ABRAHAMIC (HEBRREW) FAITH - PART II

BY: CHARLES J VOSS


Three Words That Show the Way
"Well, what about that way? The way of the CREATOR is intimately bound up with and absolutely grounded in the revealed character of ETERNAL. As mentioned earlier, CREATOR tells Moses that He is ETERNAL. A SOVEREIGN merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, but that He will by no means ignore sin. This very specific character sketch spoken of by ETERNAL Himself, about Himself is reflected throughout the Hebrew Scriptures by three Hebrew words. These three words are unquestionably the three key concepts of the Scriptural Abrahamic Hebrew Faith. Yet, ironically, they remain virtually unknown to most English readers of the Scriptures.
To introduce them, I will turn to a truly profound passage by the prophet Jeremiah that really says it all in a very few words directly from the ETERNAL CREATOR:
"Thus says ETERNAL, let not a wise man boost of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boost of his might and let not the rich man boost of his riches. But let him who boosts boost of this--that he understands and knows Me, that I am ETERNAL who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. For I delight in these things says ETERNAL." (Jer. 9:23-24)

Now the words loving kindness, justice, and righteousness come from three Hebrew words. Loving-kindness comes from "hesed" (khek'-sed), justice from "mishpat" (mish-pawt'), and righteousness from "tzedakah" (tsed-aw-kaw'). "I can say here what I said earlier about the Shema. This is the faith all else is commentary.

If you know and live by these, that's it. That IS the Faith, anything else is just words. There is more in these two verses than in shelves of theological books. Note first how CREATOR specifically identifies Himself by name, "that one understands and knows Me." He says, "that I am ETERNAL." Further, observe how the three says of mankind are sharply contrasted with the three components of the Way of CREATOR. Humans seek more wisdom, power, and wealth, that is the human way, which is separate from CREATOR and is the root of all evil.

"We then come to our three great words, hesed, mishpat, and tzedakah. In these, the SOVEREIGN Himself delights. After all, they are a description of His very character, as a prescription of His way for mankind:

"Hesed which is often translated "mercy, love, or kindness" is a tender word. It is the very heart of our SOVEREIGN's character and is much connected to the concept of grace and forgiveness. The combination translation of "loving kindness" though somewhat awkward is a fine one, I think. Through the prophet Hosea, ETERNAL declares:
"I delight in "hesed" rather than sacrifice." (Hosea 6:6)
"Micah declares in answer to Moses' question "what does ETERNAL require you? "that one must love 'hesed'" 19 which might strike one as an odd way to put it, yet, the point is profound. Those that come to know the SOVEREIGN, which is to know the Way of the CREATOR, must learn to delight in "hesed."


"Mishpat is usually translated "justice." It means to act with fairness, equity, and impartiality in any situation. Again, Micah, in the same passage declares that ETERNAL requires that one do justice. (That's Micah 6:8). The Prophets constantly speak of "mishpat." In a well-known passage, Amos cries out:
"Let justice "mishpat" roll down like water." (Amos 5:24)

"Tzedakah is often linked directly with "mishpat." They are closely related, sometimes overlapping. It is usually translated "righteousness" referring to the fine and upright way of behavior. In other words, these are the CREATOR's moral standards for humankind. The three words together form a balanced and complete triad. 20 They combine with one another to play off of one another. Loving-kindness can sometimes temper justice. And yet, what is truly just and right often defines the way of loving kindness in the first place.
"The following quotations illustrates this point quite well:
"He loves righteousness and justice. The earth if full of the loving kindness of the ETERNAL." (Psalm 33:5)

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before you." (Psalm 89:14)

When ETERNAL finally stands on the Mt. of Olives21 and King David is resurrected as the Messiah (Mashiach), his basic plan is to establish the Kingdom or Rule of the ETERNAL on Mt. Zion 22 with justice and righteousness. And yet, the throne will be established in loving kindness." 23
The Way of ETERNAL
"There is an interesting text in the early part of Genesis. The ETERNAL CREATOR determines to share with Abraham, His intimate friend, His plans for utter destruction of the wicked one of Sodom and Gomorrah. The ETERNAL reasons within Himself:
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (Genesis 18:17)
"Then comes an absolute and fundamental verse:
"I have chosen," (the literal meaning is "known") him in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the Way of ETERNAL by doing righteousness and justice." (Gen. 18:19)

"There you have it. The very Way of ETERNAL is defined precisely. It is doing and practicing tzedakah and mishpat. The entire Plan of CREATOR involving the very message of Abraham depends upon this preservation and extension of this Way.

