Be Perfect as your Father in heaven is Perfect

The Torah reading for this past Shabbat was very much about purging the evil out of Israel and to be perfect before YHWH our Elohim. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, those who are guilty of the evil must be put to death. What is this evil that is being spoken of here? Disobeying the Torah of YHWH is evil. Although not all evil acts are punishable by death, many are, for example, adultery, murder, magic, sorcery, idolatry and a few others.

Does this really sound like the character of the Almighty (or the 'love of Jesus'), killing those that disobey His Commands? Only those who believe in human rights and other humanistic religions, like Christianity, do not think that this is His Character. They believe that everyone should have “the love of Jesus” forgiving everyone’s iniquities and evil deeds continuously. The fact of the matter is that the Messiah came to do the Torah of His Father. Christianity has been based on humanistic man-made doctrines that do not in anyway resemble the true Messiah. Even the Bible has been fabricated (mistranslated in many places) to promote the anti-Messiah doctrines that the Church teaches. A really good example of this is the story about the woman caught in adultery found in John 8:1-11, where “Jesus” just happened to forgive her evil sin that should have been punished by death. The problem with that story is that it never happened according to the Aramaic New Testament and even the earliest Greek translations. You can read more on that topic here. The church uses this passage to justify the evil works of their members.

Let us have a look at a few verses from the Living Word of the Almighty from this Torah reading,

“Follow righteousness, righteousness alone, so that you live and inherit the land which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you” (Deut 16:20). Now when one does a study ofTorah and the prophets, you will notice that everything works in cycles and are signs and shadows of things still to come. One of the most obvious examples is that of entering into the promised land of Israel signifying entering into the Kingdom of YHWH at the end of days. The Torah is spoken of as “the Living Words” in Acts 7:38. It is the Instruction for us, to teach us how we are going to be able to inherit and enter into the Kingdom of YHWH just as it was instruction for the Hebrews on how to inherit the Land that YHWH was giving them.

“When there is found in your midst, in any of your cities which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of יהוה (YHWH) 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)

If one does a little research on the origin, practices and traditions of Christianity, you will find that it all comes from Sun-worship. Easter, Christmas, Jesus, God, Lord, Holy, the cross and many more names and traditions all stem from Sun-worship! Are these things not abominations? Did the Messiah come to declare what was once an abomination in the eyes of Him and His Father, now okay and acceptable? Certainly not! 

The reason that YHWH divorced the majority of Israel was because they did not heed His Command not to learn to do according to the abominations of the Gentiles. “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). It is very evident that the church is following these abominations and is therefore abominable to YHWH. Again you have to ask yourself, is what was abominable before, now made good?

One thing that the Church really hammers on is that it is impossible to keep the Torah or be perfect. The Torah itself teaches us that we are to be perfect before YHWH, “Be perfect before יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim” (Deut 18:13). Why would YHWH command this if it was impossible to do? This is because it is not impossible and the church is lying to us. 

Let us read of a few characters in the Scriptures, “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with Elohim” (Gen 6:9). “There was a man in the land of Uts, whose name was Iyoḇ. And that man was perfect and straight, and one who feared Elohim and turned aside from evil” (Job 1:1). “There was in the days of Herodes, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, a certain priest named Zeḵaryah, of the division of Aḇiyah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aharon, and her name was Elisheḇa. And they were both righteous before Elohim, blamelessly walking in all the commands and righteousnesses of יהוה (YHWH)” (Luke 1:5). These are but a few examples of people who were perfect and righteous before YHWH.  Now let us see what the Messiah Himself taught what we are to do, “Therefore, be perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect” (Mat 5:48).

So according to the Living Word of YHWH and by the teaching of the Messiah, we are to be perfect before YHWH walking in all the Commands of YHWH. We are not to learn to do as the pagan Gentiles do. Should we not then search out to see whether we are doing as the pagans are doing or are we following the Word of the Almighty?

Word Survey: Lord

The Name YHWH has been substituted in our translations of the Scriptures with the title “Lord” some 6823 times. The short form, Yah, has also been substituted 48 times with “Lord,” and only in one place was it retained as: Yah, in Psalm 68:4, in the older and more literal translations. Further, wherever we read “GOD” in capital letters, that too is a substituted for “YHWH.” This title, “Lord,” is applied to all heathen deities, if the word “god” is not used for them. In most cases “lord” and “god” are used interchangeably for pagan idols. For instance, Hare Krishna is popularly known as “Lord,” and nowadays we hear much about “Lord Maitreya.”

