Thoughts on God's Law

God’s law, or the Law of Moses is a very interesting topic of debate. I have a hard time understanding why so many people believe that following the commands of God is the incorrect way to live. I understand that the majority belief is that men cannot keep the law of God. I do not agree with this, but, let’s just say for arguments sake that it is true and men in no way are able to keep the laws that were given by the Creator.

Psalm 119:7, 20, 30, 52, 160

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal H5769

What we can see from this is that His Laws are righteous, the way of faithfulness, comforting, and eternal. The Hebrew word for eternal is `owlam H5769 and it literally means forever. This is the very same word that God uses when He tells Noah about never flooding the Earth again. Therefore, if we believe that He changed His mind about His people keeping His Law, we must also entertain the idea that He can change His mind about flooding the world again.

Genesis 9: 16

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting H5769 covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

Just because we cannot keep His commandments and His given ways of life, does that mean we should avoid them altogether? Does that mean that we are able to create our own ideas for what living a godly life should look like? Does this mean that we can create our own, new definition for what sin is? The simple answer for all three of these questions is a resounding NO. God is the only one that can make the choice about what He considers Holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous. He defines sin.

1 John 3:4

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Deuteronomy 6: 25

And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

Ezekiel 18:9

He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Romans 2: 13

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

God shows us that His Law is righteous, and our following of it shows our righteousness. I am not claiming that the law makes us righteous however, but rather just sets us apart from the rest of the world.

Romans 3:20

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Based on verse 20 in Romans 3, we absolutely still need the law. How can we become conscious of our sin, if we don’t have the law as part of our daily life? As I said, I do not, in any way, believe that the law plays a role in our salvation, in terms of obeying it in order for salvation. However, I do believe that once we become Believers in the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), we should want to obey God’s Laws in order to show our love for Him.

1 John 5:2-3

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome

As we can see, we are supposed to carry out the commands of God, the Father. In doing so, we are showing our love for not only His children, but also Him. These are just a few examples of why I have such a hard time understanding what people are preaching about the word of God.

I understand and agree with the FACT that no man has the ability to be saved by his works of the God given law. That is not what I am trying to say in terms of keeping and following the commands from the Father. What I do want to say is that God gave His people a set of laws, or instructions intended to guide their way of living. These instructions are the cheat sheet for living a perfect godly life. 

Therefore, even if we fall short from living them out perfectly, wouldn’t it mean that we would still

1. Have a closer relationship to the Father,

2. Be able to live a life set apart from the world as the New Testament tells us, and

3. Not looking like a bunch of hypocrites to non-believers?

I believe that if we try to follow Gods given instructions we will undoubtedly get closer to Him, and if and when we fall short, we will have GRACE to catch us. Think about it, God gave us His instructions because He wanted us to follow them and bask in the blessing that accompany them. When we, men, chose not to keep them and were doomed to the curses that come with failure to comply. Now the New Testament comes along and the Messiah saves His people from the curses that accompany not following God’s commands. Nowhere do we ever get told not to continue to follow these commands, but simply if we continue to try and fall short, we need not worry about suffering the curses for falling short.

1 John 2:1

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Let me rewrite this or at least give you my breakdown of this verse.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not break God’s Law. But if anyone does break God’s law, we have an advocate with the Father- Yeshua Ha Machiac, the Righteous One. So, we are supposed to try to keep the law, the best we can, in order to show our love to the Father, and to show that we are not of this world. We are His children and not partakers of fleshly desires. We are abstaining from the things God has declared unclean or unrighteous, and denying ourselves certain worldly pleasures. God’s Law is good, holy, and Righteous. Why would we ever want to deny it? In fact, Jesus IS the word of God, therefore, it seems likely that denying the Torah, or the law of God, is in fact denying Christ Himself. 

Christmas Story

Is Christmas day, December 25^th, the biblical birthday of Christ? If so, we should be able to prove it from scriptural evidence. If we cannot prove this with scripture, then what should we say about keeping that tradition? Would Christmas, if not found as commanded by God, then be considered a tradition or men?

If we are to believe that Christmas is the birth of Christ, then it is considered doctrine based on the definition of Doctrine according to Google definitions, “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.”

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Christmas is the most popular of all festivals among Christians and many non-Christians alike, and its observance combines many strands of tradition. From the ancient Roman pagan festivals of Saturnalia (December 17) and New Year’s come the merrymaking and exchange of presents. Old Germanic midwinter customs have contributed the lighting of the Yule log and decorations with evergreens. The Christmas tree comes from medieval German mystery plays centered in representations of the Tree of Paradise (Genesis 2:9).”

