On Torah and Obedience to Torah

[Larry]

On Torah and Obedience to Torah:

Deuteronomy 4: 40 Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land YAHWEH your God is giving you forever.

Deuteronomy 5: 33 You are to follow the entire way which YAHWEH your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess.

Deuteronomy 12: 28 Obey and pay attention to everything I am ordering you to do, so that things will go well with you and with your descendants after you forever, as you do what YAHWEH sees as good and right.

Deuteronomy 31: 12 Assemble the people-the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners you have in your towns -so that they can hear, learn, fear YAHWEH your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah.

Joshua 22: 5 Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of YAHWEH gave you - to love YAHWEH your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being.

Joshua 1: 8 Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed.

The scriptures above are but a few of nearly 300 scriptures where Yahweh implores us to obey and observe His Torah. Yeshua taught nothing different:

Matthew 7: 13 "Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it; 14 but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.'

Now look at "The Good News" to see what "life" Yeshua is talking about:

Matthew 7: 21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, `Lord, Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we expel demons in your name? Didn't we perform many miracles in your name?' 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, `I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!'

Matthew 5: 17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Note: Matthew 5:17-20 are the words of the Messiah Yeshua himself telling us how important YAHWEH's Commandments are!!!!

Matthew 19: 17 "Why are you asking me about good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life, observe the mitzvot."

Matthew 22: 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh'eilah to trap him: 36 "Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?" 37 He told him, "`You are to love YAHWEH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.' 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, `You are to love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot."

For instance, there are NOT just two mitzvot. Yeshua was answering the question of which were the greatest mitzot ' which he clearly caveated that they were not the "only" mitzvot, but ALL the Torah and the Prophets follow these.

Mark 1: 40 And a leper came to him and fell upon his feet and was beseeching him and said to him, 'If you desire, you are able to make me clean.' 41. And he, Y'shua, had compassion on him and stretched out his hand and said, 'I desire, be clean.' 42. And at that moment, his leprosy departed from him and he was made clean.8 43. And he rebuked him and he went out. 44. And he said to him, 'See to it that you tell no man, rather go show yourself to the priests and offer an offering for your purification as Moshe commanded for their testimony.' 45. But when he departed he began much preaching and made known the event so that Y'shua was not able to openly enter the city, but was outside in a deserted place. And they were coming to him from every place.

Wow! Much is to be learned from this event. 1) Not only was the man with tzara'at faithful that Yeshua could heal him (the first part of John 17:2-3), but 2) Yeshua then says this is not all. It was not enough for the man to have simply been healed; Yeshua tells the man to now go and be holy and be Torah observant ' that is ' be obedient to YAHWEH (the second part of John 17:2-3); AND 3) Further, Yeshua tells the man NOT to go brag about his healing, (i.e. to be humble about this); but instead, the man went and bragged such that Yeshua had to try to find a place away from the crush of desirous people.

James 1: 22 Don't deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it! 23 For whoever hears the Word but doesn't do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, 24 who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does. 26 Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing.

Romans 3: 20 ...because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.

Proverbs 4: 2 for I am giving you good advice; don't forsake my Torah.