Matthew 24:12
“And because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many shall become cold.”

Most people think this lack of love is how people treat one another.
There may be some truth in this idea, but it doesn’t fully define the meaning of this statement by Yeshua Messiah.

Consider these verses:
Deuteronomy 13
“…for יהוה your Elohim is testing you to know whether you love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being. Walk after יהוה your Elohim and fear Him, and guard His commands and obey His voice, and serve Him and cling to Him.”

John 14
15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.”
21“He who keeps My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 15
“If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love.”

1John 5
By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy.

A lack of obedience to the commands of the God of the bible is what Matthew 24:12 is referring to.
1John 5 specifically tells us that not following God’s commands results in us having a lack of love for our fellow man.

There are many more scriptures that show us obedience equals love in the eyes of Yahweh and Messiah.

How’s your obedience?

Let’s take a look at examples of disobedience and consequences in the scriptures.
Even if Yahweh is for us and with us, He will allow us to suffer consequences because of our thoughts, words, and actions — if we so choose to disobey His instructions and commands.

In the book of Joshua Chapter 1, Yahweh says this:
Joshua 1:5-6
5 “No man is going to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Mosheh, so I am with you. I do not fail you nor forsake you.
6 Be strong and courageous, for you are to let this people inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

As Joshua and the nation of Israel enter into the  promise land…
We see evidence of their supernatural victory at times with Yahweh leading the cause…
And we also see their defeat and failure because they did not obey the voice of Yahweh.

With regard to the siege of Jericho, the Army of Israel is reminded of the instructions of Yahweh pertaining to this city:
Joshua 6:18-19
18 “And you, by all means guard yourselves from that which is under the ban, lest you come under the ban when you take of that which is under the ban, and make the camp of Yisra’ĕl a curse, and shall trouble it. 19“But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are set-apart to יהוה, they go into the treasury of יהוה.”
Yahweh then gives Israel the victory over Jericho, as He had promised.

A problem arises, though, unbeknownst to Joshua. 
Akan of the tribe of Yehudah kept some of the spoils of war in Jericho [that which was under the ban], defying what Yahweh had commanded concerning this battle:
Joshua 7:1
1 But the children of Yisra’ĕl committed a trespass regarding that which is under the ban, for Aḵan son of Karmi, son of Zaḇdi, son of Zeraḥ, of the tribe of Yehuḏah, took of that which is under the ban. And the displeasure of יהוה burned against the children of Yisra’ĕl.

As a result of this transgression, Israel was then defeated by Ai, a city of the Amorites, and it caused much dismay and hardship for Joshua.
Joshua 7:7-9
7 And Yehoshua said, “Oh Master יהוה, why have You brought this people over the Yardĕn at all, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay beyond the Yardĕn!
8 “O יהוה, what do I say when Yisra’ĕl turns its back before its enemies,
9 and the Kena‛anites and all the inhabitants of the land hear, and shall surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What then do You do for Your great Name?”

Sadly, this defeat caused Joshua to doubt his faith in the promises of Yahweh.
Instead of simply inquiring why Yah allowed them to be defeated, Joshua shows fear and lack of faith.
Just as the rebellious generation of the Exodus wanted to return to Mitsrayim instead of dealing with the difficulties in the wilderness and trusting in Yahweh, Joshua begins wondering why they crossed the Jordan River at all!!
He fears for the future of Israel, and fears for the reputation and renown of the Name of Yahweh before the nations!!

Yahweh explains this circumstance to Joshua, saying:
Joshua 7:11-12
11 “Yisra’ĕl has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of that which is under the ban, and have both stolen and deceived, and also put it among their own goods.
12 “And the sons of Yisra’ĕl shall not be able to stand before their enemies. 

Yahweh and Joshua then identify the one who transgressed the commands of Yahweh.  Akan and all that he has were stoned to death and then burned with fire, just as Yahweh directed.
Does this show that the God of the Old Testament is unmerciful?
No, it shows that He is just, and that He does not lie.
The army was commanded to not take of the spoils of Jericho.  They were told that all in Jericho belongs to Yahweh, and to not take any of it.
Akan, having been warned and with full understanding, chose to ignore the warning and proceed with the evil intent of his heart. It caused problems for the nation of Israel, and ultimately cost him his life, and the lives of all in his household.

In Joshua Chapter nine, one of the nations to be destroyed executed a plan to deceive Joshua and the nation of Israel.  They wore old tattered clothing and sandals, carried old cracked wineskins, and had with them dry and crumbled food.  They had the appearances of people who had travelled a very long distance, but in fact, they were from a land close by (Gibon).  With the misunderstanding about their home land, Joshua entered into a covenant with these people, promising to not attack or destroy them.
This was not in accordance with the instructions Israel had been given by Yahweh.
Exodus 23:20-33
20 “See, I am sending a Messenger before you to guard you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21 “Be on guard before Him and obey His voice. Do not rebel against Him, for He is not going to pardon your transgression, for My Name is in Him.
22 “But if you diligently obey His voice and shall do all that I speak, then I shall be an enemy to your enemies and a distresser to those who distress you.
23 “For My Messenger shall go before you and shall bring you in to the Amorites and the Ḥittites and the Perizzites and the Kena‛anites and the Ḥiwwites and the Yeḇusites, and I shall cut them off.
24 “Do not bow down to their mighty ones, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but without fail overthrow them and without fail break down their pillars.
25 “And you shall serve יהוה your Elohim, and He shall bless your bread and your water. And I shall remove sickness from your midst.
26 “None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I shall fill the number of your days.
27 “I shall send My fear before you, and cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 “And I shall send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Ḥiwwite, the Kena‛anite, and the Ḥittite from before you.
29 “I shall not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a waste and the beast of the field become too numerous for you.
30 “Little by little I shall drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
31 “And I shall set your border from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River, for I shall give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 “Do not make a covenant with them nor with their mighty ones.
33 Let them not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me when you serve their mighty ones, when it becomes a snare to you.

We see this story unfold in Joshua 9:3-16, 22
3And the inhabitants of Giḇ‛on heard what Yehoshua had done to Yeriḥo and Ai, 4 and they acted slyly and went and pretended to be envoys. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, 5 and old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves. And all the bread of their provision was dry, it was crumbs. 6 And they went to Yehoshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Yisra’ĕl, “We have come from a far land, and now, make a covenant with us.” 7 But the men of Yisra’ĕl said to the Ḥiwwites, “It could be that you dwell in our midst, so how would we make a covenant with you?” 8 And they said to Yehoshua, “We are your servants.” And Yehoshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” 
9 So they said to him, “From a land very far off your servants have come, because of the Name of יהוה your Elohim. For we have heard the report of Him, and all that He did in Mitsrayim, 10 and all that He had done to the two sovereigns of the Amorites who were beyond the Yardĕn, to Siḥon sovereign of Ḥeshbon, and Oḡ sovereign of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 “So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land spoke to us, saying, ‘Take food with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants, and now, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12 “This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day that we left to come to you. But now, see, it is dry and it is crumby. 13 “And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn. And these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” 14 And the men of Yisra’ĕl took some of their food, but they did not ask the mouth of יהוה.  15And Yehoshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live, and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. 16 And it came to be at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours who dwelt near them. 
22 Then Yehoshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ yet you are dwelling in our midst?”

I wondered why Yahweh would allow this deceit to happen, and to be pulled off successfully, when He had made promises to be with and be for Joshua and Israel.
First of all, they had already been told to not make a covenant with any of the nations.
As soon as an envoy arrived wishing to make a covenant, they should have immediately declined.
Instead, they exposed themselves to the deceit of these men, allowing them to tell their tale.
We also see this in the fall of man.  When the serpent began speaking to Eve in the garden, she should have remembered and obeyed the instructions that Yahweh had given to her and Adam.  But instead, she engaged the enemy in discussion. She allowed the serpent to speak into her life, and he caused her to doubt and forget, and to even twist the words of Yahweh.
In this scenario in Joshua, we see the reason that Yahweh allowed them to fail:
From Joshua 9:14
“…but they did not ask the mouth of יהוה.”
Joshua and Israel went down a path contrary to the instructions given to them by Yahweh.
When presented with a difficult situation, they relied on their own reasoning and understanding.  All they had to do was either obey Yahweh’s original instructions to not make a covenant with the nations, or just ask Yahweh in this moment.  But they did neither…
What is the long term result of this mistake?
Believe it or not, the scriptures tell us!!

Judges 2:1-4
1And the Messenger of יהוה came up from Gilgal to Boḵim, and said, “I led you up from Mitsrayim and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers, and I said, ‘I do not break My covenant with you, 2 and as for you, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land – break down their slaughter-places.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? 3 “Therefore I also said, ‘I am not driving them out before you, and they shall be adversaries to you, and their mighty ones shall be a snare to you.’ ” 4 And it came to be, when the Messenger of יהוה spoke these words to all the children of Yisra’ĕl, that the people lifted up their voice and wept.

Because of this transgression, the nation of Israel then had to contend with pagan nations living in their midst. Israel eventually took on their ways, seeking out their pagan gods to worship.  After much patience, Yahweh divorced them from the covenant and scattered them among all the nations of the earth. The northern ten tribes of Israel were separated from the promise land physically, but were also separated from Yahweh and His Torah instructions!

Jeremiah 5:13
19“And it shall be, when they say, ‘Why does יהוה our Elohim do all this to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign mighty ones in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’
Amos 8:11-12
11“See, days are coming,” declares the Master יהוה, “that I shall send a hunger in the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Words of יהוה.
12“And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east – they shall diligently search, seeking the Word of יהוה, but they shall not find it.

There are numerous examples in the scriptures regarding disobedience and consequences.
But what can we learn from this series of events that I’ve shared today?

ONE
Yahweh knows what is best for us.
He is our Creator, and He has given us instructions to live by.
He says that obedience to His instructions will bring life and blessing, and disobedience will bring death and curses.
Dueteronomy 28:1-2
1“And it shall be, if you diligently obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that יהוה your Elohim shall set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim: (see Deut 28 to read the blessings)
Deuteronomy 28:15
15And it shall be, if you do not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands and His laws which I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” (see Deut 28 to read the curses)
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
19“I have called the heavens and the earth as witnesses today against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore you shall choose life, so that you live, both you and your seed, 20 “to love יהוה your Elohim, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him – for He is your life and the length of your days – to dwell in the land which יהוה swore to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ, to give them.
Remember His Words that He says are forever.
Choose life!!

