"Oh That They Had Such a Heart..."

Oh, that they had such a heart in them...” ( Deut. 5: 29 ) “

Jeremiah 31:

33 "I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people"

Yahshua died in our stead so that we would be able to hear and obey without it being a struggle. The only thing that has changed within the commandments since His death and resurrection is the Levitical Priesthood, the sacrificial system and the writing of the commandments from the tablets of stone to that of our hearts. Yahshua said He did not come to destroy the commandments. He taught a deeper understanding so that we could worship Yahweh not only in truth but in spirit as well. He makes it possible by giving us the same spirit that He walked in. That's putting on the righteousness of Messiah. Walking as He walked. Not saying “I believe” and then claiming you have nothing to do but sit back and wait for some made up “glory train” to come and wisk you away while continuing to live a sinful life.

The “saints” are NOT people who merely say a prayer or just believe. Revelation 14 tells us that “ 12 Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones,2 here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע. ( The Scriptures )

“12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” ( KJV )

“12 This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus.” ( NET )

The commandments were never Moses' commandments or Moses' law, however Yahweh clearly used Moses as His mouthpiece to convey His commandments to the people.

Deuteronomy 5

1 And Mosheh called all Yisra’ĕl, and said to them, “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl, the laws and right-rulings which I speak in your hearing today. And you shall learn them, and guard to do them. 2 “יהוה our Elohim made a covenant with us in Ḥorĕḇ. 3 “יהוה did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 “יהוה spoke with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 “I stood between יהוה and you at that time, to declare to you the Word of יהוה – for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain – saying:

6 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.

7 ‘You have no other mighty ones against My face.

8 ‘You do not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, 9 you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim, am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.

11 ‘You do not bring1 the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave him unpunished who brings His Name to naught.

12 ‘Guard the Sabbath day, to set it apart, as יהוה your Elohim commanded you. 13 ‘Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath2 of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male servant and your female servant rest as you do. 15 ‘And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim, and that יהוה your Elohim brought you out from there by a strong hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore יהוה your Elohim commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 ‘Respect your father and your mother, as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you, so that your days are prolonged, and so that it is well with you on the soil which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.

17 ‘You do not murder.

18 ‘You do not commit adultery.

19 ‘You do not steal.

20 ‘You do not bear false witness against your neighbour.

21 ‘You do not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor do you desire your neighbour’s house, his field, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, his ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbour.’

22 “These Words יהוה spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a loud voice, and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

23 “And it came to be, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, 24 and said, ‘See, יהוה our Elohim has shown us His esteem and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. Today we have seen that Elohim speaks with man – and he lives! 25 ‘And now why should we die? For this great fire is consuming us. If we hear the voice of יהוה our Elohim any more, then we shall die. 26 ‘For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and does live? 27 ‘You go near and hear all that יהוה our Elohim says, and speak to us all that יהוה our Elohim says to you, and we shall hear and do it.

28 “And יהוה heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and יהוה said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 ‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and to guard all My commands always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 ‘Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 ‘But you, stand here by Me, and let Me speak to you all the commands, and the laws, and the right-rulings which you are to teach them. And they shall do them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’

32 “And you shall guard to do as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you – do not turn aside, to the right or to the left. 33 “Walk in all the way which יהוה your Elohim has commanded you, so that you live and it be well with you. And you shall prolong your days in the land which you possess.

Deuteronomy 6

1 “And this is the command, the laws and right-rulings which יהוה your Elohim has commanded, to teach you to do in the land which you are passing over to possess, 2 so that you fear יהוה your Elohim, to guard all His laws and His commands which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days be prolonged. 3 “And you shall hear, O Yisra’ĕl, and shall guard to do, that it might be well with you, and that you increase greatly as יהוה Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one! 5 “And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might. 6 “And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, 7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, 8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 “And it shall be, when יהוה your Elohim brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya῾aqoḇ, to give you great and good cities which you did not build, 11 and houses filled with all kinds of goods, which you did not fill, and wells dug which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be satisfied 12 be on guard, lest you forget יהוה who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage. 13 “Fear יהוה your Elohim and serve Him, and swear by His Name.