In 1 Cor 8:5 Paul says, “as there are many mighty one’s and many masters.”So, who then, do we worship? Surely there is only One that we should worship, with His Son sitting on His right side. “…What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know?” (Prov 30:4). Why have Their Names been hidden from us?

Let us investigate this most common substitute for the Name YHWH, namely “Lord.” What is its etymology? Dictionaries tell us that it originated from the Old English “hlaford,” which in turn came from “half-weard” = loaf-keeper. This may be true, but you do have to stretch your imagination to see a connection between “lord” and half-weard.

Nevertheless, even if we do accept this explanation, I would like to propose that, in accordance with the spirit of syncretism, i.e. making your deity acceptable to others, we can readily see how the worshippers of three pagan deities with names similar to “lord,” were accommodated by means of compromise. These three pagan deities were “Larth”, “Loride” and “Lordo.” The Church, which evolved after Constantine fused the Messianic Belief with Sun-worship, was enthusiastic to win as many followers as they could, even if it meant compromise or assimilation.

Let us do some research on these three idols:

(1) LARTH: There was an Etruscan house deity whose name was Lar, which signified “Lord,” also know as Larth, who later on became very popular in Rome and became known as Lares (plural), because as idol statues they were usually in pairs. This deity was invoked together with Janus, Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus and Bellona. The Greek equivalent of this name was Heros, which was another name for Zeus. A feminine form was known as Lara, who was the beloved of Mercury, the Sun-deity. Another name for Zeus was Larissaeus, which also was another name for Apollo. Zeus was also known as Larasios or Lariseus, while Larasios was also a surname of Helios, Typical of the syncretism and polytheism of those days, we read of Emperor Alexander Severus (222-235 C.E.) who “had images of Abraham, Christ and Alexander the Great among his household Lares.” These Lares are to be found in the East as well, seen in niches in Hindu houses.

However, what is the analogy between Larth (Lar) and Lord? Firstly, all sources agree, that this Lar or Larth means: Lord. Secondly, it is well documented that “th” and “d” were virtually interchangeably used, varying from nation to nation. Thirdly, in Old English and Middle English it was common to find the “o” and “a” interchangeably used too.

In the Middle English Dictionary, editor S.M. Kuhn, we read that lord was earlier spelt lard; that lor became lord; that lor was spelt lar in Old English (meaning: the action or process of teaching or preaching); that Lore-fader was also spelt Larfaderr or Larefadir or larfadir (meaning: teacher); that lorspel was lar-spel in Old English (meaning: that which is taught in religion); and that lor-theu was previously also spelt lar-theow, lardewe, lardewen, lauerd, lordeau (meaning: teacher or spiritual or theological teacher). Thus we can easily see the ease of identifying Lard, Lord, Larth, Lor, Lar, Lortheu, Lartheow, Lardewe with one another. In fact, it is easier to trace the origin of “Lord” according to this well documented evidence, rather than the commonly held belief that it originated from half-weard.

(2) LORIDE: Thor was the well-known Teutonic war-deity. He was also known as a Sun-deity. His surname was Hlorridhi, as recorded in the Edda. This name or surname was also spelt Hloridi or Loride, the latter also taken to be Thor’s son, who had a wife with the name “Glora.” This Loride could easily have been contracted to the form “Lord,” or perhaps it could only have served to establish religious syncretism with Larth, and Lortheu, and Lard, and Lordeau, and Lord.

(3) LORDO: Lordo, or Lordon, was another deity or daimon, the daimon of “lordosis,” the curvature of the spine of body, which also had a sensual meaning.

If all this evidence is considered, one can resolve that, apart from the various names which contributed towards the assimilation or syncretism, the most likely origin of the word “Lord” is from Larth (Lard) and Lortheu (lardewe, lordeau, lauerd).

Thus, although the word “Lord” is not so clearly related to, or originated from, frank Sun-worship, we have enough evidence to trace its roots back to idolatrous worship in the form of Loride, being a surname for Thor (the Sun), and also Lortheu or Lardewe or lordeau (connected with theos or deos or deva), as well as Larth or Lar which was somehow linked with Mercury (the Sun-deity) and Zeus, the Sky-deity who later on became the Sun-deity.

As a confirmation of the conclusion to which we came, we afterwards discovered the following findings of the scholar of English names, Robert Ferguson, in his Surnames as a Science. In pp 157 and 189 he emphatically states that “Lord” could not have had its origin from hlaford, which was said to come from half-weard. Like us, he states that the origin of “Lord” is from lar, lore, and Loride.

