Recently, a friend told me she could no longer be my friend because I am Torah Observant. She had googled “Torah observant.” She found some weird things, and instead of just asking me if I believed those things, she assumed I did.
The truth is I consider myself a “whole Bible believer” more than a “Torah observant” person. But just to make it clear why I am sometimes called Torah Observant, here is my personal definition of Torah Observant Believer.
Question:What is a Torah Observant Believer?
Answer:
I think the easiest way to explain what a Torah Observant Believer is to define each of the words in the name. Let’s start with the word Believer.
What is a Believer?
A Believer is a follower/believer in Yeshua as the Messiah. Yeshua, is often called Jesus in main stream Christianity, was a man who lived, died, and rose from the dead over 2000 years ago. The story of his birth, life, death, and resurrection is told in the Bible. The first four books of the New Testament are called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they are the story of Yeshua’s life told by four different men. Believers are people who believe that this man, Yeshua was the promised Messiah of the God of Israel, YHVH.
A believer is someone who accepts that Yeshua is the promised Messiah (Savior), and that He lived a sinless life and died and rose again to prove that He conquered sin and death. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that breaks God’s law. Sin separates us from God. A believer knows that through the sacrificial death of Yeshua our sins were paid for. A believer knows that all people are sinners and can only be saved from the penalty of death, eternal separation from God, through the sacrificial blood of Yeshua. A believer is someone whom once they admit they are a sinner, and accept the gift of God’s gracious forgiveness, then committees to live their life to glorify Yeshua. A true believer turns from their life of sin to a life of obedience to Yehovah (the name of God if the Bible).
The Torah is the name of the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The word Torah means law, instruction, teaching, Word, writings, and/or commands. The first five books of the Bible are made up of all the instructions Yehovah God gave to His people, the Israelites. These instructions were given to them to bless them, benefit them, and guide them in the Way of Yehovah.
The word observant can mean different things, but in this situation it is best defined as to see or recognize something as beneficial and blessed and set apart by Yehovah, and therefore to keep that thing set apart in one’s life and home.
A Torah Observant believer therefore is a believer and follower of Yeshua Messiah, that believes that the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, have blessed, beneficial, and sacred instructions for life, and therefore they apply those instructions to their own life, and homes as best they can in this day and culture.
There are only four really obvious differences between most evangelical Christian and most Torah Observant believers. Most Torah observant believers keep Saturday, the Sabbath day, set apart and often worship on this day instead of Sunday, and they try not to work or cause others to work on it. Most Torah Observant believers celebrate the Biblical feasts for their holidays, as found in Leviticus 23. Most Torah observant Christians don’t eat pork or shellfish, or any of the other unclean animals listed in Leviticus 11. Lastly, many Torah Observant believers wear tzit tzit on their clothes as reminder to walk in the Ways of Yehovah, as commanded in Numbers 15.
A Torah observant believer is a person who knows that they are a sinner saved by the gracious love of the Savior (Messiah) Yeshua, through His sacrificial death. They are a believer who knows they do not deserve the forgiveness of a Savior. They love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and choose to walk out their faith in fear and trembling every day, until their Lord and Savior returns.
There are a LOT of instructions/laws in the Torah. How did you decide which to follow? How does following these add to your righteousness or Christian walk? Do you think other believers in Yeshua who are not Torah-observant are in sin?
Big questions, I know! Thank you! 🙂
ktmom12 has written:
Lisa,
Thank you for your response. Lots of great questions. First let me start by saying that righteousness is found in the saving blood of Yeshua (Jesus) alone. So, anyone who believes in Him for salvation and repents from their sin is indeed saved from their sins. As for how to choose what laws to obey, I obey any and all that I can to the best of my ability. You see the law was given to God’s people for when they entered into the promised land. I don’t live in the promised land and the nation I do live in does not live under God’s law, so there are just certain laws that it is a no brainer, I can not do. But Ezekiel and Isaiah tell us that there will be a day in the future when Yeshua restores His law and all will follow it and live according to it. The law is a gift to us to help us know how to be in a loving and committed relationship with YHVH God and His people. So by doing the best i can to walk in it I love Him and others more. IN all honesty, at this point in my life, I am just trying to keep the ten commandments. I figure that is the best place to start. Loving God above all else is not an easy task, so I work on it daily.
