Keeping the Torah

Keeping the Torah   

Beloved Mitspacah,  (to steal the greeting from Sid Roth)

Below  you will find parts of two letters I wrote regarding keeping the Torah.  Keep in mind that the KJV incorrectly translates the word Torah into “law”.  The correct translation should be “revelation”. The Hebrew root means, “to throw as water” and water is symbolic of the revelation.  It also means “to teach”. The law was given to teach us the spiritual truths.

The Jews were allowed to give a certificate of divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, but from the beginning it was not so intended.  God has always intended a spiritual marriage between himself (through Yeshua) and his people, but because of the hardness of their hearts he gave them only the instructions or the physical representation (the law), not the revelation or eyes to see it.

God intended Moses to give the people instructions for marriage, instead they complained to Aaron (representing the High Priest office of Yeshua) and he gave them the carnal understanding in the form of a golden calf that they called YHVH.  (It was their carnal understanding of the sacrifice (which they knew was their deliverance)). It became their writing of divorce that was given them because of the hardness of their hearts.  When Moses came down (also representing Yeshua in the form of the coming Messiah) in his anger at sin he pulverized that carnal understanding and threw the pieces in the rivers of revelation.  He broke up that writing of divorce so that all who are to be his bride and choose to get eyes to see and ears to hear could come in.

First letter: 

Once I spoke up in a Bible study because I thought they were going down the wrong path.   I may be wrong in what I thought was happening, but  I started to get the impression that they were saying that we can follow (or do) the carnal  (literal) interpretation of the Law (Torah) by God’s help.

What  Yeshua taught, sounds  almost the same, but is really different.  We can do the Torah by God’s help, but this time, it is the spiritual Torah.  Carnal is the natural or literal interpretation.  Paul says to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

People back off when I say everything in the Scripture is symbolic.  I should change my terms.  A better way to  say it is that everything is spiritual and not the carnal interpretation.  The carnal/natural understanding was given to teach us —but to teach us the spiritual. If you read my parsha about the wooden box, you will get a better understanding of what I mean.  The second time Moses came off the mountain he had the exact same commandments – nothing was changed, except this time God told him to put them into a wooden box.  The box represents Yeshua.  Wood stands for humanity, and later wood covered with gold represents his humanity clothed in glory.

The Torah was there inside the box, but it was not seen.  All that was seen was Yeshua.  In Revelations you see the commandments again represented as the white stone that is given to the overcomers.  In this case it is the Torah written upon our hearts – again you do not see the carnal interpretation. Let me give you some examples.  The morning and evening sacrifices are symbolic of getting into the word each day and getting spiritual revelation from it.  The Lamb of course is Yeshua (the first fruits) and us.  Almost everything that is symbolic of Yeshua is later symbolic of us.  We put ourselves on the altar.  The fire that comes down and consumes it is the revelation that the Lord brings. .

The flesh (worldly nature/sin) is consumed in the fire of revelation.  The removal of the veil in the temple is actually symbolic of removal of the flesh. When God  ripped the veil in two, he was doing away with the fleshly interpretation which veiled the Torah.  BUT,  he was not doing away with the Torah.  We still have been a lawless people because we do not understand what he was saying to us through the Torah.  Every jot and tittle has meaning. As to whether we should follow the natural things that have meaning such as celebrate the feasts etc.  Of course.  When combined with the spiritual understanding, they will point others to Yeshua.

But, realize, the power of the natural law is broken. The ONLY reason to now do any of the ordinances is to teach their spiritual meaning. Those ordinances have no power to bring us into perfection. To do them in the spiritual is ALL the power for it is the utterance of YHVH that you are following. Without the spiritual understanding it is what Paul calls “the dead letter”.  ~j.

