Pronunciation of YHWH from Y’hudah?

The Name of the Almighty is the Name above all names. There is so much might and power in His Name. The Name of the Almighty is so set apart that the Torah makes it very clear that anyone who profanes His Name, or brings it to naught, will not go unpunished. But there are many people who do such things by proclaiming a false pronunciation of His Name and teaching others to follow their false teachings.

These people who do so are self professed “experts” and yet, they do not have any Hebrew grammar or linguistic knowledge at all. Neither do these people take any historic evidence into consideration, but proclaim their personal opinions so loudly and claim that it is factual. I have seen article on the internet and even youtube videos of such people blurting out their opinions as if they were fact. None of these ‘so-called experts’ are Jews (Yehudim) or people who actually understand the Hebrew language. Only people who do not have any knowledge of the Hebrew language falls for these false teachings.

These so-called experts make a very large claim that the Name of the Almighty is “YaHuWaH” or something similar to that. They also claim that this pronunciation comes from the name of the fourth son of “Ya’akov” who’s name is Y’hudah. These are totally false claims and this article will prove them to be false by looking at the actual facts and Scriptural evidence.

These people claim that the Name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) is the key to the correct pronunciation as it has the same letters as יהוה (YHWH) and in the same order too, only with a ‘dalet’ between the ‘waw’ and the last ‘hey’. Then it is said that because of this, when the ‘dalet’ falls away, then it would be pronounced “Yahuah” instead of Yahudah”. However, there are many errors to this theory:

In order to understand the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) we need to go to the Scriptures and find out what it means. Then we have to see what the root of the word is and see if it is the same root as for the Name of the Almighty. Once we know these things, we will then be able to see why we cannot deduce the pronunciation of the Name of the Almighty from it. Let us now have a look at where the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) originates from:

“And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I praise  יהוה (YHWH)”יהוה  Z£@ D£C]@ (odeh et YHWH). So she called his name Yehuḏah. And she ceased bearing” (Gen 29:35). This is the key to what the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) means and how it is formed.

Now if you go do a little research, You will notice that the root of ‘odeh’ (which is Imperfect tense, first person, singular) is ‘yadah’ and that you will also find that the root of the name of Yehudah is ידה (yadah). Now the word ידה (yadah) means, “to throw, cast…. I. to confess openly and freely…. II. To give thanks, to praise.  “Yad” is Hebrew for ‘hand’, where as “yadah” is an action (verb), what the hand is doing. Here it is praising.

The name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) is a combination of the words “yadah” and “YHWH” or rather “Yahu”, which gives us theoretically, “Yahu-dah” but, when two words are joined, to create a compound word/name, the prefix shortens its syllables which then gives us the correct pronunciation as Y’hudah or Yehudah. This is always the case and we do not need the Massoretic markings to know this, as it was so from the time of giving the name by Leah in Gen 29:35.

You can also see that the “….ah” at the end of the name “Y’hudAH” comes from the root word “yadah” and NOT from the Name of the Almighty. It is therefore 100% incorrect to claim that the Almighty’s Name ends with “….ah” or is pronounced as “YAHUWAH” by using the name of יהוּדה (Y’hudah) to prove it.

One cannot just add or remove letters from a Hebrew word to make it another word or pronunciation. This violates the language of the Almighty and brings His Name to naught, which is breaking the Third Commandment.

One very simple thing that should be very obvious is that the 'dalet' is the vocal sound holder of "a." So if you are going to remove the 'dalet' then you also have to remove the 'a' sound as there is no letter there that can hold it.

So once again, we can clearly see that only the people who do not have a working knowledge of the Hebrew language are the ones who try use the name of Y'hudah as proof of the name of the Almighty. The fact is that it is not possible to do so and anyone who claims that it is, is either a liar or just ignorant of the Hebrew language.

Some more proof

Another proof as to why the Name of the Almighty cannot be written as “YAHUWAH” is the actual Hebrew language. Let me explain.

In all the names of people that end with (יהו) “yud hey waw,” the pronunciation is always “….yahu”. Now according to Hebrew grammar rules, the suffix (end part of a word) in a conjunction word (two words/names joined together to create a single word/name) always keeps its original form and pronunciation.

The letter (ו) “waw” can either be used as a consonant or as a vowel. In the case of a consonant, it is pronounced as “v” whereas when it is used as a vowel, it can be pronounced as either “o” or “u”. It can never be used as a consonant and a vowel at the same time. So the pronunciation of “Yahuw” from (יהו) is impossible, because that form and pronunciation is using the “waw” as a consonant and a vowel at the same time. Anyone teaching this form and pronunciation is a false teacher.

So we know that (יהו) is pronounced as “Yahu” (unless it is used as a prefix in a conjunction word). Now all we are left with in the Name of the Almighty is the last letter, which is a (ה) “hey”. Now ask yourself, can you ever get the pronunciation of “wah” from a (ה) “hey”? No, it is also impossible.

Although it is possible in the Hebrew language to have the pronunciation of “Yahuah” (without the ‘w’), that pronunciation does not meet any historical findings or evidence at all.  Once again, the people proclaiming this pronunciation are NOT experts at all and do not consider any facts or evidence or even Scripture.

Are you going to listen to and follow someone who does not have any Hebrew knowledge, or are you going to search for the Truth and follow that?

Birthday Celebration, Innocent or Evil?

Okay, now most of us have learned that Christmas and Easter and Valentines day and Halloween are all pagan ceremonies and are not acceptable for those who truly follow the faith of the Almighty YHWH. But what about the equally evil rituals that most, self proclaimed, believers still keep? About 95% of all the people I have met who claim to be believers are still celebrating pagan festivals like birthday celebrations. Some of these believers do these things only because they were unaware of its roots. Others don’t care and they are the ones who are not believers at all. We are to be obedient to the Almighty, and not push the evidence aside and justify it as being innocent traditions. Let us see where birthday celebrations originate from and what the meanings of the rituals really are.

Early Believers did not celebrate their birthdays. Birthdays have a strong connection with pagan religions and magic. There is no record of birthday celebrations by the Jews in the Scriptures. Not even Y’hoshua’s birthday is recorded or celebrated in the Scriptures. There are only two accounts of birthdays mentioned in the Scriptures, both celebrated by Pagan or non Believing individuals, both ending in a devastating result. Let us have a quick look at these two instances in the Scriptures.

Scriptural reference for birthday celebrations:

“And on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, it came to be that he made a feast for all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and of the chief baker among his servants, and he restored the chief cupbearer to his post of cupbearer again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, but he hanged the chief baker, as Yosĕph had interpreted to them” (Gen 40:20-22)

Here we see that Pharaoh, who was not at all a follower of the Almighty, had one of his chiefs executed. You must now start to think, “is this what YHWH wants from us?”

Now the second instance.

