Psalm 1
1 How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked, don't stand on the way of sinners or sit where scoffers sit! 2 Their delight is in the Law of the LORD (YHVH's Torah); on his Law (Torah) they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams -they bear their fruit in season, their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds. 4 Not so the wicked, who are like chaff driven by the wind. 5 For this reason the wicked won't stand up to the judgment, nor will sinners at the gathering of the righteous. 6 For the Lord (YHVH) watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.
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Well, readers, this topic has been on my list of "to-do" posts since the beginning of AWL (April 2012) So, be prepared to read (for perhaps the first time in your life) some things that may be difficult to accept - all I ask of those who are reading this, is that you please keep an open mind and have ears to hear.
Remember, this is all about serving Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, and our Lord to the best of our ability, obeying Him, and doing what is right in His eyes, not our own.
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I've read Psalm 1 ever so many times, and have had it memorized since I was 9, and I thought that the Blessed Man was delighting & meditating on the Ten Commandments, and I hadn't a clue about what the "way of the righteous" was. I thought God's Law was just ten commands......Goodness! How wrong I was! [There are approximately 613 commands, (though some have been taken out of their original context meant by God)]
So, lets break down this chapter, and get the meanings behind it, before I explain a few things:
1 How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked, don't stand on the way of sinners or sit where scoffers sit!
~ Rejecting the advice of those who do not follow & who reject the Lord, keeping away from the way of sinners (what they do, how they live), and avoiding scoffers brings blessing.
2 Their delight is in the Law of the LORD (Y-H-V-H's Torah); on his Law (Torah) they meditate day and night.
~ The blessed people DELIGHT in the TORAH of GOD & they meditate upon it day and night. The Torah has a joint meaning of both all of GOD's eternal Laws & the first 5 books of the Bible (which contain all God's everlasting Laws)
3 They are like trees planted by streams -they bear their fruit in season, their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds.
~ Those who observe & keep God's Laws are like trees planted by streams. They bear GOOD fruit in season, they don't wither, & they succeed in what they do. How wonderful!!! By obeying God's Torah, we receive blessings in abundance!
God tells us to keep His Laws in Lev 26:3, 26:15 & Lev 18:5 among other places. God even says that in the End of Days He will put His law in our minds and write it on our hearts - Jeremiah 31:33.
Yeshua (Jesus), and the apostles say that we know we are His children, if we keep His commands - Matthew 5:19, John 14:5, 1 John 5:2, 1 John 5:3, 2nd John 1:6, & 1 John 3:24 among others.
4 Not so the wicked, who are like chaff driven by the wind.
~ The unsaved God rejectors do not bear fruit, rather they wither and are as chaff.
5 For this reason the wicked won't stand up to the judgment, nor will sinners at the gathering of the righteous.
~ The previous verses tell us why the wicked will not stand up to the judgement, but rather be condemned.
6 For the Lord (Adonai) watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.
~ Way of the Righteous = walking in observance to the Lord's Torah. So, God watches over (keeps safe) the WAY of the righteous, which is Torah-Observance, but the wicked (those who reject God and His Laws) - are doomed.
I realize that some of you may be a bit confused at this point (since many teach that God's Law has been made void), but allow me to explain a few foundational things to you with the best of my ability, so that you will understand where I am coming from:
~ Torah = The Laws, ordinances, commands of GOD Almighty as well as the 5 Books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy (B'Reisheet, Shmot, VaYiqra, B'Midbar, & D'Varim - in Hebrew)
~ Torah is not just the Ten Words [or Ten Commandments - but in Hebrew it actually translates to "Ten Words"......D'varim = Words] but rather it is all approximate 613 commands (Laws = Torah) given by GOD through Moses to the Children of Israel in the first 5 books in the Bible, the 5 Books of Moses.
~ Jesus, his Hebrew name being Yeshua (Yahushua, Yehoshua), was a JEW, and will always be JEWISH.........He followed God's Laws from the Torah (as most Jewish people do) and he walked as God wanted him to walk - & - He called us to Follow Him, Emulate Him, Walk as He Walked......hmmmmm considerations, considerations....