  • Hebrews 7:19
  • For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope  did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

2 Chronicles 30 is a beautiful picture of the Gentiles keeping (or in the past not keeping) the spiritual Passover for those of you who wish to search it out.  Of interest to you,  2nd month – 2nd covenant, Temple eternally sanctified = work of Yeshua on the cross.   Hezekiah in this case is Yeshua our intercessor.   After their feasting (feasting talks of spiritually eating the Word,  seven days or completeness of offering themselves, making confessions, praises and worship also speak of prophetic utterances etc.)  then came the gift from Hezekiah of thousands of sheep (converts) and bullocks (those birthed into the prophetic). – all of which speak of the great ingathering. Always yours  ~ Juanita

Second letter:

Greetings and Shabat Shalom.

I have been reading your messages by Eddie Chumney and Monte Judah. I do have some thoughts to present to you.  “Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh?”

We are striving for spiritual perfection.  The keeping of the natural Word, or the letter of the law will never make us perfect.   Matter of fact, the spirits behind them are contrary to each other.   Take the seed illustration:  The  outside shell of the seed was necessary for a time, just as the carnal  milk of the Word, or literary understanding of the Word is necessary for a time.  But when the Spirit starts growing, that logos word is fulfilled by the Spiritual Word that is coming forth.  The new tree is coming.

The Word is the seed. The Torah is reproduced in the seeds of the tree, for if planted (into the understanding) it will bring forth new life .  It is this understanding (the spiritual understanding) however of the Word that brings forth the Rhema (or spiritual life) out of the Torah.

All of the arguments of the two rabbis above can be shown to be unnecessary in the understanding that it is the Spiritual Torah which is inscribed upon us that we must keep.  I have found often that as I discover spiritual understanding of the ordinances in the Torah quite often I realize that I have already been keeping them.  Yes, Paul did have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3), but that is because he was going to be traveling with him and there would be no way to approach the Jews without it being done. Paul himself said the following about keeping circumcision:

Rom 2:26 26    Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

(The Gentiles are the uncircumcism. Those keeping the spiritual Torah  and having their spiritual heart and ears circumcised shall be counted as having fulfilled what is required of the True Jew). Keeping the righteousness of the law does not mean doing away with the law.  But neither does it mean following the letter of the law.

The key is found in getting eyes to see and ears to hear what God is saying through the ordinances. For example:  As we come before God with our daily sacrifices we are offering up our lives to him.  If he is pleased, the fire of revelation will come down and consume the offering.  When we feed his sheep, we are giving him to eat and drink. We are instructed not to eat the blood of animals, but yet to eat and drink the blood and body of Yeshua.  The spiritual understanding is that we are not to eat of the beastly spirit and nature, but of the Spirit and Word of Christ.

Unfortunately the church is not interpreting the Torah wrong, they are Torah-less, another way of saying lawless.  Often the natural precedes the spiritual.  The recent (within 15-20 years) return of the shofars in the services indicate the spiritual return of prophets speaking. (Isaiah 58:1).  The natural emphasis on understanding the law, really was only a forerunner to the spiritual understanding of the law which is about to return to the church.

The assigning in the apostate churches of prophetic and apostolic ministers (at least seen in Ohio churches), really is only signaling that God is returning  TRUE prophets and apostles to the body of Christ.

The ancient rabbis taught there are four rivers flowing out of Eden.  There are four levels of teaching.  The first two are the natural understanding (letter of the law) and the moral stories, allegories etc.  The last two are the symbolism and the sod level or mysteries of God.  The New Testament writers understood the sod level.  That is why they are so often misunderstood when read by those who do not.

When the church starts seeking the Holy Spirit to reveal to them the deep things of the Word, it will all become clear.  In the  sod level is the power of God.  It is interesting, in the middle of the atom is the power of the atom.  Crack open the shell of the natural Word, and you find God. Christ came not to abolish the Torah, but to fulfill it.  ~ j.

Ps. I must also say, “beware of religion”.  The Jewish people and the Gentile church are seeped in religion. It is interesting that the center of religion, Babylon, has only two rivers flowing out.  The natural river says, Jesus will help you do the natural Word. The spiritual says, crack open that Word and see the power of God come out.  Some excellent online books can be found at:  http://www.charlesnewbold.com/library.html

Cupbearer7   8-29-08