“But as Herodes’ birthday was being held, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herodes, so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. And she, being urged on by her mother, said, “Give me here the head of Yohanan the Immerser on a dish.” And the sovereign was sad, but because of the oaths and the guests he commanded it to be given, and sent and beheaded Yoḥanan in prison. And his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother” (Matthew 14:6-11) (you can find this in Mark chapter 6 as well)

Here we can see the death of a righteous person, in fact, the cousin of the Messiah himself who is also referred to as Elijah. Again, we must ask ourselves… Is this what the Almighty desires?

Origin of birthday celebrations

Thousands of years ago, when pagan men looked up into the night sky and charted the stars, they invented calendars and calculated the birth dates, to the very hour, of kings, rulers and their successors. These ancient pagan astrologers meticulously examined horoscopes and birthday omens because they believed that the fate of the rich and powerful might affect an entire society. Even to this day, men have been putting their trust in horoscopes instead of the Creator of the universe.

In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs ordered businesses to close on their birthdays and gave enormous feasts for hundreds of servants. In ancient Greece, wealthy males joined birthday clubs composed exclusively of men who shared their birth date. Once a month, the club celebrated with a feast. When a member died, he left money to help pay for future parties. In Persia, noblemen observed their birthdays by barbecuing an ox, a camel and a donkey and serving hundreds of small cakes to the celebrants.

In ancient Rome, the emperor gave huge parties in honor of his own birthday, which included parades, circuses, and gladiatorial combat. The celebration of days was so important to the average Roman citizen that the Roman calendar designated a majority of days for some form of celebration—including many birthdays of gods and famous men.

The Roman calendar, with its emphasis on continual celebration, has had great influence on modern society. Consider the following quote about the origin of the Roman calendar:

“Our [Roman] calendar is not Christian in origin. It descends directly from the Egyptians, who originated the 12 month solar year, 365 day system.”

A pagan Egyptian scientist, Sosigenes, suggested this plan to the pagan Emperor Julius Caesar, who directed that it go into effect throughout the Roman Empire in 45 B.C. As adopted it indicated its pagan origin by the names of the months—called after Janus, Maia, Juno, etc. The days were not named but numbered on a complicated system involving Ides, Nones, and Calends. It was not until 321 A.D. that the seven-day week feature was added, when the Emperor Constantine (supposedly) adopted Christianity. Oddly enough for his weekdays he chose pagan names which are still used.” (Journal of Calendar Reform, Sept. 1953, p. 128.)

Birthdays have its origin in astrology.

“Thus said יהוה (YHWH), “Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the gentiles (pagans) are awed by them” (Jer 10:2)

Origin of birthday cakes

Modern birthday parties and celebrations by children take their form mainly from Germany, where the birthday child received gifts, chose a menu and received a candle-ringed butter or jam cake.

Birthday cakes are related to the Greek goddess Artemis, whose birthday was celebrated with moon-shaped honey cakes topped with candles. The candles with special magic to grant wishes.

Origin of birthday parties and birthday gifts

It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family would come to be with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits. This is how birthday parties began.

Saying “happy birthday” to friends and loved ones was society’s superstitious way of protecting them from evil spirits. Birthday thumps, bumps, pinches, etc., were said to bring luck and send away evil spirits. Party snappers, horns and other noisemakers were also intended to scare off bad-luck spirits

A closer look at the birth of the Messiah

Let’s briefly examine the subject of the “wise men” who gave gifts to Messiah. The scripture that describes this is in Matthew 2:1, 11: “Now when Yehoshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men (Magi) from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Yehudim?…And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

It is commonly supposed that these were birthday presents for “baby Yehoshua.” But is this what the Scripture actually says? Absolutely not! Also, they arrived well after his “birthday.” Notice that it refers to the Messiah as a “young child” rather than a baby. This is one more reason that the gifts brought to Him could not have been “birthday presents.”

A long-standing, ancient custom of the East was to present gifts when one came into the presence of a king. These men understood that they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Scriptures have many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon arrival into the king’s presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or others come into the presence of a world leader.

Finally, notice what the Adam Clarke Commentary, Vol. 5, page 46, states about what really happened on this occasion: Verse 11. “They presented unto him gifts. The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas Islands.” Gifts were customarily presented to kings.” The real intent behind this example should now be clear.

What did the other Characters think of their day of birth?

Like Job, Jeremiah also cursed the day of his own birth: “Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed…Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?” (Jeremiah 20:14, 18).

Yet, Solomon was inspired to write, “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

The various customs with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and pagan religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating—complete with lighted candles—in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century, even Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom."

Birthdays have an ancient origin stemming from magic and paganism, similar to the origins of Christmas and Halloween. This belief in spirits is the reason for many, if not all, of the traditional birthday customs that are practiced today

So now that we know that birthday celebrations are pagan of origin. And that it is based on astrology (the worship of the sun moon and stars), Can we ignore the Scriptures when they say, “Thus said יהוה (YHWH), “Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the gentiles (pagans) are awed by them” (Jeremiah 10:2) or when it says, “and lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and shall see the sun, and the moon, and the stars – all the host of the heavens – and you be drawn away into bowing down to them and serving them, which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under all the heavens” (Deut 4:19).

You see, The Almighty forbade His followers from learning the traditions and celebrations of the pagan nations. This is because He hates those traditions and celebrations, “When you come into the land which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those gentiles” (Deut 18:9)

Did the Law of YHWH change since the coming of the Messiah? “So this I say, and witness in the Master, that you should no longer walk as the gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind” (Eph 4:17). It clearly did not. YHWH still hates the same practices of the pagans that are practiced today. Celebrating Christmas and Easter and Halloween and New Years Day and even Birthdays are all pagan practices and are hated by the Creator and Master of the Universe who is YHWH.

Some more instances of what YHWH taught His followers, “‘Do not do as they do in the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), where you dwelt. And do not do as they do in the land of Kena’an, where I am bringing you, and do not walk in their laws’” (Lev 18:3). He also taught them the following, “When יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim does cut off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their mighty ones? And let me do so too” (Deut 12:29-30)

Finaly, let us see what the Almighty says should happen to those who celebrate such things as those celebrated by the pagan nations, “When there is found in your midst, in any of your cities which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim, in transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other mighty ones and bowed down to them, or to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded, and it has been made known to you and you have heard, and has searched diligently. Then see, if true: the matter is confirmed that such an abomination has been done in Yisra’ĕl, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil matter, and you shall stone to death that man or woman with stones” (Deut 17:2-5)

So as you can see, this is a very serious matter in the eyes of the one who has the power to totally destroy your soul. To those who say that it is just some innocent fun, are those who do not have any regard for the Word of the Almighty and will be held accountable for those actions.

Those who love the Creator will cease from any such evil celebrations and rather walk in all the Commands of YHWH. Those who claim that it is innocent fun, or that the “kids will not understand” etc, are those who do not have a love for the Word of YHWH and are not His followers.

Did Abraham know the Name of YHWH?

This last Shabbat’s Torah reading started with Sh’mot (Exodus) 6, and almost immediately when we started to read, we noticed something that seemed to be a contradiction in the Torah. This got us to look deeper into the matter and once we did that, we realized that it is not a contradiction at all.