TWO
If Yahweh has given us commands or instructions, we are to remember them. When a situation arises in our life, we need to remember what He has said. The passing of time does not make His instructions obsolete.
For example, if our parents told us not to play in the street when we were five years old, does that mean we get to play in the street when we are six?  No, absolutely not. It is still unsafe.  We are not allowed to abandon good instruction and sound teaching just because some time has passed.
Israel was told to NOT make any covenant with the foreign nations when they entered the promise land.
Instead of listening to the Voice of Yahweh, they instead listened to the deceitful voice of their enemy.
This caused them to disobey Yah, and it caused them difficulty and hardship beyond imagination later on.
Dueteronomy 12:28
28“Guard, and obey all these words which I command you, that it might be well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.”

THREE
If you find yourself in a situation in life where you are unsure, simply ask Yahweh.
Pray.
Even if it is something you once knew, or once had been told.
Simply ask. 
Yahweh is patient, kind, and loving.
He will not chastise us for seeking His word and His will in our lives.
If we have forgotten, or have become confused, or are being deceived by the enemy, simply pray and ask of Yahweh. He will make our paths straight before us.
Proverbs 3:5-7
5 Trust in יהוה with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 Know Him in all your ways, And He makes all your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear יהוה and turn away from evil.

FOUR
Yahweh will allow us to fail.
He gave us free will, and He will allow us to pursue that free will, even to our own detriment.  In difficult trials, He will always give us a way out. 
He will provide a solution.
We just need to trust Him and watch for it.
1Corinthians 10:13
13No trial has overtaken you except such as is common to man, and Elohim is trustworthy, who shall not allow you to be tried beyond what you are able, but with the trial shall also make the way of escape, enabling you to bear it.

Let’s take another look at Joshua and Israel being deceived by the inhabitants of Gibon.
The nation of Gibon was slated to be destroyed, but they deceived Joshua into making a covenant with them.
Joshua/Israel just needed to inquire of Yahweh in this matter, and He would have made their paths straight.
But they did not.
End of story, right?
Nope.
Yahweh provides a way out of their disobedience.
Israel made a covenant with the people of Gibon, and as a result, they were unable to destroy them.
But look at what happens in Joshua 10:3-5
3And Aḏoni-Tseḏeq sovereign of Yerushalayim sent to Hoham sovereign of Ḥeḇron, and to Piram sovereign of Yarmuth, and to Yaphiya sovereign of Laḵish, and to Deḇir sovereign of Eḡlon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Giḇ‛on, for it has made peace with Yehoshua and with the children of Yisra’ĕl.” 5 So the five sovereigns of the Amorites – the sovereign of Yerushalayim, the sovereign of Ḥeḇron, the sovereign of Yarmuth, the sovereign of Laḵish, the sovereign of Eḡlon – gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Giḇ‛on and fought against it.

As ‘fate’ would have it, the people they were supposed to destroy, but could not because of the covenant they made, are being attacked by five nations of Amorites.
Yahweh has provided a way out for their transgression.
Yahweh has provided a way for His will to be accomplished, even though Joshua and Israel had failed to obey His instructions.
But what happens?
Joshua and the Army of Israel go up from Gilad and defend the people of Gibon, saving them from the Amorites!!!
Seriously????
Believe it or not, this is exactly what happens.
And Yahweh gives them the victory, even killing the Amorites with large hailstones.
If we find ourselves in a bad situation and Yahweh provides a way out, we need to recognize it. We need to pay attention and seek His way and His will.
Do not act in a manner to destroy the way out that Yahweh has provided!!!

FIVE
The actions of one can affect many.
In the siege and battle of Jericho, Israel was told to not take any spoils of war.
Anak coveted gold, silver, and fine garments, and did take of the spoils.
This resulted in Joshua questioning his faith, and to have doubts in the promises of Yahweh.
This resulted in the Army of Israel being defeated at Ai. Some of the Israel soldiers were struck down, because Yahweh was not with them.
Make no mistake about it…
Our disobedience can affect others.
Our poor choices will sometimes have a negative effect on our family, our friends, our property, our place of employment, etc.
We do not live in a bubble.  Our actions have consequences, and sometimes innocent people are adversely affected.

SIX
Choose life.
This is what Yahweh told Israel, and since then has continued to tell everyone that has ever existed to do the same through His written scriptures.
Our churches teach that we ‘choose life’ one time and that is it.
Once saved, always saved.
But that is not what we see in the scriptures.
We are to choose life.
Day by day, minute by minute, situation by situation, and circumstance by circumstance.
We must choose life in all that we do.
Succeeding at this in one scenario does not mean we won’t fail in another.
Be diligent!!
Meditate upon His Word.
Filter all of your thoughts, words, and actions through Yah’s instructions for living.
Psalms 1:1-6
1Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, And shall not stand in the path of sinners, And shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 But his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His Torah day and night. 3 For he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, That yields its fruit in its season, And whose leaf does not wither, And whatever he does prospers. 4 The wrong are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For יהוה knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wrong comes to naught.

Please keep in mind that ancient stories are not just historical information.
The character of Yahweh is packed into these stories.
We can learn from them, even today.
Often times, we can learn much about ourselves through the mistakes of others in ancient times!!

Romans 15:4
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
1Corinthians 10:11
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
2Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All throughout the bible, we see evidence of ancient miracles. Some are extraordinary feats and are quite famous stories, well known by the public at large regardless of whether or not they believe these events actually occurred. Some examples are the Parting of the Red Sea, Noah’s Flood, and one of the greatest – the resurrection and ascension of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus).
Other miracles are less well known such as the talking donkey of Balaam, the water from the rock of Horeb, casting demons into a herd of pigs, three men not harmed in a burning furnace, and the death of Korah – as he was sucked deep into the earth while still alive! There are many more and each is fascinating in its own way.
But what about today?
Are there modern miracles occurring as we speak, or were miracles reserved only for ‘biblical times’?
Has God gone silent?
Today I Googled ‘modern miracles’ and received 39,800,000 search results.
People are talking about such things.
The internet is flooded with information and/or speculation regarding the idea of current, modern miracles.
But is there truth in any of it?

Let’s first start by discussing “biblical times.”
Many people refer to ancient times, thousands of years ago, as biblical times.
This concept requires us to set chronological boundaries based on the authorship of our biblical canon.
When I read my bible, I see ‘all of time’ spoken of:
–Past
–Present
–Future
–Not to to mention all of eternity!!
I believe that ALL times are biblical times.
There are no boundaries that men can establish; not successfully anyway. We can try, but this is foolish. We can’t put God in a box, nor can we put time in a box.
If today and tomorrow are referred to in scripture, then we live in biblical times.
Right now, as we live!!
I have great faith that Yahweh (God) can accomplish miracles today just as we read about in times 2000 to 6000 years ago.
In fact, I have witnessed such things with my own eyes.
In my small family of five, we have experienced extraordinary things.
Here is a brief summary:
JD Anderson (me): When I was three years old, a bright white light ‘visited’ me. This was witnessed by my mother and sister as well, and they remember this event in great detail, as do I. In 2013, I prayed to Yah for confirmation of my understanding of some scriptures. That same day, I was again visited by a similar ball of white light. I have since learned these balls of light are angels, and when photographed (the second occurrence) they look exactly the same as close-up photographs of stars in the night sky (which leads me to believe the stars are angels, and angels are stars).
I was a US Navy Diver and served on submarines. I was unconscious 140 feet under water in 1989 on scuba equipment (not hard hat diving, but with a regulator in my mouth). I was in this condition for 8 to 9 minutes until another diver found me and brought me to the surface. Surviving this event is (to me) a complete miracle, and professional divers will say this is not a survivable event. And yet, here I am…
Tracy (my wife): When our first son was born, Tracy had a very difficult labor, and our son ended up in neo-natal intensive care (more about this later). I went to NICU with Josh, while Tracy was moved from the Labor and Delivery wing to the Maternity wing in the hospital.
A nurse came to me in NICU and asked me to come and see Tracy. I explained to the nurse that she and I had agreed we would not leave our baby alone, ever. I let her know I needed to remain in NICU with Josh. She told me that Tracy was hemorrhaging to death, and may not make it. She said I needed to “say my goodbyes” before it was too late. Tracy was rushed into emergency surgery and she survived, praise Yah! She had been placed under the care of a recent nursing school graduate who was working her very first shift as a nurse. This young lady was unsupervised on her very first day and had absolutely no idea what she was doing as Tracy bled to death under her care. She did not even recognize that Tracy was faltering.
The labor and delivery nurse (with 30 years of experience) finished her shift and had left the hospital. She felt ‘compelled’ to return to the hospital to check on Tracy. She found Tracy near death with internal bleeding. Had this woman not inexplicably returned to the hospital, Tracy would not have survived.
Josh (our oldest of three sons): As I mentioned above, Tracy had a very difficult labor with Josh and nearly lost her own life. During the last 4 to 6 weeks of this pregnancy, Tracy had to see her doctor multiple times due to failed ‘stress tests’. No baby movement was noted on multiple occasions, and there was concern for the baby’s health. As it turns out, the placenta was degrading and the umbilical cord was damaged and partially detached from the uterus wall. He was born alive and without any defects. The doctor, after seeing the condition of the placenta and umbilical cord, declared that Josh was a miracle baby. He said it is not possible for Josh to have survived the pregnancy, and yet he did.
Fast forward to 2014, and Josh ended up in ICU in a coma and on life support at the very same hospital. A CAT scan showed that he was brain dead, with absolutely no neural activity. Homicide detectives showed up and declared his body a crime scene at about 2:30am on February 1, 2014. Homicide detectives began their investigation of his death. Twelve hours later, Josh was conscious and awake, in perfect health, with no loss in brain function or cognitive ability. For the second time in his life, doctors in the same hospital referred to him as an unexplained miracle. I have witnessed the raising of the dead, at the will and at the hand of Yahweh!!
Jonah (our second born son): In December 2015, Josh and Jonah were walking to high school. They had to cross one of the busiest streets in downtown Colorado Springs. Josh had his learner’s permit and was driving at this point, and he had become accustomed to watching other cars. Jonah was not yet driving, and had not developed this habit to generally be alert with regard to traffic.
When the light changed and the crosswalk sign came on, Josh and Jonah began to cross the street. Josh noticed that a car was going to run a red light at approximately 40mph and jumped back, but Jonah did not notice. Jonah was struck in the middle of the cross walk dead center of the car, shattered the windshield, flew in the air, and landed in the street about 30 feet away. He was struck so hard that his shoes were missing, and they were never located or found, even though people looked for them!!
It was expected that he had suffered severe injuries. First responders arrived and an ambulance transported him to the Level 1 Trauma Center instead of the typical emergency room.
After many tests, we learned that he had no broken bones, no internal injuries, and did not even have any visible scratches or bruising. He was sore for a few days, but miraculously was not injured!! Again, praise Yah!
And that leaves our third and last son Ethan: While he has not experienced any miraculous events during his life, the fact that he exists at all is spectacular. Tracy and I decided that two children were enough and that we were finished, but Yah had other plans. Even though I had a vasectomy, Ethan was conceived and born afterwards by the will of Yah!!

