Rituals? What rituals?

I just came across a post that says this:

"There is a subtle deception that has been invading the Christian Church in the past few years. Many fellowships have been taking on traditions that stem from Hebrew customs and rituals. These types of required behaviors were done away with at the cross. The things of the Old Covenant were done away with. The veil was torn and we all have access to the Holy of Holies. These rituals run from celebrating the feasts to wearing prayer shawls and even using Hebrew names to replace the English of “Jesus” or “God.” "

The post goes on to state:
"We cannot attain more piety by calling Jesus Yeshua. Much of this stems from a lack of understanding as to what a “name” meant to Hebrew Eastern thinkers. A name was not an identifier of an individual but instead defined the character of an individual. Some say they are honoring Christ or God by using the Hebrew names. There is no honor given to Christ by duplicating a group of letters from 2,000 years ago. The honor to Christ is duplicating in you the character trait that is described by those letters. When you are in a group of unsaved people are you Christ (an anointed one) to them? If so, you honor Christ by that act and not by a set of letters."

Here are my comments:
I'd like to comment on the following points presented in your post:

(1) May I point out that "Jesus" is not an English name for Yeshua. It is only a transliteration of the Greek Iesous. (The final 's' is appended to this Greek name because all male names in Greek must end with an 's'.) Instead of "Jesus", the English name commonly used for Yeshua is Joshua, the most well known of whom is Joshua son of Nun who led the people of Israel successfully across the Jordan and brought down the walls of Jericho.

Most of the people I know who prefer to use Yeshua instead of Jesus do so because they feel it more appropriate to call the Hebrew Anointed One by his original Hebrew name, not so much because doing so can win God's approval. At the same time, it would appear odd, even somewhat mischievous, to use a transliteration of a Greek version of the original Hebrew Name to refer to the Hebrew Messiah when His original name is clearly known and easily understood.

To those who insist on calling the Anointed One with an English name, why wouldn't you at least call Him by the well-known English name "Joshua" instead of a non-english transliterated word "Jesus"?

(2) While I agree that our Master Yeshua the Anointed One is our Passover Lamb who has delivered us from Death, and that he is also our Eternal High Priest who has

• entered the real Holiest Place in the real Tabernacle of YHWH with His Once-for-all sacrifice 
• in fulfillment of the annual sacrifice of the Bull and the Goat, 
• and the release of the Scape Goat to carry away the sins of the people of YHWH, 

I do not agree that the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) should be forgotten.

On the contrary, the Day of Atonement should be solemnly commemorated with all Godly respect, albeit without the sacrifices commanded in Leviticus chapters 16 and 17. By the way, people of the Jewish faith today observe Yom Kippur by resting, fasting, depriving themselves of pleasure and repenting from their sins of the previous year. They do not offer any animal sacrifices because their temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed and is not yet rebuilt.

My point is, if the Jews can observe the Day of Atonement on the Tenth Day of the Seventh Month as commanded by God by fasting and repentance, so can the Christians. All the more so, because Christians believe that this is THE day that our Master, the Anointed One of YHWH, has fulfilled by his offering of himself for the sins of the world.

Blessed are the Meek.

Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

When I first read the Sermon On the Mount 36 years ago, I did not know how nor why meek people would inherit the earth. Imagine meek people claiming ownership to all places on earth. Land, sky and sea. It sounded like the least ambitious of people being promised the most ambitious of blessings.

Perhaps, a more meaningful way of rendering the above verse is given in Young's Literal Translation, which goes as follows:

Matthew 5:5 YLT
Happy the meek -- because they shall inherit the land.

Reading LAND instead of EARTH, this profound teaching of our Master Yeshua the Anointed One appears to distill the essence of a fundamental truth upheld by the people of YHWH in the ancient times. It is a truth mentioned repeatedly in various places in the Writings and in the books of the Prophets. For example,

(1) Those who inherit the land are called the meek. They enjoy peace and prosper when the wicked are removed:

Psalm 37: 10 - 11
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.

(2) Those who inherit the land are blessed by YHWH, as opposed to those who are cursed by Him:

Psalm 37: 22
those YHWH blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.