To understand the Word of YHWH, we need to understand the Hebrew and also the meanings of the Hebrew names and also the Hebrew idioms, prophecy, etc.

The so called contradiction appears in Sh’mot (Exodus) 6:3 where it says, “And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitschaq, and to Ya’aqov, as Ěl Shaddai. And by My Name, יהוה (YHWH), I did not make myself known to them”. You see, it seems like this verse is saying that Abraham, Yitschaq (Isaac) and Ya’aqov (Jacob) did not know the Name of the Almighty. I have spoken to many people (especially Christians) that use this verse to say that the Name of YHWH was only revealed for the first time to Mosheh (Moses). This is not at all true and can very easily be proven so by just reading the Scriptures. Let us look at a few verses that prove that the Name of YHWH was known since the days of Adam. The following Scriptures are a translation of the Hebrew and the Name 'YHWH' is actually recoreded there

“And יהוה (YHWH) appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I give this land.” And he built there an altar to יהוה (YHWH) who had appeared to him. And from there he moved to the mountain east of Bĕyth Ěl, and he pitched his tent, with Bĕyth Ěl on the west and Ai on the east. And he built there an altar to יהוה (YHWH), and called on the Name of יהוה (YHWH)” (Gen 12:7-8). Here you can clearly see that Abraham, at this time still called Abram, knew the Name of YHWH and used His Name too.

“to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the Name of יהוה (YHWH)” (Gen 13:4). Here you can see once again, Abram calling on the Name of YHWH.

“And he planted a tamarisk tree in Be’ĕrsheva, and there called on the Name of יהוה (YHWH), the Everlasting Ěl. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days” (Gen 21:33-34). Here Abraham called once again on the Name of YHWH.

“And יהוה (YHWH) appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the Elohim of your father Abraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless you and increase your seed for My servant Abraham’s sake.” And he built an altar there, and called on the Name of יהוה (YHWH), and he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Yitschaq dug a well there” (Gen 26:24-25). Here we can see that Yitschaq (Isaac) also knew the Name of YHWH and he too called on the Name of YHWH.

But we can even go further back than Abraham, to find people who knew and used the Name of the Almighty which is YHWH.

“And to Shĕth, to him also a son was born. And he called his name Enosh. Then it became profaned to call in the Name of יהוה (YHWH)” (Gen 4:26). Here is an example of a verse that is incorrectly translated in every single English translation of the Scriptures. The above is a direct translation of the Hebrew text, whereas the English versions of the bible have it as, “Then it was begun to call on the Name of יהוה (YHWH).” As you can see, this is a very different meaning. All the translations state that the Name of YHWH only became known in the days of Enosh. Even this disproves that it was revealed for the first time to Mosheh. But the original Hebrew tells a different story.

The Hebrew states that in the days of Enosh, it became profaned to call on the Name of YHWH. The Hebrew word used here is L¢GhD (Huchal) which means ‘to begin to profane’. This is because paganism became very rampant in those days and that they were using the Name above all names as if it were a common word and were using it in vain and even mocking it. This proves to us that the Name of YHWH was known long before Enosh came. This also proves that the Name of YHWH was not revealed for the first time to Mosheh and the Israelites, but was known by many people throughout history, even from the beginning of time, leading up to the time of Mosheh.

Okay, now we have seen proof that the Name of YHWH was known and used by Abraham and his sons, but why is it then written that He only revealed Himself as El Shaddai and not as YHWH? Well, firstly we need to understand the meanings of the words El Shaddai and also the meaning of the Name of YHWH and its prophetic and idiomatic meanings too. To really understand this concept, we need to also look at it with a Hebrew mindset. So lets analyze these two “names”.

El Shaddai

El Shaddai comes from 3 different words. Namely El, which is a shortened form of Elohim, which basically means ‘Mighty Ones’, it is however a plural form, which could indicate ‘Mighty One’s’ but in Hebrew thought, plural could also indicate the magnitude of a being, as in this case, a very very Mighty One.

The second word is ‘shad’ which literally means ‘breast’. This is where milk or nourishment comes from.

The third word ‘dai’ literally means ‘sufficient’ as in the word ‘dai’eynu’ which mean ‘that would have been enough (or sufficient) for us’

So when the Almighty revealed Himself to Abraham, Yitschak and Ya’akov as El Shaddai, he revealed Himself as the Mighty One that supplied them with all there needs.

But why not as YHWH? Well, we firstly need to look at what YHWH stands for.

YHWH

YHWH reveals the prophetic meaning or requirement of the revelation of His Name in Sh’mot (Exodus) 6:6-7. There are four specific requirements to be fulfilled in order that the Name of YHWH can be ‘made known’ to them. Let us read these two verses and see if we can find them in there.

“And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Yisra’ĕl whom the Mitsrites (Egyptians) are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I am יהוה (YHWH), and I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites (Egyptians), and shall deliver you from their enslaving, and shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments, and shall take you as My people, and I shall be your Elohim. And you shall know that I am יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites (Egyptians)” (Exodus 6:5-7).

I have highlighted the four statements above. Let us have a closer look at them individually.

1)      I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites (Egyptians)

2)      I shall deliver you from their enslaving

3)      I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments

4)      I shall take you as My people, and I shall be your Elohim

(Also note that this prophecy is going to be repeated on the great Day of YHWH, at the return of the Messiah Yehoshua ben Dawid.)

The Name of YHWH being revealed to the Israelites in the time of Mosheh was the fulfillment of prophecy. Notice that YHWH said that “He remembered His covenant that He made” and so Mosheh was to reveal His Name as YHWH. It was the time in which He would carry out His promise that he had made to Abraham and to Yitschaq and to Ya’aqov. For up until that time, the time had not yet come for the Promised Land to be given to them.

Now we can see why it is written that the Name of YHWH was not revealed to Abraham, Yitschaq and Ya’aqov, even though they knew His Name and even used it. It is speaking of the fulfillment of prophecy or covenant, which was not fulfilled during the time of Abraham, but was going to be fulfilled during the time of Mosheh.

Now we can understand the character of the Name of YHWH and why He teaches us that, “This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations” (Sh’mot 3:15)

Psalms 1:1-6 The difference between the righteous and the sinner

We have all heard the phrase that “we are all sinners” this is true to a certain degree. Once we repent of our sinful ways and live our lives in the Instruction of the Almighty, then we become righteous. This is a theme found throughout the Scriptures. It is very fitting that Dawid’s very first psalm is making the distinction between the righteous and the sinner (unrighteous). He also explains to us what righteousness is. Let us read what he wrote:

1. “Blessed 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 (YHWH), And he meditates in His Torah day and night.

Here is a very clear distinction between who the sinners are and who are righteous and blessed. It also makes a very clear distinction between what is right and what is wrong. Sin is the opposite of obedience to Torah. The one who delights in the Torah of YHWH and meditates on it day and night (Not just once a week) is blessed. It is impossible to walk with those who are wrong and stand by the scoffers if you constantly have the Torah in mind all the time.

