He Made War With Them

When I came to Torah, I wasn't expecting the warzone I was about to enter. In mainstream Christianity, everyone has experienced legalism, rejection, cults, people with weird beliefs, and what not. But there's still some kind of invisible boundaries of safety there that make you feel you can trust the average Christian. I believe this is because most Christians hold to the sacredness of scripture. When you sadly have to leave that safety net of believers because they are lacking the foundations of scripture - the Torah - and no longer want to associate with you, you step into a world of mayhem and confusion. Many who are new to seeking Torah wonder if this is proof that they left all reason behind, and they begin to be plagued with doubts.

Because of the slough of chaos that Satan has prepared for those seeking a life that is set apart the way God instructed, I've noticed how many turn back to their past walk and vehemently teach against Torah and the Torah community. Oh it just breaks my heart! These people truly never tasted the goodness of God in the Torah; they only followed man and his ugly self-righteous teachings. There can be no fear of man or fear of punishment in your heart if you would please God. You must follow His ways with absolute faith that He is looking down on you with grace for all the areas you fall short - because no one can perfectly keep His laws.

When you speak of the Torah community at large, you are speaking of a hubbub of different beliefs, and I believe because true Torah keeping is so dangerous to Satan's strongholds, he is working overtime in this zone of believers. Also, Torah keeping is ancient. Noah and Abraham were Torah keepers long before Moses wrote down what God's laws were. Satan has had much time to perfect his stumbling blocks for anyone new to this walk. I think one of the biggest areas of stumbling is Judaic mysticism.

The Israelites got tangled up in the occult very early on. When they came out of Egypt, they brought baggage with them. I see a lot of people, rather than following just the Torah, delving into the Jewish practices and beliefs. For example, traditions such as the Seder have lovely little stories about why they do them; however, they corrupt the holy commands of God, adding to or taking away from what He instructed. Then there's the Talmud, which is responsible for many rejecting their first love, Yeshua, and even more of these, after losing sight of Yeshua, become agnostic.

Then we have those who terrorize others - in the Torah community we call them Torah Terrorists. They think everything must be done perfect all at once (this same thing was what the Jerusalem council had to address with more and more gentiles who didn't understand set apart living coming to faith - they told them, don't overload the gentiles with everything at once - they will learn it all in time, Acts 15:21). Those on the outside, if they run into these people first, will believe that every Torah believer is like this and label us as loony, self-righteous, judgmental wackos. Another win for Satan on keeping mainstream believers far away from Torah.

Then we have Seventh Day Adventists who sadly idolize a very confused woman and who preach that Sunday is the mark of the beast. Christians run far away from Sabbath keeping because of the fanciful unbiblical beliefs and harsh criticisms dished out by this party.

Then we have those who have been damaged by our corrupt medical system and have gone off into mystical and new age beliefs on healing. Where do they get this information? From the Torah? No. From paganism. Which is sadly ironic because the whole point of Torah is coming out of Babylon and pagan corruptions inside of Christianity. This is a huge blow for the Torah believer's witness, and Satan knows it.

Then we have those in the Torah community who actually use the Torah to support an unrighteous lifestyle of sexual immorality, drunkenness, and abuse. They have no understanding of Torah and do not realize that the heart of the Torah is love and treating our neighbor right. They are in fact lawless, uncircumcised of heart, and one of the worst witnesses against Torah believers.

The worst one yet that I've seen since coming to Torah is denying the Messiah's deity. Bitter from the lies and false traditions that they've learned from Protestant Catholic Christianity, many Torah believers throw the baby out with the bathwater and start believing EVERYTHING they knew was a lie. Suddenly Yeshua is no longer King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of the world, worthy of all glory, honor, and worship, Alpha and Omega, First and Last, the bright morning star, having all authority on earth. Suddenly he is a man who was just given an extra portion of God's spirit. His identity is erased, and indeed, he becomes an idol, because no one besides God deserves the honor that is still given to Yeshua by many who believe He is not God in the flesh. This indeed is the most damaging to our witness, and Satan is taking people by storm with this belief.

Isaiah 43:11 I, I am Yehovah; and there is no Savior besides Me. 

Then we have the extra books outside of the cannon - Jubilees, Enoch, and the rest. You know what? I have actually made a point of not reading these books. I'm not sure if I ever will. I've seen how once people read these books, they often depart from Torah, they start going down rabbit trails, and worst of all, they start to doubt the scripture's authenticity because these books contradict what is in the Torah. Although I do believe we've been given very poor translations of scripture in this day and age, I am fully confident in God's ability to preserve His word. The onus is on us to search the scriptures and study the original languages.

Psalms 12:6,7 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, you shall preserve them from this generation forever.

I'm a very boring Torah keeper. I don't do lunar Sabbath, I don't do dawn-to-dawn days, I don't follow the extra-biblical books, I'm not a flat-earther, I'm not a sacred-namer, I don't reject Paul's writings, I don't practice Jewish traditions, I don't follow a special calendar, I don't believe in extreme dietary legalism, I don’t believe in polygamy being acceptable, and I don't argue about who/where the real Israel is. Why? Because what is the point? I get a lot of flak in the Torah community for not even bothering to study these things out, or debate over some of them, but I do not do so with intentionality. The risk of being led astray in this no-man's-land is far too great. Although I feel that sometimes the Bible is missing a lot of answers to my questions, I am not going to search to the ends of the earth to find information that I don't actually need to be content with my faith in God. What I have is enough until He returns and sets everything straight or chooses to reveal it to me in His scriptures. It is better not to know, then to have a thousand different paths to choose from and worry that maybe you didn't find the right one just because you didn't study enough.

Ecclesiastes 12:11-14 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. 

So, my dearest friends, I want to say just how much I love you all! Since coming to Torah, my life has never felt richer. I have gone through much pain and loss in this journey, but it has also gained me a faith more solid than diamonds because of how much it has increased the depth of my love for our Maker. I have met people who have cheered me on like no else in my life did before I came to this understanding.

I recognize that many of the people who will read this might categorize themselves inside the things that I said I believe are damaging to the Torah witness. We don't need to be in agreement on everything for us to love each other still, so please just read this post and use it to evaluate if what you believe is scripture based. I don't know everything, I'm sure I'm wrong on a lot, but the best we can do for each other is to remind everyone to stay true to the scriptures and not forget the safety there is in following them rather than knowledge that comes from man.

Even though the devil has done his best to corrupt the testimony of Torah believers, I want to tell you, if you've only tasted the bad side of this community, don't believe it's all there is to Torah keeping. Keep searching. Don't cling to man and his imperfections, but look to the Father and His Word. If your faith is in Him and His instructions, what other people believe won't interfere with your journey into this world of learning how to show your love for your Messiah. Don't let Satan sullying our faith in Yeshua and our obedience to His Torah stop you! Keep being a patient soldier and remember your future reward for all that you are suffering right now. That suffering is proof that we don't come to Torah because God is going to give us wealth, honor, and glory in our current lives. The reward is on the other side, so keep looking up. Endure!

John 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

Revelation 12:17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua. And he stood on the sand of the sea. 

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Yeshua.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are the ones doing His commands, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and by the gates they may enter into the city.

2 Corinthians 6:8-10 Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true, as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.