Christ’s Biblical Birthday

Based on scriptural evidence, it seems that December 25^th is simply out of the questions. There are two main reasons that I say this. First of all, we are told that Joseph and Mary were heading Bethlehem to register for the census that was decreed by Emperor Augustus (Luke 2:1-5). To give a census during winter would have been asking for people to be unable to complete their registration due to poor traveling conditions. Basically a self-defeating decree.

Luke 2: 1-6

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

The second reason I say Christ’s birthday could not have been during December is because the shepherds were still in the fields.

Luke 2: 8

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

The herds would freeze if they were still in the fields during the winter months. Normally, they are moved to warmer climates making many of the shepherds somewhat nomadic. In any case, keeping the flocks outside during the winter months, especially at night, would not have been sufficient due to the cold and lack of food opportunities.

Santa

Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about Santa Clause. “Another popular medieval feast was that of St. Nicholas of Myra (c. 340) on December 6, when the saint was believed to visit children with admonitions and gifts, in preparation for the gift of the Christ Child at Christmas. Through the Dutch the tradition of St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas, hence “Santa Claus”) was brought to America in their colony of New Amsterdam, now New York. The sending of greeting cards at Christmas began in Britain in the 1840s and was introduced to the United States in the 1870s.”

Christmas ham

The Christmas ham is directly linked to the ancient pagan god Freyr. Originally, it was known as the Yule ham and was given to this god as tribute. Aside from this fact that this “christian” tradition is directly associated with paganism, the even bigger issue I have is that fact that this particular animal has always been considered unclean to the God of the Bible (Deuteronomy 14:8, Leviticus 11:7). But, for arguments sake, let’s say it is no longer unclean. Even still, the Old Testament states in several passages that swine is not for eating. So, why would we celebrate our God by eating a meat that He, at least at one time, considered to be unclean? We are never commanded to eat this animal in honor of Him, but rather we are told to avoid worshiping Him in similar ways as pagans worship their gods (Deuteronomy 12: 31).

Conclusion

I completely understand how difficult it may be to give up Christmas, especially if you have small children. I too struggle with this issue. I was raised to celebrate Christmas and I have many, many, fond memories from my childhood that revolved around this day.

Proverbs 22: 6

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Mark 13: 13

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The word all is translated from the Greek word pas and it can literally be translated as every man. Therefore, isn’t it funny that so many people absolutely love Christmas? Even non-believers celebrate this particular holiday. Doesn’t that seem to defy what the Messiah’s words indicated?

I find it absolutely amazing that almost every aspect of what we call Christmas seems to violate the commands of God. But to take it even further think of it this way. Christ said that the world would hate His people because of Him. If this is the case, and Christmas was really about Him, do you really think the world would love it so much? Before you start saying that not everyone loves Christmas that much consider this. Christmas sales annually make up to 60% of retail sales during the last three months of the year.

I still plan to add more including the following

Christmas tree

Lights and decorations

Gift giving

Yule

Elves 

The Law of God

This blog is a work in progress. I want to state this up front. It will be added to over the next few (days, weeks, months).

For a long time now I have heard the debate about keeping the commands of YHWH. Many people claim that we no longer are required to do so for salvation and therefore there is no need to keep them. Others claim that the law was nailed to the cross and we should not bother with it any more. Others still claim the law is a burden and a curse for all those that keep it. Finally, the one I hear most often, the laws are only for, and have always been just for the Jews. In all four instances, these people are professing Christians. I have also heard the other side of the argument that we should keep the laws of God because YHWH commanded us to and these commands were given with the word forever or everlasting. After hearing these arguments for so long, I decided to research what the Bible actually has to say about keeping the commands of the Father and how it pertains to me as a believer.

Who were the original laws for?

The first thing I would like to do is find out who the laws were originally given to, according to the Bible. If we go back to the Torah, where the laws were originally given we can find several instances in which the laws were given, and to whom they were given to. What we find may be of interest to all of us. 

Exodus 12:49

One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you

Leviticus 16:29

“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.

Leviticus 17:8-14

“Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from among his people. ‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’  Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

Leviticus 18: 26

Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourned among you:

Numbers 9: 14

And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

Numbers 15:15-16

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourned with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourned with you.

Numbers 15: 29

Ye shall have one law for him that sinned through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourned among them.

