Torah: Hitting the Mark
Though we were born like animals, Yahweh took mercy on us. First He gave us His Torah (instructions) to show us the right way to live, and then He sent His Son not only to take the punishment for our errors, but also to model what it looks like to live those instructions out.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:17
17 “Think not that I came to destroy the Torah and the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but (only) to fulfill.”
The word Torah (תורה) is based on the root word yarah (ירה), which means, “to point out” (as if by aiming one’s finger), or “to shoot” as if pointing at a target.
OT:3384 yarah (yaw-raw'); or (2 Chronicles 26:15) yara' (yaw-raw'); a primitive root; properly, to flow as water (i.e. to rain); transitively, to lay or throw (especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach:
KJV - (+)archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach (-ering,-), through.
First Yahweh gave us a written Torah, to explain how we should walk; and then He gave us Yeshua, to show us what our walk should look like. Yeshua is the living Torah, because His example shows us the way.
Yochanan (John) 13:15
15 “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
On the opposite end of things, the Hebrew word for sin is chata (חטא), which mean “to miss the mark.”
OT:2398 chata' (khaw-taw'); a primitive root; properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn:
KJV - bear the blame, cleanse, commit [sin], by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend (-er), offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin (-ful, -ness), trespass.
In other words, Torah is when we hit the mark, and sin is when we miss. But the problem is, if we miss the target even by a little, a miss is still a miss. This is why Ya’akov (James) tells us that if we fail to keep one aspect of the Torah, we fail in all.
Ya’akov (James) 2:10-11
10 For whoever shall keep the whole Torah, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah.
For a moment let us imagine an archer’s target. The bulls-eye is Yeshua’s example. As we saw in earlier chapters, in order to hit the bulls-eye we need to believe all things that are written in the Torah and the Prophets (as Yeshua and the apostles did). We also need compassion and mercy. Finally, we need to listen for Yahweh’s voice, and obey it. We need all of these.
Now imagine three clusters of arrows that have hit the greater target area, but have missed the bulls-eye. One cluster centers about the 12 o’clock, a second about 4 o’clock, and the third cluster about 8 o’clock. These may be likened to the three main monotheistic religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (We will discuss the arrows that hit nearest the bulls-eye later.)
There are some major differences between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; and yet all believe they are serving the “one true Elohim” (as they understand Him). They each read different books, and yet all are devoted to their books. They all have devout believers who are willing to sacrifice (and even die) for what they believe. The key here is to understand that each one of these religions contains some elements of the truth; and yet each one of them simultaneously “misses the mark.” These may represent the three measures of meal that Yeshua said would be leavened, in Matthew 13:33.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:33
33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."
Elohim also uses leaven as a metaphor false doctrine (which is sin). This is why Yeshua warned His followers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (i.e., Orthodox Jews) and the Sadducees (Karaites).
Mattityahu (Matthew) 16:11-12
11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? — but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
We do not want to stay focused on sin, false doctrines or leaven, but rather on Yahweh’s truth. However, we can avoid false doctrines better if we know what they are. Briefly, the doctrine of the Pharisees is similar to that of Catholicism in that the rabbis believe they have the authority to change Yahweh’s Torah. The rabbis teach that when Yahweh gave the Torah to Israel, He did not give it to them with the expectation that they would obey it as given. Rather, the rabbis teach that Yahweh gave Moshe the authority to make new Torah as he saw fit; and that this authority to make new Torah has been passed along to each succeeding generation.
Pirkei Avot (Verses of our Fathers) 1:1
Moshe received the [ability to make] Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the men of the Great Assembly] said three things: Be deliberate in judgment; develop many disciples; and make a fence for the [original] Torah.
The phrase “make a fence” for the Torah means to add to Yahweh’s Torah, to make sure no one transgresses it. However, as we saw earlier, this transgresses Yahweh’s Torah in and of itself.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:2
2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, which I command you.”