I could go into much greater detail regarding each of these stories/events, but I just wanted to summarize some of the things that we’ve experienced as a family.
Some people believe all of these things are coincidental.
Some people simply think that I am lying about these circumstances, and that they never actually occurred.
We have witnessed each of these unusual events, as have others.
They actually happened!
But, are they miracles?
Or are they just quirky life anomalies?

I for one consider these events to show the hand of Yahweh at work in our lives. As a man of great faith, I have no other explanation for it than supernatural intervention at times.
After Josh’s death and then inexplicable survival, I began to reach out to other families going through similar events with their children. This type of thing happens everyday somewhere. Many families deal with the tragedy of a lost or severely injured child, resulting in waiting out a coma in ICU while on life support.
Sadly, I have found that most families do not have a storybook ending.
Most families do not get their kids back.
And this left me perplexed for a number of years.

I’ve prayed about it many times.
I’ve prayed for other kids on life support and in a coma.
I’ve pleaded for other families to get their miracle.
On a couple of rare occasions, I’ve seen it happen. But mostly, these kids pass on from this life, and families are left shattered and broken.

For the last five years, I’ve wondered why?
Why has my family received not one, but several miracles, while other families experience disaster?
The only thing I’ve had to settle on is Yah’s will.
I know that He is a just God, and that His will is perfect to accomplish His plan.
Always.
As a human being, I do not get to question why He does what He does.
I am just the dirt of the earth, and He is the Creator and Author of life, and He knows the number of each of our days.
He knows how many breaths and how many heart beats is allotted for each and every one of us. Nothing is outside of His knowledge or His control.
Isaiah 46 tells us this:
I am God, and there is none like Me—
declaring the end from the beginning,
from ancient time, what is yet to come,
saying, “My purpose will stand,
and I will accomplish all that I please.

Yahweh knows the end from the beginning.
He knows the end results of all that will ever occur, and He’s known in advance, since the beginning of time!
Nothing is secret to Him.
Nothing is unknown to Him.
He does not need to see it play out as we do. He already knows the end result before it has happened.
He knows who will be His, and who will not be His.

We see this in John 6:44-45
44 No one can come to Me unless My Father who sent Me draws him—and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has listened and learned from the Father comes to Me.

And in Romans 8, we see a similar statement:
Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say in view of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

And John 6 again
37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and anyone coming to Me I will never reject. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of the One who sent Me. 39 Now this is the will of the One who sent Me, that I lose not one of all He has given Me, but raise each one on the last day.

And in 2Thessalonians 2
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth…

I’m not trying to turn this idea into a discussion of ‘predestination’.
What I am trying to say is that Yah knows who are His, and He has known from the beginning who will be His.
Whether we call it predestination/pre-selection without free will, or simply that Yah knows who will end up choosing Him is irrelevant.
The end result is what matters.
Yahweh knows and has always known who are His, who will be His.
Yahweh knows who is in His Kingdom and who is not in His Kingdom, regardless of timeframe.
And now for a difficult question…
Does this information, knowing who are His, affect who might get a miracle and who does not?
In difficult and tragic times, a few people/families get miracles, while many lose loved ones under what seem to be the exact same circumstances.
Is the reason beyond us, and not available to us?
That is where I’ve been settled for a number of years.
I am forever grateful for the actions Yah has taken in our lives, and I’m saddened when I see others experience loss and hardship.
But I’m faithful in both circumstances.
I’m trusting and faithful that Yah is just in all things, even if I do not understand them.
That is a good note to finish up on these thoughts…
Be faithful, no matter what.
Be trusting, no matter what.

But there is more.
A friend recently showed me one simple verse in the scriptures that may explain why some get a miracle and some do not.
I absolutely believe the outcome of all things, good or bad, is orchestrated and that Yah is in control of all, even if we can’t see the intricate workings of His will.
And that literally is enough.
Faith and trust.
I don’t need more than these.

But in Hebrews chapter 1, we see the angels are spoken of, and it seems to relate to this very idea of miracles on earth.
I’d like to concentrate on verse 14, but I’ll post the entire section for context:
Hebrews 1:1-14
Superiority of the Son
1 At many times and in many ways, Yahweh [God] spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets. 2 In these last days He has spoken to us through a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He created the universe. 3 This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word. When He had made purification for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 Thus He became as far above the angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did Yahweh [God] ever say,
“You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father”?
And again,
“I will be to Him a Father, and He will be to Me a Son”?
6 And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And regarding the angels He says,
“He makes His angels winds, and His servants a flame of fire.”
8 But regarding the Son He says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
10 And, “In the beginning, Yahweh, You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. 11 They shall pass away, but You remain. And they will all wear out like clothing. 12 And like a robe You will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed; but You are the same, and Your years shall never end.”
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service to those about to inherit salvation?

In this passage, Paul is quoting various scriptures in reference to Yeshua Messiah. He goes to great lengths here to differentiate Yeshua from the angels.
That is the point of this passage, but verse 14 gives us a bit of insight into the purpose of angels (or at least one of their purposes).
Hebrews 1:14
14 Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent out for service to those about to inherit salvation?

I try to make it a point to NOT read into things.
I try NOT to include speculation with my thoughts and words.
In this case, though, verse 14 seems to refer to what mankind commonly calls “Guardian Angels.”
We are clearly told that the angels minister to those who will inherit salvation.

And this might very well be (and I clarify maybe) the answer to my question above.
Why do some people get a miracle and others do not?
What if…
[And I clarify this is a what if…]
What if angels are sent to minister to (intervene in the affairs of men)…
…those who will end up in the Kingdom?

What if Yahweh knows who will be His in the end, and He sends angels to ‘minister’ to them during the events of their lives?
And in this case, I don’t mean ‘counselling, advising, or doing a bible study together’ when I say ministering.
I’m speaking of supernatural intervention in the affairs of men.
Intervention in the affairs of life and death, and protection, and health.
What if miracles are Yahweh sending angels to ‘minister’ to the ones that He knows will be His, the ones who are to inherit salvation as it is stated in Hebrews 1:14?

I find this concept/idea to be absolutely fascinating.
For one, I survived the unsurvivable long before I came to an understanding of Torah.
I received a miracle, and then even more within my family, long before I began loving the ways of the Father.
But what if He knew that is where I [and others] would end up?
What if Yahweh knew that I’d get there, that I would submit my heart and my life to Him?
And for that reason, angels ‘ministered’ in my life [and in the lives of others], allowing me to survive until the day I chose to walk in the ways of the Father?

Does Hebrews 1:14 tell us this?
No. I’m asking a bunch of what-if questions.
Verse 14 states as fact that angels do minister to those who will have salvation, so I don’t think this concept is a stretch.
So I looked into the scriptures to find evidence this idea might be true.
Yes, it is there…
Acts 15:5-11
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ]keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

And we see this in Isaiah 63
7 I will remember the loving kindnesses of Adonai, the praises of Adonai, according to all that Adonai has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion, and according to the abundance of His loving kindnesses.
8 For He said, “Surely they are My people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
So He became their Savior.
9 In all their affliction He was afflicted.
So the angel of His presence saved them.
In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them,
then He lifted them and carried them
all the days of old.
Daniel 6:20-24
20 At dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 21 As he reached the den, he cried out to Daniel with a voice of anguish. The king spoke out to Daniel saying: “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”
22 Daniel spoke to the king: “May the king live forever! 23 My God sent His angel to shut the lions’ mouths[a] so that they haven’t harmed me, because I was found innocent before Him. Nor have I committed any crime against you, O king.”
24 Then the king was overjoyed, and ordered Daniel taken up out of the den.
Daniel 3:26-29
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and exclaimed, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out from the middle of the fire. 27 When the satraps, administrators, governors and royal ministers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their head was singed, nor were their robes scorched, nor was there a smell of fire on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him! They defied the king’s edict and to gave up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I hereby decree that any people, nation or language that says anything slanderous against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego will be torn limb from limb and their house made a pile of rubble, because there is no other god that is able to deliver in this way.”
Matthew 18:10
¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father in heaven.
Psalm 91:11-16
11 For He will give His angels charge over you,
to guard you in all your ways.
12 Upon their hands they will lift you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.[a]
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
trample the young lion and serpent.
14 “Because he has devoted his love to Me,
I will deliver him.
I will set him securely on high,
because he knows My Name.
15 When he calls on Me, I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble, rescue him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him My salvation.”
Psalm 34:7-10
⁷ This poor man cried, and Adonai heard,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁸ The angel of Adonai encamps around those who fear Him,
and delivers them.
⁹ Taste and see how good Adonai is.
Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.
¹⁰ Fear Adonai, His kedoshim,
For those who fear Him lack nothing.
2Kings 6:15-17
15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was surrounding the city. So his attendant said to him, “Alas, my master! What are we going to do?”
16 “Fear not,” he replied, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “Adonai, please open his eyes that he may see.” Then Adonai opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

There are more references in the scriptures such as these, showing that angels do in fact visit the earth and intervene in the affairs of men, in order to accomplish the will of Yahweh. There is evidence in the scriptures that angels (seen and unseen) have executed miracles in the lives of men.