Numbers 19:10

And he that gathered the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourned among them, for a statute forever.

Based on these eight passages, it definitely seems to nullify the idea that the law was given only to the Jews. The law was very obviously given to all of Israel and the non-Israelite that chose to live among them and follow YHWH. I can see this being in direct relation to what we should expect to find further in the researching process. Think about the implications this idea could potentially have on the fact that so many people claim these laws are only for the Jews. 

I had a hard time agreeing with that idea before ever taking the time to research this idea due to the fact that the Jews are only one of the twelve tribes of Israel and the law was given to all of Israel. Now that it is obvious that the law was not given only to the Jews, but rather to all Israel and the stranger that chose to live among them and follow the God of Israel, we can move forward with our research. 

Was the law a burden?

One of the next things that I hear people complaining about on a regular basis concerning the commandments of YHWH is that no man can keep them because they are too burdensome. I find this very hard to believe and this is one of the biggest reasons I decided I needed to research this topic myself. I have spent a fair amount of time looking over the 613 Old Testament laws with the intent of finding a few that were just out of the question for men to be able to keep. Understanding that there are quite a few of these laws, from what I have looked over thus far, I find none that I cannot keep myself, especially if I were trying to ensure that I would not sin. I used the following site, http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm, and I will list a few from this site.

1.   To know that G-d exists (Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6)

2.       Not to entertain the idea that there is any god but the Eternal (Ex. 20:3)

3.       To honor the old and the wise (Lev. 19:32)

4.       To learn Torah and to teach it (Deut. 6:7)

5.       Not to add to the commandments of the Torah, whether in the Written Law or in its interpretation received by tradition (Deut. 13:1)

6.       Not to take away from the commandments of the Torah (Deut. 13:1)

7.       That every person shall write a scroll of the Torah for himself (Deut. 31:19)

8.       To pray to G-d (Ex. 23:25; Deut. 6:13)

9.       To recite grace after meals (Deut. 8:10)

10.   Not to lay down a stone for worship (Lev. 26:1)

11.   To love all human beings who are of the covenant (Lev. 19:18)

12.   To rebuke the sinner (Lev. 19:17)

13.   Not to refrain from maintaining a poor man and giving him what he needs (Deut. 15:7)

14.   Not to indulge in familiarities with relatives, such as kissing, embracing, winking, skipping, which may lead to incest (Lev. 18:6)

15.   Not to have intercourse with a beast (Lev. 18:23)

Granted I could continue, but I just chose a select few and posted them, but I did provide the link if you wish to see each of the 613. Much of the Torah’s Laws are done naturally for many of us. It seems there are a few that we may struggle with. Some of the Laws may not apply to use, but not because they are burdensome, but rather because we may not be a farmer, or a Priest, or a King. Some of them are only for women, others just for men. As for being too burdensome, the following is what our Bible has to say.

Deuteronomy 30: 10-14

If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.  For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?   Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?  But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

1 John 5:3

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

One can only conclude from this that the Laws of YHWH are not too burdensome, or too difficult to keep for men, but rather, men choose not to keep them and claim it is because they are too hard. It is not the Law that is too hard, but it is the people that were too stubborn to keep it. When people claim that the Law was too difficult and that is the reason God changed the law, they seem to miss the fact that it was not the Law that caused the issue but rather the people were the problem.

Hebrews 8:7-8

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said…

Psalm 19:7

The law of YHWH is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of YHWH are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The Curse of the Law

What was the Bible referring to when it mentions the curse of the law? The book of Galatians mentions that we are redeemed from the curse of the law, but does that mean the law in itself is the curse? Some Christians believe this is so. Does this mean that if we are to attempt to keep the law we are bringing a curse upon ourselves? Other believers claim this to be true as well. I don’t see it this way and I plan to use the Bible to prove that the Law was not a curse.

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

So what is meant by this verse, if it does not mean the Law itself is the curse?

Deuteronomy 27: 26

“Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Joshua 8: 34

Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.

The curse we were redeemed from was not the law itself, because the law was not the curse, but rather the curse that comes from not obeying God’s Law. Christ’s death was to redeem believers when they fail to uphold the entire law, not for believers to completely ignore these laws. This is what Grace is all about. All too often I hear believers saying we are free from the law of God. However, I do not see it that way based on scriptural evidence. We are freed from the curses of the law, meaning IF we fail to uphold the commandments, we have Grace to save us from that sin. This is exactly what we see in 1 John 2:1.

1 John 2: 1

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

1 Corinthians 9: 21

To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.