14 “Do not go after other mighty ones, the mighty ones of the peoples who are all around you, 15 for יהוה your Elohim is a jealous Ěl in your midst, lest the displeasure of יהוה your Elohim burn against you, then He shall destroy you from the face of the earth.

16 “Do not try יהוה your Elohim as you tried Him in Massah. 17 “Diligently guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim, and His witnesses, and His laws which He has commanded you. 18 “And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of יהוה, that it might be well with you, and you shall go in and possess the good land of which יהוה swore to your fathers, 19 to drive out all your enemies from before you, as יהוה has spoken.

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the witnesses, and the laws, and the right-rulings which יהוה our Elohim has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Mitsrayim, and יהוה brought us out of Mitsrayim with a strong hand, 22 and יהוה sent signs and wonders, great and grievous, upon Mitsrayim, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes. 23 ‘And He brought us out from there, to bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 ‘And יהוה commanded us to do all these laws, to fear יהוה our Elohim, for our good always, to keep us alive, as it is today. 25 ‘And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.’

Now,

Fast forward to when Messiah Yahshua comes on the scene to make a public announcement concerning His being here in the flesh at that time.

Matthew 5:
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. 18 “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. 19 “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens. “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the reign of the heavens. "

We know He came to be the "lamb of Yahweh" to pay a penalty that we owe. But now that He's paid that penalty, for our disobedience of the commandments, do we continue to be disobedient? Does the "law", as it's called in some places, still apply?

And what did He mean by "fulfill" or "complete", depending on the translation? If He says He did not come to destroy the law, it's obvious that fulfill or complete does not mean to destroy either . He fulfilled that which He came to fulfill at that time. He clearly said that until heaven and earth passed the law would still stand. All of prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.

Obviously we have been taught twisted scripture that's making it sound like He was declaring everything was finished on the cross, but that just can't be because heaven and earth have not passed away yet. This is due to our not rightly dividing the word of truth and taking verses out of the context they are presented in.

Are the commandments no more applicable to us since Yahshua paid the price? Can we kill someone since Messiah didn't? Can we steal now since Messiah didn't? Certainly not! And neither can we pick and choose which commands we want to obey either. The new covenant, or more correctly called the renewed covenant, is supposed to be transferred to our hearts now instead of those tablets of stone. Not thrown out the window to leave our Fathers kingdom lawless.

We also misunderstand if we think anyone was ever "saved" by keeping the commandments. The commandments were not given to as a way of salvation. Grace from Yahweh is the only thing that saves us. Without His mercy and grace we are all doomed.

Because we trust that Yahshua paid a debt we owe does not give us a license to live contrary to the eternal word of Yahweh.

Here is what Paul states of the matter.

Romans 3: 31 "Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah."

Even though obeying the commandments does not completely save us we are still to follow them as obedient children of the Father. We are told that "if you love me, keep my commandments" in John.

Just because there is a "religion" out there that says "the law was done away", is no reason for us to be disobedient to the instructions Yahweh gives for His people to live set apart (holy) lives.

And just because there is a "religion" out there that has added a whole lot of unnecessary extra laws to Yahweh's original instructions doesn't mean that obeying His intended instructions are beyond our capabilities. But those "religions" are built on the traditions of "man" and not the Torah of Yahweh that He has given to His called out people.

If we would take some time to seek out His will for us as He intended, instead of counting on some "religious" figure to give us all the answers we might be surprised at how much Yahweh opens our eyes to the truths staring us in the face right there in His written word.

I have spent most of my life believing along with the majority. But now Yahweh has shown mercy on me and He's opening my eyes to many things that I once would have thought strange, or just plain wrong according to the way I had always believed, or the traditions that I had learned.
Now I celebrate His truth amongst a growing number, however humble, that is calling out and searching for the ancient paths, the faith once delivered to the saints.

Yahshua Messiah is the word made flesh. You can not have one without the other. If we lack understanding of worshiping Yahweh in spirit and truth, as He desires, maybe we have not yet learned how to "rightly divide the word of truth".

Where ever the hearts is, there you'll find your treasures. What is it that you treasure?

Our heart either belongs to the Eternal Father Yahweh, or it will vanish away with the ways of the world.

I pray you have such a heart as he desires.

Shalom my friend