Living by His instructions

                                                        by Barry W. Gaugler

Thus says YHVH of hosts: "In those days ten men from the languages of the nations shall take hold of the robe of a man, a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.'"
Zachariah 8:23 (From the Hebrew)

YHVH my strength and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations shall come from the ends of the earth, and say, Only lies have inherited our fathers, vanity, and in them is not profit.
Jeremiah 16:19 (From the Hebrew)

We are living in the very last days. The Jewish people are recognizing, and accepting Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah, at a record pace. Christians are seeking to know the truth, that has been hidden from them for centuries by church dogma, and doctrines which are contrary to the plain teachings found in the Scriptures. There is an awakening happening right before our eyes, that has been unparalleled in all of history. This is not the doings of men, but I believe it is the move of Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit). All of a sudden, there is a hunger to understand the Scriptures from the perspective of the time, and culture, from which they were written, instead of a modern understanding, which is totally foreign to the purpose of their writing.

We must understand that the Scriptures were not written from a modern day Western perspective. They were written to an ancient Eastern culture, that has very little resemblance to the way things are understood, or done today. Until we can grasp the concepts of how these ancient cultures understood these writings, we can only guess as to what was being said. Unfortunately, most of our translations were done from a modern Western understanding. We desperately need to get back to the ancient Hebraic culture, and find out what the Scriptures meant to these people.

How do we do that? The first thing we can do, is to start at the beginning of the book. Start with Torah (The first five books of the Bible), and learn what our heavenly Father required of His people, Israel. He gave His commandments to these people to keep them Holy. In order to be Holy, the idea is for them to be "Set apart," from the rest of the peoples of the world. They are not to worship their heavenly Father after the fashion of the pagans, which Elohim was driving out of the land before them. They were not to inquire after their customs, and they were not to inquire, as to how they worshiped their idols. Are we not to also be Holy? Are we supposed to look like the world? Are we to act just like them, eat like them, talk like them, or are we supposed to be set apart from the world?

They were not to eat the unclean animals, which were common to the pagans they were driving out of the land, and were given distinct instructions as to what was considered to be food, and also, as to what animals were not to ever be considered food. These commandments were to be perpetual commandments. In other words, they were meant to stand forever. Elohim has never told a lie, and is incapable of doing so. With that in mind, it is important to understand that Elohim cannot change. Therefore, if the church, or any man's doctrine says that these commandments have changed, we need to seek our heavenly Father in prayer, and ask Him to open our eyes to the truth. Then, we are to walk in that truth. We need to examine ourselves in order to see if we are walking after the faith of Yeshua, or after the doctrines of devils, and the traditions of men.