Category: 613 Commandments

At the end of P6, I referenced where the question has been asked “if God is a consuming fire, how do we cleave to him.” The answer was to imitate God’s works[1]. With the eighth positive command, God makes that idea explicit.

P8 – To emulate His good and just ways, as Deuteronomy 28:9 states: “And you shall walk in His ways.[2]“

This command ranks among the easiest to find because it is explicitly reiterated by Jesus as one of the final instructions before He ascended into Heaven.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (emphasis mine)

Yeshua tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. Discipleship is not just a creed, confession of faith, or baptism; discipleship is literally the emulation of the one you are learning under. The more we become like Yeshua, the better we become at our craft of being his disciples. In the days of Jesus, the job of a disciple was to learn and imitate their rabbi in every area of life as they partook in the wisdom their rabbi was passing on. It is in this sense that Yeshua says the following:

Luke 6:40 (ESV)
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

This idea of discipleship is not a new invention of the Apostolic era or of Jesus. It is old – ancient. In Jewish reckoning, it is understood that Abraham was indeed creating disciples. Even from the earliest age of the faith, the patriarchs have been teaching people to emulate God. The sages of Israel identified that behavior from this verse:

Genesis 12:5 (ESV)
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.

The “people” can also be translated as “the souls.” As the Jewish people understand Scripture, Abraham and Sarah spent their time teaching about the faith. They won many “souls” into the Kingdom of Heaven and those people set out with Abraham on the journey of faith to go find the eternal city of Jerusalem[3].

Imitating God, or emulating him as the above translation says, is the proof of our relationship with Him. He defines that as obedience to His commandments.

1 John 2:3–6 (TLV)
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.

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How often and how freely do you say “I swear” or “I promise” to bolster a statement you’re making?

Growing up I remember the common proclivity to take oaths. Often a statement or assurance was made and there was an inclination to guarantee it through an oath. There was scarcely a day that passed that I wouldn’t hear a classmate say “I swear on/to…” followed by whatever weighty statement the child was invoking. I think it’s fair to estimate that most of the time it was “I swear to God.”

This childhood recollection is what came to mind as I was reading the seventh Biblical commandment as enumerated by Maimonides:

P7 – To swear in His name, as Deuteronomy 10:20 states: “And you shall swear in His name.[1]“

As children, we didn’t grasp the weight of our statements. Perhaps, we still don’t. Swearing and promises are more often empty gestures amid sarcastic banter than a truly solemn vow. At some point, we seem to have lost the reverence and gravity that should come with an oath. Oaths within a courtroom seem to be the only place where modern society still honors the practice and demands adherence to it.

This lack of respect for oath-taking isn’t new though. That’s actually the focus of one of our Master’s teachings. Jesus was bringing correction to the idea of empty promises. He’s reminding us of its sacred space within the life of a Believer.

Matthew 23:16–22 (TLV)
¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Temple, he is obligated.’ ¹⁷ O fools and blind ones! Which is greater, the gold or the Temple that made the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ ¹⁹ O blind ones! Which is greater, the offering or the altar that makes the offering holy? ²⁰ Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the Temple, swears both by the Temple and by Him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

In the society of Yeshua’s time, the “blind guides” taught that some oaths carried weight and others didn’t. In like manner, in our modern society, how many times have you heard someone jest “well, it’s not like I swore on the Bible.” Sometimes we expect adherence to a promise, other times we accept the words to be empty. Yeshua was saying that’s not accurate. All oaths, promises, pledges, and assurances from the mouth of a Believer carry the full weight of an oath in the name of God. So take heed when making them.

God doesn’t waiver on this point and it’s not diminished for a Believer in Messiah. In fact, it’s strengthened. God demands more of a follower of Yeshua than a typical human. You aren’t free to jest with empty promises.

There are several more teachings on swearing oaths in the New Testament. I plan to speak to those as I get to future commands such as N61 “Do not swear falsely.” The words of Jesus in Matthew 23 dovetail into those other commands as well, so I’m sure I will be returning to the “woes” of this teaching too.