"What is involved here? The terms righteousness and justice mean many different things to different people. Each individual or culture tends to reason out their own sense of what they consider to be just and right. "Human beings have been apt at developing their own systems of ethics and morals. However, when the Scriptures use these terms, something absolutely specific and concrete is intended.

"There is a definite 'Way of ETERNAL'. It is not determined by shifting sands of human culture and opinion. It has never changed in the least from the creation of Adam until our day. We can specifically know it that Way. It is actually laid out in concrete form with all of its details.

"There is only one place and one place alone that one can truly come to know and understand the Way of ETERNAL. One must turn to what is called in The Hebrew Scriptures the "Torah and the Testimony."24 Perhaps the most misleading translation of any term in the entire Scriptures is the rendering of Hebrew word "Torah" as "law." The modern English word "law" in no way conveys the beautiful, highly positive and compelling meaning of the original Hebrew concept. The very first Psalm describes the way of the righteous person:
"But his delight is in the Torah of the ETERNAL. And in His Torah he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:2)

"The Hebrew Scriptures always speak of the Torah of the ETERNAL in the most positive way. Note the following verses:
"The Torah of ETERNAL is perfect, restoring the soul." (Psalm 19:7)
"Your Torah is true." (Psalm 119:142)
"Oh, how I love your Torah. It is my mediation all the day." (Psalm 119:97)
"Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of your Torah." (Psalm119:18)

"Eighteen times in Psalm 119, David exclaims his love for and delight in the Torah. So, what precisely is the Torah? The Hebrew word itself means "instruction or teaching." But it is most always used in a more specific way to mean the Torah or teaching of the ETERNAL Himself given to Moses at Mount Sinai. (See Deuteronomy 4:8; 31:9; Nehemiah 8:8).

"Unfortunately, this is not the way many "Christians" have been taught to think of the Torah. 25 Their understanding, in direct contradiction to those plain verses, has been poisoned by a serious wrestling in the writings of Paul, and a thoroughly anti-Judaic "Christian" theology which developed in the 2nd century CE.

"Regrettably, through the greatest deception of western history, millions of "Christians" have been conditioned to think negatively about the so-called "Law" as if it is something to be despised as inferior, void of deep spiritual meaning. And yet it is the everlasting, perfect revelation of truth spoken by ETERNAL CREATOR Himself. David, throughout the Psalms, exalts the Torah. He clearly has something specific in mind. As King of Israel, he was even required to write for himself a copy of this Torah and to read it and mediate on it all the days of his life (Deut. 17:18-19). David, a man after the CREATOR's own heart, loved this Torah of ETERNAL making it the very center of his life. Those who speak against Torah are under a great deception and have lost the knowledge of the true CREATOR, His way, and His plan for humankind.

"Torah is a broad term that can refer to total Divine Revelation to humankind. However, it is preeminently the Teachings revealed in the books of Moses and the Prophets. And even more specifically, the teachings of the so-called Pentateuch, 26 or the Five Books of Moses, are the first five books of Scripture. This revelation is fundamentally basic and never to be superseded. And yet, we have great denominations that have books that they claim to supersede these fundamental everlasting Scriptures.

"What millions of "Christians" have woefully misunderstood is that the Torah is universally and perpetually valid. Jeriamiah's teaching about the New Covenant says nothing what so ever about replacing or abrogating the Torah. On the contrary, in the Messianic age the Torah is to be put into the very heart of the restored people of Israel. 27 Ultimately, the Torah is for all humankind. Isaiah declared it is the Torah that will go forward from Zion to all nations, defining that way of justice and righteousness. 28

"The Torah is the perpetual standard of tzedakah and mishpat. It is only by going to what is called the Testimony--which I will explain later--and to the Torah in full as amplified by the Prophets that one can come to truly understand the way of ETERNAL in all of its concrete and practical implications.