This point cannot be over-stated: if we change the Torah Yahweh gave us to, then Yahweh considers that we are no longer keeping His Torah, but our own. In Scripture, a servant obeys his master; but if we keep our own instructions it implies that we see ourselves as our own masters (rather than as Yahweh’s servants). It is in this light that we should read how the rabbis tell us to be more careful in our observance of their traditional man-made laws (here called “the words of the scribes”) than in our obedience of Yahweh’s Torah. (Note: the numbers in quotations from the Talmud below are not “verses” per se, but refer to footnotes.)
Talmud – Mas. Eruvin 21b
My son, be more careful 14 in [the observance of] the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah, for in the laws of the Torah there are positive and negative precepts; 15 but, as to the laws of the Scribes, whoever transgresses any of the enactments of the Scribes incurs the penalty of death.
The rabbis teach that so long as a majority of them agree, they do not need to listen to “heaven” (i.e., Yahweh’s Torah).
Talmud - Mas. Baba Metzia 59b
Said R. Jeremiah: [Because] the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice, because Thou hast long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai, “after the majority must one incline.” 5
Earlier we saw that Satan led a rebellion in heaven; and for the rabbis to think they can override Yahweh’s Torah with a simple majority ruling is essentially to join that rebellion; yet this happens all the time. It is very common for the rabbis to make up new “Torah Law” traditions that contradict Yahweh’s Torah. In this case, Yahweh never said to “incline after the majority.” Rather, what Yahweh said was not to follow after a crowd to do evil.
Shemote (Exodus) 23:2
2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
Orthodox rabbis do not consider it problematic if their present day majority rulings contradict the Torah that Yahweh gave to Moshe on Mount Sinai, because they believe that the Torah is not meant to be static (like the U.S. Constitution). Rather, they believe “Torah Law” is supposed to be nothing more than the opinion of the leading Talmud scholars of the day; except that they believe their opinion is supposed to be legally binding, such that if you contradict it, you are to be put to death.
Sifrei Divrei Rav (on Deuteronomy) 154 (11)
Even if they tell you that right is left or left is right, you must listen to them.
Since the rabbis consider it prestigious to be the one to “make Torah Law” for the nation, they make a lot of these laws. All aspects of life are regulated, including what to wear, when to wear it, and how to wear it, even down to how Israelites “must” put on their shoes.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Hayim 2:4
A person must first put on his right shoe, but not tie it. Then he must put on his left shoe, and tie it, and (then) go back and tie his right shoe.
The Sadducees (Karaites) do not subscribe to rabbinic authority, but they also do not confess Yeshua as the Messiah. While they can be nice people, this is a definition of someone who has a spirit of anti-messiah.
Yochanan Bet (2 John) 7-11
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Yeshua Messiah as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-messiah.
8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Messiah does not have Elohim. He who abides in the doctrine of Messiah has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;
11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
In addition to being Sadducees, the Karaites are also the “scribes” of the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant). While it is widely believed that the scribes faithfully reproduced the Hebrew Tanach (“Old” Testament) from the days the prophets first wrote the words down, there is evidence to suggest that this is not really the case. Although Karaite scribes are very careful about how they copy the Tanach, over time changes can still enter in, due both to scribal error and normal use. Scrolls are made of tanned lamb skin, and as they are rolled and unrolled, portions of the hide can flake off, altering the shape of the letters. Yet there is something more.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 8:8-9
8 "How can you say, 'We are wise,
And the Torah of Yahweh is with us'?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood!
9 The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh;
So what wisdom do they have?”
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) tells us that the false pen of the scribes (Karaites) certainly works falsehood. While we do not know all the details, there is evidence to suggest that some changes were made before the destruction of the Second Temple.
Perhaps three hundred years before Yeshua’s time, the Tanach was translated into Greek, for use by other Jews living outside the land. This translation was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the work of several translators, and not all of them had equal ability. However, because it was an official translation it seems logical that it was intended to be accurate. The reason this matters is because of a number of important discrepancies between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Tanach we have today (called the Masoretic Text).
The apostles seem to have written their epistles from a Hebraic version of the Tanach that was much closer to the Septuagint reading than the modern Masoretic text (particularly with regards to messianic passages). This leads some scholars to believe that the Tanach read like the Septuagint until after Yeshua’s ministry, when the messianic passages were changed to support the idea that Yeshua was not actually the Messiah. Very few scrolls survived the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, and if the only scrolls that escaped the destruction had been altered, this would explain why the apostles’ writings refer to a Hebraic Tanach that reads much closer to the Septuagint than the current Masoretic text.
