Is the Torah in the Brit Chadasha (“New Testament”)?
Is the Torah in the Brit Chadasha (“New Testament”)?
That We May All Be Echad, that is, United in Our Master Yahushua
The Testimony before the Master Yahushua of Binyamin-Zerach ben Moshe[1]
Foreword
The following is the Testimony of Binyamin-Zerach ben Moshe, to state that this is a mustard seed that has grown by increments from a homework assignment by a former pastor about 40 years ago to find “New Testament” references that support Torah observance. The Master Yahushua has, through this homework assignment, given to me to grow in believing and following His testimony that He delivered to Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher), per Qorintyah aleph / 1Corinthians 10:4 and Ivrim / Hebrews 11:24-26, from Abba Yahuwah. He gave me the courage of His conviction in order to leave behind a comfortable house and the wife whom He gave me for 14 years, but who could not see to follow me in this service to the Master, but stayed—or should I say staid?—with the church that we attended those years together. May our Master Yahushua nevertheless have rachamim and chen (mercy and favor) on such a sincere woman, who still trusts in our Messiah for salvation, in spite of her inability to see the light that our Kinsman Redeemer, the Master Yahushua, opened my eyes to see, omein.
The rewards that have replaced the losses have more than satisfied them, and the praise goes to Yahuwah, b’Shem (in the Name of) Yahushua ha-Moshiach, omein!
All Scripture quotes in this work are from the Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition (unless otherwise specified), available at , from where the author has learned more accurately the true Besorah / Gospel of the Master Yahushua in 10 years than he ever did in the previous 60 from the churches. Blessed be the Name of Yahuwah, in the Name of our Master Yahushua, omein!
This has been the growth of a mustard seed, as pointed out by our Master in the Brit Chadasha / Renewed Covenant.
From Mattityahu / Matthew 13:31-32: “31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying, The Malchut ha shamayim [kingdom of heaven] is like a grain of mustard zera [seed], which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes an eytz [tree], so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”
From Mattityahu / Matthew 17:20: “If you have emunah [trust] as a grain of mustard zera [seed], you shall say to this mountain [symbolic of a nation], Move from here to there; and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you” and Luka / Luke 17:6: “If you have emunah as a grain of mustard zera, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there; and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”
The following thesis shows an example of the smallest of mustard seeds growing over the course of about 40 years, planted in my mind by a pastor[2] of what was then the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), where I learned a little about Torah observance, because they celebrated Shabbat instead of Sunday and the Feast Days mentioned in Leviticus 23 instead of Christmas, Easter and so forth that the Master did NOT authorize, and taught the clean meat instructions, and they picked and chose a few other points that the Master Yahushua gave us through Moshe Rabbeinu / Moses our Teacher, but still had prejudice against the things that they considered “too Jewish,” like wearing the kippa, the tallit, and the full beard. Thus they hampered themselves from growth in understanding the Master Yahushua, who is the living Torah. Nevertheless they had those few good points in their favor.
The seed that this pastor planted was a homework assignment inspired by the Ruach ha-Kadosh / the Set-Apart Spirit, when he assigned a few of us Spokesman Club[3] members to write a short work concerning Torah in the writings of the Master Yahushua’s talmidim / students about His first coming, when He came in His flesh from the heavens. It was planted according to the Master’s plan to lift me out of the church and into Nazarene Yisrael, which finally came to pass after 35 years or so.
It may be that I turned in a couple of pages to the pastor who gave us the assignment. I don’t remember for sure, but it developed into a work that blew a later pastor’s mind about 30 years later. A former edition of this testimony had grown to a sizeable essay, by which time the Worldwide Church of God had splintered[4] in the turmoil that came after our late Pastor General, Herbert W. Armstrong (q.v.), had gone home to be with our Master, and I was by that time in what is known as The United Church of God, an international association (UCGia), which was one of many splits from the WCG.
The general idea of that later essay was to point out that there ought to be no difference between the Jewish people and Christians, because if the Jewish people thoroughly understood and believed Moses, they would believe the Master Yahushua, because the Master, per 1Corinthians 10:4 and Hebrews 11:24-26, was with Israel and instructing Moses. The Master’s declaration to the Yahudim is, per Yochanan / John 8:58, “…Amein, amein, I say to you, Before Avraham was, I AM” and, per Yochanan 5:45-47: “45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Abba: there is one that accuses you, even Moshe, in whom you trust. 46 For had you believed Moshe, you would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. 47 But if you believe not his Ketuvim, how shall you believe My words?”
