“THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS”
This is a famous saying that most of us have heard at some point in our lives.
While this is just a simple statement from pop-culture, it made me consider today’s Torah community.

Pick any topic in scripture, and it won’t take very long to find a very diverse set of ideas pertaining to that topic.
As I understand, there are 26 or more different “biblical calendars” being used in Torah communities.
Some are rooted in Judaism, others in the Creation story, some in Enoch, some rely on studying the Hebrew as best they can, some think the moon establishes our calendar, some think the sun establishes the calendar, some think constellations, some think equinox, some go by the barley being ripe, some think sighted sliver, some think conjunction of the moon, and on and on.

Some groups think a biblical day goes from dawn to dawn, while others side with the long accepted Jewish idea of evening to evening. There are groups who think Shabbat is only for twelve hours on Saturday.
There are many ideas about how to determine when the moedim occur, the biblical feast days.
We can add to the “moedim-pile-of-confusion” the many ways and methods people choose to observe those feast days.
What can we do on Shabbat?
What can we not do on Shabbat?
I’m barely scratching the surface here, and if you’ve paid attention to any of these topics, you know what I mean. There are lots of opinions.

What are we to do?
Some things are quite clear to me.
“Thou shalt not murder.”
I think it is universally accepted that we are not to murder other human beings.
But even as solid as this idea seems, there is much debate at times.
Some Torah instructions require capital punishment, to purge the evil from among you (but this is not murder).  Torah gives instructions for those who kill another by accident (sanctuary cities).
Some believe we are not allowed to defend ourselves against aggressors.
Turn the other cheek, even if they intend to kill you.
Even this basic idea to not murder becomes muddied once the debate begins and people start digging into the details.

This seems pretty clear to me:
Numbers 15
38 “Speak to the children of Israel: Say to them that they are to make for themselves tzitzit (tassels) on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they are to put a blue cord on each tzitzit. 39 It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot (commands) of Yehova and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves. 40 This way you will remember and obey all My mitzvot and you will be holy to your Elohim. 41 I am Yehova your Elohim. I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your Elohim. I am Yehova your Elohim.”

This is an easy one to understand.
1. Make for yourself
2. Tassels
3. On the corners of your garments
4. For all generations
5. With a blue cord in each
6. When we see them
7. We will remember Yehova’s commands
8. And obey them
9. And be holy
10. And not go whoring after our own desires
11. And Yehova is our Elohim (God).

Nothing to it, right?
Make them and wear them.
Simple.
But people will debate this.
They say this is no longer applicable (did you catch the part about all generations?).
They say this is for the spiritually immature, and they’ve “outgrown wearing tzitzits”
Some say this was for an ancient time and for an ancient people and not for today.
And on and on…

What about when a day starts? Evening to evening, or dawn to dawn?
If one believes the Hebrew word ereb only means evening, it is easy to understand that a day begins at sundown and continues until the next sundown.
But if one sees that the Hebrew word ereb can mean a mixing of light, meaning both pre-dawn and twilight, then the scriptures take on a whole new meaning. A dawn to dawn day becomes possible.
I have been studying this idea, trying to figure out what is “right”.  Since I looked at the idea without bias, I can now see it both ways. I am now mapping out the Pesach events in the four gospels, looking at these details from both perspectives. What will I find? Time will tell…

Here are a couple different ways to look at the same thing:
Consider this, the third day of creation:
Genesis 1:9-13
Then Yehova said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered to one place. Let the dry ground appear.” And it happened so. 10 Yehova called the dry ground “land,” and the collection of the water He called “seas.” And Yehova saw that it was good.
11 Then Yehova said, “Let the land sprout grass, green plants yielding seed, fruit trees making fruit, each according to its species with seed in it, upon the land.” And it happened so. 12 The land brought forth grass, green plants yielding seed, each according to its species, and trees making fruit with the seed in it, each according to its species. And Yehova saw that it was good. 13 So there was evening and there was morning—a third day.

In verse 13, it clearly states: “so there was evening and there was morning, a third day.”
That settles it, right?
Evening is mentioned first, so evening to evening defines a day.
Well, let’s look at it closely.
If there was evening (entering into darkness), and morning (day break), what happened to the rest of the 24 hour period? What happened to the remainder of the day, bringing us back to evening again after morning is mentioned? We have to make an assumption for this model to work. We have to assume that the unmentioned daylight hours bring us back to the next evening.

What if we look at the third day described in this way:
Yehova completes His creation activities on the third day, and then came evening, and then came morning.  Thus a third day.
In this example, we have to assume that Yehova did His work during the daylight hours without mentioning it, while telling us how the day ended – evening following through until morning.

Again, we must make a leap in logic because the information is incomplete.
Both examples require us to make an assumption.
Is one right and the other wrong?
Logic tells us absolutely that one is right and one is wrong.  It can’t be both ways.
But how do we identify which one is right?
Adding to the confusion is the fact that sun, moon, and stars are not created until the fourth day!!!
The very things that we use to identify day and night in our human existence did not even exist yet when Yehova describes His third day in Genesis 1!!

This leaves me in a quandary, to be honest with myself.
Which concept, evening to evening or morning to morning, do I choose to believe and observe?
Do I pick one and argue with and disagree with everybody who chooses the other option?
Some things are very clear in the scriptures, while other things are more difficult to determine.
What is expected of us?
#1 Are we to dig into the details and argue and debate and tell everyone else how wrong they are?
#2 Or are we to read the scriptures, and have a heart to do what they say?