The ideas of human beings are infinite, but the definitive revelation of ETERNAL CREATOR is once for all most specific. The material I have been going over regarding the true understanding of the CREATOR, His Name, and His very character is drawn from the Torah. The rest of Scripture is merely an amplification and reinforcement of this foundational revelation. This is among the most essential revelations in Scripture. It is not merely background material. It is bedrock, benchmark, and truth about the fundamentals of the faith and is essential to any true Scriptural understanding of the true CREATOR and His Way.

The Torah and Testimony
"Human beings long for the supernatural, for some revelation about the mystery of our existence. Isaiah tells of a time when CREATOR will hide His face from both Israel and the nations and people will walk in darkness turning to spiritism and to the occult in order to find the answers. But the Scripture states:
"Bind up the Testimony, seal the Torah among My disciples. ...And when they say to you, 'consult the mediums and the spiritualists who whisper and mutter,' [but], shouldn't a people consult their CREATOR? ...[and go] to the Torah and the Testimony! [And] if they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no light. ...then they will look to the earth and behold the stress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness." (Isaiah 8:16-22)
"This is an important and fascinating portion of prophetic Scripture. The true disciples of ETERNAL will turn to the Torah, which is the true light in a world of darkness. Isaiah also speaks of the Testimony. What is the Testimony? Does he have something specific in mind when he said that? Notice carefully the instructions that CREATOR gave Moses at Mount Sinai:
"And you shall put the covering on the top of the Arc (of the Covenant). In the arc you shall put the Testimony which I shall give to you." (Exodus 25:21)

"Here we learn that the Testimony is something quite specific. It is an actual object that can be placed inside the Arc of the Covenant. Indeed, the Arc itself was often called the "Arc of the Testimony." The more familiar term "Arc of the Covenant" is merely a variation of the phrase, "Arc of the Testimony." 29 In other words, the whole point of having the Arc, which is a gold-plated wooden chest, was to hold this Testimony. And yet, the Arc, as the only furnishing in the inner room of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, radiated the very Presence of Glory of ETERNAL. Here, before the Arc of the Testimony, CREATOR would directly speak in an audible voice to Moses. And Moses would behold the "form" or the shape of the CREATOR Himself. 30 There had been no other revelation quite like this in history. Obviously, there is a profound point to all of this.

"The Testimony is virtually important. It is the very focal point of the revelation of the CREATOR's glory. Further, the entire Tabernacle which Moses was instructed to build is called the "Tabernacle of the Testimony" (Ex. 38:21). In other words, this Testimony, whatever it is, is the central focus of the entire system of worship that was revealed to Moses.

Many think of the Tabernacle as primarily a place for the ritualistic slaughter of animals. Actually "animal sacrifices" were not the focus of the Tabernacle, nor of the later Temple of Jerusalem. Rather, this special "Tent" is called the "mikdash" ("Sanctuary" or "Holy") or the "mishkan" ("Dwelling or "Tabernacle"). Both have to do with the CREATOR actually dwelling among humans. In other words, the Tabernacle or the Temple is the "earthly House" for the literal manifestation of the Glory of the "Face" of ETERNAL Himself. This glory is described as appearing like a Cloud or a Fire. The people could see an actual physical manifestation. Only Moses could go near ETERNAL as He manifested Himself in this extraordinary way. And the Testimony is an intricate part of this phenomenon. What, then, is the Testimony? Exodus gives us the plain answer:
"And when He (ETERNAL) had finished speaking with him (Moses) on Mount Sinai, He (ETERNAL) gave Moses two Tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of CREATOR. (Exodus 31:18)

"These mysterious tablets were further described in the next chapter. They are written on both sides, engraved with the writing of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN Himself (Exodus 32:15). This is quite a phenomenon. The ETERNAL CREATOR Himself wrote on two tablets of stone His Testimony and gave them to Moses to be preserved in the very heart of the Sanctuary, in the most consecrated Arc of the Covenant.