James 5:12 (ESV)
¹² But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

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[1] Rambam, Mishneh Torah Positive Mitzvot 7

Cleaving to God is the desire of any Believer in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). I’m not sure I’ve ever met a sincere and devoted Christian who doesn’t cleave or cling to God. While most may not realize it, we are participating in the sixth positive commandment of Torah as enumerated by Maimonides.

P6 – To cling to Him, as Deuteronomy 10:20 states: “And you shall cling to Him.[1]“

I’m not talking about the “Believers” in name only that we are regularly warned about (Jude 4, 1 Cor 5). These people care nothing for the faith, but only practice a twice-yearly social hour or worse. Those are the people who pervert the faith as Jude says and who, by all appearances and Biblical descriptions, do not cleave to God.

The people I’m referring to know their God. They strive to learn from their Master Jesus. Some of us are better at it than others, of course, but when life happens, we all seem to magnetize ourselves to God. When national disasters happen, our churches fill up and people begin seeking God’s face. They may not be in their pews every week, but God is their first and only answer.

It’s probably worth defining the word as we understand it in English. The dictionary defines this word as “stick fast to,” “adhere strongly to (a particular pursuit or belief),” and “become very strongly involved with or emotionally attached to (someone).”

With those definitions, it should be easy to see that we, as Believers, naturally cling to God to some degree. After all, He is our source of life. How could we not?

Still, we are called to cleave with purpose and not just by the natural inclination that we develop as Believers. This will inevitably dovetail into other commandments so it’s worth pointing out that no one commandment stands on its own, this is an entire lifestyle we’re called to live. Our cleaving with purposeful intent requires actions such as study (P11) and prayer (P5).

Initially, I found it difficult to find this command in the New Testament. It wasn’t as overt as the previous five commandments I’ve researched. From this point on, I suspect it will become increasingly difficult in some cases to find the direct correlations, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist!

Most references to the word “cling” or “cleave” are in reference to sin, dust, or cleaving to one’s spouse or fellow disciples. There is one imperative command given by Paul in his letter to the Romans though that seems to align perfectly here.

Romans 12:9 (TLV)
⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy—detesting what is evil, holding fast to the good.

It doesn’t come through in English, but the word behind “hold fast” is the same word that the Septuagint translates cleave to in the Deuteronomy verse above. However, even in this instruction, we don’t necessarily see it plainly. Paul is saying cleave to what is “good.” To make the direct connection, it requires that we hear the words of Yeshua while reading Romans and that’s exactly what happened to me while I was researching. It’s like His voice said the words in my head.

Mark 10:18 (TLV)
¹⁸ “Why do you call Me good?” Yeshua said to him. “No one is good except One—that is God.”

Considering these two verses together, Paul can be understood as saying “hold fast to God.” This seems to be a pattern with Paul. He alludes to the commandments of Torah, but often doesn’t explicitly quote them. Paul is calling us to hold fast to the only Good that exists which is God.

Another way to look at this can be found in the case law of Israel. The sages of Israel asked the question: How do we cleave to God if He is a consuming fire?

Their answer – we do so by emulating God and His deeds.[2]

Given that logic, we can see the idea of cleaving to God as one of the main themes of the whole New Testament. To be Disciples is to be imitators of our Rabbi Yeshua.

Ephesians 5:1–2 (NKJV)
¹ Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

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As believers in Jesus, what should our prayer life look like? Is it a simple desire or also an obligation through obedience?

Consider the 5^th positive commandment as enumerated by Maimonides:

P5 – “To pray, as Exodus 23:25 states: “And you shall serve God, your Lord.” This service is prayer.[1]” (other Biblical references are Deut 6:13; Deut 11:13; Deut 13:4)

Prayer will be an important point as we continue through the 613 commandments of Torah. We will see that God commands it in more than one way when viewed culturally. Service to God in prayer should be as natural as breathing. We can’t function without Him so we should seek to connect with Him in every moment and for every event both big and small.