The idea that miracles do occur today is much easier to believe, having reviewed these scriptures.
Figuring out why some people get a miracle while others do not is still a mystery, although we’ve scratched the surface in exploring the idea.
In the end, all that matters is that Yahweh is in control and He will accomplish His purposes.
We can have trust in that.
Yahweh can accomplish His good and perfect will with events that seem eiterh good or bad from the perspective of men.
What do I take away from these thoughts?
1. I am grateful each and everyday for the wonderful things that have occurred in my life, and in the lives of my wife and children.
2. I am grateful and thankful each day that Yah has lifted my veil and given me understanding of His Torah. This is described in 2Corinthians 3:14-16
¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away. ¹⁵ But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. ¹⁶ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
3. I am grateful that if this idea is true [or even if it isn’t], that Yahweh has protected me from certain death at a time when I had not yet submitted my heart to Him, thus allowing me to continue living until I did so.
4. This idea/concept gives me great faith and great hope for two of my children who currently reject the Torah and reject Yahweh. If Yah saved them because He knows where they will end up, then it gives me great comfort to know they will eventually turn their hearts to Yah. I do pray this idea is true for this reason… My kids and many countless others throughout the world.

The things I’ve written in this article are very difficult things.
They smash the boundary between normal and expected vs. extraordinary and unbelievable.
I’m not trying to hype a strange idea here.
I’m just spilling my thoughts out in an effort to process these events that I have experienced and the scriptures that might explain these events.
I don’t know everything.
In fact, I think I know very little.
But I have faith.
And I have trust.
I know that Yahweh my Creator is sovereign over all that there is, including time, physics, and even life and death. And I know that His perfect will shall be accomplished, regardless of what that means for all of us as individuals.

I’ve learned that people have created their own ideas of who God is, or who Jesus is.
Sadly, their ideas do not match who They really are, but are instead a version of God created in their own imaginations.  This false idea is perpetuated in our churches, taught to generation after generation until the truth is no longer known, and is not even recognized when presented to others.
Jeremiah warned of this long, long ago…
Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

Verse 20 confirms this idea for us, telling us the results of the errors made in verse 19.  Man will make up their own gods.
But Jeremiah tells us their made-up versions of gods are not actually gods.

My blog posts are primarily centered upon direct quotes of Yahweh [God] and Yeshua Messiah [Jesus].  I made this graphic of negative connotation words from the list of things I’ve been called for quoting Yahweh and Yeshua.  Sadly, people reject the words of our Elohim, and cling instead to their fantasy versions of God and Jesus, the inaccurate versions that do not match the whole of Scripture.
They do not even recognize the things that Yahweh and Yeshua said, even though I quote Them directly from scripture.

Yahweh is a just God.
He gave His instructions for us to live by, and informed us that He will be testing us according to those instructions, to see how well we know them and adhere to them.
We see this test in Deuteronomy 13
“…for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.”

Yahweh [God] wants us to know His Voice.
He wants us to know the things He said.
He wants us to obey the things that He said.
This is how He will know if we love Him.
Yeshua Messiah [Jesus] wants exactly the same thing from us:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
John 15:10
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

In the same way that Yahweh gave us His test in Deuteronomy 13 quoted above, we are given the same test in the New Testament (for anyone who believes the Old Testament scriptures are no longer applicable).
1John 2:3-6
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
John goes on to say this in 1John 3:4-9
⁴ Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that Yeshua appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who sins has seen Him or known Him. ⁷ Children, let no one mislead you! The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Yeshua is righteous. ⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. Ben-Elohim appeared for this purpose—to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one born of God practices sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The expectation from ancient times is the same expectation that we are given today.
However, this idea does not line up with the ‘made-up-gods’ of modern church culture.
When presented with this information, the typical response is rejection of this idea, and often times hostility towards the messenger.

I’d like to ask if you [or your friends, family, and loved ones] would consider the direct quotes of Yeshua Messiah [Jesus] to be:
-Dangerous
_Heretical
-Condemning
-Arrogant
-Hurtful
-Animosity
-Unloving
-Judgmental
-Exclusionary
-Divisive
-Malicious
-Harmful
-Intolerant
-Evil
-Hateful
-Close-minded
-Self-righteous
-Offensive
-Adversarial
-Negative
-False
-Prejudicial
-Critical

DIRECT QUOTES OF JESUS:
Matthew 7:13-14
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Matthew 7:26-27
²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Luke 11:39
³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.”

Matthew 10:11-15
¹¹ “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it.¹³ If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

John 8:19, 25
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

Matthew 10:34-39
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ ³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Luke 6:24-26
²⁴ But woe to you who are rich,
for you are receiving your comfort in full.
²⁵ Woe to you who are full,
    for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you shall mourn and weep.
²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for their fathers used to treat the false prophets the same way.”

John 8:42-27
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

John 8:54-55
⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. ⁵⁵ Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.”

Matthew 23:13, 33
¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ³³ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

Matthew 23:25-28
²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and^[l]self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Mark 9:42
⁴² “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”

Matthew 25:11-13
¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Matthew 25:29-30
²⁹ ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Luke 19:26-27
²⁶ ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ 

Matthew 15:7-9
⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

Luke 13:22-28
²² And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ ²⁶ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 

Matthew 15:14
^{14 “}Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Matthew 7:6
⁶ “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

Matthew 25:41, 46
⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  ⁴⁶ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Luke 6:46-49
“Why do you call Me ‘Master, Master’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood came, the torrent burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.
⁴⁹ “But the one who hears yet does not do is like a man who built a house upon land without a foundation. When the torrent burst against it, immediately it collapsed—and the destruction of that house was great!”

This is just a sampling of the things Yeshua Messiah [Jesus] said, which are recorded for us in the Scriptures as direct quotes.
It is obvious that Messiah is SERIOUS about such things.
He is not playing games.
He is not to be conformed to an imaginary version of Jesus.
We are not to misrepresent His character, who He is, His Voice, by altering Him to match our own desires.
He is who He is, and we are not allowed to change who He is.
Revelation 1:8
⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says Adonai Elohim, “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”
John 14:6
⁶ Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Exodus 3:14-15
¹⁴ Yahweh [God] answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Then He said, “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses: “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, Adonai, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and the Name by which I should be remembered from generation to generation.

KNOW HIS VOICE
We must know Him.
We must know His Voice.
We must know the things He said.
Not just our favorite things, but ALL OF THE THINGS THAT HE SAID.
We must know His Character and His Justice along with His mercy and His grace.
All aspects of His Character are vital and important, not just the parts we like the best.

Yeshua Messiah says His sheep know His voice.
If we do not know His voice (all of it, the sum total of all He said) then we are not His sheep.
John 10, 14-15, 26-28
¹⁴ “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. ²⁶ But you don’t believe, because you are not My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

Please take the time to study and pray about this idea.
Please take the time to find out if you know Jesus [Yeshua Messiah] of the scriptures, or if you only know mainstream Jesus from church culture.  They are not one and the same…

2Timothy 3:16
¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of Yahweh, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of Yahweh may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Most people, regardless of doctrine or denomination (or lack thereof), are familiar with this verse in 2Timothy.

But do we fully understand the significance of the very first word?
“All”
Three letters, one small word…
What is so significant about it?
Here is the definition of the word all:
all;  adjective; \ ˈȯl  \
Definition of all
1: the whole amount, quantity, or extent of
2: every member or individual component of all
3: the whole number or sum of
4: Every

We must ‘see’ the whole of scripture to know truth.
Most people in the world actually apply this verse as “Some scripture is given…”
It is possible to isolate and extract individual verses in the bible and use them to create false doctrine or false beliefs.
How is this possible IF “All scripture is given…”?
The answer to this question lies in the definition of the word all.
Our understanding of scripture must be the sum of all the parts.
It must be all inclusive.

How are we to sort it out?
How are we to know if we are in error, or if we are adhering to the overall truth of the whole of scripture?
Yahweh told us how to do this, very early in the scriptures.
Dueteronomy 13:3-4
“…for Yahweh your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. 5 Yahweh 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.”
Every life, every decade, every year, every hour, every minute, every second, every situation, every circumstance falls within the realm of this test.
What we do in each and every moment will be evaluated based on the criteria of this test.
Will we love Yahweh with our whole heart?
Will we follow Yahweh?
Will we fear Yahweh?
Will we keep His commands?
Will we listen to His voice?
Will we serve Him?
Will we cling to Him?

Tick, tick, tick…
Second by second, all that we believe, think, say, and do is a test.
What is the purpose of this test?
Yahweh is sorting out who are His and who are not His.
We are auditioning for His Kingdom.
Is this just some wonky idea I have created in my own mind?
No, we are told exactly this in the scriptures.
The book of Ecclesiastes sums it up for us.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Verse 13 tells us what our goal is:
1. Fear Yahweh
2. Keep His commandments
Verse 14 better explains this life is our audition for His Kingdom:
1. Yahweh is watching and evaluating every single work (the things we believe, think, say, and do)
2. Each of these things, moment by moment, will be judged
3. Not only the obvious things, but even our secret thoughts and actions
4. Whether good or evil, all will be considered.

I for one am motivated to do well on my test.
I want to have a successful audition.
What is the prize?  Eternal life and a place in His Kingdom.
Revelation 22:14
14 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.

The entire book of Deuteronomy, the final words of the Torah, remind us over and over again of our purpose, of our test, of our audition.
Deuteronomy 6:1-5
6 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which Yahweh your Elohim has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear Yahweh your Elohim, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it,that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as Yahweh your Elohim of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 4 “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one! 5 You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Deuteronomy 6:17
^17 “You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. ¹⁸ And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you…”

Deuteronomy 7:9-11
⁹ “Therefore know that Yahweh your Elohim, He is Yahweh, the faithful Elohim who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; ¹⁰ and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. ¹¹ Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”

Deuteronomy 8:1
“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply…”

Deuteronomy 8:6
“Therefore you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”

Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 16-17
¹² “And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your Elohim require of you, but to fear Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim and His statutes which I command you today for your good? 
¹⁶ Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. ¹⁷ For Yahweh your Elohim is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”

Deuteronomy 11:1
“Therefore you shall love Yahweh your Elohim, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.”

Deuteronomy 11:8
⁸ “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong…”

Deuteronomy 11:18-20
¹⁸ “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ²⁰ And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”

Deuteronomy 11:26-28
²⁶ “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: ²⁷ the blessing, if you obey the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim which I command you today; ²⁸ and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, but turn aside from the way which I command you today…”

Deuteronomy 11:32
32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I command you, you must take care to do—you are not to add to it or take away from it.”

Deuteronomy 13:18
“…because you have listened to the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh your Elohim.”

Deuteronomy 15:5
“…5 only if you carefully obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today.”

