1. What is the Torah?
The Hebrew word Torah means “instruction.” It is commonly translated into our Bibles by the English word “Law;” however, the English term law does not capture the full concept that comes over to us from the Hebrew term Torah; therefore, it is better understood in terms of "instruction" because it is the foundational teaching by which mankind was made aware of their sinful condition, and the Promise (given to Abraham) through which salvation would be given to all mankind.
Without the Torah, there would be no way to define sin. And without a way to define sin by God's terms, it would be impossible to hear and receive the Gospel of Christ. This is because one must first recognize themself as a sinner who has sinned against God before one can receive the "good news" of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Gal 3:22 confirms, "But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." (See also Romans 3:9-10)
Sin itself is defined by the Torah, as 1 John 3:4 confirms, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness (i.e. Torahlessness); and sin is lawlessness." Thus, a violation of the Torah is sin. We also know this to be fact because the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was declared sinless according to the conditions and terms given in the Torah. The Torah was the standard by which Jesus' enemies tried to attack Him to see if He would break it. Of course, he never broke God's Torah commands; however, he did have a few choice words to say about the "man made" commands that certain sects of Judaism had added to God's commands that were either making God's commands themselves void (i.e. causing a command of God to be ignored or overridden), or had been added in a way that made the commandments "heavy" or a "burden" on God's people in a way God never intended.
The term Torah is also used today by some people when referring to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Before there was a "New" Testament, the Scriptures were called the Torah, the Prophets. and the Writings (or sometimes the Writings were referred to as the Psalms), in any case, these three divisions formed an acronym, and thus the "Old" Testament was called the Tanach. The three divisions themselves are what made up the "canon" (which means the books considered authoritative) of Scriptures that Jesus, Paul, and the disciples used to instruct the people of God.
2 Tim 3:16 confirms, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." At the time Paul wrote these words, the "New" Testament was not yet fully compiled; however, the gospels at least were considered on par with Scripture by Paul and the disciples. In any case, the ALL Scripture Paul is referring to here includes specifically and primarily at that time the "Old" Testament or in Hebrew Tanach.
One last way in which the term Torah is used by some people is by using it to refer to the "Living Torah" or Jesus Christ, who is the Word made flesh. Since God can not be separated from His Word, to say that one follows Torah, is to say that one follows Jesus Christ, who Himself followed the written Torah of God. Therefore, if you desire to "do what Jesus did," than that means you must seek to follow/obey (from a position that begins with faith) the Torah of God and be obedient to God in the very same manner as your Master, Jesus Christ, the Torah made flesh.
Click Here [VIEW ARTICLE] to read and awesome article by Tim Hegg of www.torahresource.com about the unity of the Torah and why it is for all believers!
2. Who is Yeshua? (Jesus)
Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. When the angel appeared to Mary to let her know that she would become pregnant with the Messiah, Matt 1:21 states, "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus [Yeshua], for He will save His people from their sins." Jesus does not mean anything in Hebrew (the language Mary spoke and the angel spoke to her); however, Yeshua means "salvation," and thus the angel's explanation of the point of His name and His mission are made clear.
The Apostles testify that Jesus (Yeshua) of Nazareth is the promised Davidic Messiah (i.e. he was of the line of David), the Son of God (signifying his deity), the “Word made flesh” (John 1:14), “in whom the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
Contrary to popular notions, the Old Testament Law (Torah) was not abolished by the "New" Testament Gospel. The early believers continued to practice the commandments of the Torah throughout the New Testament period and beyond. Why can I say this with such confidence? Because the Torah is that which God used to define sin. All have sinned, therefore, all have violated God's Law (i.e. Torah). "Freedom in Christ" is NOT freedom to sin, but rather freedom to stop sinning perpetually and receive the grace of God which frees us from bondage to sin, and makes us bondservants of righteousness. In other words, we are no longer slaves the to enemy, we are slaves to God, and therefore, we chose to submit our will to His will, as detailed for us in His Word.
Salvation and forgiveness of sins are not simply something that happens abstractly to us, or in our heads/thoughts alone, the salvation offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ results in a new heart for the believer, a heart in which God writes His Law (His Torah) on it; and through the power and wisdom given to the believer through the work of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a holy (set apart) life to God. He is free from the bondage of sin (as Paul teaches throughout Romans); and enabled to stop sinning and obey God. Forgiveness of sins is just the first step in the total salvation of the human being. The whole person will be saved, and this is not just a future reality, or an abstract spiritual reality today, the body of the person experiences ongoing sanctification as he/she submits his/her will and life to God's will through obedience, and the person is then able to grow in their faith and knowledge of God. However, it all starts with simple acts of obedience, including the external types of commandments, which are the "training wheels" for the baby believer, who begins to submit his/her flesh (old nature) to the will of God (as detailed in God's Torah specifically, reiterated in the Prophets, sung about in the Writings, and rejoiced over in the Apostolic Scriptures (i.e. New Testament).
