are even adding bricks to wall, daily, and at an ever increasing pace. It’s because the Voice of Truth is finding ears to hear and the enemy is trying to confuse and keep men from hearing. Yah is greater!