What then, should we use instead of “Lord”? The word “Master” is an exact rendering of the Hebrew Adonai (actually the ‘ai’ at the end of the word means ‘my’ so Adonai means ‘my Master’) and the Greek Kurios. If we love the Name of YHWH, as is expected from us (Ps 69:36, ps 119:132, Isa 56:6), can we be content with this word “Lord” which many have dared to substitute His Name with? Can we say with David in Ps 5:11, “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You… let those also who love Your Name, be joyful in You.”

Elohim’s end-time prophecy of Isa 56:6-7 could mean a blessing, or an exclusion to us, “Also the sons of the foreigner, who joined themselves to YHWH, to serve Him, and to love the Name of YHWH, to be His servants – everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My Covenant – even them I will bring to My Set-Apart Mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer.”

Again, He prophecies about this time in Hosea 2:16-17,”’And it shall be, in the day’ says YHWH, ‘That you will… no longer call me: My Baal; for I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.’”

The prophecy of Zeph 3:9 must be fulfilled, “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the Name of YHWH, to serve Him with one accord.”

(Article from a book called: "Come Out of Her My People" by Chris Koster)

John 3:16 – Is belief enough?

“For Elohim so loved the world that He gave His only brought-forth Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but possess everlasting life” (John 3:16).

This is the verse that is quoted the most of all the Scriptures in the entire world. The Church uses it to teach that all we need to do to possess eternal life is to believe in “Jesus.” This is a perverse twisting of the verse as it is also written that the demons also believe “You believe that Elohim is one. You do well. The demons also believe – and shudder!” (James 2:19). So it takes more than just believing that Y’hoshua is the Messiah and that He died for our sins. 

If we read a little further on in this chapter, we see that those who are living righteously will come to the Messiah and that those who continue in their wicked ways reject the true Messiah. They will reject the Messiah because He is the light and that the light reveals their wicked darkness. “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were wicked. For everyone who is practicing evil matters hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But the one doing the truth comes to the light, so that his works are clearly seen, that they have been wrought in Elohim.” (John 3:19-21). Sin is wickedness and is defined as breaking the Torah (Instruction in righteousness) of YHWH.

It is clear to see that the Church is the darkness and runs away from the light. The Church teaches a false Messiah, a false belief with a false sense of salvation, leading many innocent souls into the darkness.

So who are the righteous people then? The righteous are those who love the light. And what does the Messiah Himself teach us what it is to love Him? “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). So it is those who keep the Commandments of YHWH that love Him. “ יהושע (Y’hoshua) said to them, “If Elohim were your Father, you would love Me, for I came forth from Elohim, and am here. For I have not come of Myself, but He sent Me” (John 8:42).

On the other hand, what did Y’hoshua say about those who do not keep His Commands (Torah)? “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’” (Mat 7:22-23).

The Church teaches that we should not keep the Torah of YHWH because we are not justified by it, but let us look at what James (Y’hoshua’s brother) teaches, “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.
Do you see that the belief was working with his works, and by the works the belief was perfected?
You see, then, that a man is declared right by works, and not by belief (faith) alone” (James 2:18, 22, 24)

So it is very clear according to the Scriptures, that if we believe in and love Y’hoshua, we are to keep the Torah of His Father to be in the light.

Fulfill the Law

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. 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)

Deuteronomy 4:2. Y’hoshua at no time “loosened” either the Torah or the Prophets! The prophetic Word YHWH gave to His prophets cannot be loosed or annulled, and neither can the Torah of YHWH. These are two witnesses that stand as One. The Word of YHWH is both Torah (instruction in righteousness) and Prophecy declaring, foretelling and revealing the Will of YHWH to each generation. 

“Fulfill” means to carry out or to bring to realization, to perform or to do, as a person’s duty; or to obey or follow the Commandments, as in satisfying the Commandments by obeying them, Isaiah 42:21 “YHWH is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify Torah, and make him (it) honorable.” Isaiah 42 reveals the work of Mashiyach; we have full prophetic assurance that Mashiyach would never annul Torah; rather he magnified Torah and wrote upon the hearts and imaginations of His people. Y’hoshua carried out (fulfilled) the prophecies regarding Mashiyach. He carried them out, made them happen, just like He performed Torah which was His duty and obligation as Mashiyach; otherwise He would not have qualified to be Mashiyach ben Yoseph.