Consider a few of the numerous verses passed down to us by the Apostles that not only encourage prayer, but demand it for the life of a Disciple.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (TLV)
¹⁷ pray constantly,

Jude 20 (ESV)
²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit

James 5:16 (TLV)
¹⁶ So confess your offenses to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

I can go on, but it is blatant that the Disciples of Yeshua are expected to be in constant prayer. The aforementioned 1 Thessalonians and James verses are both said in the imperative. They are quite literally commands to pray. Even when Yeshua was teaching his Disciples to pray He said “when you pray…” not “if you pray.” There was no option given – it was an expectation.

As part of your walk with God as a Disciple, you must be obedient and live out a life of prayer. This isn’t a favorite pastime, it’s a demand of our King. When you pray – not if. Our lives depend on God. I have a long way to go in this respect. I pray regularly, but I’ve slacked off in this practice and I have work to do to return to that constant place of prayer. Regardless of whether our life is in great shape or not going so well, our first response should be to get on our faces and seek the will of God.

Philippians 4:6 (TLV)
⁶ Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

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[1] Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 5

Should we fear God?

It often seems that in the reality of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) any need to fear God has been done away with. Through Yeshua, the fear has been suppressed and purely replaced with the joy of salvation – right?

The fourth Biblical commandment as enumerated by Maimonides is the fear of God.

P4 – “To fear Him, as Deuteronomy 6:13 states: “Fear God, your Lord.[1]“

In the modern Body of Messiah, the fear of God seems to be either absent or overpowering. Depending on your denominational bent you are taught that the fear of God is either completely unnecessary or on the other end of the spectrum the fear of God is so overemphasized that the intimacy of any relationship with God gives way to cowardice before a malevolent being.

In the original version of this post, I took this in a different direction. As God would see fit, it happens that I’m reading a book called Everyday Holiness which has helped me explore this command from a different mindset. It’s one of a balanced approach to this word we translate as “fear.” In this book, the author states “merged within the word yirah are two human experiences that are linked in the Hebrew but separated in English. One is fear. The other is awe.[2]”

Some of God’s stated characteristics and attributes make Him approachable and relational – He is our Father and His Son is our Bridegroom King. God reveals Himself in a variety of ways and defines Himself with any number of attributes. Each description of Himself is intended to help us grasp a small piece of His infinite nature. In the relational descriptions such as Father and Bridegroom, He is intrinsically approachable. I compare the relationships I have on an earthly level and it’s easy to say I’m not afraid to approach my father or my spouse. Of course, that changes when I do something to disappoint them…then of course there is an aspect of fear and shame.

While He makes Himself relational, we can’t completely forget or ignore that God is not a big teddy bear. We too often forget that God is a consuming fire and that His manifest presence seems to elicit legitimate fear in those who experience it. The idea of yireh is fear but 100% intertwined with reverence and awe. We should have a balance of both.

Fear of God is natural and it’s an internal attribute of ourselves that we should seek to nurture with a proper balance with awe. The Apostles agree! They demonstrate their reverence and awe, but they don’t diminish the call to fear God. In fact, they remind us that in God’s manifest presence, even Moses trembled in fear:

Hebrews 12:21 (TLV)
²¹ So terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am quaking with fear.”

The author of Hebrews doesn’t leave it there but goes on to emphasize the other side of yireh.

Hebrews 12:28 (ESV)
²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe

In respect to the commandment of P4, Peter instructs us to fear God with an imperative command – thus making the command overtly applicable to a Believer in Yeshua.

1 Peter 2:17 (TLV)
¹⁷ Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

The fear and awe of God assist us in maintaining our walk with Him. It helps us learn His ways. As it says in Proverbs:

Proverbs 1:7 (TLV)
⁷ The fear (yirah) of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Whether we perceive the fear of the LORD as trembling with fear or deep reverence and awe or both, I don’t think there is a path for the Disciple of Yeshua to announce freedom from this commandment. Those that lack the fear of God also lack His wisdom. They lack “The Way” of the LORD. If Yeshua is The Way, then to some extent, if we lack fear of God we are lacking Jesus.

Romans 3:17–18 (NKJV)
¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (emphasis mine)

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[1] Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 4

[2] Morinis, Alan. Everyday Holiness.