Thanks for your response, may YHVH God guide you and bring you peace.
Shalom
Ryan has written:
I absolutely love reading your posts! Spot on and agree with you 100%. I am also a Torah follower (new). Follow Zachary Bauer on YouTube if you don’t already. Keep up these posts :).
ktmom12 has written:
We enjoy Zach Bauer and his insight as well.
Shalom
That means you do not leave your homes on the Sabbath as required by Exodus16?
ktmom12 has written:
Good question. The short answer is no. The long answer is:
Whenever we look at scripture and its commands we must read them in complete context and we must compare them to all other commands. Exodus 16 is about a certain time and a certain situation. The children of God were living in the wilderness and were receiving their daily food from heaven in the form of manna. Moses was giving them instruction on how to gather and eat the manna. The verse you are asking about is Exodus 16:29 “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
So, we have to first ask what is the point of this verse in context, then we have to compare it to all other commands for Sabbath.
The point of the verse is about the people not going out of their house and gathering food. WORKING on the Sabbath. Everyday they were to go out of their house and gather the necessary amount of food for each family member to eat orthy would not have anything to eat that day. For six days of the week they were to gather, but on the seventh they were not to worry about getting up and leaving their house and gathering. They could sit and rest inside their home. Another way to translate the Hebrew for this verse might better read. “Look, God gave you the seventh day off, on the sixth day He gives you twice the food, so that, you all can sit and relax and rest and not have to go out of your house.” It is important to realize this is not a commandment about staying home, but a command about preparing to rest.
Let’s look at some other passages to verify if this is a correct understanding of this verse.
Leviticus 23
The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3“ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.”
Exodus 20
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Genesis 2
By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
There are many more passages in the Old Testament that make it clear to us that observing Sabbath is about abstaining from work and focusing on our creator and redeemer. So, with that in mind let’s look at the New Testament and see how Yeshua and Paul observed Sabbath. Because we know that Yeshua never disobeyed any commands of Torah and we also know that Paul was a pharisee of pharisees. (I have taken the following from my friend Anne Elliott’s study on the Sabbath, you can find it here http://anneelliott.com/downloads/sabbath_study.pdf .)
Mark 1:21. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Mark 6:2. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 4:16. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 4:31. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 13:10. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Acts 13:13-15. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sabbath?
Acts 15:21. When is Moses to be taught? Acts 16:31. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sabbath?
Acts 17:2. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sab-bath?
Acts 18:4. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sab-bath?
As you can clearly see Yeshua, Paul, and the early church all went out of their homes on Sabbath. So clearly that is NOt the correct understanding of the verse in Exodus 16. Hope that is helpful.
Shalom
Madditalian has written:
Hello, I have found your articles very informative and interesting. My hair dresser is a Torah Observer. Today, we began a discussion about Christmas. She explained how upset her mother was about her not celebrating Christmas. As we were talking, I explained that’s I am a member of the church of Christ. We follow the Bible exactly as it states. We do not add or take away from the word. We worship on Sundays and partake in Communion every Sunday. In the Bible, Christ broke bread with the 12 apostles and said, Do this in remembrance of me. We do this because we do not know what Sunday he rose and we do know it was not on “Easter Sunday”. So, with this said, if Christ died to establish the new church and it teaching, why do you observe the Sabbath and not the 1st day if the week? I very curious and interested in learning more.