I don’t know about you, but I’m going with answer #2.
If I can’t quite tell how to go about it, choose a way and do it. Pray about it.
But simply submit and follow Yehova, even if there are multiple ideas in the Torah community.
If you find out later there is a better way, feel free to adopt this better way, based on added information. If someone presents another way to you, and it doesn’t click, keep doing what you are doing, with a heart to follow Yehova.  —But be nice to them.

We are commanded to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
People argue about how to determine when Sabbath is.
People argue about what we can and cannot do.
Some say it is ok to brush our teeth, but not ok to wash a dish.
Some say it is ok to warm up food, but not ok to cook a meal.
Some say it is ok to walk on the beach, but not ok to go on a hike.
And on and on and on…

I used to think I was absolutely right about this and that.
I used to discuss the details of scripture and kindly inform others where they were “wrong.”
Is this what Yehova wants from us? Yes, we should correct one another when the scriptures are clear.  But what if the scriptures are vague?

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not advocating for being wishy-washy, or to just accept anything.
No, we are not to twist the scriptures into whatever we like.
We are not to ignore statements in scripture and pretend we didn’t see it.
We are to rely on and trust that truth and understanding come from Yehova.
Keep studying. Maybe you’ll find more information that clarifies an idea for you.

But what if two people study the scriptures, and truly have a heart’s desire to obey the scriptures and walk in the ways of the Father, but somehow end up with a different idea or concept?
Are they supposed to battle it out in the Facebook threads, and eventually unfriend and block each other?
I don’t think so.  I can’t find anything in the scriptures about Facebook, but I find plenty of other information about how to love our neighbor as ourself.

If people are not interested in the truth, we are to shake the dust off and move on, just as Yeshua Messiah instructed.
But if people are interested in the truth, and have a different idea than we have, does that make them “wrong”?  How do we know that our idea is “right”?  What if the scriptures are a bit vague?

Yes, some things are stated plainly and clearly.
We should not twist it, change it, add to it, or take away from it.
But what about the things that are not quite clear?
Do we default to Judaism?
Do we go with our favorite teachers on Youtube?
What if we pray about it, but still have a different understanding than others?

Is this intentional?
Is this a test?
Is Yehova trying us, to see how we will act?
What if we can’t nail down the details, even though we try very hard? What if we pray about it, and ask for Yehova to give us understanding, but we still end up with different concepts than others?

Some will throw their hands up, and walk away.  Some will decide this is a big mess and not worth their time.  Is this ‘failing the test’?
Some will decide they are right and everyone else is wrong, and argue non-stop. Is this ‘failing the test’?
What if we simply say, “I may not know exactly how this works, but I submit my will to the Father’s will, and I will do this, the best that I know how,” while being kind and encouraging to others?
Is this ‘passing the test’?

I’m in a new place.
If someone reads the scriptures and sees a different idea than me on how to go about something, I hope to encourage them to walk in the ways of the Father.
What if they think a day starts at dawn, while I think a day starts in the evening, or vice-versa?
Argue until you get blocked, right?
No, that is not how I’m going to approach it.

If someone is violating an idea presented in black and white, I’ll share the scriptures with them that will shine light on the subject. It is up to them what they will do with it.
But if someone is following Yehova with their whole heart, but in a way different than me because the information seems to be vague or difficult, I will encourage them in their efforts. I will encourage them to follow Yehova with their whole heart, just as we are instructed to do:
Deuteronomy 13:4-5
“…for Yehova your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yehova your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. 5 Yehova your Elohim you will follow and Him you will fear. His commands you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling.”

What about sacred namers?
Are we supposed to argue about Yehova, Yahweh, Yahuah?  Shall we part ways over Yeshua or Yahoshua or Yahousha?
What if someone says God or Jesus?  Shall we burn them at the stake?

The lost ten tribes of the house of Israel have been scattered among all the nations of the earth for a very long time.
As we are called back to Torah, it is going to take some time to sort things out.
Is it important that we are absolutely, completely, 100% right about everything?
Is that even possible?
Or is it important for us to be submitted to the ways of the Father, and walk in them the best way we know how? [not advocating for being lukewarm here]

One day, all will be set straight.
One day, we will know exactly what the truth is.
We’ll get this whole truth from the two witnesses of Revelation, or we’ll get it from Yeshua Messiah when He returns, or we’ll get it supernaturally from the Ruach.
Whatever the case, I am confident that a time will come when we are all on the same page.
For now, I will encourage others who have a heart to follow Yehova, even if they have a different idea than me.
Please note, this does not include “rejecting the ways of the Father” or ignoring what Yeshua says in direct quotes.  I am not defending the idea of everybody believing and living out whatever doctrine they make up…

If the devil is in the details, then we should not be arguing and treating each other badly over the details, especially if we don’t truly know for sure…
Now, I encourage everyone to go and play nice with the other kids.

Do your best.
Study.
Pray.
Have faith that this will happen [because it will!!!!]
Isaiah 2:3
Then many peoples will go and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yehova,
    to the House of the Elohim of Jacob!
Then He will teach us His ways,
    and we will walk in His paths.”
For Torah will go forth from Zion
    and the word of Yehova from Jerusalem.

We don’t have to figure this all out right now, and we certainly don’t have to argue about it. We are promised the truth will flow to us one day.
Be patient.
Until then, do your best, don’t twist the scriptures on purpose, and follow Yehova with your whole heart, and encourage others to do the same.