“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” (Mat 5:19-20)

Y’hoshua would certainly not mention “the Pharisees” in this context, except that they walked in a degree of righteousness. Most ancient and modern Pharisees (Orthodox) have disciplined and righteous lifestyles; therefore Y’hoshua is stating the difference. As the Ruach haKodesh writes Torah upon the hearts of His followers, they will surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees who elevate tradition rather than Torah. Those without Torah have no righteousness, and they are certainly not “borrowing” any from Mashiyach’s righteousness while they continue in sin, regardless of what their theologians have to say. Mashiyach imparts His righteousness to those who follow Him, and keep Torah. Through Y’hoshua, YHWH is raising up a Set Apart people who keep His Commandments rather than making up their own religious traditions.

What is Kosher Eating (Part 2)

One thing that has really astonished me is that people who claim to eat kosher are not really eating kosher. There are a few reasons for why someone would not be eating kosher. One is that the person is not dedicated to a kosher life, but wants to look as though they are. Another is purely because of a lack of knowledge. Let us look at the following as an example.

Just abstaining from pork is not necessarily eating kosher.  One must go read and learn all the requirements of what makes food kosher to eat.

Saying a prayer over unclean meats doesn’t sanctify the meat any more than praying that you don’t get caught stealing “sanctifies” or protects you from the consequences of that transgression. Many fail to remember that, just because punishment is not always immediate, doesn’t mean that it’s been forgotten by heaven.

One thing that I should also point out is that ‘kosher’ of Rabbinical Judaism is not the same as ‘kosher’ of the Scriptures. Let me explain:

According to the Rabbinical Jews, you are not allowed to eat any meat and a dairy product in the same meal. If one eats meat for instance, then that person is not allowed to eat or drink any dairy product for six hours after that and visa versa. The Jewish people have in fact two separate fridges in their kitchens, one for meat products and the other for dairy products. Now think for yourself, is that Scriptural? (If you are not sure, then you must go study the Scriptures for yourself). It is definitely not Scriptural; I will show you why it is not.

Firstly, it is not written anywhere in the Scriptures that we are not allowed to eat meat with dairy. What has happened is that the Pharisees created what is known as the Talmud or “Oral Law”. Now the Oral Law is similar to the Torah except that it is the Instructions of the Rabbi’s and Sages and not the Instruction of YHWH (Torah). The Rabbinical Jews consider this to be the Law too and often takes precedence over the Torah.

The Scriptures that the Jews use to justify this is, (Exodus 23:19) “Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of יהוה your Elohim. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”  This command is given in three places in the Torah, the other two instances are in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21.

The ritualistic washing of hands before handling food, as mentioned in the previous article, is also not found in the Torah, but rather appears in the Talmud. However, according to the Orthodox Jews, any food that has been handled without this ritualistic washing of hands is also deemed unkosher. The same applies to food that has been prepared by a “Goy” which is a non-Jew.

"Unclean" animals/birds/fish are those that are carnivorous, those that are scavengers, those that eat road-kill and whatever they can scrounge, and those that eat dead things off the bottom of the ocean floor. That means that these animals carry viruses and parasites that are detrimental to our health. Please refer to this article about the make up of a pig and itsill effects on our health if eaten.

“Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you? If anyone destroys the Dwelling Place of Elohim, Elohim shall destroy him. For the Dwelling Place of Elohim is set-apart, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) The Scriptures teach us to look after our bodies as they are the Dwelling Place of Elohim. If we are going to fill our bodies with the filth of uncleanness, then our bodies are deemed unfit for Elohim to dwell in.

Now when you have found a clean animal, to eat it, all the blood has to be drained out of the animal and the blood has to return to the land and be covered by the dust, “Only, the blood you do not eat, pour it on the earth like water” (Deut 12:16)(see also Deut 15:23). We are not to eat any blood of the animal. If the blood has not immediately been drained from the animal after its slaughter, then the blood stalls in the meat and renders it unkosher even though it is a clean animal. “And any man from the children of Yisra’ĕl, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird, which is eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust” (Lev 17:13)

I have read on someone else’s blog article that says, all you need to do to meat, if bought in a supermarket, is to drench it in salt and boil the meat to get the blood out and then it is kosher. There is one very big problem with this theory. If the animal was not slaughtered properly, then the blood stalls in the meat and there is no way of getting it out afterwards. Another problem is that the meat bought in the supermarkets do not come from kosher butchers and gets slaughtered and cut up with the same instruments that cut up the unclean meats too. This contaminates the meat and renders it unkosher. Also, you also do not know where the blood has gone when it should have been returned to the earth.