ktmom12 has written:
I am sorry I took a little while to get back to you. You stated in your reply that you do not add or take away from scripture in determining how you should live out your walk with Christ. I challenge you to consider if there is any verse in the scripture that changed the Sabbath day or did away with it. I have studied this out many times, and i can tell you that Sunday is no where in the Bible as the day that YHVH God set apart, made Holy. Yeshua rose early on the first day of the week, he did not die on the first day, but rose. We are to always, everyday, remember his death and sacrifice. I believe the command you are referring to is: “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19b)
“23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Yeshua told us to remember his death with the drink and bread. The day he did this with the disciples he spoke of Passover. IN our home, we take communion on PAssover yearly, and we also take it on other various days, usually Friday evening. We see no where in scripture where Yeshua or anyone else gives a command to take communion on a specific day.NOr do we see in scripture that YHVH did away with Sabbath and replaced it with Sunday worship. I hope that helps.
Ryan has written:
Spot on! Im so happy to have found another Torah follower. I found Torah by seeking truth. The Sabbath was changed my Roman Emporer Constantine, who hated the Hebrews, but meticulously embraced their faith to get people to follow and embrace him more…especially as he conquered. He changed it to Sunday. I highly suggest all Torah followers or anyone curious of the truth, to read God’s Day Timer, by Mark Biltz.
Madditalian has written:
We also do not believe December 25th was the day if his birth. He came to earth born in the normal way, but his death is what saved us as long as we become a member of Christ body and a child of God through baptism and following God’s word.
BC has written:
Hello there! Fellow Torah observer and redeemed by the blood of Yeshua here! You are right, Yeshua was not born on December 25. That was also set by the Roman Catholic Church as a holiday to celebrate the birth of Tammuz, the Sun god. They also created the Holiday Easter as a celebration of fertility from Ishtar which was the mother of Tammuz. Not the resurrection of Messiah. These holidays are celebrations of pagan gods brought into Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church and are not biblical. YHWH tells us in His Word not to worship Him as the pagans worship their gods. It is why he killed the Israelites for worshipping Him by way of the golden calf. Though they were worshipping Him (or so they said) they were doing it by way of an idol they had made themselves. The Roman Catholic Church is not of YHWH. They have changed His law, worship other gods, and bow down and worship graven images and idols. We cannot follow anything they do.
Shalom sisters, and praise be to Yah!
RickyYAHsharal has written:
Praise YAHUAH and Shalom to all ….. Was searching for like minded Torah followers and was lead here….. Awesome page ahkys and achotis(Hebrew Brothers and Sisters)
Can I please state that to say Jesus rose from dead on the first day of the week is against the math, and there are no scriptures that say as much.
If he was put in the grave just before sunset and he said 3 days and 3 nights….just use basic math and you’ll come to the exact time he was put in the tomb….Just before sunset….what day?
Well John 20 says Mary came to tomb early while still dark on 1st day (which began Saturday sunset) AND THE TOMB WAS EMPTY!
these things show you Jesus time of resurrection….
Now His ascension as The Wave Sheaf Offering of The Firstfruits by Law was on the Morrow after the Sabbath during Passover…..The 1st day of the week he DID ASCEND.. As to the other assumptions that this creates a new sabbath or does away with The 4th Commandment- you have no Scriptures to back up that assumption. That is Catholicism. Whereas Isa.66 and Zech.14 both tell you The Sabbath will be observed by ALL NATIONS in the end. And Jesus warns anyone NOT TO BREAK OR TEACH THE BREAKING OF The Law of God – Matthew 5.17-20
Even Matthew Henry, on change of day topic state there is no scripture nor command per say for the change of day….The teachers of the fallen don’t deny it, because they believe they have right to form doctrine aside from Commandments.
rivka has written:
What about rules like those governing shatnez, found in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:9–11? Do you follow these kinds of laws?
ktmom12 has written:
Yes, to the best of our ability we do.
Heather has written:
What about references Paul makes in Col. 2:16 and Rom. 14:5-6, regarding the new Christian church and the Jews. When the Jews were offended that new Christians were not observing the Jewish customs and the Law, Paul said to not to condemn anyone over matters of food or drink, festivals or the Sabbath. He also says in Romans 14 (above) that some claim one day is better than another day, others say all days are equal, but the real issue is where your heart lies, not in the observance of certain days over others. Paul also makes references to “the first day of the week” when it comes to meeting together to worship and take offerings.