HOWEVER, the Law of God (Torah) was never given as a means for attaining salvation for anyone ever throughout salvation history. Instead the laws of the Torah are given to be upon our hearts; and thus our hearts should desire to obey that which it written upon it. This is the new struggle that Paul speaks of in Romans in which the old man (sin nature) will now fight against the new man (new nature). The first, old nature does not and can not submit itself to God's Law; however the new nature (our new heart) does desire and can submit and train its flesh (old nature) through the work of the Holy Spirit to submit to God's Law, and in so doing gives glory to God and validates the truth of Jesus reign on earth today even as it is in heaven. (See Romans 8:7) We are to demonstrate our love for God by keeping the commands of God (Deuteronomy 6:4–6) the same commandments Jesus extols us to obey over and again (see John 14 and 15); but we do not earn or merit our salvation because of obedience. The Law of God is used to combat our sinful flesh and make it submit to God today, in this life, not simply in the life to come, for Paul confirms that the Scriptures (OT at that time, but today would also include the NT) are profitable “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Jesus warned us not to think that He had come to abolish the Law of God (i.e. Torah) nor the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). Christ came to fulfill the Law or in other words, DO that which the Law proclaimed he would come and do. He also DID the law, i.e. He was the only human being capable to actually fulfilling or DOING all of it PERFECTLY. To fulfill is to do...not do away with.
Jesus also said that “Whoever then annuls [i.e. do away with or make void] one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). Granted, I do not know what least and greatest fully imply, but suffice to say, I would personally rather fall into the greatest category than the least.
This does not mean that we must do the Torah in order to earn salvation. Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We do not keep the commandments of God in order to be saved, we keep them because we are saved. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Supplemental Articles on this topic: Commentary on Romans 12:1-2 & Eph 4:17-20
and Commentary on Romans 7:7-25 (Paper)
We live in a day when most Christians do not keep the particulars of Torah (such as Sabbath, festivals, dietary laws, etc.). Therefore, when we read Paul’s letters, his arguments often seem to be anti-Jewish and anti-Torah—and in line with modern Christianity. But Paul did not live in our day. He never knew modern Christianity or even the Christianity of the second-century Church Fathers. In Paul’s day, believers were part of the larger Jewish community.
The seventh-day Sabbath was still the regular day of worship. It was not until over 300 years later that Constantine changed the worship day of "Christianity" to Sunday, (or Sun God worship day) in honor of his pagan goddess (Mithra) whom he continued to worship throughout his life even though he claimed Christianity as a new unifying religion for his kingdom. His beliefs were more politically motivated than spiritual. Up to that time, the believers were still meeting in community groups (or what is called ekklesia in the Greek, which simply was a generic term to describe a gathering of people. It is translated "church" in our modern bibles even though modern readers will often miss the fact that it did not mean the same thing that "church" means and implies to us today). These community groups when connected with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (including the New Testament early believers) were also called synagogues, as this term did not become connected with a building until many years later.
We also note an important assumption of the disciples at the Acts Council regarding what to do with all these new gentile believers coming to faith in the Messiah of Israel for they say, “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (Acts 15:21). Clearly, the new gentiles coming to faith were assumed to be integrating into the local communities, attending the synagogue services and hearing the Bible read (OT only at that time), such that they would learn the Word of God and grow in their faith walk.
The Apostle Paul found himself in a long-term argument with other Jewish believers over the position of non-Jews in the kingdom of God, and therefore also, within the local synagogue. His opponents asserted that before a Gentile could be "saved," he must first be circumcised (which in Paul’s day meant be ritually converted to Judaism and gain the status of a Jew) this also meant the gentile would be under the authority of the local (often non-believing in Jesus) rabbi and forced to keep the "whole Torah of Moses" (Acts 15:5) which in their minds also included the Oral commandments of the sages that Jesus clearly noted were a "heavy burden" and not God's commandments but mans.
For Paul, it was redundant (and an offense to Christ) for a Gentile believer to become circumcised as part of a man made ritual conversion to Judaism. It was offensive to Christ because it implied that faith in Him was not adequate to secure a position in the covenant with Israel, and was like applying for and office you already held. It was also a denial of the Gospel of faith, which Paul says Moses also preached. Paul said, “If you let yourselves be circumcised [that is, undergo a formal conversion into Judaism as a necessary component of your salvation], Messiah will be of no value to you at all” (Galatians 5:2). Messiah is of no value because the convert has opted to accomplish his participation in Israel (and thus salvation) through his own physical efforts. To Paul, this is going backward, not forward in Christ. It is trying to earn your salvation by submitting to authorities of men for acceptance by them, when such submitance to their authority denies the true authority of Christ and the true and only method of salvation, which is a sincere faith in the Messiah of Israel.