Deuteronomy 26:16-19
“This day Yahweh your Elohim commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you have proclaimed Yahweh your Elohim, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. 18 Also today Yahweh your Elohim has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your Elohim, just as He has spoken.”

Deuteronomy 27:1
“Keep all the commandments which I command you today.”

Deuteronomy 27:9-10
9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of Yahweh your Elohim. 10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

Deuteronomy 27:26
26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ”

Deuteronomy 28:1-2
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your Elohim will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim…”

Deuteronomy 28:9
9 “Yahweh your Elohim will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim and walk in His ways.”

Deuteronomy 28:13-14
“…if you heed the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left…”

Deuteronomy 28:15
15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…”

Deuteronomy 28:58-59
58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your Elohim, 59 then Yahweh will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.”

Deuteronomy 29:29
29 “The secret things belong to Yahweh your Elohim, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

Deuteronomy 30:8-9
8 And you will again obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Yahweh your Elohim will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good.

Deuteronomy 30:15
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and Yahweh your Elohim will bless you…”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love Yahweh your Elohim, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days…

Deuteronomy 32:46-47
“…“Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe—all the words of this law. 47 For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land…”

An argument could be made that this is the overall theme of the Book of Deuteronomy – to insure we clearly understand the task that has been placed before us, individually and as a covenant nation of people who want to belong to Yahweh.
We are being tested, and we should all make this test our primary concern, as it is the purpose of our life.
It is the duty of all mankind.

Back to the idea of this study…
All scripture?
Or some scripture?
Do our beliefs, thoughts, actions, and words fall within the boundaries of the whole of scripture?
Or have we taken some (not all) scripture and used it to create a doctrine or belief system that causes us to deviate from the Words of Yahweh?
Why is it even possible for this to occur?
Why would Yahweh allow His Word to contain statements that might lead us to create false doctrine?
Because it is a test.
Will we cling to Him and His words?
Or will we depart from Him and His words, justifying our departure by claiming it came from scripture?
Paul’s writings are used to create a lawless doctrine for mainstream Christianity.
Following these ideas seem to make sense if we only use SOME scriptures – but we need to remember the test that Yah gave us.
Will we cling to His voice and the things He said?
Or will we be swayed into lawlessness by misunderstanding and twisting Paul’s writings along with the whole of scripture?
Peter warns us to not make this mistake:
2Peter 3:14-17
14 “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Elohim is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…”

In the end, we MUST cling the the words of Yah.
We must not adopt doctrine that opposes the things Yahweh said to us.
Bits and pieces of scripture allow us to do so, but only if we forget about our test.

Before we end this study, let’s talk about Messiah’s sacrifice and forgiveness.
Am I trying to teach that we earn our way into the Kingdom through obedience to Yah’s commands?
No, that is not what I’m saying.  This is not possible.
We must begin our race by coming to Yeshua Messiah.
We cannot be righteous as He is righteous without His sacrifice and forgiveness.
The standard is not to be perfect in the law.
The goal is for us to value and cherish Yah’s instructions to us, even if we are not perfect in them.
Messiah told us this:
John 14:15
 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Yahweh and Yeshua Messiah want us to love Them.
What is their standard to know if we do?
Keeping the commandments as best we can.
Not for legalistic reasons, but because we have submitted our hearts and our will to Him.

What if we can find verses in scripture to build an idea, a concept, or doctrine?
Should we do it?
Yes, of course we can do it, but should we?
Is It A Good Idea?
That all depends!

Does the idea, concept, or doctrine align with the whole of scripture?
Does it align with the voice of Yahweh (God)?
Does it align with the voice of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus)?

Yahweh tells us to not alter His instructions, His Torah, His Law.
Deuteronomy 4:2
“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.”

Deuteronomy 12:32
³² “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

Yahweh (God) says His law brings life and blessings:
Deuteronomy 30
¹⁵ “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, ¹⁶ in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply…”

Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) tells us that He did not come to abolish the law, and that not a single pen stroke of it will change until heaven and earth pass away.
Matthew 5
¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

Yahweh (God) tells us how He will know if we love Him:
Deuteronomy 13
“…for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.”

Yeshua Messiah tells us this about the commandments:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

I could go on and on and on, but these are enough examples.
There are many more if you’d like to look for them.
Both Yahweh (God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and Yeshua Messiah (Jesus, our Savior) tell us the commandments are forever, that we should not alter it, that it will never change, and that it brings life and blessing.  But most importantly, both God and Jesus tell us They will know we love Them if we keep the commandments.

And yet, we’ve been taught for many generations that the Law is done away with.
Literally billions of people have lived their lives believing this, even though it is the exact opposite of what God and Jesus tell us.

Jeremiah the prophet even warns of this outcome:
Jer 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

Seriously!! A man chosen by God thousands of years ago foretold of this tragedy.
So why do people do it?
Billions of people?

I Googled the phrase “Proof the law is done away with” and got 740,000,000 results in less than a second.
So, yeah, lots of people are talking about this idea, pushing this idea, and publishing this idea.
Why do they think this, if God and Jesus say the opposite?
I clicked on the very first search result and found this “evidence” for the premise the law is done away with, and this is what I found by the first author of this concept:

Here are 37 scriptures that prove that Christians are not under the law!
Acts
The law is an unbearable yoke. (Acts 15:10)

Romans
The law reveals sin but cannot fix it. (Romans 3:20)
If the law worked then faith would be irrelevant. (Romans 4:14)
The law brings wrath upon those who follow it. (Romans 4:15)
The purpose of the law was to increase sin. (Romans 5:20)
Christians are not under the law. (Romans 6:14)
Christians have been delivered from the law. (Romans 7:1-6)
The law is good, perfect and holy but cannot help you be good, perfect or holy. (Romans 7:7-12)
The law which promises life only brings death through sin. (Romans 7:10)
The law makes you sinful beyond measure. (Romans 7:13)
The law is weak. (Romans 8:2-3)

1 Corinthians
The strength of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)

2 Corinthians
The law is a ministry of death. (2 Corinthians 3:7)
The law is a ministry of condemnation. (2 Corinthians 3:9)
The law has no glory at all in comparison with the New Covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:10)
The law is fading away. (2 Corinthians 3:11)
Anywhere the law is preached it produces a mind-hardening and a heart-hardening veil. (2 Corinthians 3:14-15)

Galatians
The law justifies nobody. (Galatians 2:16)
Christians are dead to the law. (Galatians 2:19)
The law frustrates grace. (Galatians 2:21)
To go back to the law after embracing faith is “stupid”. (Galatians 3:1)
The law curses all who practice it and fail to do it perfectly. (Galatians 3:10)
The law has nothing to do with faith. (Galatians 3:11-12)
The law was a curse that Christ redeemed us from. (Galatians 3:13)
The law functioned in God’s purpose as a temporary covenant from Moses till John the Baptist announced Christ. (Galatians 3:16 & 19, also see… Matthew 11:12-13, Luke 16:16)
If the law worked God would have used it to save us. (Galatians 3:21)
The law was our prison. (Galatians 3:23)
The law makes you a slave like Hagar. (Galatians 4:24)

Ephesians
Christ has abolished the law which was a wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:15)

Philippians
Paul considered everything the law gained him as “skybalon” which is Greek for “poop”. (Philippians 3:4-8)

1 Timothy
The law is only good if used in the right context. (1 Timothy 1:8) (see next verse for the context)
It was made for the unrighteous but not for the righteous. (1 Timothy 1:9-10)

Hebrews
The law is weak, useless and makes nothing perfect. (Hebrews 7:18-19)
God has found fault with it and created a better covenant, enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:7-8)
It is obsolete, growing old and ready to vanish. (Hebrews 8:13)
It is only a shadow of good things to come and will never make someone perfect. (Hebrews 10:1)

If we believe the words of Yahweh (God) and the words of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) then we know the law is not done away with, and They want us to observe/keep/honor/remember/obey the law.
Not for legalistic reasons, but because God’s instructions will bring us life and blessing.  It is what is best for us.
It is like reading the owner’s manual for a complicated machine.
Operate it correctly and all is good.
Operate it incorrectly and bad things happen.

That leaves about 739,999,999 more “resources” to review, but I’ll leave you to it.
I’ve already heard what my Creator said, and I’m good with that.  I don’t need to research the things men say…

Here is the question, though:
Can these countless men be correct?
They quoted scripture to establish their belief that the law is done away with.
Here is the short answer:
If you are able to create a premise/idea/doctrine by using scripture — BUT — the premise/idea/doctrine requires you to ignore what God said, or ignore what Jesus said, then it is not a good premise/idea/doctrine.
Even if it is founded upon ‘scripture’ it is a bad idea if it causes you to depart from God or Jesus and the things They have said.

Here is an even shorter answer:
Know the Voice of God.
Know the Voice of Jesus.
Do not depart from what they say.

It does not matter how much sense someone seems to make.
It does not even matter if someone performs miracles or predicts the future and it comes true; reject what they say if it departs from the things God or Jesus said.
Is this my idea?
Nope.
It is what God warns us about.
It is what Jesus warns us about.

Deuteronomy 13:1-6
“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

If someone says anything that causes you to depart from what God said, then that person is to be put to death. That is what would happen in a Covenant nation of people living under the instructions of Yahweh.

What did Jesus say?
Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Jesus says only those who do the will of the Father will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.  What is the will of the Father?  His instructions, His commands, His law.
Jesus goes on to say people who think they serve Him are not included.
We are not talking about non-believers here. We are not talking about atheists.
We are talking about people who call Jesus Lord.
We are talking about people who literally were able to perform miracles in His name, and yet, what does He tell them?
“I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Jesus also said this:
John 10:27-28
²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

WE HAVE TO KNOW THE THINGS JESUS SAID.
WE HAVE TO KNOW HIS VOICE.

We are not to depart from the words of God or the words of Messiah – EVER!!
It does not matter what verses you can find that may seem to say otherwise.
Going back to the list above of 37 verses someone compiled to prove the law is done away with…
Most of these verses are from the writings of Paul.
Are we warned not to deviate from the word of God because of the things Paul wrote?
Yes!!!!
Double Yes!!
Triple Yes!!!
2Peter 3:14-17
¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; ¹⁵ and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;

We are warned to not use Paul’s writings to create false doctrine.
If we do, what is the result?
Our destruction!!
So, in other words, this is serious.