Colossians 2: 13-14

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

                Based on what the Bible presents, the law does not bring a curse on those that decide to keep it, but rather the curse fell on those that did not keep the law. Now, after Christ has set us free from this curse that was the legal obligation against all that failed to keep that law, we do not fall under the curse. It was the curse that the law brought against all those that failed to keep it that was nailed to the cross, not the law itself. We, as believers, are still supposed to keep this law but doing so with the faith that if we mess up, we have an advocate to speak up for us on judgement day. 

The Biblical LOVE story

This article is designed to address the love story that is a reoccurring undertone throughout the Bible. From what I can gather about the theme throughout both Old and New Testaments, that requires both sections of the Book to be understood is basically the same as what everyone seems to believe, God loved the world so much He sent His son to die with the intention to save them from their sin. However, I think there is much more to this story. It is much deeper than this very generic statement.

This is the love story of how YHWH feels for His people. He entered in to a covenant with them, the people (His bride) chose to break the covenant in order to chase (lust) after other gods. He still loved her, but had to divorce her due to adultery and lack of reciprocated love.  Once divorced, He allowed her to be captured in order for her to understand how much she really needed Him. She was stubborn and refused to return to Him. He then allowed her to have everything she asked for and she was scattered across the whole world. She continued to chase after the other gods and began assimilating into the pagan cultures. He saw just how evil she was becoming and how badly she needed Him back, even if she did not see it. He could not stand the thought of her being separated from Him for all eternity. However, by His own law He was unable to take her as a wife again due to the fact she was defiled by her actions. There was a loophole, only one possible way to release her from marriage covenant they entered into. He would have to die. Until death do you part must have been ringing in His ears. He chose to put Himself into a human bodily form in order to be killed. This action was twofold. First by dying, it would release Israel from the original covenant. Second, being the unblemished, sin free man, He would be able to use His blood as the sacrifice that could save all mankind, just so long as they accepted Him as their savior and carried out His commands. The commands He gave us were to love the Father and our neighbor. Loving the Father means to keep and follow the commands that He gave us from the beginning (1 John 5:3). Loving our neighbor falls back to the “golden rule”, treat others as you wish they treat you. If you really think about this idea, you will really love that other person.

1 John 5:3

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

 

                Now to get into the story described using biblical verses. I plan to show every step of the way why I believe the Bible is a love story between YHWH and His people.

Who makes up Israel?

In the beginning, YHWH told Jacob that his name will now be called Israel, and He makes a promise to him. It is not long after this that the original covenant will be established between YHWH and His chosen people, Israel.

Genesis 35:10-12

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

So from here we need to find out who the nations that come from Israel are. This is extremely important because it plays out through the rest of the story. Knowing these groups, tribes, and nations means we can follow those groups throughout the Bible and ultimately it will help us to understand how much YHWH loves his people.

Genesis 35:22-26

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher.

These twelve tribes made up all of Israel. These tribes and only these tribes were known as YHWHs people. That being the case we first need to recognize that the group we know as the Jews, come from the tribe Judah, and also some of from Benjamin. This becomes apparent in the next few verses. Israel was split into two kingdoms. The northern portion kept the name Israel and was made up of all the tribes besides Benjamin and Judah. The southern portion was called Judah, and was made up of those two tribes. This is the kingdom that Yeshua descends from. The reason for the split was because of a difference of opinion between those that followed Rehoboam and those that chose to follow Jeroboam.

Split

1 Kings 12: 20-21

Now 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. And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

YHWH told Rehoboam not to attack the northern house of Israel and thus we ended up with two kingdoms. The northern tribes began to sin against YHWH and caused Him to divorce her. They brought the curses mentioned in Deuteronomy upon themselves due to their lack of faith in the words given to them from Moses. Moses was given the words directly from YHWH, and therefore, they should always be obeyed. Not long after the Northern Israel was divorced, Southern Judan began doing the very same things.

Divorce

Jeremiah 3: 8

And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

These continuous adultery forced YHWH to lift His hand of protection and allow both kingdoms to be taken into captivity.

Captivity

2 Kings 17:6

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

1 Chronicles 9:1

So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness.

After both were captured, we only ever see that the Southern tribes return. There is no mention of Northing Israel ever returning to their land. They end up being scattered across all nations while Judah comes home. 

Return from captivity

Ezra 2: 1

Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.