Also notice how it says ‘blessed are those who delight in the Torah of YHWH’. Have we not been taught by the church that the Torah is a curse? How is it possible that the man who is known to be after the Almighty’s own heart, will delight in a curse? It is simply not so. There are both blessings and curses found in the Torah, those who obey the Torah will be blessed, and those who do not obey the Torah will be cursed. It is up to you to decide if you want to be blessed or cursed.

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.

Dawid who knew the will of YHWH better than any of us can dream of today, teaches that those who delight in obeying the Torah of YHWH, is steadfast and does not lack. The reason you prosper in everything you do if you obey the Torah, is because the Torah is YHWH’s instruction for us on how to prosper, and when we obey His Word, then He Himself gives us our needs.

4. The wrong are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind blows away.

Those who do not obey the Torah, will wither away. They try and prosper by their own strength, which causes stress and worry, and ultimately ends in destruction. Their marriages fall apart, some are lead to drinking and smoking to try handle stress. In the end, even those who supposedly made a success will be destroyed.

5. Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

There are two judgments in the end times, one when the Messiah returns, when all the righteous will rise up and be judged, and one after the thousand year reign with the Messiah, when all the wicked will be judged and thrown into destruction.

Nor will sinners be allowed in the congregation of the righteous. The righteous people will not stand for sinful natures. If anyone willfuly sins, then that person will not be tolerated by the righteous people.

6. For יהוה (YHWH) knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wrong comes to naught”

YHWH knows the WAY (actions, works) of the RIGHTEOUS because the righteous live by His Torah. YHWH only gives favor to those who are righteous, those who are doing and living by His Torah. The Torah is wrongly translated as “Law”, but is correctly translated as “Instruction”. If we live by our Father’s instruction, then we will prosper and find favor in His eyes. Those who do not obey His Instruction, are not His children and their ways end up in naught.

We are all going to be judged, whether you are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Atheist, or of the faith of the Messiah. Only those who do the Torah of YHWH will be part of the first judgment and will inherit eternal life. Everyone else will be part of the second judgment.

It is up to you, which judgment you will be part of. Do you want to be part of the first, or the second judgment?

Can you accept discipline or does your pride get the better of you?

How are you going to react when you are shown that what you believe to be true, is actually false? All of us who have come out of the Christian faith have had to face this scenario. But after coming out of the Christian faith, the great majority of people fall into a Messianic or Hebrew Roots group, thinking that they are now following the true faith.

Now the true test comes in here when you are confronted with truths and facts that contradict what you thought to be true. How are you going to react when you realize that what you believe to be true is, once again, wrong? 

The unfortunate thing is that the majority of people still subscribe to false teachings, as it suites them, and rejects the factual evidence of the truth. Many people do so as they cannot believe that they can be fooled again and many times are too embarrassed to acklowledge this, and that they would rather run away from the facts, than accept them. Is this not pride getting in the way of truth?

Many of the Messianic and Hebrew Roots people come to realize the Hebrew-ness of the Scriptures and get a very basic knowledge of the Hebrew language and culture. Then they act as though they are experts in the Hebrew language and at the same time come up with so many errors by breaking every Hebrew grammatical rule possible. And when they are approached with the facts, they fight with the person trying to help them. The same goes for the cultural aspect, e.g. the "feasts" and shabbat.  They are taught about them but also that it is not actually necessary to DO them.  For example, they are taught that it is only necessary to have a shabbat meal on the Friday evening and then can do whatever they like!

Let us look at one of the biggest errors that I am speaking of:

The majority of the Messianic and Hebrew Roots people proclaim the name of the Messiah as “Yahushua” or “Yahuwshuwa” or something similar. These are not correct. Yes, the Name of the Father (Yahu) is in His Son’s Name and is joined to the word ‘shua’ which means save. So the Name of the Messiah means “YHWH is our salvation” but joining these two words together to give us the Name of the Messiah is where the people go wrong. You see, we need to understand Hebrew grammar before we can just join these two words together. Let me explain:

When joining two words together, the suffix (in this case “shua”) always retains its form, whereas the prefix (in this case “Yahu”) always shortens its syllables. For example, NATHAN + YAHU = NeTHANYAHU, and YAHU + NATHAN = YeHoNATHAN. This is always the case, and I challenge anyone to go and look it up in any Hebrew dictionary or lexicon or grammar book and show me that this is not true.

So the true Name of the Messiah is YAHU + SHUA = Yehoshua, which still holds the meaning of “YHWH is our salvation”

This is just one example of many!

Now when I have tried to help people with this factual evidence, I have been met with hostility and hatred without them being able to prove these facts wrong. These people who claim to be believers in the Torah of YHWH refuse to accept truth and rebuke the righteous people who lovingly try to help them… where have you seen this before? It looks a bit Christiany to me. These people look at the facts and claim that it is only opinion… what foolishness!!! How can you say that it is an opinion when it is factually documented and cannot be disproven? It would be good to be like the Bereans and go and search the Scriptures (Tanakh) to search for the truth.

After such hatred, I posted on my Facebook wall that “all those who are not interested in the truth, should rather unfriend me as I will be proclaiming only the truth” I could not believe how many Messianic and Hebrew Roots people unfriended me almost immediately. This proves to me that the Messianic and Hebrew Roots is not the true faith of the Messiah Yehoshua. I have also stated the fact that I have not met one Messianic or Hebrew Roots follower that keeps the Torah of YHWH. They say they do, but their actions say otherwise.

Let me tell you about the instance when I walked into a Messianic book store to ask them if I could leave some pamphlets there for guitar lessons. I was immediately asked, by one of the store owners, if I was Torah observant. I could not believe my ears. I had a beard and wore tzitzit that was clearly visible, and that person could not identify me as a Torah observant person. This is because the Messianic people are not taught the true meaning of the Torah and therefore, cannot recognize the Torah or its followers, even if they were hit in the face with it. I realized that I was speaking to a Christian who had a little bit of a Hebrew flavor. The book store had more Christian books than anything else. No wonder they are so ignorant of the true faith. 

People want to mix their Christianity with SOME Hebrew flavour, but do not see that the two cannot mix.

This is unfortunately the truth about Messianic and Hebrew roots groups, they are Christian groups with a Hebrew flavor. They get together in small groups where a “leader” will teach them what the Scriptures say. Every group has a different set of beliefs (denominations) like, those who follow the lunar Sabbath, or those who subscribe to the false teaching that a Scriptural day starts at sunrise and some even sacrifice lambs still and many other false teachings like these. Not one of them keeps the Torah in its entirety.

Neither the Messiah nor His disciples were Messianic or Hebrew Roots, but rather obeyed the Torah of YHWH fully. They did not have a title, nor did they follow anyone else, but learnt from the Torah of YHWH, which the Messiah magnified.

Now… only those who are righteous will humble themselves and accept the truth, no matter how silly it makes them look.