Men and women will tell us the law is a burden and a curse, but what does God Himself say about it?
Deuteronomy 30
¹¹ “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

There are countless more scriptures we could look at, and this study could be ten times this long.
But if you consider your ‘possible destruction’ a serious matter, I recommend you do more research on the topic.
Learn all the things Yahweh said (direct quotes of God) and learn all the things Yeshua Messiah said (direct quotes of Jesus).
Build your doctrine from the things They said.
No one is a higher authority than them.
No matter what.

So, does this mean that Paul is a false prophet?
No, it does not.
Paul was called by Jesus to serve Him. He was struck blind on the road to Damascus, quite the dramatic way to get his attention.
He was humbled, then he was restored, and he became an apostle.
(The other apostles voted in Mathias, and we never hear another word about him. Jesus chose Paul to replace Judas Iscariot).

If Paul sounds like he is saying the law is done away with, then how is it possible he is not a false prophet deserving death, if God and Jesus said the opposite about the law?

1. Sometimes Paul is speaking of the man made traditions of the Pharisees when he refers to ‘the law’ in a negative manner.
Jesus did exactly the same thing (quoting Isaiah):
Matthew 15 (words of Jesus, referring to the Pharisees)
⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

2. Paul also speaks of the teaching of the Pharisees and speaks negatively about it.
Some ‘think’ he is speaking of the Old Testament Law, but he is not. Refer back to the warning Peter gave in 2Peter 3.  He said unstable and untaught people will twist Paul’s writings, along with the rest of the scriptures.
Why?
Because they do not know the scriptures nor understand Paul’s writings.
If God says His law is forever, and for all people (both native born Hebrew and the strangers among them), then we CANNOT believe Paul is saying the law is done away with.
It is a simple choice.
I follow God my Creator, Yahweh, Yahuah, Yehova, Adonia, Elohim
Or
I follow Paul, another man who speaks against the things God said.
Which do you choose?

3. Paul also speaks against the idea that we are saved by keeping the law.
Yes, he is correct in this, but it does not mean we should not keep the law.
He is defining the purpose of the law, not saying we should ignore it.

Paul was an apostle, chosen by Jesus.
He is not a false prophet.
But…  His writings can be hard to understand if we do not know and believe the Voice of God and the Voice of Jesus.

Is any of this making sense? I hope and pray so!!
Do not disregard the things God or Jesus said in favor of ideas made up by men that oppose Their Voices, even if men can quote scripture to explain their idea.

So far, this article is dealing with the premises of the mainstream Christian doctrine.
But this same idea/concept/doctrine is creeping into Torah community as well.
A teacher named Matthew Nolan has a ministry called Torah to the Tribes.
He teaches that Yahweh’s instructions are separated into two documents:
1. The Book of the Covenant
2. The Book of the Law

He says the Book of the Covenant is comprised of Genesis 1:1 to Exodus 24:11, and that the Book of the Law is comprised of Exodus 24:12 to Joshua 1:8.
He teaches that the Book of the Covenant is still in effect, and applies to us today.
He says the Book of the Law was given only for the rebellious first generation of the Exodus out of Egypt, and is now obsolete.
He can string together a number of scriptures to prove his point, and his presentation sounds logical.

But is it a good idea to believe him, if his idea/concept/doctrine opposes the things that Yahweh said?
Absolutely not.

I’ll save all the details of scripture that debunks this idea for my next blog post.
But very quickly, here are two examples that debunk his idea:

Numbers 15
³⁷ Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. ³⁹ And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, ⁴⁰ and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

With regard to tassles/tzitzits, God says they are “throughout their generations.”
This means forever.
This detail completely debunks Matthew Nolan’s teaching that the Book of the Law was temporary and only for one generation.

Deuteronomy 30 speaks of the restoration of the house of Israel in today’s time, after they were exiled/scattered among all the nations of the earth.
This is spoken directly to end time people, not the generation of the Exodus:

The Blessing of Returning to God
1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you ^[a]call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴ If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ⁵ Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
⁷ “Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, ¹⁰ if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Yahweh specifically says that we are to obey His voice, keeping His commandments and statutes in His “Book of the Law” — not the Book of the Covenant.

There is much more to study and quote to debunk this idea, but here is the gist of it:

If someone in the Torah community strings together some scriptures to say the Book of the Law is done away with — do not listen to them. It is a bad idea!
They are drawing you away from the things that Yahweh said.
It is the exact same scenario as mainstream Christians using direct quotes out of the scriptures to “prove” the law is done away with.

Both are a test.
Yahweh (God) is testing us to see if we know His voice, and to see if we love Him (review Deuteronomy 13:3-4 again to see this test).

Please do not fail your test given by the Creator of all things because you are listening to men instead of His voice.

Who has never been confused when studying the bible?
Crickets…
Silence…
No takers…

Why can two different people study the scriptures and have opposite viewpoints, with both being 100% sure they are correct?
It isn’t possible, right?
Opposing views cannot both be correct.

Why is it that some people can clearly see and understand a concept in the bible and share it with others, and they totally do not get it?
It’s just a book full or words, right?
Just read it and believe it.
Simple.
It says what it says, right?
Why all the confusion?

Well, for starters, it is not just a book full of words.
John 17:17
¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 
So it is settled — Scripture tells us that the Scriptures are truth!
Sort of like a double negative, but in this case, a double positive, right?
But it goes a step further…
This verse identifies what the Scriptures are:
They are the Words of Yahweh, our Creator.

2Timothy 3:16-17 confirms this, but also gives us instructions on what to do with it:
¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

What do we learn here?
1. All (not some) Scripture
2. Is inspired by Yahweh
3. It is profitable
     >>>>for doctrine
     >>>>for reproof
     >>>>for correction
     >>>>for instruction in righteousness
4. So that one who belongs to Yahweh
5. May be complete
6. Thoroughly equipped
     >>>>for every good work.

So the Word is truth, it is inspired by God, and it is useful to us.
In addition, understanding is promised to us — but only if we do not doubt:
James 1:5-8
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

But this promise is conditional…
2Corinthians 3:14-16
¹⁴ But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 
This tells us that people are blinded from understanding.
Understanding what?
The Old Testament.
Who is blinded?
Those who have not fully submitted their hearts to Yahweh (God).

Even further, Messiah (Jesus, Yeshua, Our Savior, the Son of God) tells us that understanding is intentionally withheld from people:
Matthew 13:11
¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

So now we have learned there is something very special about the Scriptures.
They are not just words on a page.
They are not just God’s words on a page.
Our ability to understand has a supernatural element to it.
To some, understanding is given.
To others, understanding is withheld.
In both cases, it is due to the condition of their hearts.
A humble, submitted heart is promised understanding and truth.
An unsubmitted heart is not allowed the truth.
Very interesting…

So here is a HUGE QUESTION:
How can we tell the difference?
How can we know who understands and who does not understand?
What if two people spend time studying the Scriptures, but they each come away with a different idea or understanding?
Whom are we to believe as a teacher?
There are over 40,000 different Christian denominations.
Each and everyone of them think they “have it right.”
In reality, pretty much none of them have it right.

How do we get to the bottom of it?
The answer lies >>>> wait for it…
In the Scriptures.

First of all, let’s take a look at one vital warning:
2Peter 3:14-17
¹⁴ Therefore, loved ones, while you are looking for these things, make every effort to be found in shalom [peace], spotless and blameless before Him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation—just as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom given to him. ¹⁶ He speaks about these matters in all of his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist (as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures)—to their own destruction. ¹⁷ Since you already know all this, loved ones, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of the lawless and lose your sure footing.

Peter gives us this warning from his death bed.
What do people speak of on their death bed?
The things they find to be MOST important in life.
What do we learn from Peter?
What things were the MOST important to him?
1. We are to make every effort (full time job)
     >>>>to be found in peace
     >>>>to be spotless and blameless (without sin)
2. Paul speaks of matters of salvation
3. Some of which is hard to understand
4. Which ignorant and unstable people
     >>>>twist (misconstrue, confuse, change, alter)
     >>>>Paul’s writings
     >>>>And the Scriptures (Old Testament, as it is all that existed at this time)
     >>>>To what end?  Their own destruction [not good!!]
5. Be wary, even though you already know this
6. So that you are
     >>>>not led astray
     >>>>by the error (mistake, wrong-doing)
     >>>>of the lawless (those who do not keep the Law)
     >>>>resulting in the loss — of their sure footing.

Ok, so this is a great deal of info packed into one concise warning.
First of all, please recognize the importance of this warning:
The consequences are your destruction and the loss of your sure footing.
What sure footing?
Matthew 7:13-14
¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
We must no lose our sure footing on the narrow path that leads to eternal life.
Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) is telling us already that few will find this path.
Peter warns those who have found this path to not lose our footing and stray from this path, resulting in our destruction (same description that Messiah uses).

How can we avoid these pitfalls that lead to destruction, and lead us away from life?
It is quite simple.
All we have to do is pass our test.
What do I mean by this?
What test?

We must pass the test that Yahweh (God of the Bible, Yehova, Elohim, Adonai, The Great I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) gives to each and every person who has ever lived:
Deuteronomy 13:3-4
“…for Yahweh your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁵ Yahweh your Elohim you will follow and Him you will fear. His commandments you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling.

What is this test comprised of?
How do we pass this test?
1. Love Yahweh with all our heart
2. Love Yahweh with all our soul
3. Follow Yahweh
4. Fear Yahweh
5. Keep Yahweh’s commandments (The Law)
6. Listen to Yahweh’s Voice
7. Serve Yahweh
8. Cling to Yahweh

“Yes, but this is old testament stuff. We don’t have to do these things anymore. We’ve learned to believe in Jesus and call it good because He did away with the Law…”

What does Jesus say about it?
Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah [The Law] or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill/fully teach. ¹⁸ Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif shall ever pass away from the Torah [The Law] until all things come to pass.

Messiah [Jesus] says that He did not do away with the Law.
He goes on to say that not a single pen stroke of the Law [the Torah] will change until heaven and earth pass away at End Times.