In Galatians, Paul responded to his opponents’ teaching by forbidding the Galatians to convert to become Jewish (i.e. circumcise). In the case of Gentiles with Jewish heritage, however, Paul did not hesitate to circumcise because it did not imply a conversion. In fact, he personally oversaw Timothy’s circumcision. Gentiles like Titus or the Galatians he encouraged to remain uncircumcised so long as circumcision was or could be seen as or misunderstood as the ticket into the Kingdom.
When read outside of this historic perspective, though, people often misunderstand Paul completely. When we forget that he was arguing against requiring Gentiles to be circumcised in order to merit salvation, we assume that he was arguing against keeping Torah. But he was only arguing that Torah and circumcision could not be regarded as prerequisites for salvation. Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
In one of his oft misunderstood passages, the Apostle Paul speaks of a written document of condemnation that is nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). This document is frequently misinterpreted as the Torah. Well meaning brothers and sisters often triumphantly declare that Messiah nailed the Torah to cross. (God forbid!) Translations like the NIV encourage this kind of interpretation by translating the document nailed as “the written code,” a term that seems to imply a law code, namely the Torah.
In Colossians 2:14, it is not the Torah that has been nailed to the cross. It is a written verdict of condemnation, like the type delivered by a Roman court of law.
Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of violations or debts held against man (to which man owes God), and as such this type of document is hostile to man, because is shows man to be the sinner that he is and lays out the details of all the specific violations he has accrued; Jesus, on the other hand, has taken it (this document that lists all our past, present and future offenses or violations) out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)
The “certificate of debt” that has been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross is condemnation. Condemnation (i.e. death) is the ultimate curse of the Torah. It is this curse that Messiah took upon Himself when He became “a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). It is specifically a long list of our offenses, or in other words, all the many ways we have disobeyed God's Torah commandments. That List of Charges against us has been done away with. We are now in "good standing" under God's Law because of the sacrifice of our Messiah, Jesus Christ.
An analogy would go something like this (although this is not a perfect analogy it brings the point).
I take out a mortgage and owe the Bank (God). I have failed to make payment and am in foreclosure. There is no way I can pay what I owe. [this represent our situation under the Law of God, all have sinned according to the Torah of God]
Then Jesus comes along with a 'rider' policy [according to the Promise given to Abraham's seed]. It does not cancel the initial contract [Torah of God], but rather, through Christ's payment of this policy that we owe God and to which we are in debt; Christ via the 'rider' policy pays what we owe, therefore, we are able to pay our debt and come into good standing with the Bank (God) under the original mortgage (Torah or Law of God) only because of our relationship (i.e. New Covenant Contract with Christ).
In other words, we come back in 'good standing' with the Bank [God] because of the mediation of Jesus [Our High Priest who intercedes on our behalf before the Father]. But we can not earn, merit or acquire the rider policy [i.e. New Covenant relationship with Christ that results in salvation/redemption], through good works. It is up to God alone to grace us with the rider policy, but we do have to have faith to receive the New Covenant policy which is given on our behalf by Christ. Having been placed in good standing with God (redeemed); we now walk in obedience to the commandments to which we once were slaves to violating.
People often misunderstand Romans 10:4 to mean that Christ ended the Law/Torah. In Paul's letter to the Romans, the Apostle said, “Messiah is the end of the (Law) Torah,” (Romans 10:4), and in his epistle to the Galatians he wrote, “The Torah (Law) was put in charge to lead us to Messiah.” (Galatians 3:24).
When taken in context, this simply means that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the goal (point) of the Torah [because the Law or Torah is exactly what God uses to reveal our sin to us and our need for a Savior; however, it (the Law) can't effect salvation, it can only inform us of what God considers sin or not sin from His perspective and not the world's or modern society's ideas, conventions, or traditions]. The Law (Torah) is what God utilizes to reveal Himself to man and thus point out the way of salvation in Jesus Christ. Without the Law (Torah), we would not know what sin is (Romans 7:7), and without understanding sin, we can not understand our depraved condition, our need for salvation, what we have done to sin against God, and the ONLY way to take care of our sin problem (i.e. faith in the Messiah of Israel, Jesus the Christ).