Let us look at a few verses that were written by the wisest man to have lived (Other than the Messiah of course).

“The fear of יהוה (YHWH) is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7)

“Blessed is the man who has found wisdom, And the man who gets understanding;

For the gain from it is better Than gain from silver, And its increase than fine gold” (Proverbs 3:13-14)

“He dies for lack of discipline, And in the greatness of his folly He goes astray” (Proverbs 5:23)

“Listen to discipline and become wise, And do not refuse it” (Proverbs 8:33)

“He who heeds discipline is in the way of life, But he who refuses reproof goes astray” (Proverbs 10:17)

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1)

“Poverty and shame are for him Who ignores discipline, But he who heeds reproof is esteemed” (Proverbs 13:18)

“He who ignores discipline hates himself, But he who listens to reproof gets understanding” (Proverbs 15:32)

“The fear of יהוה is the discipline of wisdom, And before esteem is humility” (Proverbs 15:33)

“Listen to counsel and accept discipline, So that you are wise in your latter end” (Proverbs 19:20)

“Bring your heart to discipline, And your ears to words of knowledge” (Proverbs 23:12)

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who listens to advice is wise” (Proverbs 12:15)

I think that you get the point. I love discipline as it leads me to righteousness and keeps me on the narrow road. I accept it with joy and thanksgiving.

Now are you going to follow the way of righteousness and accept discipline and knowledge with joy and thanksgiving? Or are you going to remain proud and reject knowledge and truth? This is the difference between being wise or being a fool.

Romans 4 - Belief and Works

“What, then, shall we say Avraham our father, to have found, according to the flesh? For if Avraham was declared right by works, he has ground for boasting, but not before Elohim. For what does the Scripture say? “Avraham believed Elohim, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”  (Rom 4:1-3)

Now these three verses seem to contradict what Ya’akov (James) taught when he said “You see, then, that a man is declared right by works, and not by belief alone” (James 2:24). But the fact of the matter is that they do not in any way contradict each other. Ya’akov wrote much clearer and to the point than Shaul’s writings. You see, Shaul is teaching against the religious system that demands that you keep to all their laws and traditions that are followed by the flesh and not by belief. Avraham first believed and therefore his actions or works revealed his belief. This is exactly what Ya’akov also teaches, “So also belief, if it does not have works, is in itself dead. But someone might say, “You have belief, and I have works.” Show me your belief without your works, and I shall show you my belief by my works” (James 2:17-18). You cannot have belief without works, nor can you have works without belief.

For us to be declared righteous is a gift, but we need to follow the instruction of YHWH (His Torah) in order to receive this wonderful gift. It is ludicrous to think that we are declared righteous and still live our lives continuing in the abominations of this world. Throughout the entire Scriptures, there is a common theme, if you transgress the Torah of YHWH, it is an abomination and YHWH turns away from you, but if you guard to keep His Torah, then He is with you always. Nothing has changed, even until now, and that is exactly what the Messiah and His followers teach.

“And to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned as a favour but as a debt. And to him who is not working but believes on Him who is declaring right the wicked, his belief is reckoned for righteousness, even as Dawiḏ also says of the blessedness of the man to whom Elohim reckons righteousness without works: “Blessed are those whose lawlessnesses are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man to whom יהוה (YHWH) shall by no means reckon sin.”” (Rom 4:4-8). Once again, Shaul is explaining the difference between being ‘under the Law’ and being ‘subject to the law,’ he is also teaching repentance and the engrafting of the Goyim (Gentile, wild olive) into the good olive tree here.

To those who are trying to earn the reward by doing ultra religious works and traditions believe that the reward is owed to them as they do these works without faith. This is not, in any way, having a relationship with the Almighty. Does this mean that Shaul is teaching that we do not have to keep the Torah of YHWH? Not at all, as we can see that when the wicked repent, they will be declared righteous and their past sins are covered. This does not mean that they can continue to transgress the Torah of YHWH as that would deem that person wicked again and not righteous.

“Is this blessing then upon the circumcised only, or also upon the uncircumcised? For we affirm: Belief was reckoned unto Avraham for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? Being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.” (Rom 4:9-10) Avraham confirmed his understanding righteousness-credit by obeying YHWH and getting physically circumcised! Shaul never teaches that it is not necessary to be circumcised in the flesh, but rather that you first build your belief and faith (circumcision of the heart), then by learning the Torah of Mosheh and having the desire to do the will of YHWH, then a person will, out of his own, choose to become circumcised in the flesh out of obedience to the will of the Almighty.

Shaul is also teaching to the Jews and the Gentiles here when he refers to the circumcised (Jews) and the uncircumcised (Gentiles, even though some of the Gentiles could be circumcised in the flesh too). The thought that Gentiles do not have to subject themselves to the Torah of YHWH is not ever taught throughout the Torah, in fact, the person who is accused of doing so (Shaul), is teaching the total opposite here by saying that everyone, Gentiles included, who convert to the Faith OF Yehoshua the Messiah, has to subject themselves to the Torah of YHWH just as the Messiah Himself did.

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the belief while in uncircumcision, for him to be a father of all those believing through uncircumcision, for righteousness to be reckoned to them also,” (Rom 4:11). Avraham is the Father of many nations. For example, he is the Father of the Arabs, who are mostly Islamic, through Yishmael his son from Sarah’s servant Hagar. Does that mean that Avraham would endorse Islam today? I don’t think so as he stood only for the One true Elohim . Avraham was uncircumcised when Yishmael was conceived, but was circumcised at the conception of Yitschak, through whom the covenant would be. Once again, notice that Avraham circumcised himself and all his household through obedience to the Almighty, should we not do the same?

"and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the belief which our father Avraham had in uncircumcision." (Rom 4:12) Shaul is teaching that Avraham’s physical circumcision came after he believed, after he had faith, after his heart was circumcised, in opposition to a contemporary false teaching that circumcision should come first before belief or faith. At no time does Shaul ever discount physical circumcision; he simply rejects false religious traditions that turned circumcision into device to control new converts. This principle also applies to those who would hurriedly baptize new converts in an effort to show strong numbers, or practicing “forced conversions.”

“For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Aḇraham or to his seed through the Torah, but through a righteousness of belief. For if those who are of the Torah are heirs, belief has been made useless, and the promise has been nullified,” (Rom 4:13-14). Once again, Shaul is rejecting the ultra religious traditions that teach their followers to do all they say in order to be saved. This idea nullifies the promise of the Almighty. Like Shaul has taught before, you cannot have belief without the Torah. Once you come into the faith, then your knowledge will gradually increase as you study the Almighty’s Word, and then you will conform your life to His Instruction. This is all because of belief.