Also, if the Christians really understood and believed Master Yahushua’s declaration in Mattityahu / Matthew 5:17-20 and elsewhere, they would also believe Moses and they would neither disregard nor treat Torah as if it were a smorgasbord from which one picks and chooses what one likes. They would not dismiss any of the instructions[5] that the Master had given Moses, such as the wearing of the kippa / head covering, of tzitziyot / fringes on the tallit / prayer shawl, brit milah / circumcision (done in proper order as a matter of discipleship, and not, as some were telling those believers of the returning House of Ephraim, as a requirement for salvation; see Romans 4:9-12), and the blessing on polygyny properly done according to Torah (a particular sticking point for my ex-wife) and so forth.
So, presently there are many serious differences between rabbinical Judaism and Christians (and also internally among both of those), through the s.a.tan meddling with men’s minds and blinding them to the Truth, who is the Messiah Yahushua, per Yochanan / John 14:6, who will set us all free, per Yochanan 8:32. And so goes the “diversity” among the children of Israel, so that the Master tells us through David, “…all My bones are out of joint…” (Psalm 22:14). Nevertheless, through a process that we may well find painful yet develop into great joy, He will bring all those bones together, per Ezekiel 37. Both houses of the children of Israel, Yahudah and Ephraim, will finally become, through the Master Yahushua, echad / unified! HalleluYahuwah!
The Growth of the Mustard Seed
Is the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu / Moses our Teacher indeed in the Brit Chadasha / Renewed Covenant / “New Testament”? That is the question that the aforementioned pastor posed to a few and asked us to write a two-page essay on it, and that is the mustard seed that led to this present thesis.
Take a look at Mattityahu / Matthew 4:4 and Luka / Luke 4:4, where the Master Yahushua points out to Azazel, the fallen one who is the father of rebellion against Yahuwah, the progenitor of murder and lies, “It is written, Man shall not live by lechem [bread] alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahuwah.”
So then tell us: Out of whose mouth did the Ten Commandments come? Out of whose mouth came the many instructions, like the fourth commandment, to remember and to rejoice in Shabbat, that the Catholic[6] church changed to Sunday, and most Protestant churches haven’t changed it back? And, out of whose mouth came the instructions for those commandments that the churches vigorously deny, such as the kippa / head covering, such as the tzitziyot / fringes to be worn, and such as brit milah / circumcision, and many more that they use a misconstruction of the Brit Chadasha to dismiss? Shimon Kepha / Simon Peter warned us about that, as we see in 2Peter 3:15-16: “15 And consider the long patience of our Master as salvation; even as our beloved brother Shaul also according to the chochmah [wisdom] given to him has written to you; 16 As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which some things are hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other Keetvay HaKadosh [Set-Apart Scriptures], to their own destruction.”
In other words, Kepha is telling us that the Scriptures properly used, that is, in wholehearted love to Yahuwah our Elohim and to our neighbors as to self, will build us up, but if we read our meaning into it instead of studying to find the understanding and wisdom Yahuwah has and longs to reveal to us, then we will at best reduce the reward that the Master adds to our free salvation, and at worst will find ourselves as having chosen the second death in Gei-Hinnom rather than eternal life. As Sholiach Shaul / the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death [not everlasting life in hell-fire, as we’ve been told], but the gift of Yahuwah is eternal chayim [life] through Yahushua ha Moshiach our Master.” Malachi 4:1-3 (3:19-21 in the Jewish versions) tells us likewise: “1 For, see, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says Yahuwah tzevaot [of armies], that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Tzedakah [Righteousness] arise with healing in His four-cornered tzitzit;[7] and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says Yahuwah tzevaot.”
If the Messiah Yahushua and the “New Testament” oppose the “Old Testament,” then all of it is null and void, says the Master Yahushua (Lord Jesus) in the words that He gave to Moshe (per 1 Corinthians 10:4, Hebrews 11:24-26, and stands by them, per Matthew 5:17-20, for example) in Deuteronomy 12:28-13:18. So why did our Sunday preachers and teachers tell us otherwise? By their words and actions they make our Messiah Yahushua out to be a liar, because they have been deceived by the chief liar, the one we know as s.a.tan the devil (Revelation 12:9).
At least one answer lies in confusion over “grace” and “law,” and the belief that they are exclusive of each other, whereas there is no need for “grace” if there are no instructions for us to go astray from. Grace comes in when we return in trust of our Master Yahushua to ask Him to forgive us for falling short (Romans 3:23), for failing in our efforts show that we love the Master Yahushua by keeping His Commandments and to ask Him to help us walk within those instructions. For example, David’s zealous prayer of Tehillim / Psalms 51, after the navi / prophet Nathan gave him such strong correction over stealing Bat-Sheva and having UriYah killed in battle. If he were of Saul’s character, he would have waffled and squirmed and then maybe at last admit some guilt, like a rabbit caught in a trap. David, on the other hand, quickly admitted his guilt and made teshuvah, which is turning from evil to the Master Yahushua, who is Yahuwah Tzidkeinu / our Righteousness, if our trust is in Him.
