October 17, 2023

I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. 15 That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.ecc 3:14-15 nkjv

This past weekend was the “New Season,” or new beginning… in regard to the cyclical reading and study of the Torah, and Half-Torah scriptures. This had been a longtime practice of Yahweh’s people, long before Yeshua came upon the scene. You may recall that Yeshua practiced these things “as was His custom.” luk 4:16-17; In fact, this narrative is recorded by Luke in the first days of His ministry, that immediately followed His baptism (luk 3:21), and the devil’s tempting Him in the wilderness. Interestingly, because of the controversial arguments among those in the synagogue, following His reading these Scriptures, which He said were fulfilled that day, it caused Him to depart their wrath and intentions to attack Him. So if He [our example for discipleship] kept those customs and practices, why is that important to us?

The “season,” [moed, appointed time], is a repeated occurrence in the Bible, that is full of meaning and teaching, that we should not overlook or disregard. Mainly, because it is significantly connected to the “purpose” Yahweh has designed into it. It is also notable, in my thinking, that the Scripture says, “whatever God does, It shall be forever.” So then, this past Sabbath, I came to the appointed time to start a new “season” of re-reading the Torah, according to the customary published reading schedule for each Sabbath of this year. I would also add that this year, I am thankful that I am in the twentieth consecutive year of this “custom as exampled by Yeshua.” It has been a most enlightening and blessed experience. Of course, we Christian believers include New Testament readings that connect with the Torah reading for that week…

I have said before that Yeshua prayed to the Father that He would sanctify His followers by His truth, saying “Your Word is Truth.” jn 17:17 nkjv So, by reading the Torah, I know I am being sanctified by truth… which also sustains my faith. rom 10:17 nkjv Truth is under attack everywhere around us. Truth is vital to our life, here and now and for our finding our way to the eternal Kingdom. Yahweh’s truth is what defends us and purifies our thinking, and consoles our inner souls. The Torah Word is seed, divine Spirit, and it’s purpose is to bring forth Yahweh’s purpose for our lives… the produced “fruit” of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. gal 5:22-23 nkjv

In chapter 13 of Matthew, Yeshua goes into great detail about the “seed” [word of the Kingdom], the sower [the Son of Man], the condition of the soil [heart], and the good seed [wheat] sons of the Kingdom, sown by the Son of Man; and the bad seed [tares] sons of the wicked one… sown by the devil. I would say that you will be a product of who you receive “seed” from, and your fruit will look like the seed… for example, the “fruit of the Spirit” above scripture is preceded by:

“19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” gal 5:19-21 nkjv Now these “fruits of the evil spirit” are the sons of the wicked one, who were manifestations of the “bad seed.” Our Torah reading today tells us that everything produces after its own kind… meaning, good seed, good fruit; bad seed, bad fruit.

I think everything affecting our journey towards the celestial Kingdom is about faith… real faith is exampled to us in the life and experiences of Abraham (Paul called him the father of our faith, rom chapter 4). I think it is remarkable that Moses received, from Yahweh, details about Abraham comprising 14 chapters of Genesis… the core takeaway, to me, is that Yahweh saw Abraham like this:

“6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” gen 15:6 nkjv

Now this was before the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai; before the covenant of circumcision, and before the Nation of Israel (before “Jews” too) was yet defined and formed by Yahweh in His dealings with Abraham and later Issac, and Jacob [Israel]. When we study the Torah and its systematic details of Yahweh’s teachings and examples of life and death, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, obedience and disobedience, and the ongoing list of contrasts of good seed products and bad seed products, we learn the way to life… why Yeshua came to save us and why the Holy Spirit was poured out into our hearts... and in Moses near final summation of it all in Deuteronomy, we hear this warning:

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;” deut 30:19 nkjv

I think this moment was similar to a commencement speech (in context); You have been taught, given living examples, and have been prepared to move on… choose wisely. For millennia the Torah portions have been Yahweh’s way to ground people in foundations of faith… hearing the Word. Year by year cyclical revisits to the mountain of truth… so we don’t forget; Yeshua is the mountain “personified,” as the living Word… I think when we participate in the annual Torah weekly readings, essentially, we are having living fellowship with the lifeblood of faith, Yeshua’s good seed continuing its refurbishing our inner man.

If you would like to check out the Torah Portions, this link to Hebrew for Christians would be a place to look, there are others. You need to make sure you find the current week reading.

Shalom, John