(3) Those who inherit the land are righteous as opposed to those who are wrongdoers or who are wicked:

Psalm 37: 28 - 29
Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;
the offspring of the wicked will perish.
The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it for ever.

Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land.

(4) Those who inherit the land are people belonging of YHWH, growing from the shoot planted by Him, the work of His hands and the display of His splendour:

Isaiah 60:21
Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

(5) Finally, those who inheirt the land are people who follow only justice (righteousness) alone:

Deuteronomy 16:20
Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land YHWH your God is giving you.

Tonight, as I search the scriptures, I learn that this teaching of our Master Yeshua the Anointed One carries the essence of an ancient truth given in the Word of YHWH : that the meek, those who are blessed by YHWH, those who are righteous and who follow justice alone will inherit the land promised by YHWH.

Yes, the meek who will inherit the land are people belonging to YHWH Elohim, the shoot planted by YHWH, the very works of His hands.

The meek are a splendid people. They are the display of YHWH's splendour. Blessed are the meek.

If thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love.

Dear Christian Bro. & Sis,

1 John 4:11 Young's Literal Translation, tells us

Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;

The Apostle John reminds us in verses 12 to 19 that God remains in us and His love is perfected in us if we love one another, that as we confess Yeshua the Son of God and remain in this love of God, we remain in God and God remains in us. Verse 19, in particular, tells us, "we -- we love him, because He -- He first loved us".

This reminder is reiterated in verses 20 and 21 as follows,

1 John 4: 20-21 YLT

20 if any one may say -- 'I love God,' and his brother he may hate, a liar he is; for he who is not loving his brother whom he hath seen, God -- whom he hath not seen -- how is he able to love?
21 and this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.

Brothers and sisters, how shall we obey this command to love one another? What shall we do to love our brethren whom we see, so that we can also honestly say we love God whom we have not seen?

Thanks be to YHWH our God and Father in Heaven, for he has given us detailed instructions on how to love our fellow brother. These instructions are recorded in the Torah of Moshe, in the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, where Moshe commands the people of Israel not to steal, nor to cheat, nor to rob, nor show partiality nor even carry tales against their brothers. The only difference is that, besides using the term "brother", Moshe also employed the terms "one another", and "neighbour" to refer to a fellow Israelite.

Let us read this passage more closely.

Leviticus 19: 11-18 NKJV
11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I AM YHWH.
13 ‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.
14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I AM YHWH.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I AM YHWH.
17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I AM YHWH.

Notice firstly, that the above commandments of Torah, come directly from YHWH our God. Four times, in verses 12, 14, 16 and 18 we read the declaration, "I am YHWH".  These are not mere opinions nor suggestions of Moshe. They are not the word of Man. Instead they are the Word of God himself.

Secondly, note that all the commands forbid us to commit evil act against our fellow brothers. We are to avoid acting wickedly
- neither with our hands (stealling, putting a stumbling block before the blind),
- nor with our words (lying, swearing falsely, cursing the deaf, talebearing),
- nor with the thoughts in our minds (injustice in judgment, partiality against the poor, favour to the powerful)
- nor in the desire of our hearts (cheating, robbing, withholding wages of the hired workers)

Finally, we see that this list brings us to the command to love our fellow brothers and sisters from our hearts. We are commanded not to hate our brother in our heart, but instead to rebuke him if he has sinned against God (v17). We are not to take vengeance, not even to bear any grudge against fellow children of God's people (v18a).

Most important of all, we are commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves (v18b). This command is described by our Master Yeshua in Matthew 22:39 as the Second Greatest Commandment in the Torah.

When we look into the Torah of YHWH, we can now understand better the instruction in 1 John 4:21. By reading the commandments of YHWH in Leviticus 19, we can heed the reminder by the Apostle John,

1 John 4: 21 YLT

and this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.

Brothers and Sisters, let us love one another.

Let us hold fast our confession of Hope.

