Q. In Matthew 23.1-2 it says that the Scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses and we should do what they tell us. Does that

A. Yeshua is talking to the people about the scribes and Pharisees and says that they have been making rulings about how to obey the commandments in the 1st century. Their rulings did not apply to everyone especially if you were not following them in the first place. However, they made up much of the ruling councils and the Sanhedrin so it was not a good position to be in if you came before them for an infraction. The Orthodox rabbis today are the spiritual descendants of these 1st century rabbis and follow many of the same teachings today and many believers today blindly follow their teachings thinking they have authority over messianic believers in Yeshua. The truth is they don’t and let’s look at what Yeshua said about them and this will answer your question. There several fatal mistakes the rabbis have made that we need to go over first. They believe there are 2 Torahs, one written and one oral. The oral tradition is where many of these rulings can be found. Of course there are not 2 Torah’s, the written Torah is a believer’s only authority. Secondly, the rabbis teach that their authority is to be obeyed even if it goes against the Torah. Third, they make irrational interpretations that are almost hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic. Then there are the traditions they add and lastly there are the man-made laws called “takafot” and these are just a few of the mistakes in their premise to begin with. Yeshua had much to say about the teachings of the rabbis. He said their teachings were like plants that will be uprooted (Matt 15.13) and planted by the enemy (Matt 13.37-39). He said their teachings affect the outer man but do nothing for the inward man (Matt 23.25-28). He added that their teachings were leaven and left unchallenged would leaven everything (Matt 16. 6-12). Yeshua himself disagreed with many of their teachings (Mk 7.1-8). In Deut 17 it says that judges and others were there to make rulings and you had to obey them or suffer the consequences. But, when this law was given they had a priest with the Urim and Thummim and prophets who could communicate directly with the Lord about a matter and when you did not obey the ruling it was because you went directly against the Lord. The rabbis of the 1st century and the rabbis today do not have that communication anymore and their rulings are rulings of men and men make mistakes. So, we are not bound by these rabbinical rulings especially if they go against the written scripture. But Judaism isn’t the only place you find this. Christianity and other belief systems today have done the same thing. Every one of the things mentioned above applies to Christian theology and if one is going to scrutinize the rabbis you need to use the same logic on what is being taught today. There is nothing new under the sun. Some denominations claim direct authority to the apostles. Some claim to hear God speak to them and then teach things that are against written scripture. Some tell stories about visions and dreams to try and give weight to their words. They claim signs and wonders so that people will think they are from God. People needed to be on guard against false prophets in every age, but this one in particular because they are everywhere. They are on TV, radio and printed media, and in our towns and able to travel from one place to another faster than ever. We have more access to false teaching then the 1st century people did and that is to be expected if we are in the last days.

Q. In Luke 24.53 it says the apostles were continually in the temple praising God. So, was this the temple or a house?

A. This was the Temple sanctuary in Jerusalem located on Mt. Moriah. It says in v 52 they went back to Jerusalem. Contrary to the prevailing theology of today the 1st century believers were Torah-observant and went to the Temple daily in some cases (Acts 2.46) although they also had a house to stay in during the festivals and visits to the city apparently (Acts 1.13). They attended the prayer services there (Acts 3.1) and there are many other examples of this. The truth is, they continued to worship, pray and attend services in the Temple until its destruction. Paul went there often and offered animal sacrifices there nearly 30 years after Yeshua’s resurrection (Acts 21.15-28, 24.10-21). The question you have to ask yourself is this. If the Law was done away with by Yeshua’s death and resurrection, why did the apostles disobey him? Why did they write in the gospels and epistles that we should follow the commandments if they were told they were done away with? Were there other commandments? The only choices you have is either they disobeyed Yeshua and kept the commandments anyway, or Yeshua never came to do away with them and he never told the apostles to stop obeying them either. The answer is Yeshua never came to do away with the Law and the 1st century believers and the writers of all the gospels and epistles never taught it either. In fact, what is taught in Bible schools and seminaries today would have never been allowed in the congregations of Yeshua in the 1st century. So, to see the apostles and other believers going to the Temple is perfectly consistent with the life of a believer in Yeshua back then, and would be now if there was a Temple, and it will be in the future when Ezekiel’s Temple is built. Read Ezekiel chapters 40-48, Isaiah 66.18-24, 56.6-8 to name a few places that talk about worship in the messianic age. You are going to have worldwide Sabbath observance, kosher laws, biblical festivals and all the things theologians have said has been done away with. I can’t make someone understand the scriptures, only God can open your minds. We have two examples of this in our chapter in Luke. The two who walked with Yeshua on the road to Emmaus and the apostles themselves had the best biblical training anyone had ever had in the history of the world because they were students of Yeshua and yet they did not understand all that was going on and the scriptures until their eyes were finally opened by the Spirit of God in v 31 and 45. I will say the same thing the apostles said in their epistles. If anyone tells you the Law, the Sabbath, the festivals, food laws and the like have been done away with and replaced by a “new” covenant that has replaced the “old” covenant they are false prophets and you need to avoid them. Then, with the proper understanding given by the Spirit of God verses like this make sense. The true test of the Holy Spirit’s working in one’s life isn’t tongues, feelings, goose bumps, miracles, singing or what passes as a move of the Spirit today. It is pure doctrine which is the true fruit of His working (Deut 13.1-5, Matt.7.15-29, I Jn 2.3-4, 4.1, 5.1-3). The world is being set up for the false messiah and his anti-Torah doctrines (1Jn 2.18) and only the Spirit can help us discern the truth.