It demonstrates, to me, that with Christ’s death and resurrection there was a fundamental shift in our relationship with God. The ritualistic laws that were the stand-in for salvation (as we know it in the church age) were no longer needed because Christ finished the work of salvation. Paul actually rebukes Peter in Galations for hypocrisy because he withdrew from the Gentiles (unclean under the law, you couldn’t share meals with them) when Jews began to arrive in Antioch. Paul calls him a hypocrite because he believed in salvation through grace alone but was “not walking uprightly in the truth of the gospel” by giving higher credence to Jewish traditions and practices under the Law.
ktmom12 has written:
Heather, Thank you for your response. I want to make one thing very, very clear. As I stated in the post above, salvation is found in faith in Yeshua our Messiah alone. Nothing, absolutely nothing we think, say, or do will change that. But faith is an action, if I believe something I show my belief in it by what I do. Romans 14, Colossians, and all of Paul’s letters to the early church were written to encourage and exhort them in walking in the Way that Yeshua taught Him and all of us to walk. Paul did indeed rebuke Peter for forgetting that all people are children of Yehovah and should be treated as equals. This was never a command of the old testament to not eat with gentiles, it was a tradition of the Jews.
Peter showed great respect and held Paul in high regard, and even explains himself that Paul can be difficult to understand at times. AS we read in 2 Peter 3, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”
Paul never ever taught to do away with the obedience of Torah, Paul never ever said to stop keeping Sabbath on the seventh day, Paul also continued to keep the feasts and make sacrifices. If there was a shift in the way Yehovah wanted us to obey and worship Him, do you not think He would have clearly stated this in His Word to us?
AS for me and my house we will choice to trust that all scripture is to be upheld until He returns to tell us differently. We must each search our hearts and seek His Truth in His Word, and with fear and trembling work out our faith.
Shalom
TamW has written:
Hi you mention tzitzit in Number 10 but I’m sure it’s Numbers 15 (37-40). Shalom 🙂
ktmom12 has written:
Thank you, I will correct that.
Kris has written:
Thank you ktmom12 for your words. My wife and I have recently started keeping Torah with today being our first day of keeping the Sabbath. I grew up catholic and I already know that its going to be a fight with my Parents regarding Christmas and Easter especially with our 9 year daughter. Fortunately my daughter understands that Mommy and Daddy want to do what is best for her and she is a child in Christ.
ktmom12 has written:
Thank you for your comment. i will be praying that YHVH will lead and direct your family, and pour out His favor on you.
Ryan has written:
Hi,
I am a new Torah follower (Torah observant for 2 years), and am doing my best to convert my family over (my wife is Catholic, semi open to Torah.
I wanted to throw a Torah curve ball at you, but wanted to hear your input, as i highly value what you’ve been saying in these blog posts.
Sabbath. Many denomination’s have been mislead/deceived into thinking Sabbath is a Sunday, due to Roman emporer Constantine’s egotistic desires, who essentially manipulated the real Sabbath day to be Sunday. I stopped following Sunday sabbath once i found that truth. Then, i concluded Saturday was my Sabbath….until 1 year ago. While reading a great Torah observant book called, Gods Day Timer, by Mark Biltz, I’ve found a new truth i missed all along! The process my country uses for depicting time, years, months, weeks, days, seasons, was all pegan. Our calendar pegan. It’s mans calendar, not Yahweh’s. …So I asked myself, how can Saturday be the Sabbath, when God doesn’t follow a pegan calendar? We must follow moon cycles to determine a Sabbath that is always changing year round, usually every 4-6 weeks. It can fall on any day…
The problem i still have is, in my society, i cannot follow a changing Sabbath, as i work Mon-Fri. I do my best to follow as best i can, and recognize/repeant when i fall short.