Hebrews 10:12-17 tells us that the Anointed One, our Master Yeshua, has offered one sacrifice for sins forever and has sat down at the right hand of God. The passage goes on to quote a prophecy from the prophet Jeremiah 31:33,34 that YHWH will put His Torah in our hearts and write them in our minds, that our sins and lawless deeds He will no longer remember anymore.

The chapter goes on to tell us further in verses 22 to 25 that since we now have a High Priest over the House of YHWH, we are to draw near to Him with a pure heart and we are to hold fast our confession of our hope without wavering.

This injunction to hold fast also comes with a stern warning in 10:26, that if we sin willfully after we have received this Truth, there no longer remains anymore sacrifice for sins. Instead there is fearful judgment and the fiery wrath of God. It is tantamount to trampling the Son of God underfoot.

Hebrews10:28,29

Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Brothers and Sisters, while we hold fast our confession of our hope in the great promise of our God, that one day the Anointed One will return, let us keep ourselves from sin. Let us obey the Commandments of God.

Be holy, keep the Commandments.

1 Peter 1:15,16

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy".

Peter quotes a command that occurs at least three times in the book of Leviticus:

(1) Concerning eating and touching the dead bodies of unclean animals . . .
Leviticus 11:44

For I am YHWH your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

(2) Concerning keeping the Sabbath, honouring parents, avoiding idolatry, letting the poor to glean in one's field, not cursing the deaf, talebearing . . .
Leviticus 19:2

Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy: for I YHWH your God am holy.

(3) Concerning the sins of familiar spirits, idol worship, cursing father and mother, fornication . . .
Leviticus 20:7

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be you holy: for I am YHWH your God.

Our Master Yeshua the Anointed One has offered up One Sacrifice for sins forever and has sat down at the right hand of YHWH our God (Heb.10:12). This, however, does not give us license to break the commandments. That which was in the beginning declared as sin against YHWH in the Torah remains a sin against YHWH today. YHWH our God does not change.


Malachi 3:6

For I am YHWH, I do not change;

Three times in the Book of Revelations, we are told that the saints of God obey his commandments:
Revelation12:17

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation14:12

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation22:14

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Let us become like the offspring of the woman in Rev.12:17. Let us be become like the saints of Rev.14:12. And like those blessed ones who have the right to the tree of life, let us keep the commandments of YHWH and hold on steadfastly to the testimony of our Master Yeshua the Anointed One.

Finally, may we remind ourselves of the warning given by our Master in Matthew 7:21-23,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

My Brothers and Sisters, beware, lest we become lawless people.

Adoni, the Anointed King.

Who is the King? Who is the Anointed? Who is Adoni (my Master)?

During my daily devotions while on some travelling a month ago, I came across several places in the TaNaK which speaks of a King chosen by YHWH:

(a) In 1Samuel 2:10, the last verse of Hannah's thanksgiving to YHWH refers to His Anointed King.

"YHWH will judge the ends of the earth.He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed."

(b) The entire Psalm 45, composed by the Sons of Korach, is a song written in praise of the King. Verses 6 and 7 speak of the just and everlasting reign of this King (GNT),

The kingdom that God has given you will last forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice; you love what is right and hate what is evil. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has poured out more happiness on you than on any other king.

(c) Psalm 110 verse 1 and verse 4 are two most quoted scripture in the NT. In this Psalm, David speaks of his "Adoni" (my Master), appointed to sit at the right hand of the throne of YHWH who made a promise, confirmed by an oath, that this Adoni will be an everlasting priest

1 YHWH says to my Lord:     “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
. . . .
4  YHWH has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

(d) Psalm 118 speaks of The Gate, The Cornerstone and a Blessed One who comes in the Name of YHWH. Verse 26, in particular, is quoted in the NT in Luke 13:34,35 where the Master Yeshua laments the wickedness of Jerusalem who had killed prophets and stoned messengers. He tells them that their house is to be left desolate until the time comes when they will say, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHWH" (Ps 118:26)

(e) Psalm 89 - A Psalm of Mercies by Ethan the Ezrahite - begins with the well known verse 1 where the Psalmist "sings of the mercies of YHWH forever". This psalm goes on to speak of a vision about an exalted Chosen One (v18b) who is referred to as His Servant David. Upon reading further, however, v19 appears to protrait a picture of one of David's descendants (v29, seed) rather than King David himself.