There were other changes we know about. As good as the Karaite scribal methods were, manual copying of such long documents was bound to lead to some error. Over the centuries, slight variances crept into the Tanach, such that there were different codices. From the 7th thru the 10th centuries CE a family of Karaite scribes (Moshe ben Asher and his clan) took it upon themselves to “standardize” the text. Taking the scroll that seemed “best” to their eyes, they added a system of vowel markings, and “fixed” the text according to the Jewish Masorah (tradition). The result was the Masoretic Text we use today.
Orthodox and Karaite dogma is that the Masoretic Text has not been altered since the scrolls were first written by the prophets; and that because it has (allegedly) never been altered, it is completely authoritative. Since many Christian translators accept this claim at face value, the Masoretic Text is commonly used as a basis for the “Old Testament” portion of mainstream Christian bibles. This does not cause a problem for the average Christian, who believes the “Old” Covenant has been done away with, and has been replaced by the “New.” However, it is a big problem for Nazarene Israelites, because part of our faith is to study His word for ourselves. When students read the Tanach and the Brit Chadasha, and some of the passages do not line up, the automatic assumption is that the Brit Chadasha is unreliable, but the Tanach is; and so many students come to doubt the Brit Chadasha, such that they lose their faith. What would help is to have a better sense of perspective about Scripture as a whole.
Early rabbinic sources admit the Masoretic text has been altered. For example, in the 3rd century CE, Rav Simon ben Pazzi referred to a large number of places where the text has been changed, calling them the “emendations of the scribes.” The Orthodox position is that these changes were made by “the men of the Great Assembly” (in Ezra and Nehemiah’s time). In fact many more minor alterations have been made to the Tanach, but they are beyond the scope of this study. (Those interested in learning more should research “emendations of the scribes” and “Masorah.”)
The Catholics teach that all Scripture is infallible, and inspired. Our Jewish brothers also teach this with regards to the Tanach. However, the reality is that Scripture is just a book that records the words of Elohim, and the words of those who try to follow Him. It does have some internal discrepancies, but these do not detract from our faith. Even from the days of Avraham until now, the requirement has always been to be in relationship with Yahweh Elohim, to hear His voice and to obey His commands. Scripture is just a great big wonderful book that aids us in doing that. While it is important to rightly divide the word, if our focus is on finding discrepancies in the text rather than on furthering our relationship with Yahweh, something essential has been lost. The point is that Scripture gives us enough information to point us towards the bulls-eye (Yeshua), so that we can learn to walk by faith, and hear and obey His voice. We have enough that we can still hit the bulls-eye (if that is our goal).
If the first two clusters of arrows represent the Jewish and Christian denominations, then the third cluster represents the Muslims, who claim to descend from Ishmael, who is also a son of Avraham by his wife’s maidservant Hagar. Ishmael was to be a wild man, and his hand was to be against every man, and every man’s hand was to be against him. That is, he was to be continually in conflict with everyone.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 16:11-12
11 And the messenger of Yahweh said to her:
"Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because Yahweh has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man's hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
Yahweh said Ishmael would become twelve nations, and there are twelve predominantly Islamic nations today. As we explain in The Post-Millennial Return, many of our Ishmaelite cousins will leave convert to the worship of Yahweh following a great war that is to take place at the start of the millennium (which is the final thousand years of earth’s history). However, even though many of the Ishmaelites will be called into the covenant, the covenant itself was to come through Isaac (and through his son Jacob, later called Israel).
B’reisheet (Genesis) 17:20-21
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year."
Although Ishmael was prophesied to be quarrelsome, Ishmael and his mother Hagar both suffered terribly in Avraham’s house. Though Hagar bore (and probably helped to raise) Avraham’s son Ishmael, she was not treated like a wife. When there was strife between her and Avraham’s wife Sarah, Hagar and her son were turned out into the desert with only a few provisions. If Yahweh had not intervened, they would have died.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 21:14-20
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17 And Elohim heard the voice of the lad. Then the messenger of Elohim called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for Elohim has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."
