In the Bible, we often read about a “hedge of protection” being placed around those whom God wishes to keep safe.
This reminds me of that old adage, “When you wall something out you are also walling something in”, so I wonder when following the tenets of a religion, which is their hedge of protection, are they hedging something bad out or hedging you out of something good?
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
I am always in a conversation with someone who tells me that the Torah is only for Jews, and even Jews who “believe in Jesus” (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean) do not have to obey what God said he wants people who worship him to do.
I have heard, over and over, people parroting the traditional Christian rhetoric about how Yeshua (Jesus) completed the law so no one else has to obey it, but they never provide an answer when I ask them how they can live without law and still be saved.
I can always get agreement that Yeshua was the sinless lamb of God, and agreement that he was sinless because he walked a 100% Torah observant life, but when I ask them how can they follow him by rejecting the way he walked, all I get is crickets.
(That means they are totally silent and all I hear are the crickets chirping in the background.)
Sometimes I get back attempts to redirect me using traditional rhetoric, such as quotes from John or something out of context from a letter Shaul (Paul) wrote (for the record, Paul doesn’t outrank God), or they roll their eyes trying to come up with something.
They can’t, and you want to know why? Because you can’t reject the way someone lived and in the same breath say you follow them. You lose playing “Follow the Leader” when you do not follow the leader.
So, what does this have to do with putting up a hedge of protection?
You need to make sure you are on the right side of that hedge before you put it up, and if the hedge is keeping you from obeying God’s instructions for righteousness, then guess what?… you’re on the wrong side.
And Christianity has made a hedge to keep out the Torah, and they use (I should say, misuse) the letters that Shaul wrote to justify that position.
Shaul said in Romans 7:7 that the Torah made him aware of what sin is, so if someone rejects the Torah, then how can they know what sin is? And if you don’t know what sin is, how can you avoid it?
Shaul also talks about the “man of lawlessness”, generally considered to be Satan or one of his demons, which leads people to destruction. Well, what is lawlessness? Isn’t it the absence of law? And if the Torah is law, then without Torah you are lawless, and therefore being led to destruction.
How can anyone be so brainwashed (yes, that is a strong word but it is absolutely appropriate) that they can say in one breath they follow Yeshua while with the same breath say they don’t have to follow the way he lived and worshipped?
I feel like I am talking to a wall when I ask people how they can follow someone by not following them!
And they are adamant that they are correct in rejecting the Torah. They are all about Jesus, everything is through Jesus, everything is Jesus, but when I point out that Jesus was all about God, the Father, they blank.
That’s because most Christians have replaced the father with the son, sort of like what happened in 2 Samuel 15-19 when Absalom rebelled against David and tried to steal his father’s kingdom.
The preprogrammed responses to questions I ask showing how misguided those who believe they can reject God’s Torah have been never really answer the questions.
So, if you are a staunch Trinitarian Christian who is all about Jesus, Jesus is now God and the Father is out of the picture, and Torah is only for Jews (even though Torah is where the 10 Commandments are), I congratulate you for getting this far without blowing a gasket.
I am not trying to tell you what to believe because God gave us all Free Will, so do or don’t do whatever your religion tells you, even if you choose to reject the Torah.
I wonder what God will say when you tell him at Judgement Day that you love him and love Jesus and have always done what you were told to do (by your religion).
Now, maybe God will forgive your rebellion to his laws because your heart really is for God.
Or maybe he won’t like the fact that you rejected him.
And what happens when you look to Jesus and say, “Lord! Lord!”, maybe Yeshua will say, “Yeah, this one is mine.”
Or, since you never did what he did, maybe Yeshua will say, “Get away, I never knew you.”
You know, like it or not, the Torah says even if someone is unaware that they sinned, they are still guilty (Leviticus 5:17), and even if your religion tells you that faith in Yeshua means you don’t have to follow the Torah, I think God still does, and he is the Judge.
If you disagree with me, that’s your choice.
Here’s one last thing to consider: the only commandments God gave are in the Torah, and Yeshua never said anything in any of the Gospels against the Torah, so if you believe Yeshua is God (and even if you don’t) and he said in John 14:15 to prove you love him you must follow his commandments, well…. you figure it out!
Thank you for being here and please comment and share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for today, so L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!