Q. Wasn’t the Law given to show man he couldn’t keep it?

A. No, the Law was given for man to obey it. For example, why do we have laws in our homes? Do you have rules and regulations for your children to show them they can’t do it? Of course not, the rules are there to maintain order and to teach them how to conduct themselves. How many times has a father or a mother told their children that how they behave reflects upon the family? Do you make rules to show they can’t keep it, then just let them do whatever they want? Well, God doesn’t either. The Torah was given for the same reason. It came in because of the wickedness in man, or transgression (sin). It restores things and keeps our wicked hearts “in check” and from going astray after other gods and philosophies. But people will say the “Law is bondage” and other such things. If God’s word is true, how can that be bondage? He says it sets us free. If truth sets us free than error is bondage. Those that neglect the Torah for man-made religious systems are the ones in bondage and Yeshua came to set us free from all these things. The Torah is God’s instruction book on how to live. It tells us what sin is. Breaking the Sabbath is sin, eating pork is sin, hating our neighbor is sin, working on Yom Kippur is sin and so on. We wouldn’t know that unless God told us. So, if the Law has been “done away with” how do you know what sin is? The scriptures say that the transgression of the Law is sin and that was written by John and it is a New Testament doctrine. On the other hand we are not saved by keeping the Law. We were chosen in Him before the world ever was (Eph 1.4) and we are brought to salvation and born again through the Spirit of God and Yeshua is the author and finisher of all of it. We can’t even come to God unless He draws us to him. While we were yet sinners Yeshua died for us. He draws us to Him and we are forgiven. He has grace and mercy on those He calls and fills us with His Spirit and saves us, keeping the Law has nothing to do with all that. Once we are His the Torah is written on our hearts and we begin to think and act like Him. If you want to know what the Lord is like, read His book. It sets us apart from what the world does. It’s a book about a holy (set apart) life. He said be holy as I am holy, and that is also in the New Testament. The world and false religions have another definition of what holiness is but God tells us. Blasphemy is calling something “holy” when it isn’t or saying something isn’t “holy” when it is. Read the book of Leviticus for a start and you will see what God calls holy. Leviticus 11 tells us what God considers food and to be holy we eat what he says to eat and avoid what he says to avoid. Leviticus 23 tells about the holiness of time and discusses the Sabbath and biblical festivals. If you want to be holy keep the Sabbath, if you don’t want to be holy keep another day. If you want to be holy keep Passover and the festivals, if you don’t want to be holy keep Christmas, Easter, St. Valentines Day, Lent and other man-made traditions that are in direct opposition to the Lord. If you don’t get upset for obeying man’s commandments why do you get upset when someone tells you to obey God’s? That attitude certainly does not come from the Spirit of God so you will have to ask yourself where it comes from. God does not lead you away from his word and to teachers and denominations or religions that go against what He has already told us to do. So, the commandments were not given to show man he couldn’t keep them. There are hundreds of verses that tell us we are to keep them God wouldn’t give us rules that were too hard to do especially when He has given us his Spirit (Deut 30.1-20). People will ask “how do I keep them” and I tell them “one at a time” just like you keep any law. Do we realize how many traffic laws there are? Are the traffic laws given to show us we can’t keep them? Then why do people think that God’s Laws were given for that reason. How do you keep all those traffic laws? We keep them one law at a time and as they apply. If I’m out walking I don’t stop at stop signs or worry about the speed limit because they don’t apply to me at that time. Compare all the laws in our country (criminal, tax, civil, family, state, etc) to the few contained in the scriptures and you will see why Yeshua said His yoke was easy. It’s not that we can’t keep His Laws it’s because we won’t and there is a big difference. And when I sin according to what God calls sin, I confess my sin and don’t try to hide it. Confession is when the words of my mouth are consistent with what He calls sin, to say the same thing He says about it. If I broke the Sabbath I say so. If I hated my neighbor I say so. And I know He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Well, I trust you get the point and I hope this gives you something to think about.