19 Then Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
20 So Elohim was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
While Ishmael’s children do need to convert to the worship of Yahweh in order to enter into the covenant, the fact that the Ishmaelites were turned out into the desert to die helps us to understand their bitterness towards the Jews. It also helps us to understand their bitterness towards the Christians, whom the Muslims see as being essentially one in the same as the Jews, since both Jews and Christians are “people of the book.” In fact, the Muslims identify both groups so closely that one popular Muslim war cry is, “First the Saturday people, and then the Sunday people.”
Because they are sons of Avraham, the Ishmaelites are very devout people. Although their faith is not the same as the faith Yahweh asks us to keep, the Ishmaelites do practice many Scripture principles that both Jews and Christians fail to observe (2011 CE). Although they see both Jews and Christians as essentially the same, this thought surprises many Jews and Christians. However, the Ishmaelites are essentially correct. Later in this study we will show how there were originally twelve tribes in Israel, and how the Jews are only two of those tribes. In popular lore the remaining ten tribes are sometimes referred to as the lost ten tribes, but in Scripture they are called the house of Ephraim, or the house of Israel; and these are the very same people Yeshua said He came to recover on His first trip.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 15:24
24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent (on this first trip) except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
As we will see later, Ephraim was the patriarch Joseph’s son, which is why the house of Ephraim/Israel is also called the house of Joseph. We will also see how America serves as the “lead tribe” for these lost ten lost tribes of the house of Israel/Ephraim/Joseph, but it is the fact that America is filled with Israelites that will lead the archers (the Muslims/Ishmael) to attack America, and bitterly grieve her.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 49:22-24
22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the Mighty Elohim of Jacob
(From there is a Shepherd, a Stone of Israel).
We give more details in The Post-Millennial Return, but the Ephraimites of America (and probably her allies) will fight alongside Israel until Islam is beaten. (Edom, Moab and Ammon are in modern day Jordan.)
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 11:14
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
Some Muslim lands such as Egypt and Assyria (Syria) will join themselves to the nation of Israel, such that a greatly expanded millennial land of Israel is formed. In this passage we are told that there will even be a highway built from Egypt, through Israel, into Syria.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 19:23-25
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria — a blessing in the midst of the land,
25 whom Yahweh of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."
Other lands such as Gilead (in northeast Jordan) and Lebanon will come under Israeli control, and Yahweh will start bringing in His people, to settle these lands.
Zechariah 10:10
10 I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt,
And gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
Until no more room is found for them.
We give more details in The Post-Millennial Return, but Zechariah tells us that a “mixed race” (the house of Ephraim) will settle in Ashdod (just south of Tel Aviv), and the Philistines (Palestinians) who remain in the land will convert, and worship Yahweh.
Zechariah 9:6-7
6 "A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take away the blood from his mouth,
And the abominations from between his teeth.
But he who remains, even he shall be for our Elohim,
And shall be like a leader in Judah,
And Ekron like a Jebusite (i.e., Jerusalemite).
All three of these groups, the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, can be likened to three groups of arrows that hit the target, but miss the bulls-eye. The arrows represent the various denominations inside these three faiths. Some arrows come closer to the bulls-eye than others, but to be pleasing to Yahweh, what is required is a solid hit.
Feelings run hard between these three faiths. The Jews persecuted the Nazarenes and the Christians, and the Christians in return persecuted both the Jews and the Nazarenes. For his part, Ishmael has been at war with all Judeo-Christian denominations, and the prophecies tell us this will only intensify in the years ahead. All three of these groups may be the three measures of meal in which Elohim has been working, but which also are “puffed up” due to false doctrines.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:33
33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."
The reason the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims all “miss the mark” as far as Yahweh is concerned is that they do not read His words (with intent to obey them). Instead they write their own books, and make up their own rules. In essence they have set up “false targets” for themselves. Even if they hit their own false targets perfectly, they still miss the one Yahweh Elohim set up (which is His Son, Yeshua). In a very real sense, this is the spirit of anti-messiah.