Avraham is heir of the world, just like he is the father of the Hebrews and the Arabs, as we saw above. He is also the father of Rome (Christianity) through Esau, who is Yitschak’s (Isaac) son. Whenever we read of Esau in the Scriptures and in prophecy, we know that he represents the Church (Rome), just as Yishmael represents Islam in prophecy. Once we know this truth, passages in Scripture start revealing things we did not realize. Consider the following verse, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom 9:13). Jacob’s name changed to Israel whom the Almighty loves. Esau is Rome, whom the Almighty hates.

"for the Torah works out wrath, for where there is no Torah there is no transgression." (Rom 4:15). Like the Hebrew word “Torah”, the Aramaic namusa can refer to the entire corpus of work or to an individual instruction for a person or group (“torah” with a small “t”). This verse literally reads, “where there is no Torah provision against an action, there is no transgression.” The KJV reads, “Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Mainstream Christianity translates this to mean that Torah is done away with, but Shaul is teaching the very opposite. Wherever Torah is NOT being taught, people will do what is right in their own eyes, thus bringing the wrath of YHWH upon themselves. You can think for yourself, if the Torah was done away with, then how can we know what sin is? Then we are able to do whatever we want without any consequence. It is just a preposterous idea.

"On account of this it is of belief, that it be according to favour, for the promise to be made certain to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Torah, but also to those who are of the belief of Aḇraham, who is father of us all – " (Rom 4:16)
Having Avraham as a father brings the responsibility of being honorable children, worthy of legacy! Contrary to Christian theology; faith, while credited to Avraham as righteousness, was not the only component of his total righteousness. It is what Avraham did with his faith that brings him near to YHWH. As YHWH Himself declares: “I swore to your father Avraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Avraham obeyed Me and kept My requirements, My commands, My decrees and My laws” (Genesis 26:4-5).

“as it has been written, “I have made you a father of many nations” – in the presence of Him whom he believed, even Elohim, who gives life to the dead and calls that which does not exist as existing, who against all expectation did believe, in expectation, so that he should become father of many nations, according to what was said, “So shall your seed be.” And not having grown weak in belief, he did not consider his own body, already dead, being about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb, he did not hesitate about the promise of Elohim through unbelief, but was strengthened in belief, giving esteem to Elohim, and being completely persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to do.” (Rom 4:17-21). Do you think that Avraham would have had a son if he did not believe? It was unnatural for Sarah to have a child as she was far past the point of being able to conceive. It was only through belief and obedience to the Almighty that this wonderful miracle could take place. Israel is the Almighty’s beloved nation, and they all came into being through miracle after miracle showing us that it is a miraculous nation. We as goy (Gentiles) are now also able to partake in the promise of the beloved nation of Israel, but only if we join ourselves to the ‘good olive tree’ and fulfilling the requirements to do so.

“Therefore also “it was reckoned to him for righteousness.” (Rom 4:22). Avraham believed and obeyed, therefore he was declared righteous. Has that concept changed since Avraham? Do we need to only believe without obedience to the Torah (Instruction of YHWH in righteousness) to be declared righteous? Certainly not, as that is never taught in the Scriptures. In fact, you can see a common theme in the Scriptures that when ever someone or a nation turned from doing the Torah of YHWH, then YHWH departed from them and gave them over to their enemies. Does the Almighty, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, change?

“And not because of him alone was it written that it was reckoned to him, but also because of us, to whom it shall be reckoned, to us who believe in Him who raised up  יהושע (Yehoshua) our Master from the dead, who was delivered up because of our trespasses, and was raised for us to be declared right.” (Rom 4:23-25). The Messiah came to show us how to live. He was an example for us to follow. He also came as the sacrifice for us when He hung on the torture stake. The sacrificial laws of the Torah have not changed and have not been done away with. Only the blood of the Messiah (Lamb) is sufficient to replace all other blood. Every single sacrifice done before the Messiah, was only a symbol of the Messiah. It was not the blood of the goats and lambs etc. that could make a covering for sin, but only the blood of the Messiah. Those who made sacrifices in the past, did so because they believed in the Messiah and that His blood would make a covering (kippur) for their transgressions.

No one can ever know the Messiah or His role if we do not study the Torah of His Father as it describes His Character and duties and everything else about Him. In order to believe in Him, you need to know Him first.

Do you desire to know the Messiah?

Man is declared right by works, and not by belief alone

The Torah portion for this last Shabbat was very interesting in the sense that it showed us that righteousness can only be reckoned to a person by the obedience to the Commands of YHWH. Avraham believed in the Words of YHWH and it was reckoned to him as righteousness but only because he did the Commands.

Now what Christianity teaches is that all we need to do is believe in “Jesus” and that we do not have to obey the Commands of YHWH anymore as “Jesus” did away with the Torah. Now imagine if this was really true. Would the Messiah have said, “Do not think that I came to do away with the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to do away with but to fulfill. 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” (Mat 5:17-18).  Also if the Torah was done away with, then it would give us free reign to do as we please as there is no more a measure by which we can measure ourselves. For the Torah is also the knowledge of sin. If we do not know the Torah, how can we know what sin is, and yet, the Messiah Himself said many times, ‘… go and sin no more…’

Imagine that Noah believed the word of YHWH but did not obey it, he would not have built the boat that saved him and his family and all of mankind would have been destroyed. Imagine Avraham believed but did not obey the Commands of YHWH, he would not have hosted the Messengers of YHWH, nor would he have become the father of many, and he certainly would not have been righteous, nor would he have had a son through whom the people of YHWH would be descendants and the Messiah would not have come. Also Imagine that Mosheh believed but did not obey the Commandments of YHWH, he would not have brought the chosen people out of the bondage of Mitsrayim. Neither would we have the Word of YHWH written down for us today.  

Belief and obedience to the Torah go hand in hand, you cannot truly obey the Torah without belief, and you certainly cannot believe without the observance of the Torah of YHWH. The entire Scriptures testify to this. In fact, the Messiah Yehoshua Himself taught that in the end of days, He will not know those who did not obey the Torah of His Father, “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’” (Mat 7:23). Would you like to be forced to depart from the Son of the Almighty, also meaning that you will not inherit the kingdom of YHWH?

Ya’akov (James), the brother of Yehoshua the Messiah, understood this concept very well as he wrote in his letter, “My brothers, what use is it for anyone to say he has belief but does not have works? This belief is unable to save him. And if a brother or sister is naked and in need of daily food, but one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” but you do not give them the bodily needs, what use is it? So also belief, if it does not have works, is in itself dead. But someone might say, “You have belief, and I have works.” Show me your belief without your works, and I shall show you my belief by my works. You believe that Elohim is one. You do well. The demons also believe – and shudder! But do you wish to know, O foolish man, that the belief without the works is dead? Was not Avraham our father declared right by works when he offered Yitschaq (Isaac) his son on the altar? Do you see that the belief was working with his works, and by the works the belief was perfected? And the Scripture was filled which says, “Avraham believed Elohim, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”  And he was called, “Elohim’s friend.” You see, then, that a man is declared right by works, and not by belief alone” (James 2:14-24).