Whatever else this testimony will do, it will show what the Scriptures tell us, per Hebrews 13:8, that our Master Yahushua is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Malachi 3:6 says likewise, that Yahuwah is always the same, and always keeps His promises, or else the children of Yaakov / Jacob would have been wiped out long since. (One reference that says He will never forget Israel is Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 31:35-40.) Add Psalm 117:2, where it says that His truth endures forever, and 119:89, telling us that Yahuwah’s Word is settled forever in the heavens. In other words, since we presumably believe in the same Elohim Yahuwah, though some use titles rather than remembering and revering His Name, among other differences that there ought not to be, between Jewish and Christian understanding of our Creator. (The differences exist because the Azazel, the evil one, s.a.tan the devil, also known as Allah of Islam, has us all deceived. We have been in the dark, but read Isaiah 9:2 and John 1:1-18 and 9:5 for example, and be encouraged that the light shines through the deception and is available to those who diligently seek it, per Ivrim / Hebrews 11:6.)
The general idea is that there should be no such thing as “Judeo-Christian” values, but rather just plain Scriptural and Hebraic values, because there is no legitimate difference between Christians and Jewish people, for the Master Yahushua is the one who taught Moshe, per 1 Corinthians 10:4 and Hebrews 11:24-26. Religion is perverted and the arguments and differences between religions are from the Azazel, the father of lies and murder (John 8:44), who deceives all mankind (Revelation 12:9) and promotes arguments among people who are all arguing from different false premises (with a smattering, perhaps, of truth) but think that they are perfectly right. In other words, instead of standing on the promises, they are standing on false premises! What a travesty, for in a religious argument, everyone is wrong, first of all for misunderstanding Torah, and second for being contentious about their own particular position (contrary to the instruction in 1 Corinthians 11:16) rather than to apply the principles of wholehearted, zealous love to Yahuwah and to our neighbors as to ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40)!
But Yahushua and Moshe are always totally in agreement. If one understands properly, one knows that the Scriptures that Moshe wrote were given to Him by our same Master Yahushua, way before He descended from the heavens in His own flesh and entered our world by way of the virgin Miryam’s womb. Therefore the main premise of this thesis is that Christians ought to believe the total teaching of the Messiah Yahushua, in which case they would also believe Moshe Rabbeinu, per Matthew 5:17-20, and the Jewish people ought to believe the total instruction of Moshe Rabbeinu, resulting in believing Messiah Yahushua, per Yochanan / John 5:45-47. The fact is, however, that Christians wrongly reject the written Torah that our Messiah Yahushua gave Moshe, and the Jewish people wrongly reject the living Torah, who is the Messiah Yahushua who gave His instructions to Moshe.
When I started this homework assignment over 40 years ago, we had a certain limited understanding of it, for we celebrated the weekly and annual Shabbats that are listed in Leviticus 23, and there were a few other things, such as eating only the clean meats, which we observed from Torah, from which we picked those few instructions that were “palatable,” as if Torah were a smorgasbord to choose from rather than totally to obey every precept that applies to us as individuals and as collective members of the body of Moshiach (Messiah).
With all the different belief systems in Israel, it’s no wonder that Yahushua says, per Psalm 22:14: “All My bones are out of joint.” HalleluYAH, for He will bring those bones together, as He says through Yechezqel / Ezekiel the prophet in the 37th chapter of his book!
By this assignment, the Master Yahushua was preparing me for a long trek that prove to me that the Brit Chadasha is strictly based on the Tanach / “Old Testament,” and that any contradiction to the Torah that the Master Yahushua gave to Moshe Rabbeinu / Moses our Teacher is not according to Yahuwah but is confusion from Azazel. Any contradiction is either a mistranslation or a misunderstanding of the teaching of our Master Yahushua and His talmidim / students. This homework, as you see, eventually led me to leave the UCG and to go into Nazarene Israel, growing out of the church and out of religion and into learning Torah observance the Messiah’s way, which is not in line either with the Christian or the rabbinic Yahudi (Jewish) way.
Of all the Torah guidelines we need to obey, the Master Yahushua tells us there are two that are the foundation for obedience to (and not dismissal of) all the points of the Torah, per Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:25-37. As previously stated, they are first to love Yahuwah our Elohim with all our heart, mind, and being, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are the foundation for the rest of the Torah, NOT, as some claim, an excuse from obeying the rest of the Torah.