The Tabernacle is understood to be the earthly model of the heavenly Sanctuary (Ex. 25:9). "Written on the tablets are the Ten Commandments. Literally, Ten Words spoken by CREATOR Himself on Shavot (the Feast of Weeks) to all Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:28). At this unprecedented moment in history, CREATOR Himself gave awesome testimony to His ETERNAL Way of justice and righteousness. He literally spoke the Ten Commandments in a voice that could be heard, and in a marvelous display of power and glory.

"These Ten Commandments are the heart and core of the Torah. Our CREATOR spoke those words, "and He added no more" (Deut. 5:22). They are complete within themselves. All other commandments, statutes, and ordinances of Torah which were given for Israel to observe in the land are essentially applications of this ETERNAL Way of justice and righteousness. (Check Deuteronomy 12:1)

"This Testimony offers in a beautiful summary form, the outline of the CREATOR's Way for all humankind. Each of these Ten Commandments, including the seventh day Sabbath, were known and practiced by those who knew the SOVEREIGN from Adam to Moses. 31 We read that Enoch walked with CREATOR and that Noah was a righteous man who also walked with the CREATOR (Gen. 5:22; 6:9). The SOVEREIGN reminds Isaac that Abraham was chosen: "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." (Gen. 26:5)

"Although these men and women did not know of the Torah in the precise and full form the nation of Israel knows it, they certainly knew this basic way of justice and righteousness (see Gen. 18:19). 32 There is nothing particularly Jewish about this testimony of ETERNAL. Although it actually became the center and core of the CREATOR's specific Covenant with all of the tribes of Israel at Sinai, these Ten Words, as they are called, are much more than mere commandments that one might legalistically just tack off and throw away. Each one represents a topical heading, an entire category of understanding: (e.g., human sexuality, property rights, and human speech). They are amplified and expounded throughout the Scripture.

"Those who maintain that this awesome Testimony of ETERNAL, the Ten Words spoken by the ETERNAL Himself that they have been abrogated, altered, or superseded are under the most serious kind of deception. Let us understand what would be required to restore the Abrahamic faith to this world:
"And many people shall say, come you and let us go back to the mountain of the ETERNAL to the house of the SOVEREIGN of Jacob. He will teach us His ways and we will walk in His path and out of Zion shall go forth the law (Torah), and words of ETERNAL from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3)

Abrahamic Faith for All Nations
Did you see that the Torah will go forth and many people, many nations, the whole world, universal will be restored to the Abrahamic or Hebrew faith. It will be required the to have the Torah faith in all nations. "Although the Torah was given once, for all by Moses to Israel at Mount Sinai, it is essentially universal for all humankind. It is to the Torah that we must go, and from Torah, we must derive the essentials of the faith. It is useful to call this faith the "Abrahamic Faith" or "Hebrew Faith," since the very mission and the meaning of Abraham's calling and the subsequent Covenant with Israel was that all nations would be blessed. Remember, we covered that, Genesis 12:1-3, the first time CREATOR dealt with Abraham. In other words, any view of Abraham, or of the Torah, which ignores the universal aspects is wrong headed from the start.
I want to emphasize that I am not advocating Judaism 33 or that anyone should become Jewish. The Jewish sages and rabbis have developed through their written and oral traditions a particular understanding of Torah observance which is based upon the writings of the Talmud and the Mishnah (see footnote 1). So I am not in any way advocating that anyone should become Jewish. To be of the Hebrew or Abrahamic Faith is not the same as the Jewish faith. Remember that there a total of thirteen tribes of Israel and Judaism is strickly the religion of the Jews. Whereas, the Abrahamic Hebrew Faith is Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) based, and not based on the Talmud, Mischnah, or Oral Traditions.