“If Jesus wanted us to keep the Law, He would have told us so…”
I present to you the very words of Yeshua Messiah [Jesus]:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Not convinced?
How about more words of Messiah?
John 14:21
^{21 “}He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.”
Still not convinced?”
How about even more words of Messiah?
John 15:10
^{10 “}If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

Still not convinced?
What about a New Testament test?
Are you passing the newer test?
1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

Mainstream Christian doctrine is built upon the twisted and misunderstood quotes of Paul.  If a Christian pastor is presented with any of the verses I’ve quoted in this article, they always respond with a quote of Paul.
Is this a good or a bad thing?
Well, God and Jesus both tell us to keep God’s commandments, the Torah, the Old Testament Law.
Mainstream Christianity teaches that we do not keep the Law because of the things Paul said.
This raises two questions in my mind:
1. Have they ever bothered to read Peter’s warning about Paul’s writings that we quoted and reviewed above?
2. WHo the heck is in charge around here?  God and Jesus, or Paul?  If you have to choose which to follow [with your eternity on the line] whom will you choose?
God and Jesus?
Or Paul?
Before you decide, let’s look at some direct quotes of Paul that your church leader most likely has not included in their teachings:
Acts 24:14
“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.”
Acts 25:8
…while he answered for himself, “Neither against the Law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.”
Paul says those who do the Law [the Torah, God’s commandments] are the ones who will be justified:
Romans 2:12-13
¹² For all who have sinned outside of Torah will also perish outside of Torah, and all who have sinned according to Torah will be judged by Torah. ¹³ For it is not the hearers of Torah who are righteous before God; rather, it is the doers of Torah who will be justified.
Are you confused by these quotes of Paul?
What about this one?
Romans 3:31
³¹ Do we then nullify the Torah through faithfulness? May it never be! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah.

If you follow a mainstream Christian doctrine of not keeping the Law, built upon the words of Paul, then which Paul do you follow?
Do you follow the twisted and misunderstood words of Paul that Peter warned us not do do?
Or do you follow the Paul who upholds the Torah?

What famous words do we learn from Joshua, that many lawless people quote and even hang on their walls?
Joshua 24:15
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Do you follow and serve misinterpreted Paul?
Or do you follow and serve Yahweh, Yehova, Elohim, Adonai, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Do you serve Messiah Yeshua, Jesus, the Son of the Living God?
Because you can’t follow and serve both, and why would anyone follow a man anyway? Paul is not a god, and he is not to be followed, and yet, the whole of mainstream Christianity does exactly that!
Did you know that the prophets foretold this?
Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

God said His Law is forever, for all generations, never ending, and a perpetual covenant.
God said His Law is for both the native Hebrew and for the sojourners/strangers among them [Gentiles].
God said His word shall never pass away.
Here is a direct quote of God:
Malachi 3:6
“For I am Yehova. I do not change…”
Paul has no authority to change the things that God said are for everybody, and are forever, and he did not try to do so.
Paul’s letters sometimes refer to the Torah Instructions, the Law/Commands of God, and other times refer to the Law of Sin and Death.  Still other times, Paul refers to the Law of the Pharisees.
This is why Peter says his letters are hard to understand.
Churches take Paul’s statements about the Law of Sin and Death or the Law of the Pharisees and use them to say that God’s Torah is done away with.
This is blasphemy, as God said His commands are forever and for all people who want to belong to Him.

Mainstream Christians claim to belong to the New Covenant.
Let’s look at the very simple details of the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:7-10
⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

What do we learn here about the New Covenant that Christians claim as their own?
1. The first covenant was not faultless
     >>>>the fault was not with the covenant
     >>>>the fault was with the people who broke the covenant
This resulted in Yahweh [God] divorcing the House of Israel from the covenant:
Jeremiah 3:8
⁸ Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce;
But Yahweh promised to one day restore the House of Israel (as represented in the parable of the Prodigal Son).
Did Jesus come to save the Gentiles?
No.
Here is another direct quote of Messiah:
Matthew 15:24
²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But these things are a whole other study… 
Let’s get back to the new covenant:
2. There will be a New Covenant
     >>>>not like the one the people did not keep
3. But the New Covenant will be with
     >>>>the house of Isreal
     >>>>and the house of Judah
     >>>>[NO GENTILES]
4. God will put His laws in their mind
5. God will write His laws on their hearts
6. He will be their God
7. And they will be His people.

Does this sound like the New Covenant that your church teaches?
With Israel and Judah?
With the Law written on your mind and heart?
Is your church teaching you this truth?
Or do they twist Paul’s writings to say the Law is done away with, even though God Himself says it is not, and even though Jesus Himself says it is not?

Choose whom you will serve this day…
Yahweh and Yeshua Messiah?
God and Jesus?
Or do you serve your church’s false teachings.
You can’t serve both.
You must choose one or the other.

Still not sure if I’m right about any of this?
Have you studied this scripture?
This is a conversation a man had with Jesus:
Matthew 19:16-17
¹⁶ Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
¹⁷ So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Don’t listen to my thoughts and ideas.
Don’t listen to my words.
Listen to Jesus.
Listen to the One who you say that you serve and follow.
Listen to the Only One who can save you and grant you eternal life.
“But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Still not sure?
Jesus tells us who will enter His Kingdom in Revelation 22:14
^{14 “}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.”

Again, how many times now, straight out of the mouth of Jesus?
Keep the commandments.
Are you listening to Him?

Here is another quote of Jesus:
John 10:27-28
²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Do you know His voice?
Do you know the voice of the Father?

So back to the original question.
Why so confusing?
Why are various parts of the scriptures written in a way that can cause confusion?
It is a test.
Do you know His Voice?
Do you obey His Voice?
Do you cling to Him?
Or do you wander away from Him because of some confusing Scriptures?

Are you passing your test?
Deuteronomy 13:3-4
“…for Yahweh your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁵ Yahweh your Elohim you will follow and Him you will fear. His commandments you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling.

Are We Favored By God?
Modern church culture has elevated the status of man far beyond where we should be according to the scriptures.
We’ve been taught that we are loved no matter what.
We’ve been taught that we’ll enter into the kingdom of heaven, no matter our behavior, so long as we believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
It isn’t that we can do no wrong, but that we are sinners and we will be forgiven and accepted, no matter if we do wrong.
Is this a healthy outlook?
Is this true?
Can we count on this idea in the end?

Let’s take a look at some scriptures:
Acts 10:34-35
34 And opening his mouth, Peter said, “Truly I see that Elohim [God] shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation, he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
God does not show favor to men, but adheres to the criteria He has set before men.
Who is accepted by Yahweh? [God]
We are given two criteria in this bit of scripture:
1— those who fear Yahweh
2— those who work righteousness

Do we see this anywhere else in scripture?
Of course we do.
Let’s take a look at words from the wisest man to ever live – Solomon:
Ecclesiastes 12:13
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear Elohim and guard His commands, for this applies to all mankind!

Again, we see two criteria given as the whole duty [or the purpose] of mankind:
1— Fear Elohim [God]
2— Keep His commandments

But the first set of scriptures did not say to keep His commands. It said to be workers of righteousness.
Is there a definition of righteousness in scripture?
Yes…   Let’s take a look:
Deuteronomy 6:24-25
²⁴ Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our Elohim—for our good always, to keep us alive, as is the case this day. ²⁵ It will be righteousness to us, if we take care to do all this commandment before Yahweh our Elohim, just as He has commanded us.’

According to God, righteousness is keeping His commands.
Does it matter that this is Old Testament scripture?
Church culture teaches that Old Testament scripture, especially the law, is no longer applicable.
What does Messiah [Jesus] say about it?
John 7:16
16 יהושע [Yeshua Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God] answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”
Jesus taught what God taught, which is the Torah, His instructions, His Old Testament Law.

We see it again in John 12:48-50
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My Words, has one who judges him: the Word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day.
49 “Because I spoke not from Myself, but the Father who sent Me has given Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 “And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, as the Father has said to Me, so I speak.”

And again in John 14:23-24
23 יהושע [Yeshua Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God] answered him, “If anyone loves Me, he shall guard My Word. And My Father shall love him, and We shall come to him and make Our stay with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not guard My Words. And the Word which you hear is not Mine but of the Father Who sent Me.

All the way back in Deuteronomy Yahweh [God] told us that He would send Yeshua Messiah [Jesus] and that He would put His own words into Yeshua’s mouth:
Deuteronomy 18:18-19
18 I shall raise up for them a Prophet like you out of the midst of their brothers. And I shall put My Words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be, the man who does not listen to My Words which He speaks in My Name, I require it of him.

Yahweh goes further, to warn us that if we do not listen to His Words coming from Messiah’s mouth, that He will hold us accountable for it!!
These should be scary words to us. 
We should know these things, and they should motivate us to righteousness. Fear is a great motivator and is ok:
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of Elohim [God] is the beginning of wisdom
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Let’s take another look at the church culture idea that we will be loved and forgiven, no matter what.
We see this warning in John 3:36
36 He who believes in the Son possesses everlasting life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim [God] remains on him.

We are told point blank that if we do not obey the things Messiah says that we will not be granted eternal life.
In conjunction with that, the wrath of God remains upon us, which means we do not receive Messiah’s forgiveness.
Is this even possible?
Surely this must be a mistake.
Are we told this anywhere else in scripture?
Yes, we are.
Numbers 15:30-31
30 But the being who does whatever defiantly, whether he is native or a stranger, he reviles יהוה [God], and that being shall be cut off from among his people.
31 Because he has despised the word of יהוה [God], and has broken His command, that being shall certainly be cut off, his crookedness is upon him.’ ”

What does this tell us?
1— anyone who sins defiantly
2— just ancient Israel? Nope – native or a stranger – this means YOU
3— this person reviles God
4— this person is cut off from among God’s people
5—Why? Because he has despised the Words of God
6— by breaking His commands
7— he will be cut off (excluded)
8— and his sin remains upon him (unforgiven)

If you are not a fan of Old Testament scripture and think it is not applicable today, let’s look at this same concept in the New Testament, saying the same thing but in much more horrifying detail:
Hebrews 10:26-31
²⁶ For if we keep on sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Yahweh will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
What do we find here?
1— If we sin willfully after knowing the truth
2— there no longer remains a sacrifice [we are unforgiven]
3—but instead we get
4— a terrifying expectation of judgment
5— what kind of judgement? A fury of fire that devours you, the enemy of God
6— trampling Jesus underfoot by sinning willfully is worse than violating the Torah law
7— doing so insults the spirit of grace [the very grace that sinning Christians are counting on and proudly proclaim]
8— Yahweh will judge His people.
9— we should be terrified of ‘falling into the hands’ of the Living God and His wrath in an unforgiven state

If these things were important, you’d think God would have warned us!!
Yes, this is very true, and He did.
Too many times to count.
But here are a couple:
Deuteronomy 12:28
28“Guard, and obey all these words which I command you, that it might be well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.