This is where the story gets very interesting. It seems that most people consider all of the previous as history and no longer important to the story told in the Bible. However, I believe this is just the beginning of the story, and that this particular story continues throughout the rest of the Bible. I believe that the death of Christ is a direct result of this story. I am not, in any way, saying that Christ’s death was not planned from the beginning, but rather that simply stating that it is the rebellion of Israel, a people that YHWH dearly loves, that caused Christ to have to be sacrificed. His dying for our sin is only a small part of the bigger picture. The mystery that Paul discovers, I believe is directly related to this bigger picture. This mystery is that YHWH divorced Israel, but says that He will remarry her at the last day. The problem falls with the fact that once a woman has been divorced, she cannot be reunited with her first husband.

The Mystery of the Gospel

Deuteronomy 24:4

then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Romans 7:2

For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.

When Christ died, he opened the door way for her to be remarried to her first husband. See, the marriage covenant is ended when one of the two participants dies. With there no longer being a legal bond between the two. YHWH cannot go back on His own command. That would make Him a liar and we all know that He is not a liar. Israel has been scattered among all the nations of the earth so much so that she has assimilated into these nations and are no longer recognizable as Israelites.

                Something that I always found interesting is what Yeshua says in the book of Matthew.

 Jesus words

Matthew 10:6

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24

But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

                I always thought this was strange before reading and understanding what was meant behind this statement. Israel were the lost sheep, and they are referred to that way several times. They had joined the gentiles and become intermixed with them. This is a big reason why gentiles are now part of the mix. Any one of us could potentially have descended from one of the tribes of Israel.

Israel referred to as sheep

1 Kings 22:17

Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”

Jeremiah 50:17

“Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

Micah 2:12

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.

The final thing I would like to point out is that there is only one way to enter in to the kingdom of heaven. That way is by going through one of the 12 gates. Those twelve gates are named after each of the twelve tribes of Israel, symbolically saying that you must enter the kingdom of heaven through one of the twelve tribes of Israel. There is no other entrance. There is no gentile gate. This idea also goes hand in hand with being grafted into the Olive Tree we read about in the book of Romans.

Entering the Kingdom

Revelation 21:12-13

Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

                If the only way we can enter into the kingdom of heaven is through one of the gates of the 12 tribes, then it must be understood that we have to become part of one of those tribes. Why else would they be labeled? Why else is there not a thirteenth gate issued for “gentiles”? It seems likely that we must be part of the covenant that God creates. The problem that I see is that too many people do not understand that the covenant was ONLY made with Israel and Judah. If the gentiles want to take part, they must join one of these two groups. It just so happens that these two groups make up each of the 12 names mentioned on the gates that grant access to the kingdom of heaven. 

Personally, this revelation of the biblical love story carries so much more weight. I used to think that, yes, Christ died for me and that meant so much. He loved me so much that He lay down His life for my sin, so that I could become a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. I always felt like that was enough. But when I look around, I can see others that would die for people they loved. But let’s look at this from the biblical love story point of view. YHWH was married to Israel, and He loved her. He provided for her, and protected her. He also gave her everything He always promised. In return she went out and committed adultery. She disrespected Him in such a way that it would have ripped any normal man to shreds. He still loved her, but could no longer be married to her because she had become defiled based on His own commands. After divorcing her, His love was still so strong for this woman. Yes, she cheated on Him, and showed little to no respect for her and even lusted after others, but He loved her so much. The only way to get her back, according to His own laws that He set out for all mankind to keep, was to release her from the bonds of marriage. The only way to do this was to die. So think about this for a minute. Our God, loved this woman (Israel) so much, that He would die for her, even after she had committed adultery with multiple others, possibly innumerable others. He still loved her enough to lay down His own life. But, not only that, He made himself in the flesh specifically for the purpose of dying to release her from the marriage covenant. She is now free to choose to come back to Him or not. If you do not see this as more powerful, think of it this way, looking at the death of Christ from a He died to save me point of view, and then from the Biblical love story point of view, which one would take more love?

He died for me…

I am a sinner, my God loved me so much that He lay down His life so that I could be with Him in heaven.

Biblical love story…

YHWH loved His bride so much that He chose to die for her so that she could have the option (according to His own biblical law) to remarry Him without being considered defiled.

I don’t know of any man that loves any woman so much that he would die for her even after she had committed adultery on multiple occasion. Now you might say, well, what if it meant she would come back to him? That could be the case, but even in this narrative, that is not necessarily going to happen. His death only releases her from the original covenant and gives her the option to come back, that doesn’t mean she will take it.