Another thing to consider is that the pots and cutlery that we use can be contaminated by unclean animals. Some can be washed and others need to be broken. “And whatever any of them in its dead state falls upon, becomes unclean, whether it is any wooden object or garment or skin or sack, any object in which work is done, it is put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening, then it shall be clean. Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you break it” (Lev 11:32). Anything that is wooden or stainless steel etc can be properly washed and will be clean again. However, pores pots, like clay pots and pooitjie pots (any South African person will know what this is), have to be destroyed if any unclean meat was ever cooked in it.

Let us now look at what Leviticus teaches us about what is clean and unclean:

“And יהוה (YHWH) spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying to them,
Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘These are the living creatures which you do eat among all the beasts that are on the earth:
Whatever has a split hoof completely divided, chewing the cud, among the beasts, that you do eat.
Only, these you do not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have a split hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
and the rabbit, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
and the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
and the pig, though it has a split hoof, completely divided, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you.
Their flesh you do not eat, and their carcasses you do not touch. They are unclean to you.

These you do eat of all that are in the waters: any one that has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas or in the rivers, that you do eat.
But all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, all that move in the waters or any living creature which is in the waters, they are an abomination to you.
They are an abomination to you – of their flesh you do not eat, and their carcasses you abominate.
All that have not fins or scales in the waters is an abomination to you.

And these you do abominate among the birds, they are not eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture,
and the hawk, and the falcon after its kind,
every raven after its kind,
and the ostrich, and the nighthawk, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind,
and the little owl, and the fisher owl, and the great owl,
and the white owl, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture,
and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

All flying insects that creep on all fours is an abomination to you.
Only, these you do eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.
These of them you do eat: the locust after its kind, and the destroying locust after its kind, and the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.
But all other flying insects which have four feet is an abomination to you.
And by these you are made unclean, anyone touching the carcass of any of them is unclean until evening,
and anyone picking up part of the carcass of any of them has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening.
Every beast that has a split hoof not completely divided, or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass is unclean.
And whatever goes on its paws, among all the creatures that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass is unclean until evening,
and he who picks up their carcass has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening. They are unclean to you.

And these are unclean to you among the creeping creatures that creep on the earth: the mole, and the mouse, and the tortoise after its kind,
and the gecko, and the land crocodile, and the sand reptile, and the sand lizard, and the chameleon. These are unclean to you among all that creep. Anyone who touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.
And whatever any of them in its dead state falls upon, becomes unclean, whether it is any wooden object or garment or skin or sack, any object in which work is done, it is put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening, then it shall be clean.
Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you break it.
Any of the food which might be eaten, on which water comes, becomes unclean, and any drink which might be drunk from it becomes unclean.
And on whatever any of their carcass falls becomes unclean – an oven or cooking range – it is broken down. They are unclean, and are unclean to you.
But a fountain or a well, a collection of water, is clean, but whatever touches their carcass is unclean.
And when any of their carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it is clean.
But when any water is put on the seed and any part of any such carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
And when any of the beasts which are yours for food dies, he who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening.
And he who eats of its carcass has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening. And he who picks up its carcass has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening.
And every creeping creature that creeps on the earth is an abomination, it is not eaten. Whatever crawls on its stomach, and whatever goes on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all creeping creatures that creep on the earth, these you do not eat, for they are an abomination.

Do not make yourselves abominable with any creeping creature that creeps, and do not make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
For I am יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim, and you shall set yourselves apart. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart. And do not defile yourselves with any creeping creature that creeps on the earth.
For I am יהוה (YHWH) who is bringing you up out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart.
This is the Torah of the beasts and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that is eaten and the living creature that is not eaten.’” (Lev 11:1-47)(see also Deut 14)

We are living in a time where food is mass produced and customized to taste a way that is not how the food substance originally tasted. This is because people do not like the taste of natural raw foods and has to be adapted. Another reason, and possibly the greatest reason, is because of costs to the manufacturer. It is much easier and cheaper to use flavorants, stabilizers, preservatives etc. to make the food taste better and last longer. The problem with this is that they get these flavorants and preservatives from unclean animals.