Wow, so what Ya’akov is saying here is that in order to be declared righteous, we need to DO the Instruction (Torah) of YHWH and not just believe in it! We see this exact same concept coming from the mouth of the Messiah Himself too, “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands” (John 14:15). He goes on further to say, “He who possesses 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 14:21)

Do you love the Son of the Creator, who is the Messiah Yehoshua? If you say yes, do you guard to do all the Torah of YHWH His Father? “And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands. The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever guards His Word, truly the love of Elohim has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6). Now with this verse in mind, do you really know the Almighty, or do you lie and continue to say that you do not need to obey the Torah anymore but still know the Almighty anyway?

Also notice that it is made very clear that if you profess to follow the Messiah, that you also have to walk as He walked, obeying every Command that is written in the Torah of YHWH.

Let us look at this in a slightly different viewpoint. If I had to walk up to the gates of the White House and say to the guards, “let me in for I know the President!” Do you think the guards will let me enter? Certainly not. Now, if I was standing in front of the gates of the White House, and the President walked out of the White House and saw me, and said to the guards, “Let him in, for I know him well!” I am sure you will agree with me that that would have a different result to the first instance.

The idea of the story is that it does not matter if you know the President, but rather, does he know you? This is exactly the same principle concerning, do I know the Messiah, or does the Messiah know me? In Matthew 7, He makes it clear that if you do not DO all that is written in the Torah of YHWH, then he will profess that He never knew you.

I do not know about you, but me and my house, choose to live according to the Instruction of YHWH and to do all that is written in the Torah of YHWH so that we may find favor in His eyes and inherit eternal life. “Blessed are those doing His commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city” (Rev 22:14).

Romans 3 with comentary

This chapter of Romans is twisted so much to suite many false doctrines that the Church teaches. So I am revealing the true context for people to see the Truth. we are not to follow what we think or believe the Scriptures are saying but rather follow what the Scriptures really are saying.


“What then is the advantage of the Yehuḏite (Jew)? Or what is the value of the circumcision? Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim” (Rom 3:1-2). What Shaul wrote here totally disproves what is called the “replacement theology” that is taught by the Church. You see, the Church teaches that the Jews gave up their right to be called “God’s people”, so that the Church can take their place. This is done so that they can blackmail the population into joining the Church (Christian faith) or else they cannot be saved. This is also where anti-Semitic propaganda comes from, teaching the masses that the Jews killed “Jesus”. This is a very dangerous and evil thought. Shaul makes it very clear that the Jews are truly the chosen people, even until today.

“For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief nullify the trustworthiness of Elohim? Let it not be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, “That You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging.”” (Rom 3:3-4). Now the majority of Judaism denies that Yehoshua is the Messiah and they are still waiting for “the Messiah” to come for the first time. There are however, many Jews that believe in Yehoshua as the Messiah, and keep their belief in silence. There are also many Jews who are totally “non-religious” but the majority of the Jews follow after religious traditions, namely, the Talmud and Oral Law, which Shaul refers to as ‘under the law’.

Now what Shaul is saying here is that just because some of the Jews do not believe in the truth, does in no way make the truth false. The Word of YHWH is truth which is the Torah and the prophets. Any man that speaks words of his own, is a liar. But if a man speaks the Word of YHWH, then his words are true.

If anyone lives according to the Torah of YHWH, then that person will not be found guilty in the time of judgment.

“But if our unrighteousness establishes the righteousness of Elohim, what shall we say? Is Elohim unrighteous who is inflicting wrath? I speak as a man. Let it not be! Otherwise how shall Elohim judge the world? For if the truth of Elohim has increased through my lie, to His esteem, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil so that the good might come”? – as we are wrongly accused and as some claim that we say. Their judgment is in the right” (Rom 3:5-8). Here is a piece of text that the Church twists to justify their false doctrines. It is a common thought among the Christian faith that it is impossible to keep the Ten Commandments. The problem with that statement is that it is not supported by the Scriptures. One can see this as soon as you start reading the Scriptures and noticing that the whole theme of the Scriptures is to obey the Word of YHWH. Even the Messiah made this clear when he quoted the Scriptures and said, “But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה (YHWH).’ ” (Mat 4:4). And what is the Word of YHWH? It is the Tanakh (Torah and the Prophets) of course.

The teachings of the Church are humanistic teachings and not the teachings or Words of YHWH. In the days of Shaul, the Christian Church had not been founded yet and Shaul had never heard the word Christian or the word Church, which are both from pagan origin.

Shaul was saying that righteousness cannot be established on unrighteousness. You see, Elohim afflicted and still does afflict wrath on unrighteousness. So the question was that if we established righteousness by our unrighteousness, how can Elohim be righteous if he afflicts us? The answer to this is that righteousness is established on righteousness, NOT unrighteousness.  We are to live by the spirit and not by our flesh. In other words, we are to die to our unrighteous humanistic flesh so that we can live by the righteous Spirit of Elohim who writes the Torah on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously accused both Yehuḏim (Jews) and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it has been written, “There is none righteous, no, not one! “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is seeking Elohim. “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom 3:9-12).
Now here is one of the favorite arguments that the Christian Church uses to justify their sinful way of living. But in order to justify that no one can be righteous by this piece of Shaul’s letter, one must either be twisting Shaul’s writings or just be untaught in the Scriptures. Peter himself said that this would happen, “and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these matters, in which some are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the other Scriptures. You, then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless” (2 Peter 3:15-17).

What Shaul is saying is that no man is righteous if he lives according to his own instruction. But as soon as we live according to the Instruction of YHWH (the Torah), then we live righteously as the Torah of YHWH is righteous. It is evil to believe that it is impossible to live according to the Torah of YHWH, or that no one has or can achieve this. As soon as you believe that to be true, then you believe the Scriptures to be untrue.

Let me point out a few examples. Noah was righteous and perfect (Gen 6:9, 7:1), Abraham was righteous (Gen 15:6), Yoseph (Joseph), the step father of Yehoshua was righteous (Mat 1:19), Yehochanan (John the Baptist) was righteous (Mark 6:20), the parents of Yehochanan were both righteous and walking in all the Commands of YHWH (Luke 1:5-6), a man called Shim’on was righteous (Luke 2:25) and there are MANY more places in the Scriptures that tell of righteous people walking in the Torah of YHWH. Yehoshua the Son of YHWH said that He did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners to come to repentance (Luke 5:32). Repentance is turning away from sin and following righteousness.

What does it mean to be righteous? “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה (YHWH) our Elohim, as He has commanded us” (Deut 6:25)

Also another important point that Shaul makes is that those who are righteous are no more important than the unrighteous. This is because everyone was unrighteous before repentance and only by the favor of YHWH have the righteous found the truth of righteousness.

“Their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they have deceived, The poison of adders is under their lips, Whose mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and wretchedness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes.” (Rom 3:13-18). Shaul writes of the human nature of men, explaining that no person is good as long as we do not follow the Instruction of YHWH (His Torah). Notice that everything that Shaul mentions here is 100% against the Torah of YHWH. Naturally, man is not good and reverts to all these evil deeds that are written here. As soon as we start seeking the reign of YHWH and His righteousness, then these evil deeds will be disgusting in our eyes, just as they are disgusting in the eyes of YHWH and we will turn away from them.