~ Contrary to popular Christian belief - Yeshua did not abolish the law and prophets....He Himself said that He did not!!! Matthew 5: 17-19 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Law (Torah) or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a jot (Hebrew letter yod - smallest letter in the Hebrew Language) or a stroke will pass from the Law (Torah) -- not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these commands (mitzvot in Hebrew) 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.
Then, later in Matthew 7:12, Yeshua said, "Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Law (Torah) and the Prophets (Nevi'im in Hebrew)." So, our Lord and Savior not only emphatically stated that He did NOT destroy, abolish, or do away with the Torah of GOD, but He taught the Torah!!! You are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount? Well, there, Jesus was expounding upon God's Laws found in Torah!
Some would argue that when Jesus said he "completed" or "fulfilled" the Law & Prophets - that those words mean the same as abolished & destroyed, but, this just isn't true!
~ First, if such were true, he would be contradicting his former statement in the verse and that would make our Savior a liar - which he absolutely cannot be.
~ Secondly, he would be opposing what His Father had said - God said that we should keep His Laws, that His Laws are eternal (See - Psalm 111:7-8 & Psalm 119:152), and that He would write his Laws on our hearts in the End Times = *now* (which means His Laws are very important to Him).
~ And thirdly, when he said that he completed or fulfilled the Law & Prophets - he was saying that He had accomplished/performed/executed the prophesies about Himself within the Law & Prophets.
Wherever you see instruction, commands, precepts, rulings, laws, regulations, or mitsvot - you can replace them with either "Torah" or "God's Laws" - because ALL those words refer to Yaweh's Law - HIS precious Torah!
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I leave you with a handful of video teachings that have a more in-depth explanation of the things I have been writing about. 119 Ministries does a great job of explaining these subjects in detail.
I really encourage you to watch these great teachings which add up to less than 2 hours whenever you can find time to do so.
~ approx - 7 minutes ~
Most everyone that I know would agree that Christ fulfilled the Law. But what does that really mean? It seems this is the problem. Though many may be saying the same thing, their definition of "fulfill" proves they are meaning polar opposites. So what is YOUR definition of fulfill?
~ approx -30 minutes ~
Did the Law of God change after the cross? In Matthew 5:17-19, what does the passing of the first Heaven and first Earth have to do with fulfilling all of the Law and Prophets? What relationship do Heaven and Earth have with our receipt of God's law? How does Heaven and Earth relate to all prophecy being fulfilled? Was Yeshua referring to the passing of Heaven and Earth just to sound cool, or was there a purpose? We review all of these questions and more in "Heaven & Earth and the Law of God."
~ approx -18 minutes ~
God abolished or changed His law because it was simply too difficult, right? Some teach this, many don't test this doctrine to His Word. If you find men telling you that the Law of Moses is difficult, perhaps we should consider what God Himself said about it.
~ approx -15 minutes ~
Is the Word of God forever, or can parts of it be abolished? As always, if we seek truth, we want to test these things to His Word, and not the doctrines of men.
~ approx -15 minutes ~
In Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, Yeshua said He came to fulfill the law, to PLEROO the Law of God. The Greek word PLEROO means to fully preach. This means that Yeshua said He came to FULLY PREACH the Law of God. We submit that if Yeshua FULLY PREACHED the Law of God, then perhaps we should listen to what our Messiah preached.
~ approx -30 minutes ~
Does Acts 15 teach that we are not to still obey the Law of God as written by Moses, or just that we can not be saved by observing the law? To answer this, we need to know the debate and the groups involved. You may have always been told what to believe about Acts 15, now...let's test it.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog today. I hope that you have been encouraged, or at least that you've been induced to seriously think upon these matters.
I welcome any question you may have!
[You will see that I have added a page called "Torah" to my top-pages.
On that page I have put many verses from throughout the Bible that are in support of Torah-Observance as a way to glorify, honor, obey, and submit to God & which show that our Holy God & Yeshua the Messiah want us to keep Torah.]
[You will see that I have added a page called "Torah" to my top-pages.
On that page I have put many verses from throughout the Bible that are in support of Torah-Observance as a way to glorify, honor, obey, and submit to God & which show that our Holy God & Yeshua the Messiah want us to keep Torah.]
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