You can Google "kosher foods" to find lists of "unkosher" foods, such as Jell-O (gelatin contains horse hooves to make the "gel"), and things that contain certain dyes which are made from certain "unclean" bugs, etc. The list is endless and, after awhile, you'll just begin to "know" what to look for at the grocery store....

So it is slightly harder for us, especially if we live in Western world gentile countries, to find kosher foods, especially meat. This is however not really a problem as there are many products that have kosher markings on them saying that there are no unclean ingredients in that product. There are also many kosher substitutes for products that are not kosher. As stated above, within no time at all, you will know exactly what is kosher and not kosher and shopping will be no different to before.

One last thing that I would like to bring to your attention is that we have to check everything before consuming it, this is not only food products but also medicines and sweets etc. I am not going to go in to that now, but is something for you to consider too.

May we all start to eat kosher as the Scriptures command us to do and we will see many restaurants and food markets either close down or become kosher too themselves!!!

Does Scripture teach us to eat kosher? (Part 1)

Eating Kosher is one of the most contested issues amongst the Christians and the TRUE Believers in the Mashiyach! The Christian teachers teach that, only “God” can change his own “Laws” and that He changed the dietary law so that we are now able to eat any the things that were previously abominable to Him and us.

But do the Scriptures really teach us this? Or should we still be eating kosher (kosher means acceptable) food only? Let us look at some of the arguments that the Church uses to justify their false teaching of eating abominable unclean animals.

Firstly, the Church uses Acts 10 to justify the eating of unclean animals. If one reads this passage of Scripture, then you will see that it is clearly not speaking of food. I am not going to go into this part of Scripture now as I have already covered it in a previous posting. You can read about it here in the articlecalled: Joel Osteen is a false teacher. 

Secondly,

“You eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions because of conscience, for “The earth belongs to יהוה (YHWH), and all that fills it.”
And if any of the unbelievers invite you, and you wish to go, you eat whatever is set before you, asking no question on account of the conscience.
And if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it because of the one pointing it out to you, and on account of the conscience, for “The earth belongs to יהוה (YHWH), and all that fills it.” (1 Corinthians 10:25-27). This piece of Scripture above is not talking about clean and unclean animals. It is speaking of ‘that which is offered to idols’. The Jewish people, like the author of this verse, do not consider any unclean animal to be food. Shaul never condoned the eating of unclean meats in these verses.

If the food (clean) was put in front of you that was offered to an idol by an unbeliever, you were to eat it only if they did not tell you that it was offered to an idol. If they did tell you, then you were not to eat it on account of the conscience of that unbeliever.

Rav Shaul is explaining how the food that was prepared has no hold on you (one thing to remember is that the meat in the markets that Shaul is talking about here is only clean meat, it is not mixed up with unclean meats like the majority of our modern meat markets and butcheries) - that since you are living a life of obedience to the Word of YHWH, then the food that YHWH permits, provides the same sustenance for you as it would if you knew its "chain of custody" (to use a legal phrase - meaning, if you could trace the path of the animal from its owner to the meat market, and you therefore knew it was handled entirely kosher (not sacrificed to idols), the meat has the same value to you and your body as it would if you were not able to trace its chain of custody. However, if you find out that it was sacrificed to an idol, even though you could still eat it because you know that that sacrifice possesses no power over you, you should not eat it so as to show the "unbeliever" (vs 10:27) serving it to you, in a teaching opportunity, that his sacrifice was not valid and that you will not participate in what the unbeliever intended it to mean. See Rav Shaul's own clarification of this in the verses just prior to 1 Corinthians 10:25. In 1 Corinthians 10:19-21, Rav Shaul says you do not want to partake at the table of our Master Y'shua and at the table of demons - instead take courage and show the unbeliever the error of their ways.

So it is very clear that this passage of Scripture does not in any way tell us that we can eat unclean meat! In fact, if you read the beginning of this chapter, Shaul teaches that we should not lust after evil (disobedience) like the Israelites in the wilderness.

Another verse that is often used to justify the eating of unclean meats is, “Not that which goes into the mouth defiles the man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Mat 15:11). This verse is one of those verses that is misquoted the most. You see, Christianity of today is a humanistic religion appealing to those who do not want to change their sinful lifestyle, but still ‘feel’ spiritually justified.  To understand what is being said in Mat 15:11, we need to read the whole chapter and also have an understanding of Rabbinical Judaism (which is the Pharisee’s of today). In the beginning of this chapter, we see the Pharisees asking Y’hoshua why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, for they do not wash their hands before they eat (see also Mark 7:1-2).