“And we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those who are in the Torah (here the Aramaic Peshitta says, “under the Torah”), so that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world come under judgment before Elohim. Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19-20). Now here is a confusing section for those who are untaught or unstable in the Scriptures. This is also one of the favorite sections that the Church use to justify the false doctrine that they do not have to follow the Word of YHWH anymore. They use it to judge the righteous people who are following the Instruction of YHWH, by calling them legalists, as they are ‘under the Law’. This however is a very evil teaching. The term ‘under the Torah’ refers to being under a religious organization like Rabbinical Judaism and even Christianity, etc. (This fact actually proves that the Christians are the ones who are the legalists!)

Only the mouths of the unrighteous have to be shut as they speak evil things. But if a person speaks the words of Torah, then he does not speak his own words, but rather the Words of YHWH by which we live.

‘Works of the Torah’ means exactly the same as ‘under the Torah’, see commentary on verse 28. No one can be saved through works on their own. The Scriptures also teach that those who do not do the Torah of YHWH will be cast into the fire and will not be granted entrance into the kingdom of YHWH (Rev 22:14). The Torah is the Instruction of YHWH for us that leads us to righteousness.

It is crazy how the Church teaches that we should not sin anymore, and then in the same breath, teaches us that we do not have to obey the Torah of YHWH anymore! Is there a contradiction anywhere that is greater than this? The Torah teaches us how to love YHWH and how to love our neighbor too, it teaches us how to care for our animals and how to farm and care for the land too, it also teaches us how to care for the fatherless, the widow and the poor, it teaches us to stay away from evil and idolatry, it teaches us how to look after our bodies and how to stay healthy (all of which the Church totally ignores). The Torah is also the knowledge of sin! Have you ever thought what this means? It means that if you break any of the instructions of YHWH (the Torah), then it is sin.

“But now, apart from the Torah, a righteousness of Elohim has been revealed, being witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets” (Rom 3:21) Yehoshua qualified as Mashiyach because He fulfilled all Torah and Prophetic requirements, and He became Torah. Torah is written upon the heart by the Ruach haKodesh; the Spirit of Mashiyach is Torah which is the Spirit of Mashiyach, or the Manifestation (Word) of YHWH which became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, if we live “in” Yehoshua, we will also follow the Torah. It is evil to posture that Shaul brought Torah down, when in fact Yehoshua and Shaul restored and elevated Torah to be the foundation of a spiritual dialogue with Heaven.

If Yehoshua followed the Torah 100%, and we are to follow in His footsteps, does that mean we also have to follow the Torah? (1 Peter 2:21).

“and the righteousness of Elohim is through belief in יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,” (Rom 3:22-23). Do the demons also believe (James 2:19)? Is believing in the Messiah and continuing in sin acceptable to the Almighty? Are those who believe in “Jesus” but do not keep the Commands of YHWH the true believers? Let us see, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah” (Rev 12:17), “Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע (Yehoshua)” (Rev 14:12). One cannot believe in the Messiah and not observe the Torah, it is just impossible.

“being declared right, without paying, by His favour through the redemption which is in Messiah יהושע (Yehoshua), whom Elohim set forth as an atonement (a covering), through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed over the sins that had taken place before, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He is righteous and declares righteous the one who has belief in יהושע (Yehoshua)” (Rom 3:24-26). There is a teaching in the Church that because “Jesus’” blood covers sin, we can now ignore the Instruction of YHWH. Notice here that that is the exact opposite to what Shaul is saying. Yes Yehoshua became the Lamb that was sacrificed as a sin offering and that He is the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) who presents His blood to YHWH for the covering of sins. But notice also how it says “for sins that had taken place before”. All the sacrifices that were done from the beginning of time were all representative of the Messiah and that the blood of Yehoshua covered all the sins past, after repentance, from Adam to the death of the Messiah. It in no way means that we are now ‘allowed’ to sin or that anything has changed from the Word of YHWH. Is not the Torah everlasting (Mat 5:18)?

One thing we need to remember is, how can the Almighty declare someone, who continues to disobey His Instruction, to be righteous? That is impossible. The people who have belief in Yehoshua are all Torah observant and are then declared righteous.

“Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what Torah? Of works? No, but by the Torah of belief” (Rom 3:27). The Pharisees taught that new believers needed to immediately adhere to all the laws of the Torah, then afterward find belief, however, the Good News teaches otherwise, we first need to believe and have faith, then the Torah will be written on our hearts and we will desire to learn and do the whole Torah of YHWH. We see this when James proclaimed that new believers need not be circumcised immediately in Acts 15 as they needed to believe first and find that out as they study the Torah for themselves. New believers did however need to immediately refrain from certain things, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the gentiles who are turning to Elohim, but that we write to them to abstain from the defilements of idols, and from whoring, and from what is strangled, and from blood” (Act 15:19-20). Sadly there is no Christian church that teaches or even abstains from any of these things written in Acts 15.

“For we reckon that a man is declared right by belief without works of Torah” (Rom 3:28) The terms “works of Torah” and “under Torah” predate Shaul by hundreds of years. These terms were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls (A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT:4Q394-399); while originally referring to the ultra religious halakha of the Essenes, the same principles apply to the Pharisees’ halakha. These two phrases are also mentioned in Romans 6:14, 15, 9:32, 1 Corinthians 9:20, 21, Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 5, 10, 23, 4:4, 5, 21, 5:18. “Under Torah” refers to the orthodox/traditional interpretation and observance of Torah. Religious halakha is clearly NOT what Yehoshua or Shaul followed in their observance of Torah. The Renewed Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is to write the Torah of YHWH upon the hearts of His people, not the “Torah of men.” The idiomatic expression “works of Torah” provides insight to those of a “traditional” Jewish upbringing. Shaul references Jews at the beginning of this chapter; in verse 19 he states “Now we know” referring to those who understand Torah and halakha.

“Or is He the Elohim of the Yehuḏim (Jews) only, and not also of the gentiles? Yea, of the gentiles also, since it is one Elohim who shall declare right the circumcised by belief and the uncircumcised through belief” (Rom 3:29-30). Once again we see that Shaul is speaking of the Jews and Gentiles when referring to the circumcision and the uncircumcision respectively. Gentile believers (wild olive) can be engrafted into the true belief (good olive) and hence, YHWH is the Elohim of the Jews and the Gentile believers too. Shaul did not in any way teach that Gentile believers need not be circumcised in the flesh as required in the Torah, but rather that they need to believe before blindly doing Commands without belief.

“Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief (faith)? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah” (Rom 3:31) As we can see here, faith or belief does not in anyway nullify the Torah, in fact, we cannot have faith or belief without the observance of the Torah. On the other side, the observance of Torah without faith or belief is also not possible.