Yet, the Prophets speak of Gentiles (Isa 56:1-8) who know and fear ETERNAL and who associate themselves with the mission of Israel (all tribes), taking up the Way of ETERNAL, the Way of Abraham, which will be a blessing to all people. Most Gentiles have assumed that the teaching of the Torah is a "Jewish thing" and they have viewed the living Torah of ETERNAL as a historical relic, largely irrelevant in the modern "Christian" world.

Yet, the Scriptures teach that there is a valid form of Torah Faith and observance for all of humankind. The Shema speaks of "laying these Commandments upon your heart," of "talking of them" constantly. King David spoke of "mediating on the Torah day and night." Is there a single Commandment (mitzvah) of the Torah for which one can not learn essential aspects of ETERNAL's nature and Way for humankind? Which of the Commandments of Torah or spurred or forgotten? One has only to page through whole sections of Torah such as Leviticus 18-20 or Deuteronomy 12-25, to realize the vital relevance and importance for humankind as a whole. Humans should:
"...know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of ETERNAL." (Deut. 8:3)

This is something that is mirrored in the New Testament 34. "The Torah addresses all aspects of human life: social relations, economic justice, health and hygiene, ecology, criminal justice, sexual conduct, and on and on. The Torah is a blueprint, framed in an ancient Israelitish setting, of a Way of justice and righteousness for all humanity. Until the whole world turns to the principles of the Torah, we will continue to suffer all of its collective ills and horrors. The Prophets make that clear. The collapse of our human societies and the judgement that comes upon all nations on the Great and Terrible Day of ETERNAL" is based on our flouting the Way revealed in Torah (see Isaiah chapter 24 and chapters 59-66). Also, the Torah is much more than just Commandments. It contains a fundamental, unfolding heritage. It is from that core, fundamental, narrative that we learn of the fundamentals of the Faith.

"The Hebrew Prophets go hand and hand with the Torah. They too come to us in their ancient dress, reflecting the conditions of Israel and Judah from the 8th through the 5th century BCE. But they preserve for us an entirely valid commentary by ETERNAL Himself, on every aspect of human life and society. Are these very words of CREATOR to be ignored because they are said in the context of ancient Israel? Anyone who has deeply studied Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, or Micah comes away with the impression that the Prophets speak with a voice that is perpetually relevant, literal, and up to date as the morning paper. Furthermore, large sections of the Prophets directly address the "last or latter days," as they are called. In that sense, important parts of these writings are more for us than for the ancient Israel.

"ETERNAL is the SOVEREIGN of history. His Way and His Plan are revealed and are worked out in time and history. This requires that His word be historically conditioned coming out of a specific time and place. But in application, the revelation of the entire Hebrew Scripture is universally relevant to all mankind at all times.

"Each individual, in seeking a relationship with our SOVEREIGN directly and without contemplation, will find his or her own way to express Torah faith and observance appropriate to the situation. I can not think of any Commandment of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN that is to be abrogated or ignored.

"As a matter of practical fact, the "Christian" churches are starving for the riches that come from the deep and submissive study of the Torah and the Prophets. And this has nothing to do with a discussion of "legalism," "law and grace," or earning "one's salvation." And yet, most of the Torah is abrogated and becomes a part of the so-called "Old Testament" that one might consult on occasion for "historical background." Millions talk about how "they just can not understand the Old Testament" or "they just can not identify with the "God" of the Old Testament."

"The deeply spiritual nurture that comes from meditating on the direct words of ETERNAL Himself as revealed in Torah and the Prophets is lost to many "Christians." Instead, they try to cling to a "New Testament" which is thoroughly removed from the historical Israelite context, heavily interpolated, poorly translated, and paraded forth in its Hellenistic/pagan dress. Surely, it goes without saying that none of the writers of the New Testament document had a New Testament. All of them looked to The Hebrew Scriptures; The Hebrew Scriptures preserved by the Jewish people of Israel. Accordingly, the "Christian message" that most hear Sunday after Sunday from their pulpits is stripped of all true spiritual power. It is largely cut off from understanding of ETERNAL as the ONE true SOVEREIGN from Torah and from the people of Israel--the pillars of Scriptural faith.