Proverbs 3:1-7
1 My son, do not forget my Torah [Law], And let your heart watch over my commands; 2 For length of days and long life And peace they add to you. 3 Let not loving-commitment and truth forsake you – Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 Thus finding favour and good insight In the eyes of Elohim and man. 5 Trust in יהוה [God] with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 Know Him in all your ways, And He makes all your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear יהוה [God] and turn away from evil.

But God’s chosen people did not listen to Him.
They did not heed the warnings.
And what was the result?
They were divorced from the covenant (Jeremiah 3:8) and were scattered among all the nations of the earth.  I have gone into great detail showing this in the scriptures in numerous articles. Please review the article “Warning to Torah Community” to see the scriptures telling us about this scattering.

The scattering was not just a physical punishment.
They were not just defeated by enemies and taken as slaves.
While this is bad, really bad, it gets worse.
We are told in the scriptures that the exile was also a separation of the people from Yahweh [God] Himself.  Not only that, but the people are exiled from understanding the Word of God!!
Let’s look at that:
Amos 8:11-12
11“See, days are coming,” declares the Master יהוה [God], “that I shall send a hunger in the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Words of יהוה [God]. 
12“And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east – they shall diligently search, seeking the Word of יהוה [God], but they shall not find it.

We are told the people will be separated from the Word of God.
They will seek it, but are not able to find understanding. Yes, they have the written word, but comprehension and understanding is withdrawn from them in this exile.
It is a consequence for them turning their backs on Yahweh and not following His commands and not heeding His warnings.
But it gets worse…
This exile, consequence, and punishment is not just for the people who turned their backs on Yahweh.
The consequences also apply to their children:
Hosea 4:6
6“My people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children.

Hosea tells us that the people did not follow Yah’s words, rejecting His knowledge.
Because of this, Yahweh rejected not only them, but also their children.
Does this seem unfair?
No, because Yahweh advised them before hand:
Deuteronomy 12:28
²⁸ Take care and listen to all these words that I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your Elohim.
They were warned by God that their obedience to His Instructions would lead to good things for both them and their children.
This warning is given many other times, not just this once.
Here is one of many other occurrences:
Deuteronomy 4:39-40
³⁹ “So you will know today and take to heart that Adonai, He is God, in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is no other. ⁴⁰ You must keep His statutes and His commands, which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land that Yahweh your Elohim [God] is giving you for all time.”

Are you beginning to see the importance of following the Words of God?
If you answer with, “But Jesus…” lets look at some more direct quotes of Jesus:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
^“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.”
John 15:10
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “

Did you see what Jesus said?
Not once, but three times?
It is important to Him that we keep the commandments.
Remember, Jesus taught what the Father teaches, which is the Torah, the Old Testament commandments.

Not convinced yet?
Not even by the very words of Jesus?
Let’s look at some more New Testament scriptures:
1John 5:3
5 Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the one born of Him.
Love God—Live God’s Word
² We know that we love God’s children by this—when we love God and obey His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God—that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Still not convinced?
Do you know Jesus?
We are given a test in New Testament scripture to determine whether or not we know Him:
1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

Am I showing you things in scripture that your church does not show you?
If you have comfort in the knowledge given to you in church, then what I’m showing you should be terrifying!
The fact that your church has not taught you these things should scare you, not comfort you!!
I don’t say this to frighten you; I tell you this to inspire you to search out the scriptures for yourself. Do not believe me.  Review the scriptures I’ve quoted and make sure I have them correct.  Read whole chapters, whole books to verify context.
Do your homework.
Be as the Bereans, and confirm what you know.
And do not be afraid to be afraid.
Reverent fear of God is healthy, just as the scriptures tell us.
If you are skeptical of the things I’m showing you because they are unfamiliar, please consider this warning given long ago:
Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

We are told in the scriptures that we have been taught nothing but lies.
But don’t listen to Jeremiah.
Don’t listen to me.
Study the scriptures and pray for God’s wisdom and understanding.
He will give it to you, for it is promised.
James 1:5-8
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Am I saying that no one is favored by Yahweh [God]?
No, I am not saying that.
I am simply saying that God has established criteria, and that we must know His voice and follow Him.  His favor is conditional, because He is just.
I love the good news in scripture.
It is wonderful and true, but it is also conditional.
Study the warnings in scripture and heed them.
Failing to heed the warnings may take away your good news.

 

Take a look at these scriptures, and then we’ll go into some discussion:

Ephesians 2:11-13, 19
¹¹ Therefore, keep in mind that once you—Gentiles in the flesh—were called “uncircumcision” by those called “circumcision” (which is performed on flesh by hand). ¹² At that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.

Galatians 3:26-29
²⁶ For you are all sons of God through trusting in Messiah Yeshua. ²⁷ For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. ²⁹ And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed—heirs according to the promise.

There are many millions of people in the world today who believe they are God’s people and are in covenant with Him — without being Israel.
Countless millions of people believe they are “Gentile Believers.”
I did a search in my bible app for Gentile Believer.
Guess what?
It does not exist.

If we read the bible from the front to the back, we learn that those who are ‘in covenant’ with the Father are considered to be of His nation, the people of Israel.
Paul hints at this idea in Ephesians 2, quoted above.  What are some of the key ideas that he presented?
1—“At that time you were separate from Messiah” equals not in covenant
2—“excluded from the commonwealth of Israel” and therefore not part of Israel
3—“strangers to the covenants of promise” and are not participant in the promise
4—“having no hope and without God in the world.” Points 1, 2, and 3 result in no hope and being without God.
5—“But now in Messiah Yeshua” but all of this changes when we are in Messiah
6—“you who once were far off” you are no longer far off
7—“have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.” brought near to what? Covenant – Israel – the promise – hope – God
8—“you are no longer strangers and foreigners” Being brought near to these things
9—“but you are fellow citizens” citizens NOT visitors or guests
10—“with God’s people” >>>Israel
11—“members of God’s household” >>>Israel

Moving on to what is said in Galatians:
1—“you are all sons of God” belong to Him
2—“through trusting in Messiah Yeshua” this is how we become a son of Yahweh
3—“There is neither Jew” being sons of God is not about being Jewish
4—“nor Greek” being sons of God is not about being Greek (Gentile)
5—“there is neither slave nor free” being sons of God is not defined by our social status nor wealth
6—“there is neither male nor female” being sons of God is not defined by gender
7—“for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.” We are all one.  
8—“if you belong to Messiah” THEN:
9—“you are Abraham’s seed” >>>Israel
10—“and heirs according to the promise.” able to become part of the Kingdom of Heaven

Some will say I’m just reading into these passages, making them say what I want them to say. But am I? What if we just read these verses and believe what they say?
Simple as that?
No?
Can’t see it?
Let’s look deeper.

The countless millions of self-proclaimed Gentile Believers also claim to be part of the ‘New Covenant.’
Let’s take a look at it in Jeremiah 31 and in Hebrews 8:

Jeremiah 31:30-32
³⁰ “Behold, days are coming”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—
³¹ not like the covenant
I made with their fathers
in the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they broke My covenant,
though I was a husband to them.”
it is a declaration of Adonai.
³² “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“I will put My Torah within them.
Yes, I will write it on their heart.
I will be their God
and they will be My people.

Hebrews 8:7-10
⁷ For if that first one had been faultless, there would not have been discourse seeking a second. ⁸ For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says Adonai,
    when I will inaugurate a new covenant
    with the house of Israel
    and with the house of Judah.
⁹ It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not remain in My covenant,
    and I did not care for them, says Adonai.
¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make
    with the house of Israel
    after those days, says Adonai.
I will put My Torah into their mind,
    and upon their hearts I will write it.
And I will be their God,
    and they shall be My people.

So…
The new covenant is with Gentile Believers, right?
Nope.
The new covenant is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
Simple, right?
These are the two houses/kingdoms that make of the people of Yah – the nation of Israel.
Still, the countless millions of self-proclaimed Gentile Believers ignore these details.
But it gets worse…
In the new covenant, the Torah [the Law] will be put into our minds and written upon our hearts.
There are two problems of note with this idea:

1—The Torah!! The Law!! We are told that in the new covenant the Law is still applicable.  But Gentile Believers reject it anyway.
2—Again, The Torah, The Law!!!  What is the second problem?  Gentile Believers say the Torah is only for the nation of Israel — and not for themselves.
Take a minute.
Think about that.
Take as long as you need…
If the Torah is only for Israel and it is written on the hearts of everyone in the new covenant, then THEY must be Israel if they expect to participate in the new covenant.
And yet, they proclaim themselves in the new covenant – but that they are not Israel and that the law is done away with.

The hypocrisy of this thought process is enormous.
It is a terrible thing.
The “Gentile Believers” believe in lies, and pursue hypocrisy.
Who does Yeshua Messiah say are NOT in His Kingdom?
Revelation 22:15
“But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

What about hypocrites?
Here are Yeshua Messiah’s words:
Matthew 15:6-8
“Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.”

And another direct quote of Yeshua, regarding hypocrites:
Matthew 23:13
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

In Revelation 21, we learn that “Heaven” will be here on earth, not some far away mysterious place in the ‘universe’.
Heaven is the City of New Jerusalem which will descend from the heavens.  It is where those granted eternal salvation will reside in the presence of Yahweh for all eternity.
Let’s take a look at how the City is described:
Revelation 21:9-13
The New Jerusalem
⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ¹² 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: ¹³ three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Heaven will have twelve points of entry, each guarded by an angel.
The points of entry are named after the twelve tribes of Israel, and are arranged in the same manner as the twelve tribes of Israel camped around the tabernacle in the Wilderness during the Exodus story.
Please note:  there is no thirteenth gate for Gentile Believers.
Only Israel will be admitted into heaven, the City of New Jerusalem.

Please note that I do not write these articles to criticize others.
If you believe in the concept of “Gentile Believers” being separate from Israel, this article is not intended to insult you.
The purpose of this article is to show what the scriptures tell us about such things.
It is my hope and prayers that people will study this for themselves and learn the truth.
Pray to Yah for His understanding, just as we are directed to do in James 1:5-8.

If you’ve read this article, studied for yourself, and prayed — and you still claim to be a Gentile Believer, please keep this in mind:

You do not exist.