Looking forward to your perspective.
ktmom12 has written:
Ryan,
I do not want to disagree and have a debate here, but I will answer your questions. First, we do not agree with the view of calculating time as Mark Biltz outlines in his book. We believe that days are counted by the going down of the sun each evening. Months are counted by the cycle of the moon. The pagan calendar that is used today is incorrect, but the one thing that our Abba has preserved throughout all time is His weekly Sabbath. We can go back through all history and see that the counting of the week by sevens has always existed and survived even when Empires and people have tried to create calendars based on ten days, six, and eight.
That being said, it is very hard in the diaspora to keep the Sabbath and feasts as Yehovah our God has commanded. So in all things, we do our very best. We continue to study the scriptures and seek the truth. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing fully that we will make mistakes. We are ever so grateful for the cleansing blood that Yeshua shed for us.
Shalom
marti has written:
In the beginning of your article you state “Yeshua, is often called Jesus in main stream Christianity, was a man who lived, died, and rose from the dead over 2000 years ago.” Do those who keep Torah believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God or just a “man”? Also, where does the Holy Spirit fit in? I am just asking because I am unfamiliar with your belief system and wanting to know. Thanks.
Katie has written:
Great questions. Thanks for asking. I can only speak for myself, and I hope all Torah Observant Christians, agree with the following answer. As for YESHUA, I believe He is God, the Messiah, and that is why I suggest that the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John be read for verification of this Truth. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is called by many Torah Observant people the Ruach Chodesh. Many Torah Observant people do not use the word, trinity, as it is not found in scripture. But the Spirit of God is mentioned in Genesis chapter one, and understood to be a part of Elohim, God.
“In the beginning God(Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (Ruach Chodesh) was hovering over the waters.”
I hope that answers your questions. May the Holy Spirit guide you as you seek all truth in the Word of God.
Shalom
Shalom, I found your website and wanted to reach out, I’ve created some TO Children’s books. I’d love to share with ya’ll. & I Love the website and resources here!
Katie has written:
I would love to take a look at your books.
Amanda Michie has written:
Do you believe Jesus (Yeshua) is God the Son?
Katie has written:
Yes, I believe YESHUA is the promised Messiah, and is God.
Christina has written:
Shalom sister – I stumbled across your blog post seeking a wbb assembly near me (north central Florida) I am not sure if you are located close to me or not – wanted to comment to say shalom to you and your family and shalom to Yirushaleyim All Praise and All Glory to YHWH & HIS Begotten Son Our High Priest Yeshua HaMashiach ❤️
Katie has written:
Christina,
Shalom, we are located in Michigan. But I do have a friend that lives in Florida. Here is her website. https://www.alittleperspective.com/
May Yehovah bless you and give you peace.
to the truly Torah YaHoשUvAֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶH observant According to the Torah how should the Sabbath be kept in our post Y2K modern times; how is it to be properly observed ie. what can be done; what prohibitions are still to be observed? Thank You; Shalom!
Katie has written:
Dr. David,
I do not want to add to or take away from Scripture, nor do I think that I have all the answers. Therefore, I would humbly reply with this. Prayerfully consider what is commanded in the ten commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, along with the directions given in Leviticus 23. Then ask Yehovah to make it clear to you how you ought to observe this Holy Day in this time and place.
Shalom
Annetasha has written:
Hello! I am new believer and want to live a biblical life. I do try to keep Saturday as a sabbath day. I’m a stay at home mom, so I refrain from house work, and add in extra times of worship. I spend majority of my time outside with my little ones. But on Sunday we still all attend church. ( biblical, verse by verse taught) is that wrong?
ktmom15 has written:
I think it sounds like you are blessed to be able to have a weekly day of rest and connect with the Creator and Redeemer, and a day of worship and teaching me too. I see nothing wrong with that at all.
David Shibli has written:
Great blog!
Just for context, let me quote the relevant verses from Luke 17.
20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
As an ex-Catholic and subsequently a traditional, non-denominational born-again believer, I still felt that something was missing. I take great joy now in learning to be Torah observant.