Now if you know what this tradition of the elders is, then you will know that there was and still is a very specific ritual of washing hands before eating.  This ritual is enforced as a law by the Jews, but does not come from the Torah, it is part of the ‘Oral Law’ (traditions of the elders). The Rabbinical Jews of today still classify any food that has been handled without this ritualistic hand washing to be unkosher.

Another thing is that the Messiah could not and did not eat anything unclean as he would have broken the Torah if He did and deemed His death useless. He also would not have allowed any of His disciples to eat anything unclean. We can see that none of the disciples ate anything unclean before or after the death and resurrection of the Messiah by reading further in Scripture.

So as you can see, this passage of Scripture does in no way refer to the eating of unclean meats and should not be used to try and justify the eating of pork etc.

Here is another verse that is used to justify the disobedience of eating unclean meats. Although it is not used as much as the others and is not as convincing either, it is still used and needs to be addressed here. “Because every creature of Elohim is good, and none is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is set apart by the Word of Elohim and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4-5)

Now go read this whole chapter and ask yourself, is this verse talking about food? It clearly is not and should also not be used in that sense as that would be twisting the Scripture.

One thing that we must keep in mind is that Shaul (Paul) or any of the other Disciples or even Y’hoshua Mashiyach Himself can’t preach one thing and then do something else. They can’t live one way and teach another way. They all lived a Torah observant life and ate only kosher food according to what is written in the Torah. How then can any one of them teach others that it is okay to eat unkosher?

We are not under the Law if we eat kosher. We are also not bound by it either. Anything that is unclean is not considered to be food at all, why then would we eat ‘non-food’? If one does not eat kosher, then that person is the one that is bound. He is bound by the bondage of sin (disobedience) as he is going against the Instruction of YHWH. Doing the Torah of YHWH sets us free from the bondage of sin. It does in no way mean that we are under the Law as the majority of Christians will tell you. In fact, under the Law is a term that means “under a religious system” which actually deems the Christians and any other man-made religious group as those that are under the Law.

The Christian usually says that he does not have to keep the instruction of YHWH because he is not under the Law as “Jesus” did away with the Law. But this poor ignorant Christian has no idea what he is saying and is in fact still under the Law! What law did the Mashiyach then do away with? The Law of sin of course. By reconnecting us to the Covenant of YHWH!

Another thing to remember too is that Shaul and the other Disciples or Y’hoshua too, does not have the right or authority to change the Word or Instruction of YHWH. If any of them teaches anything that is against the Instruction of YHWH, then he is at fault and one should ignore the teachings of that person. But if we go have a look at what they really taught, then we can see that it is not against the Torah of YHWH.

When a Believer voices Torah conscience, the rest of the body is obligated to support them, even if some think otherwise. Paul refers to the Believers in Corinth as carnal babes who can't digest solid food and who are struggling to receive truth; they are contentious and walking in the flesh (1 Corinthians 3), much the same as the modern Christian church who uses these verses to endorse violation of Torah, which is simply a poor attempt to "justify" the weak carnal flesh.

"Unclean" animals/birds/fish are those that are carnivorous, those that are scavengers, those that eat road-kill and whatever they can scrounge, and those that eat dead things off the bottom of the ocean floor.

 “Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you? If anyone destroys the Dwelling Place of Elohim, Elohim shall destroy him. For the Dwelling Place of Elohim is set-apart, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Click here to see what the negative effects of eating pork are to you 

The dietary laws that were given to the children of Israel as recorded in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are, what in modern terms is called, good nutrition or preventive medicine.  In other words what YHWH is saying is this, “If you keep My dietary laws on clean and unclean meat you will not get the kinds of sicknesses and diseases like what the Egyptians (or the other nations) were getting.

The knowledge of why the unclean animals are unclean has been known since the beginning of time. YHWH gave these commands for our own good so that we may live healthy lives. People get sick because of disobedience to the Word of YHWH (Torah) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being a priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your Elohim, I will also forget your children.” (Hos. 4:6) Y’hoshua Mashiyach had never been sick His entire life on earth because He had never defiled His own body and had never tasted even one bit of unclean meat.  Should we not also follow His example? (1 Peter 2:21-24)

The dietary laws were given by YHWH not to harm or place obstacles in our pathway of salvation but to help and ensure our having healthy lives.  Failure to keep the dietary laws endangers our health and our careless eating habit is, in a way, tempting Elohim.