One endlessly hears a single theme--"accept, one who they call, Chr-st, tell others so that you can enter into heaven when you die." How tragic! This aborted message in no way reflects the grand revelation in the message of Scripture. Millions of "Christians" have truly sold their birthright for a mess of potage! They wonder why their frantic, emotional, save-yourselves-and-others program does not satisfy. They question why our CREATOR is not "real" to them and why they never seem to find true contentment in their way of life. In the meantime, our society is cut off and drifting into a kind of moral chaos which is truly frightening. The powerful, direct, living word of ETERNAL is not heard in the land. Read Isaiah 59. This is the message that needs to ring out from our pulpits. Shouted by those who know and obey the living SOVEREIGN, The Righteous One of Israel.

Further, I lament that "Christians" have largely missed the richness of an in-depth Scripture study. There is nothing to compare to the richness, depth, spiritual insight, and technical knowledge of Hebrew. On the positive side devout Jews throughout the world follow a weekly cycle of reading and study of the Torah and the Prophets. When we draw close to ETERNAL in this way, lovingly and seeking "to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth," the results are phenomenal.

Well, this brings to a close this First Day of Unleavened Bread. If you all will rise, we will close in prayer.

"Oh ETERNAL, CREATOR of the universe, Father, we come before Your presence in the very control room of the universe, in the third heaven, to thank You for the knowledge You have given, and to thank You, Father, for the knowledge of the Faith of Abraham. The Hebrew Faith, which is the Faith, needed to save the world. It is the Faith that some day, the world will live by. And oh ETERNAL, as we are here waiting on You, learning Your Way, trying to live by it, we need to have Your strength and Your Spirit upon us. We ask that You would guide and direct our paths that we can draw ever closer to You, because the world needs the message to ring forth that You are the SOVEREIGN, that Your Way is plain, is pure, and is simple. The Way that will bring happiness to this very sick and dying world. So, Father, help us promote the study of Your word. Help us promote Your Torah and work toward a reunification of Israel and Judah under the Messianic reign of King David. Thank You so very much, aw-man'.
End of the article "Quest for the Abrahamimc Herbrew Faith.






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Footnotes
1. Our purpose is not to prove or to disprove any of the "inspired" books which claim Abraham as the beginning of their religion but simply to point out that they are at variance with The Hebrew Scriptures. There is confusion of differing opinions in the three main religions of the world--Judaism, Islam, and "Christianity." All three claim to have descended from Abraham and use the ancient Hebrew Scriptures or The Hebrew Scriptures. Each of these religions are vastly different from each other and each has its own "inspired or sacred" set of writings which all differ from each other and to varing degrees supersede The Hebrew Scripture text in the mind set or paradigm of each group.
Most adherents of Judaism follow the main tenets of the Torah but some also have and follow the Talmud. The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "The Talmud, the great rabbinical thesaurus which grew up during the first four to six centuries of the "Christian" era, and with the Old Testament, became the Bible of the Jews. ...The Talmud consists of the Mischnah (Heb. '[Oral] repetition, teaching'), a systematic collection of religious-legal decisions developing the laws of the Old Testament."
In Jewish eyes their own special books can and sometimes do supersede the Torah. Once while I was attending a Jewish Sabbath, service the topic of the speaker was "wearing fringes [Heb. tsiytsith]" The speaker from Hebrew University, [I will not reveal his name] stated, "Fringes must contain a blue thread on the hem of a person's outer garment." He then said, "But, in the Talmud the Rabbis decided not to include a blue thread in the fringes; which I might add," he said, "is contrary to the Torah." The prayer shawl I was given to wear had no blue in its white tassels.
Right or wrong Judaism has separate books, the Talmud & Mischnah, that some look to in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures. However, our opinion is that only the Hebrew Scriptures alone, are to be used as doctrine or a guide to live by.