He is the destination/the point to which the Torah/Law arrives. If you miss the necessity of Messiah (Jesus) in the Law (Torah), than you have missed the most important point! Jesus is the end (of condemnation that we face because of the Torah (law), but He is not the ending of the Law of God, which remains in full force and is still condemning those without Christ even to this very day! God's Word, His Law (Torah) is eternal, unchanging and according to Christ not one letter or stroke of the pen in the Law will "pass away" until ALL be fulfilled!
The Greek word used for “end” in Romans 10:4 implies specifically that He is the "goal" of the Torah (law) but not the termination of it. In fact, He Himself has said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the (Law) Torah or the Prophets…” (Matthew 5:17). Funny how traditional scholars have been told and know continue to pass on the mis-information that the Torah has passed away, is void or not "applicable" to the believer, yet they never say the "prophets" mentioned in this text "don't apply to believer's today."
In fact, many bible teachers are making lots of money selling books both fiction and non-fiction about how the prophets do apply to believer's today. Clearly, these verses have been interpreted out of context due to false assumptions handed down through the generations. In reality, the truth is that the implications of the continued validity of the Law/Torah of God in a believer's life today would (1) require the believer to live a distinctly (and noticeable in our culture) "set apart" (holy) lifestyle as well as make some changes in their diets, work schedules and holidays, (2) scholars would have to admit they inherited false information and are "wrong" and (3) Christianity has bought into the big business of marketing Christian materials and study aids, and such a theory would remove the "experts" from controlling and message or in other words their control over the masses.
In truth, most scholars are sincere, honest, believers who desire to know God, study and teach His Word, so I don't want to paint them as doing something intentionally evil; however, the system itself places them in a position to lose their income to feed their families if they were to step out and begin to teach this truth to their congregations. I have seen this happen with a local pastor who has to tried lightly as far as how much he teaches even though he knows the truth and is starting to walk in it within his own family. However, he is right to take his time introducing this truth to his community to allow the Holy Spirit time to work in the people's lives since such a revelation is often life changing and can shake up your faith a little in the sense on making you wonder what else you might have been missing all these years. However, time and again I have seen the Lord carry people through the shock and awe of the revelation of the eternal nature of His Law and its application in our life, only to strengthen and prepare them more fully for the times ahead which could get pretty ugly in the coming years.
In conclusion, it would make absolutely no sense for the meaning of the text sited above to imply, "Do not think I have come to terminate the Law and the Prophets, because I have come to terminate the Law and the Prophets????" How ridiculous, and what is more, how can the prophets be "done away with" along with the Law. This entire line of thinking is simply ridiculous, and sadly, the church has been "blinded in part" to this element of their redemption in Christ that frees them not from obedience to the Law, but frees them from sin (violations of the Law) and the condemning aspect of the Law that is still in effect for those who are without Christ.
Question? In what sense is Jesus the goal and “end” of the Torah (Law)? Answer: He lived a perfectly righteous and sinless life. He perfectly lived out the Torah (Law). Therefore, He is the end for which the Torah (Law) aims, and only God in the flesh can fully attain. It is the righteousness of God manifest in the world!
The overwhelming evidence of Scripture testifies that Gentile believers are just as obligated to stop sinning (walking in sin) once they receive Christ as a Jew is! Therefore, that means they along with believing Jews are to stop blatantly, willfully, violating the Laws of God (i.e. the Torah); however, the only way they can do this is to FIRST have faith in Jesus Christ. But, once they have faith, and receive a new heart of flesh with the Torah written right on it, they are also free from their bondage to sin and enabled for finally submit to God's commandments with both a right heart and with right actions.
The Word of God itself testifies numerous times here and elsewhere saying,
"There is to be one Torah (Law) and one ordinance for you and for the alien (Gentile) who sojourns (attaches himself/herself) with you” (Numbers 15:16), and
“The same Torah (Law) shall apply to the native as to the stranger (gentile) who sojourns (i.e attaches himself/herself literally in this context as well as by faith in Israel's God, which applies in our context also today) among you (i.e. Israel, God's covenant people)” Exodus 12:49.
Many of the laws of Torah explicitly obligate the “sojourner (gentile) who stays with you” (Exodus 20:10) to follow the exact same rules that are applicable to those of faith within natural born Israel. And of course this makes sense because we know God is no respecter of persons (Rom 2:11). The simple idea that God would expect different rules to apply to different people based solely on their ethnicity is complete hogwash and not supported by the biblical text. The story of Ruth the Moabite and Boaz the (Hebrew) is a prime example of both Jew and gentile acting in faith to the God of Israel not simply by the letter of the law, i.e. meeting the very minimum requirements to check off the box that you obeyed some specific nuance of a command, but through their lives we see the HEART of LOVE lived according to God's Torah (Law) but demonstrated in the numerous ways Ruth and Boaz WALK out their FAITH in obedience to God's commandments according to the SPIRIT of the Law in accordance with the letter.
