Hang the Torah
Matthew 22:36-40, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Torah? 37And Yeshua said to him, “You shall love Yahovah your Divine One with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 40On these two commandments all the Torah and the Prophets hang.”
Read the above passage very carefully. Then read it again in the King James Version: Matthew 22:36-40, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
What you have in these verses is the condensed version of entire Torah, the compressed version of the Word of Yahovah, the summary of all of Torah into two verses. Yeshua was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, “And you shall love Yahovah your Divine One with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” and Leviticus 19:18c, “. . .but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahovah.”
Did Yeshua state that loving Yahovah was done away with or abolished, or that it ever will be? No, He did not. Did Yeshua state that loving your neighbor as yourself was done away with or abolished, or that it ever will be? No, He did not. Could our universe exist for one second without the love of Yahovah? No, it could not.
Yeshua is the embodiment of all of Torah. John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the Divine Ones, and the Word was Divine. 2He was in the beginning with the Divine Ones. 3Everything existed through His hands, and without Him, not even one thing existed of the things, which have existed. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; 5and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”
I want you to get a vivid picture in your mind. As Yeshua was hanging on the cross with His bloody arms and hands outstretched, He was loving Yahovah with His right hand and loving all of humanity with His left hand. He loved everyone with His last drop of blood and last breath of life. Yeshua fulfilled the two greatest commandments of Torah in one moment of time, on the execution stake. The living Torah, in Yeshua, was literally hanging there, but is that what Yeshua meant when he said all the Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments? Have you ever looked up that Greek word for “hang”? It is Strong’s # 2910, meaning to hang up, to suspend, can be used of one hanging on a cross, or the Torah and the Prophets are summed up on two precepts, or commandments.
Yeshua was using a figure of speech. It’s not so much that the Torah and Prophets hang on these two great commandments, as it is the entire Tanach, the Old Testament, the whole of Torah, is built on the foundational principles of these two great commandments, LOVE. All the Torah and the Prophets build upon this solid foundation of the love of Yahovah for mankind and our reciprocal love for Him and His people.
You can think of these two verses as the compressed file of all of Yahovah’s Word. All the holy nature of Yahovah is summarized, or condensed into two verses of Scripture. All the fruit of the Holy Spirit is summed up in two verses of Scripture. Those who love Yahovah love peace and joy; they love justice and liberty for all. Those who love their fellow man display the love of our Heavenly Father for those individuals.
Did Yahovah authorize you or anyone else over the last 4,500 years to edit His Word, or delete any passages out of His Word? No one has a right to abolish or do away with Deuteronomy 6:5 or Leviticus 19:18. Yeshua quoted these two Scriptures as the great foundation of a believer’s life. We may NEVER throw these Scriptures away. We will live by these two principles for all eternity. You CANNOT call yourself a Christian, Messianic, or Jewish believer without walking in these two basic, foundational stones of Yahovah’s eternal Word. Yeshua walked out these principles in His earthly life. All the Apostles walked these principles out in their ancient godly lives. Believers for the last 2,000 years have walked out these two principles of Torah. We walk out Torah, NOT THROW OUT TORAH! Get used to that, because that is what believers will do for all eternity!!
Yeshua also said in John 14:6, “. . .I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The way Yeshua walks is the way of Torah, the truth Yeshua walks in is the truth of the Torah, the life Yeshua walks in is the life of Torah. The written Torah is simply the compressed version of Yahovah’s Word, Yeshua is the expanded version of Yahovah’s Word.
Yeshua is worthy of your worship, praise, and adoration. Give your life to Him today. In Him alone will you find abundant life. John 10:10, “The thief does not come except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” Acts 16:31, “And they said, Believe on the Master Yeshua Messiah, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
2 Corinthians 6:2, “For He says, “In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!” (Isa. 49:8) Trust in Yeshua for your salvation, right now, today, do not delay. We are running out of time in this fallen world. Don’t risk your eternal soul, get saved today!
Gene Benjamin II
Nisan 1, March 21, 2015
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