Psalm 40:6-8 “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

The Hebrew word for law in this verse, and most of the old testament, is Torah H8451 – tôrâ. Christians are mostly taught that the Law is for the Old Testament and does not apply for the New Testament. However this is not true. In the New Testament there are many references to the Law – but a lot of teachings on 2 Laws. One – the Law of YHWH, and Two – the laws of men. That is why the New Testament can be confusing, as you reads about the laws, but you need to understand which law is talked about. Yeshua talked a lot about the Laws, talking about Torah. Sometimes he scolded the pharisees and sadducees for making it hard on people with their own laws. In Judaism, they see Torah as a divine revelation only given to the Jewish people. This is not true either, as Torah existed since Creation, and was even referenced by Abraham. See our previous posts and explanations on Torah in Exodus 18-20 (click here to read) and Joshua 22-24 (click here to read). Even Revelation 14:12 mentions how important the Torah is, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments/Torah of YHWH, and the faith of Yeshua.” So Torah stand since Creation in Genesis until the very end in Revelation.

The meaning of the word Torah – often just translated as LAW, actually means Instructions or Directions! It is a spiritual law, that if you follow it, things will turn out one way for you. If you don’t follow it, things will turn out another way. But this spiritual law is special, in that it is not about your doing it – it is about testing your heart! Some people have a rebellious tendency, and they just naturally want to go one way. Other people love the laws (or instructions) and happily follow them without having an issue with it. But the Torah is instructions and teachings to train your body, mind and soul to come to love the Law (Torah). So on the one hand, you are being taught and shown the beauty of it – then you can come to love it. It is like the rebellious son who ran away, that Yeshua taught. He didn’t want to be under the Law.. but once he saw where his own ways “led him”.. “his way”.. he came to understand the beauty of His Fathers’ House and Rules. So he ran back home, only to find His Father waiting eagerly for him and embracing him with love!

Laws of men

When the New testament talks about the laws of men, it is not talking about governments or the rules we live under. We have seen how YHWH’s own people chose to have kings and rules appointed over them, and YHWH uses the kings and leaders still. Peter explained this in 1 Peter 2:13-16 “Be subject to every institution of man because of the Master, whether to the sovereign as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of doers of evil, and a praise for those who do good. Because such is the desire of Elohim, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, yet not using your freedom as a cloak for evil, but as servants of Elohim.”

But the rules of men Yeshua was fighting over, was on how to worship YHWH, religion rules. People just LOVE to bring in and make up their own rules and laws. YHWH’s laws are not difficult! Yeshua Himself said in Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 1 John 5:3 also says, “For this is the love of YHWH, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous/heavy”. Christians are taught that the old testament and old laws are too much and too heavy. In Judaism it is taught there is about 613 laws in Torah, although among Jews themselves they fight on what this number really is. When we started this Bible Reading Study, on each day’s post we would list every law we could find, at the bottom of the post. That total list didn’t even make 350 – of which a lot of them are just duplicates of laws that have already been mentioned in previous posts or Scriptures. Consider 350, versus how many laws or rules do we have on a daily basis : how many basic rules does your parents have, or you yourself – clean after yourself, flush the toilet when done, pay for the products or services you use, follow the road rules, don’t make loud noises certain hours of the night, look after your animals, and and and.. As a matter of fact, to become a lawyer or even worse, an attorney, there are literally thousands of laws that they have to learn! We literally live under millions of laws – so why do people have an issue with 300 “laws”, which are actually just “instructions” for a life that will end you on a road to a better life?

And again, the point of Torah is not being a Law-Follower – it is a test of your heart! It is not about making sacrifices – it is about giving thanks to YHWH for His Torah – His Instructions to prune us into better people. For more about the Laws versus Grace, Slavery and Justice – see this post on Exodus 21-24 (click here to read more – topic title “ABOUT THE LAWS”).

Matthew 5:17-18 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, G3551 or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, G3551 till all be fulfilled.” The greek word generally used for law or Torah is Nomos G3551 – nomos.

Matthew 15:6-9 “You teach that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow the rules you have. You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you: ‘These people show honor to me with words. But their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules they have memorized.’” (Yeshua quoted here from Isaiah 29:13)

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law/Torah H8451 is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” Proverbs 6:23.