The Prophets testify of a coming Messianic age when all nations will learn Torah (Law) of God (Isaiah 2:2–3) and they ALL will keep the appointed times of God detailed in the Torah, like the Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23) and Feasts of the Lord (see Zechariah 14:16–17).
Obedience to God is a component of discipleship. Jesus demonstrated HOW his disciples were to understand and obey the Torah (Law) of God and live it out such that they could through their actions proclaim the Gospel message! If the Gentile believer desires to imitate Jesus and DO WHAT JESUS DID, than a large part of that process in the daily life of the believer is going to be studying and understanding the Torah (Law) of God and bringing it to bear in their life. Jesus commanded His disciples to “make disciples of all the nations … teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Among the commandments of Jesus is the commandment to uphold and practice the laws of Torah (Matthew 5:17–19), according to His "halachah", which means according to the manner in which he lived out (walked) and obeyed God's commandments.
In Acts 15, where the Apostles debate the question of a Gentile's inclusion within the community of faith, they decide to require four basic minimum standards for fellowship while Gentiles learn truths of Torah within the synagogues. This ruling, at the very least, places Gentiles on a trajectory toward Torah observance; however, they were clear to make sure their ruling was not to be understood as "conditions for SALVATION," clearly these are conditions of fellowship within a greater historical context to which these previous pagans were going to enter in:
"Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." (Acts 15:19–21) I don’t know how much more clear Christ could be (both in Word and personal deed), and John even gives us the full effect in his text by choosing to repeat what Christ must have likely said on numerous occasions (i.e. “keep my commandments”) and very likely Christ said this even more times than that which John records here.
It is obvious to me that when a believer “keeps God’s commandments,” he/she is enabled to continue to “abide in Christ;” however, this process MUST start from a position of faith (salvation) having been declared clean by Christ, otherwise our efforts to abide will end up in legalism, manipulation or distortion of God’s commands, and/or all manner of religious mumbo-jumbo that counts for nothing.
Clearly the assumption made in the verse above is that Gentiles coming to faith will have opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), and that this process of growth will occur as a natural part of their discipleship under the Master Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Therefore, no further prerequisites [specifically not ritual conversion (or in the short hand language of that day, circumcision) to gain the status as a Jew] nor any other forced observances should be placed on gentiles coming to faith as a "condition" before they may enter into the community and fellowship within the synagogues. It was the job of the Holy Spirit alone to do the transforming of the new believer, not other men; however, the art of true discipleship is achieved when the pupil looks, acts, walks and talks like his Master. Therefore, any believer who desires to act, walk, talk and be "like" His Master, Jesus, will have to confront the fact that discipleship of Jesus means walking by God's commandments according to the Torah of God.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
”John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who love Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.
”John 14:23-24 “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My Words; and the Word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
For example, Jesus in John 15:3 states; “You are already clean [katharos, 2513] because of the Word which I have spoken to you.” This is the second type of clean I spoke of above and is the same clean God tells Peter he has declared of gentiles (who place their faith in His Son Jesus Christ) See Acts 10:15 in Peter’s vision where God tells Peter to quit calling gentiles “common/unclean” (i.e. ritually unclean) [koinoo, 2840] when God has declared them “clean” (spiritually by declaration of God as in the case of John 15:3) [katharizo, 2511].
Peter is not confused like many are today about the interpretation of the vision when he states clearly what God intended him to understand through the vision. Peter states in Acts 10:34-35, "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."
Anyone who wants to twist the natural meaning of the vision of Peter can try in vain to make it say that God said it is okay to eat anything anyone wants, but this simply is not what the text reads, and anyone who believes otherwise is simply allowing themselves to be self deceived.
Click Here to Read Bible Scholar Tim Hegg's Article on Peter's Vision
And for all you gentile Christians out there...here's an "end times" prophetic passage that brings it all home regarding God's continued perspective on eating unclean animals...
Isaiah 66:15-24
15 "For behold, the LORD will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the LORD will be many. 17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following in the center, who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether, declares the LORD. 18 "For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the LORD. 22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 And it shall be from New Moon to New Moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come and bow down before Me," says the LORD. "Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm (ie. soul) will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
Still have questions? But want to investigate further for yourself? For in depth study materials and resources on these and related topics, visit
Scholar Tim Hegg's Website www.torahresource.com
and
Michael Rood and Glenn McWilliams Website http://www.michaelroodministries.com/