The Kingdom of God did not come to me by observation of rules and regulations, but because the Kingdom of God is now within my temple, I desire the perfect Law of the Lord and it is converting my soul.
The Pharisees had the cart before the horse.
May God grant us ever-increasing understanding of His Perfect Word.
thank you for this article . I came across somehow.. your site comes up.
shabbat shalom from the Philippines
Lalita has written:
Hi Katie, I’m so totally blessed to find your blogs and particularly this one which describes in the opening lines my experiences with family/friends since becoming a “whole-bible believer” in 2017.
Although I have been an evangelical Christian since 1973, baptized in 1975, my family especially find it difficult to accept that I do things a little differently from previous years. I try to keep my revitalised faith-walk as simple as possible and I love setting aside the Sabbath. I feel that most of the meaning and intention of being set-apart and keeping one day holy has been lost in modern-day Christianity.
I do also believe that Yah has a different walk of faith for each of us and I do not judge because we are all at a different place on our spiritual walk with Yah.
I would love to receive your new posts! Shabbat Shalom from South Africa
Elizabeth has written:
Is there a list of commandments Torah observant Christians observe with scriptures I could go over and study? Not the inflated 613.
ktmom15 has written:
Great question. I am going to work on an answer to this question and when it is ready, I will post it on my blog.
There are a LOT of instructions/laws in the Torah. How did you decide which to follow? How does following these add to your righteousness or Christian walk? Do you think other believers in Yeshua who are not Torah-observant are in sin?
Big questions, I know! Thank you! 🙂
Lisa,
Thank you for your response. Lots of great questions. First let me start by saying that righteousness is found in the saving blood of Yeshua (Jesus) alone. So, anyone who believes in Him for salvation and repents from their sin is indeed saved from their sins. As for how to choose what laws to obey, I obey any and all that I can to the best of my ability. You see the law was given to God’s people for when they entered into the promised land. I don’t live in the promised land and the nation I do live in does not live under God’s law, so there are just certain laws that it is a no brainer, I can not do. But Ezekiel and Isaiah tell us that there will be a day in the future when Yeshua restores His law and all will follow it and live according to it. The law is a gift to us to help us know how to be in a loving and committed relationship with YHVH God and His people. So by doing the best i can to walk in it I love Him and others more. IN all honesty, at this point in my life, I am just trying to keep the ten commandments. I figure that is the best place to start. Loving God above all else is not an easy task, so I work on it daily.
Thanks for your response, may YHVH God guide you and bring you peace.
Shalom
I absolutely love reading your posts! Spot on and agree with you 100%. I am also a Torah follower (new). Follow Zachary Bauer on YouTube if you don’t already. Keep up these posts :).
We enjoy Zach Bauer and his insight as well.
Shalom
Do you celebrate Christmas?
No, we do not celebrate Christmas.
https://hirnhomeschoolers.wpcomstaging.com/is-christmas-and-easter-pagan-does-it-matter/
Do you keep the Sabbath?
Yes, we do.
That means you do not leave your homes on the Sabbath as required by Exodus16?
Good question. The short answer is no. The long answer is:
Whenever we look at scripture and its commands we must read them in complete context and we must compare them to all other commands. Exodus 16 is about a certain time and a certain situation. The children of God were living in the wilderness and were receiving their daily food from heaven in the form of manna. Moses was giving them instruction on how to gather and eat the manna. The verse you are asking about is Exodus 16:29 “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
So, we have to first ask what is the point of this verse in context, then we have to compare it to all other commands for Sabbath.
The point of the verse is about the people not going out of their house and gathering food. WORKING on the Sabbath. Everyday they were to go out of their house and gather the necessary amount of food for each family member to eat orthy would not have anything to eat that day. For six days of the week they were to gather, but on the seventh they were not to worry about getting up and leaving their house and gathering. They could sit and rest inside their home. Another way to translate the Hebrew for this verse might better read. “Look, God gave you the seventh day off, on the sixth day He gives you twice the food, so that, you all can sit and relax and rest and not have to go out of your house.” It is important to realize this is not a commandment about staying home, but a command about preparing to rest.
