Sadly, most Christian religions (and there are certainly enough of them!) have taught their followers that the Torah is just for Jews, and that it is made up of laws and requirements that they, as followers of Jesus, don’t have to obey.
They seem to totally ignore the fact that Jesus followed the Torah, and that the Torah is so much more than just laws and commandments.
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The Torah contains history, wisdom, social mores, a code of justice and a penal system, it contains programs for ensuring the health of the community, and yes- commandments and laws that are not man-made, as with almost every Christian canon, but instead come directly from God.
And, sorry to burst bubbles, but they aren’t just for Jews, they are for everyone.
If a Christian wants to truly follow in the footsteps of Yeshua (that’s Jesus’ REAL name), doing what he did the way he did it, then they have no option but to follow what is written in the Torah because that is how he worshipped, how he lived, the festivals and Holy Days he celebrated, and what he taught all those who accepted him as their Messiah to do, as well.
In Genesis 28:14, God tells Abraham that the whole world will be blessed by his descendants, then later (in Exodus 19:6) God tells Moses that he has chosen the children of Israel (i.e., Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people) to be God’s kingdom of priests, and as such, they are to learn the Torah and then bring it to the rest of the world. The final part of God’s plan was to have Yeshua, the Messiah, come from God’s kingdom of priests, and teach the deeper, spiritual meaning of the Torah to all people, Jew and Gentile, making it possible for all to be saved (by obedience to God’s true word) through Yeshua’s sacrifice, which replaced the need to bring an animal sacrifice to the temple.
In short, God chose Abraham to be the father of a nation of Torah-observant priests, who will bring God’s true word (meaning not a man-made religion), given through Moses to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles (ooh- does that sound familiar?) through his Messiah, Yeshua, who’s sacrificial death made receiving forgiveness possible after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
The Torah has God’s instructions for how we all are to worship him, and how we all are to treat each other, and anyone who says that this map to righteousness is not for everyone is leading people down the path to destruction.
If your religion tells you that following the Messiah’s teachings means that what God says to do doesn’t relate to you, well, I guess their Messiah must be a different one from the one God sent. I mean, really? Would a Messiah sent by God tell people to reject God?
Think about that.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and (an early) Shabat Shalom!