The people of Islam also have a book, The Koran that they follow. The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "The Koran is the sacred Book of Islam, on which the religion of more than two hundred million Mohammedans is founded, being regarded by them as the immediate word of 'God'."
On the subject of Scriptural characters in the Koran notice what the Britannica states: "These histories are chiefly those of the Old Testament, but the deviations from the Biblical narratives are very marked. Many of alterations are found in legendary anecdotes of the Jewish Haggada and the New Testament Apocrypha."
Right or wrong Islam has a separate book, the Koran, that some look to in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures. However, our opinion is that only the Hebrew Scriptures alone, are to be used as doctrine or a guide to live by.


While the "Christian" community places some value in The Hebrew Scriptures (OT), their greater focus is on the New Testament (NT). As a past member of several different "Christian" churches I have been taught all my early life the "New Covenant" of the NT completely did away with the "Old Covenant" of the OT and thus all the laws and commandments of the Torah are null and void. In fact, I was told "the law was nailed to the cross with J-sus." In any conflict with OT, the NT will be granted preference. Even my former Sabbath keeping "Christian" church would pick and choose and take things out of context to formulate doctrines. They pulled Isa. 28:10 out of context:
"Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little." It was used completely out of context to prove that it was okay to take things out of context -- when the very context of those verses warned not to take things out of context, because: "That they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught." (Isa. 28:13)
Right or wrong "Christianity" has a separate book, the New Testament, that they look to in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures. However, our opinion is that only the Hebrew Scriptures alone, are to be used as doctrine or a guide to live by.


A subset of "Christianity" is Mormonism which also has its own "holy book." The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "The Church of 'Jesus Christ' of Latter-Day Saints commonly known as Mormons, a religious sect founded by Joseph Smith. ...He said that the angel Moroni appeared to him three times, and told him that the Bible of the western continent, the supplement to the New Testament, was buried on a hill called Cumorh, now commonly known as Mormon hill."
The Mormons claim that both the OT and the NT were corrupted over time, and in any conflicts, The Book of Mormon takes president.
Right or wrong, the Mormons have a separate book, The Book of Mormon, that they look to in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures however, we feel that only the Hebrew Scriptures alone, are to be used as doctrine or a guide to live by.

19. "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does ETERNAL require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your CREATOR? (Micah 6:8)
20. These three are often linked with two others: 'emet' which is truth, and 'emunah' which is faithfulness. These five are the great concepts of the Abrahamic or Hebrew Faith. See Psalms 25:10; 26:3; 36:5-7; Habakkuk 2:4; and Lamentations 3:23.

21. "And His (ETERNAL's) feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, (Zech. 14:4)

22. "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when ETERNAL of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23)

23. "Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice." ...In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the Tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness." (Isaiah 9:7; 16:5)

24. "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait on ETERNAL, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him. Here am I and the children whom ETERNAL has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from ETERNAL of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. And when they say to you, 'seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' shouldn't a people seek their CREATOR? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? [They should seek] the law and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isa. 8:16-20)

25. "The Hebrew Scriptures (called the Tanakh), incorrectly labeled the Old Testament by 'Christians,' are divided into three parts: Torah, Prophets, and Psalms (or Writings). The Torah is made up of the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The contents or number of books of The Hebrew Scriptures is identical to the 'Christian' "Old Testament," however, the order and arrangement of the books in the 'Christian' Bible is different.

26. A Greek term referring to the five Books of Moses.

27. If you wanted to read that, read Jeremiah chapters 30-31, and Ezekiel chapters 36-39.

28. "Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of ETERNAL, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the [Torah], And the word of ETERNAL from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3)

29. Compare Exodus 32:15-16 with Deuteronomy 9:10-11.

30. To check that, see Numbers 7:89 and 12:8.

31. See our article The History of Prophecy.

32. "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the Way of ETERNAL, to do righteousness and justice, that ETERNAL may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." (Gen. 18:19)

33. The rabbis say that the Goyim (basically anybody not observing the religion of Judaism) should not try to convert to Judaism or keep the Torah but should keep the Noahide Code (a watered down version of the Ten Commandments) as specified in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a-75a.

34. If "Christians" followed Luke 4:4, which mirrors Deut. 8:3, they would also follow Torah.