From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com Sent: Friday, October 31, 1997 1:10 AM To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup Subject: Understanding Matthew 5:19 From: Ronnie Anderson To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Re: matthew 5:19 1. Can you explain matthew 5:19 2. which commandments were jesus taking about ? 3. can one break "one of these lease commandments " and it is ok with god ? the above quote is taken from the king james version bible. >From Eddie: ************** In Matthew 5:17-18, Yeshua/Jesus said: "THINK NOT that I have come to destroy the Torah/law or the prophets, I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot (yod ... the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet) or one tittle (Taggim ... the decoration crowns on certain Hebrew letters) shall in no wise pass from the law (or the prophets) till all be fulfilled" Then we have the quote from Matthew 5:19 which is the basis for your question. It is written: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and teach men to do so, he shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" Clearly the subject of this text is the TORAH. The commandments always refer to keeping the Torah of God. Those who break the commandments in the Torah and teach others to do so will be called LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven (but notice they are still in the kingdom). Those that keep the commandments in the Torah and teach others to do so will be called GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven. God instructed Moses to build him a tabernacle so that God could dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8-9). In Hebrews 8:5, it tells us that this tabernacle was an EXACT PATTERN of the one in heaven. In Revelation 21:1-3, we see this heavenly tabernacle being the ETERNAL "new heaven and new earth". So, the tabernacle on the earth was a blueprint of heavenly things or given by God to show us heavenly truths. The largest part of the Tabernacle was the outer court. There was only one entrance into the tabernacle and that was through the eastern gate. In John 10:9, Jesus said that He is the "Door" to salvation. The door of the eastern gate of the Tabernacle is a type of Messiah who is the believer's door to the heavenly tabernacle. The outer court represents a type of the carnal believer in Messiah. All believers are called to be priests before God. When the priests ministered in the Outer Court, they did so walking on the earth in their bare feet. "Walking" is a spiritual picture of how believers live their lives after they are saved (have entered into the door of heaven .... the eastern gate ... through faith in Messiah). The Hebrew word for this is "Halacha". The outer court is a type of believer who is saved but "walks" on the earth or "walks in the flesh". In I Corinthians 3:1, we find that those who are "carnal" are "babes in Christ". The outer court was given by God to prophetically reveal that the LARGEST number of believers in heaven will be likened to the outer court. They will be the "least" in the kingdom of heaven. They are saved but they lived their lives as "babes in Christ" and never overcame the struggle with the flesh to live a life of "walking in the spirit" and being "led by the spirit of God" and separating their lives from the ways of the world unto the ways of God. "Babes in Christ" break the commandments of God and teach others to do so (Matthew 5:19). This is because they have not grown spiritually to know the heart and the ways of God and the ways and truths of His Kingdom. We can see the contrast of those who know the WAYS of God versus those who know the ACTS of God in Psalm 103:7 as it it written: "He made known his WAYS to Moses, his ACTS unto the children of Israel". Because the children of Israel only knew the ACTS of God (their divine deliverance from Egyptian bondage through signs, wonders and miracles), they complained when they faced obstacles in the wilderness. Moses however knew the ways of God. He knew that God would part the Red Sea when the people feared the approaching Egyptian army, he knew the grace/lovingkindness of God to plead to God for forgiveness when the people sinned against God in the wilderness and he knew that God is a God of His Word such that when God told Moses that He would destroy the children of Israel and begin a new people from Moses, Moses pleaded with God on behalf of God's promise to Abraham and God repented (Exodus 32:10-14). There is a contrast between Moses who knew the WAYS of God and the children of Israel who only knew the ACTS of God. Because the children of Israel only knew the ACTS of God and not the WAYS of God, they behaved "like children" in the wilderness. Most of corporate Christianity speaks against the commandments of God and teaches others to break God's commandments. They do so because they are ignorant of the WAYS of God and the WAYS fo His Kingdom. In Proverbs 3:1, 17-18, the Torah is called the TREE OF LIFE. This TREE OF LIFE was planted in the Garden of Eden. The TREE OF LIFE represented the Torah/Commandments of God. In mostly every Jewish synogogue is a picture on the walls of the Tree of Life and it is seen as being the Torah/Commandments of God. In Genesis 26:5, Abraham kept the COMMANMENTS of God which is called the TORAH of God as it is written: "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my COMMANDMENTS, my statutes and my TORAH" God chose Abraham to be the "father of our faith" (Romans 4:16) because God knew that Abraham would teach the Torah/commandments of God to His children (Genesis 18:19). For this reason, Abraham will be called GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven because he kept the commandments / Torah of God (Genesis 26:5) and instructed others to do so (Genesis 18:19). In Isaiah 51:1-2, 4, 7 it is written: "Hearken to me, you that follow after rightousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you are digged. Look unto Abraham your father .. hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a TORAH shall proceed from me and I wil make my judgment (of the Torah) to rest for a light of the people ... Hearken unto me, you that KNOW righteousness, the people in whose heart is my TORAH: fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings" Keeping the Biblical Festivals is NOT a salvation issue but it IS a "knowing the WAYS of God" issue. However, for many this requires being taught about a subject that has been neglected within Christianity. Therefore, God's people do not know how the Festivals teach about the ways of the Kingdom of God and our personal relationship with Him. Because these things are unknown to most believers in Messiah, "my people perish for a lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). This lack of knowledge is an understanding of God's Torah (Hosea 4:6). In Hosea 8:12, it is written: "I have written to him the GREAT things of my TORAH, but they were counted as a strange thing: In Isaiah 42:21 it is written: "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake; he will MAGNIFY the TORAH and make it HONORABLE" When will God make the TORAH honorable? It will be when Messiah returns to the earth and teaches the Torah of God to the nations during the Messianic age. In Isaiah 2:2-4 it is written: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and ALL NATIONS shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us his WAYS and we will WALK in his paths: for out of Zion shall forth the TORAH and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he (Messiah) shall judge among the nations (according to the Torah) and rebuke many people (for not keeping the Torah) ..." The Torah is the "rod of iron" by which Yeshua/Jesus will rule and judge the nations during the Messianic Age (Rev 19:15). When the nations are taught the Torah, then DISCIPLES (students) will be made of all nations (of how to keep the Torah/Commandments) of God and fulfill the GREAT COMMISSION (Matthew 28:18-20). Those who keep the commandments and teach others to do so will rule and reign with Messiah and thus be called GREAT in the kingdom. Those who break the commandments and teach others to do so will be called LEAST in the Kingdom. This is the understanding of Matthew 5:19. *********************************************************************