Just to leave you with one more thought:

If the dietary law has been done away with, and that we are able to eat the unclean animals alongside the clean animals… then there should be no such thing as hunger in this world!  Let me explain.

The meat that pig’s meat most closely resembles is that of human meat. In fact, human meat is so much healthier to eat than pork. If we are to accept pork as food, then we should also accept human meat as food and hence, will put an end to food shortage and hunger in the world, and also burial space as when a person dies, his body’s meat can be used to feed the poor, or even used in fine dinning restaurants if prepared well.

Why, all of a sudden, are we allowed to eat unclean pork, but not unclean human meat or horse meat for that matter, which is a million times healthier than pork? That is only because men make up the rules that they want without the instruction of the Scriptures. 

Tzitzit

Now here is a topic that is usually a conversation starter for my wife and I. The reason for this is because it is visible to other people. The wearing of Tzitzit (Tassels) is actually the only evidence to other people, who have never met you, about your faith. The Idea of wearing Tzitzit is a very simple, yet powerful idea. That is why the Creator commanded us to wear them. It is a Command, not a suggestion.

 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners. And it shall be to you for a tzitzit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the commands of יהוה (YHWH) and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring” (Num 15:38-39). The whole idea of wearing the tzitzit is to remind us of all the Torah of YHWH and not only for us to remember but also to do all the Torah.

The wearing of tzitzit in the Christian Church is non existent for the simple reason that the Christians follow the Church rather than the Scriptures themselves. The Church teaches that the Word of the Almighty does not apply to Christianity anymore but rather the man-made religious doctrines, and therefore, anyone who is obedient to the Creator and not to the Church, by wearing tzitzit is totally frowned upon and labeled as a legalist.

The word “Christian” means “to be Christ like” but Christianity does in no way look anything like “Christ-like.” The Scripture itself teaches us that we are to walk as the Messiah walked, “The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). The Church even at a stage came out with “WWJD” arm bands that were a huge hit among the youth. What does “WWJD” stand for? “What Would Jesus Do.” This was a ploy to get the youth more devoted to the church and not really teaching them what the Messiah really did or would do if He were here with us now.

Let us for a moment consider what the Messiah would do if He were here with us today; He would firstly not be called “Jesus”, He would keep the Seventh Day Sabbath and not go to church on a Sunday, He would also eat only kosher foods and He would most definitely wear tzitzit among other things. He would basically keep the whole Torah of His Father who is in heaven. Did the wearing of the wrist band that said “WWJD” teach anyone to do these things? Certainly not. If we are to be believers in the Messiah and follow Him, then we are to walk as He walked.

Now as we saw, from above, that the Messiah would be wearing Tzitzit if He were walking among us today and did wear Tzitzit when he did walk upon the earth, some 2,000 years ago. We see this in the following verses: “And see, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall be healed. But יהושע (Yehoshua) turned, and when He saw her He said, “Take courage, daughter, your belief has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that hour” (Mat 9:20-22). Here is the record of the same event by the testimony of Luke, “And a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who, having spent all her livelihood on physicians, was unable to be healed by any, came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped” (Luke 8:43)

Here are some other passages also speaking of tzitzit being worn by the Messiah, “And having passed over, they came to the land of Gennĕsar. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding country, and brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him to let them only touch the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched it were completely healed” (Mat 14:34-36). “And wherever He went, into villages, or cities, or the country, they were laying the sick in the market-places, and begged Him to let them touch if only the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched Him were healed” (Mark 6:56)

So as we can see by what the Scriptures teach us, if we are to be followers of the Messiah, we too have to wear tzitzit on the four corners of our garments.

Now I have read an article claiming that only the men have to wear tzitzit as the Torah taught the Almighty was speaking to the men only. They get this from the following verse, “Speak to the children (bein) of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot 1 on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit 2 of the corners” (Num 15:38). The word used for children is from the Hebrew word “bein” which ultimately means son, however, when used in this context, the whole of Israel was being addressed as it can also refer to a nation, as there are more meanings to the word "bein", namely, "grandson", "child" or "member of a group", as is the same case in many other instances, when only the men are being addressed then the Scripture would more specific to that idea by using the word "ish" which means "man" or "husband".

So it is clear that we all have to wear tzitzit, whether man or woman, if we are to be called the followers of Y’hoshua the Messiah. It is also not a matter of achieving a certain level before one is able to wear tzitzit, but rather it is about obeying the Instruction of YHWH as it is commanded us to do.