For example,
v19b to 23 describes this Anointed Chosen Servant as anointed, established, strengthened and victorious.
- the mercies and faithfulness of YHWH will be with this Servant, whose horn (power) will be exalted in the Name of YHWH

v26 describes this servant crying out to YHWH, calling Him Father, God and Rock of Salvation.

v27 prophesies that YHWH will make this servant His Firstborn and the highest of the kings on earth

v28 says YHWH will keep His mercy with this servant forever and the covenant of YHWH will stand firm with him

v29 further states that this servant's throne will endure as the days of heaven and that his Seed will endure forever.

v30-33 describes the consequences if the sons of this servant David sin against YHWH : they will be punished by YHWH but the lovingkindness and faithfulness of YHWH will remain with them. (In contrast to 2 Samuel 7:14 which appear to refer only to David's son, Solomon, here Psalm 89 refers to Davids "sons", meaning his descendants)

v34 the covenant of YHWH, the word from His lips will not change.

v35 YHWH has sworn an oath by His holiness (compare Ps 110:4), He does not lie to David, that his Seed will endure forever (see v29, 36) and his throne will endure as the sun and be established like the moon, like a faithful witness before YHWH.

Finally, tonight I came across the following from a webpage:
Jeremiah 23:5

Behold, the days come, saith YHWH, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 - In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, YHWH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Let us be steadfast in our obedience to our Master Yeshua, the Son of David, the Anointed King of YHWH.

Created for Good Works.

Ephesians 2:10
. . . we are His workmanship, created in the Anointed Yeshua for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Our deeds and actions really reveal whether the inner man is good or evil. The prophet Jeremiah wrote a very well known verse
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

What appears less well-known, however is the next verse:
Jeremiah 17:10
I, YHVH, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

While it is our hearts that YHVH searches and our minds that He tests, we must take note that it is according to our deeds (and misdeeds) that He repays us.

Do we not remember the words of our Master Yeshua, the Anointed One, in Matthew 5:16?
Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who [is] in the heavens.

Yes, indeed God has created us in the Anointed One for good deeds.

The Heavenly Man.

I have recently come across verses in John chapter 6 and 1 Corinthians 15 describing our Master Yeshua, the Son of Adam, the Son of God, as having come from Heaven above. Our Master Yeshua the Anointed One is the Heavenly Man.

John 6:32-33 NKJV

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:38-40

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:48

48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

John 6:58

58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

1 Corinthians 15: 45 - 49

45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

. . .

47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is [the Lord*] from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

[*] some manuscripts do not have "the Lord"

Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed, let us put our faith in the promise of God: that one day we will all be raised with transformed incorruptible bodies. As we have borne the image of the first Adam all our lives, we shall one day bear the image of our Master, the Anointed One - the Heavenly Man.

I wrote an older post with the same title about two years ago, link below:
The Heavenly Man, May 2010

What we should do, what we shall be.

What we should do now vs what we shall be eventually.

---------------------------------------------------------

Romans 6:3 - 8 NKJV tells us that:

- we were immersed (baptised) into the death of the Anointed One v3

- we were buried with the Anointed v4

- we have been united in the likeness of the death of the Anointed v5

- we have died with the Anointed v8a

==> so, just as the Anointed was raised by the glory of the Father,

- - - - we SHOULD walk in newness of life v4

- - - - we SHOULD no longer be slaves of sin v6b

==> and

- - - - we SHALL be in likeness of his resurrection v5.

- - - - we SHALL also live with him v8.

Romans 6:11, 12

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you SHOULD obey it in its lusts.

Brothers and Sisters, if we recognise that, in union with our Master Yeshua the Anointed, we are dead to sin but alive to YHWH our God, then we SHOULD stop living in sin. And if we believe in our hearts that God has raised the Anointed One from the dead, then let us put our hope in the resurrection, when we SHALL also be raised like him.