FAITH IN THE WILDERNESS PART 3!!!!

Hebrews chapter 11







Today we are walking in: Faith In The Wilderness Part 3!!!!







Genesis 27:8

Now therefore, my son, obey H8085 my voice according to that which I command thee.





OBEY






Today we look to the word OBEY --H8085 - shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, attentively, call gather together, carefully, certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, make a proclaimation, publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.









The Torah testifies.........……



Exodus 23:22

But if thou shalt indeed obey H8085 his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.










The prophets proclaim..................



Joshua 24:24

And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey H8085.









The writings bear witness............



Job 36:11

If they obey H8085 and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.




FAITH IN THE WILDERNESS




I thought about calling this section, "Faith - The Conclusion", but the simple fact is that there is no conclusion to Scriptural faith. As defined in the Tanakh, faith is not something you get. It is something you are always doing. It is always in context with The Most High’s commands and teaching. It is fully realized and expressed in Yahusha our Machiach. One of the many things that Scripture has to say about the nature of the Machiach is that He always listens to the Father, says and does what the Father does (John) 5:19, 8:28, 8:55, 12:49). This is true faith - to hear and do. So, because Yahusha‘ listened to the Father 100% of the time, He was "successful" in all that He did 100% of the time. The problem with His followers is that we, mostly because of pride or silly teaching, will not admit that we do not listen to Him always. Just like children.




One of the greatest examples of the "flow chart" of faith is in (Matthew) 8:5-10. In this account, a centurion comes to Yahusha‘ because his servant is sick. Yahusha‘ agrees to come and see the sick servant. But the centurion, understanding authority, says to Yahusha', "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Then comes the neat part, "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it." Now Yahusha‘ marveled at this and replied, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so GREAT faith, no, not in Israel." This centurion is commended over all of Israel at the time because he understood something about authority, faith, and even Yahusha‘ himself. In the Matthew and Luke versions of this incident, the Greek and Aramaic (Peshitta) texts translate verse 8 as, "For I also am a man under authority ..." This centurion knew that Yahusha‘ could do what He did because He was also under the authority of His Father. The centurion recognized that Yahusha‘ was operating under the command of a higher authority. Now, we are speaking positionally here, not with respect to essence or nature, OK? The centurion was teaching all of us that his soldiers listened to him because he listened to the one who was over him. In other words, faith flows down hill, so to speak. There must be a trusting obedience. Faith is not invisible or unseen or blind. It is recognized action in a flow of order, beginning at the top.






Many times in the epistles we see this same teaching being passed on. In 1Corinthians 11:1 Paul states, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of the Messiah." Then he goes on to say "Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you." WOW! What a wonderful verse. Paul is talking about something that was very well understood in Hebrew thought. One of the reasons that The Most High Yah, in His foreknowledge, chose Israel is that He knew that they would preserve His words and ways. That passing His ways from one generation to the next was sacred to His people, Israel. This is in one way expressed through the Masorites. The Masorites were those who, in the sixth through the ninth centuries, preserved the Hebrew language by developing a written Hebrew text with vowels, Cantor, and punctuation marks. Their very name indicates what they do. The word Masorite is from the Hebrew word massor (משר). This word means to pass down or transmit. The Greek word used here is paradoseis (παράδοσις), which is usually translated as traditions (Galatians 1:14, 2Thessalonians 2:15). In other words, these are things which are handed down from one generation to the next. Paul was not teaching anything new. He was simply teaching that the Messiah had come, and this is what it means to the Jew and the Greek.




So, getting back to the centurion. Faith is ascribed to this man because he knew what it was, plain and simple. He knew that true faith is manifested when obedience to a higher authority is exercised. The Pharisees and Sadducees had circumvented Yah's ways and went about establishing their own. Yahusha‘ never scolded the Jewish leaders for obedience, but rather for disobedience. They were not teaching the traditions of their Father, but rather another father (John 8:39-44). This is why Yahusha‘ could commend the centurion's faith above all of Israel.




Let me give you a few more New Testament verses that employ this very Old Testament word.




Acts 14:22

Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.




Romans 1:5

By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name;




Romans 3:31

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.




Romans 4:12

And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father, Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.




Colossians 1:23

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven, of which I, Paul, am made a minister.




(Hebrews) 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.




So, I think it would be a good idea to continue this discussion. Hebrews 11:6 is very hebraic and very revealing about the nature of faith as it is defined in the Tanakh.





I suppose it has become abundantly obvious that I can speak on this subject forever. It is because I believe that this word has gone through a tremendous paradigm shift in the last two thousand years - it has become a meaningless term. But, this word is one of the most important words in the Scriptures. It should be the very first word taught to a new believer. I believe a good place to start is in the book of:




(Hebrews) 11:6

But, without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.




Before we study this verse, let me attempt to simply paraphrase it.




" But, if you do not trust Yah, then you cannot please Him. He that comes to Yah must first trust that He is The Most High Yah, and that He rewards those who seek to know His ways."




There seems to be much more than a simple intellectual acknowledgment of Yah's existence. You have to ask yourself what it means to trust Yah. In Hebrew thought, the Word of The Most High Yah is not separated from The Most High Yah Himself. In other words, the Word of The Most High Yah IS The Most High Yah (John) 1:1). In Hebrew thought, when the "Word of The Most High Yah" came to (Jeremiah), The Most High Yah came to Jeremiah. Scripturally, when anyone believed the Word of The Most High Yah, they believed The Most High Yah. There is no distinction between these two terms. This is why Jewish scholars would wholly agree with John 1:1. It is John 1:14 that they refuse to accept. So, to trust The Most High Yah is to trust His word - all of His word. Hebrews 11:6 is simply telling us that true believers in The Most High Yah trust His word and obey it, and they are rewarded for it. This is not a difficult concept.




The Scriptures are absolutely crammed full of statements about the results of obeying Yah's words. Over and over He reminds us that those who obey His commands will prolong their life on earth, and will prosper in the land which He sends them. Stop, and take some time to read some of these verses now. (Deuteronomy) chapter 11, chapter 28, chapter 30; (Psalm) 18:20-24, 19:7-11, chapter 119; (Isaiah) 1:19, 3:10; (Matthew) 5:3-12; Luke 11:28; (John) 13:17, 14:21-23; Romans 2:7-8; and (James) 1:25.




Now may be a good time to stop and examine yourself (2Corinthians 13:5). Is the Yahusha‘ I believe in the bodily manifestation of the pure and Holy words of The Most High Yah? If so, then how come I do not know most of them? Do I know what The Most High Yah's commands are for my life? Am I following His ways or do I believe that He simply exists? I am going to make a very blunt statement that I would ask you to seriously contemplate. I believe that modern Christian teaching has and is teaching an empty, meaningless gospel. I believe that Sunday after Sunday, a lawless, disobedient doctrine is constantly perpetrated in most pulpits. I believe that the current behavior we see in the news every day is a direct result of a national philosophy that began with our nation's religious theology. I believe that a lawless theology produces a lawless philosophy which produces a lawless behavior. I believe that the church has no one to blame but herself. (Peter) stated that judgment begins in the house of The Most High Yah (1Peter 4:17). I believe that most modern-day Christian teaching has fostered a very big lie, and that our beloved nation has suffered for it.




In the meantime ...




Psalm 34:8

Oh, taste and see that The Most High Yah is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.