“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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If You Abide in My Word?
Many things in the New Testament are impossible to understand if you don’t apply knowledge about the times in which they were written, the people for whom they were written, and the purpose for which they were written. John 8: 31-32 is a perfect example:
Then Yeshua said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are My disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8: 31-32)
We know a lot about the people to whom Yeshua was speaking. All of them were Jewish. We know where they were, too. They were standing in the Temple complex near the treasury. It was in front of the main entrance to Yahweh’s Temple beside the Women’s Court. That area is east of the entrance to the Temple facing the Mount of Olives.
Some of the people listening to Him were ordinary Jews, and some of them were Jewish religious leaders or ultra-Orthodox Jews. Not everyone listening to the Messiah that day believed what He said, so the Messiah addressed the remarks in John 8: 31-32 specifically to the people who believed Him.
What did they believe?
We know what they believed, too. They believed what He told them, and what He said is presented in John John 8: 28-30:
Then Yeshua said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. (John 8: 28-30)
In John 8: 28-30, the Messiah alluded to His crucifixion and the fact that He is Yahweh: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He….”
“I am He” is a reference to the Messiah’s true identity. The Messiah was telling the people that they would witness His crucifixion and resurrection, and then they would believe that He is Yahweh. That passage concludes with this: “Many believed in Him.”
They didn’t just believe Him. They “believed in Him” as Yahweh, the Everlasting Father. In Hebrew, Everlasting Father or Father of Eternity is Aviad.
For unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given. The government will rest upon His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God [El Gibbor], Everlasting Father [Aviad], Prince of Peace [Sar Shalom]. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of Yahweh Sabaoth will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9: 6-7)
My Word
In John 8: 31-32, when the Messiah said, “If you abide in My word, then you are My disciples,” He was drawing a clear distinction between “My word” and Jewish religious law. Repeatedly in the four gospels, Yeshua talked about “the traditions of the Jews” and the fact that they were way off target. Frequently, He called them “man-made traditions” or “human traditions”:
“You have let go of the commands of Elohim, and you are holding on to man-made traditions.” (Mark 7: 8)
The Messiah was telling believers that “the traditions of the Jews” did not come from Yahweh. “The traditions of the Jews” are also called “the Oral Law” and “Halacha”. It originated with ultra-Orthodox Jews in Babylon during the Babylonian Captivity. Jewish religious leaders used the Oral Law to control Jewish people and to raise money from them. They got very rich in the process. Their social, political, and economic well-being was dependent on Jewish people accepting the Oral Law as coming from Yahweh. The Messiah told everyone plainly and in no uncertain terms that that was a lie.
That’s why Jewish religious leaders in Israel hated the Messiah so much. They had a lot to lose if the Messiah continued telling the truth, because a large and growing number of ordinary Jewish people believed what He told them.
“The Law” v. “the law”
In some versions of the New Testament, the Oral Law is called “the law” with a lower case “l”. The lower case “l” is used to distinguish between the Oral Law and Yahweh’s Law which has an upper case “L”.
Be very careful, though. Most Bible translations are not consistent when they refer to “the Law” and “the law”, because most Bible translators tend to be very sloppy. On the whole, they have done shoddy work, and Christian publishing houses don’t seem to care. As a result, most believers are forced to read Bibles that are not as accurate as they should be.
I cringe when I read most versions of the Bible, because they are so poorly translated. That includes the New American Standard Bible whose translators pride themselves on the quality of their work. They have nothing to be proud of. In fact, they should be ashamed.
See “NASB 2020: A Perfect Opportunity Wasted” and “The Lockman Foundation Should be Ashamed“.
Yahweh’s Law: The Torah
Yahweh’s Law is the five books of Moses or the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Therefore, in John 8: 31-32, the Messiah was telling the people that His disciples believe the Torah, not the Oral Law which frequently contradicts the Torah.
“Abide in My word” means to make Yahweh’s word, not the Oral Law, your home. The Messiah said that people who abide in His word, the Torah, will know the truth, and the truth will make them free. Again, that statement also means that the Oral Law is not Yahweh’s word.
The Jewish religious leaders understood what would happen if the Messiah kept preaching. In due course, they would lose their social and political positions and their wealth. Thus, they decided to do away with Him. Eventually, that decision resulted in the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Scriptures (i.e., the Tanach or the Old Testament) relating to the Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection.
The Messiah said that He is Yahweh
By referring to the Torah as “My word”, the Messiah was claiming to be Yahweh. We know that the Jewish religious leaders understood Him, because in John 8: 25, they asked Him, “Who are You?” They didn’t believe Him, but they did understand Him.
The Messiah had come to do the work that Yahweh told Ezekiel He would do:
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel [the religious leaders]. Prophesy and tell them that this is what Adonai Yahweh says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.
You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts. My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: ‘As surely as I live, declares Adonai Yahweh, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh!’
This is what Adonai Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’
For this is what Adonai Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock.’” (Ezekiel 34: 1-12)
Thousands of ordinary Jewish people believed the Messiah. It’s easy to understand why. He healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, caused the lame to walk, cast out demons, and fed the hungry. He did the things that the Jewish religious leaders were supposed to do, and He did those things in front of thousands of eyewitnesses who knew personally the people who were the beneficiaries of the Messiah’s mighty works. The Messiah referred to Himself as “the good shepherd”:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him, and he isn’t their shepherd. So, the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.”
“I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So, I sacrifice My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.”
“The Father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want and also to take it up again. For this is what My Father has commanded.” (John 10: 11-18)
We know for sure that Yeshua claimed to be Yahweh. See John 8: 58:
Yeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8: 58)
In that verse, Yeshua said that He is “I AM”, and I AM is Yahweh:
Then Moses asked Elohim, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His Name?’ What should I tell them?”
Elohim said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Elohim also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers — the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is My Name forever, and this [Yahweh] is My memorial Name to all generations.” (Exodus 3: 13-15)
Everyone listening to the Messiah understood that Yahweh is also called “I AM”. There was no doubt in their minds about what He said and what He meant. Furthermore, when He said “before Abraham was”, He was also telling them that He is the Creator and that He created Abraham.
Now take a look at John 1: 1-5:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He [the Word] was in the beginning with Elohim. All things were made through Him [the Word is the Creator], and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
In those verses, John makes clear that the Messiah is Yahweh, the Word, and the Creator. That is exactly what the Messiah said in John 8. He is not just the written word of Yahweh. He is the literal “Word of Yahweh” in the flesh.
The Word Became Flesh
Now take a look at John 1: 14:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1: 14)
That is eyewitness testimony from John. The word that is translated as “dwelt” in John 1: 14 means to tabernacle or to pitch your tent. In other words, Yahweh pitched His tent and dwelt with the people He created, and they saw Him do things that only Yahweh can do.
Yes indeed, the Messiah is Yahweh, and people knew it. Instead of accepting the evidence that was so readily available to them, the Jewish religious leaders rejected the evidence and Yahweh Himself.
He [the Messiah] was oppressed and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people, to whom the stroke was due? (Isaiah 53: 7-8)
The Torah is Just as Applicable Today as it Ever Was
Is the Torah still in effect? Yes! See Matthew 5: 17-20:
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses [the Torah] or the writings of the prophets [the Law and the Prophets are called the Tanach and the Old Testament]. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of Elohim’s Law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys Elohim’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you — unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the teachers of religious law [the Oral Law or Halacha] and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! (Matthew 5: 17-20)
See His Name is Yahweh for details. Also, see The Trilogy.
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