Let’s look at some other passages to verify if this is a correct understanding of this verse.
Leviticus 23
The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3“ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.”
Exodus 20
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Genesis 2
By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
There are many more passages in the Old Testament that make it clear to us that observing Sabbath is about abstaining from work and focusing on our creator and redeemer. So, with that in mind let’s look at the New Testament and see how Yeshua and Paul observed Sabbath. Because we know that Yeshua never disobeyed any commands of Torah and we also know that Paul was a pharisee of pharisees. (I have taken the following from my friend Anne Elliott’s study on the Sabbath, you can find it here http://anneelliott.com/downloads/sabbath_study.pdf .)
Mark 1:21. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Mark 6:2. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 4:16. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 4:31. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Luke 13:10. What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath?
Acts 13:13-15. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sabbath?
Acts 15:21. When is Moses to be taught? Acts 16:31. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sabbath?
Acts 17:2. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sab-bath?
Acts 18:4. What did Paul and his companions do on the Sab-bath?
As you can clearly see Yeshua, Paul, and the early church all went out of their homes on Sabbath. So clearly that is NOt the correct understanding of the verse in Exodus 16. Hope that is helpful.
Shalom
Hello, I have found your articles very informative and interesting. My hair dresser is a Torah Observer. Today, we began a discussion about Christmas. She explained how upset her mother was about her not celebrating Christmas. As we were talking, I explained that’s I am a member of the church of Christ. We follow the Bible exactly as it states. We do not add or take away from the word. We worship on Sundays and partake in Communion every Sunday. In the Bible, Christ broke bread with the 12 apostles and said, Do this in remembrance of me. We do this because we do not know what Sunday he rose and we do know it was not on “Easter Sunday”. So, with this said, if Christ died to establish the new church and it teaching, why do you observe the Sabbath and not the 1st day if the week? I very curious and interested in learning more.
I am sorry I took a little while to get back to you. You stated in your reply that you do not add or take away from scripture in determining how you should live out your walk with Christ. I challenge you to consider if there is any verse in the scripture that changed the Sabbath day or did away with it. I have studied this out many times, and i can tell you that Sunday is no where in the Bible as the day that YHVH God set apart, made Holy. Yeshua rose early on the first day of the week, he did not die on the first day, but rose. We are to always, everyday, remember his death and sacrifice. I believe the command you are referring to is: “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19b)
“23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Yeshua told us to remember his death with the drink and bread. The day he did this with the disciples he spoke of Passover. IN our home, we take communion on PAssover yearly, and we also take it on other various days, usually Friday evening. We see no where in scripture where Yeshua or anyone else gives a command to take communion on a specific day.NOr do we see in scripture that YHVH did away with Sabbath and replaced it with Sunday worship. I hope that helps.
Spot on! Im so happy to have found another Torah follower. I found Torah by seeking truth. The Sabbath was changed my Roman Emporer Constantine, who hated the Hebrews, but meticulously embraced their faith to get people to follow and embrace him more…especially as he conquered. He changed it to Sunday. I highly suggest all Torah followers or anyone curious of the truth, to read God’s Day Timer, by Mark Biltz.
We also do not believe December 25th was the day if his birth. He came to earth born in the normal way, but his death is what saved us as long as we become a member of Christ body and a child of God through baptism and following God’s word.
Hello there! Fellow Torah observer and redeemed by the blood of Yeshua here! You are right, Yeshua was not born on December 25. That was also set by the Roman Catholic Church as a holiday to celebrate the birth of Tammuz, the Sun god. They also created the Holiday Easter as a celebration of fertility from Ishtar which was the mother of Tammuz. Not the resurrection of Messiah. These holidays are celebrations of pagan gods brought into Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church and are not biblical. YHWH tells us in His Word not to worship Him as the pagans worship their gods. It is why he killed the Israelites for worshipping Him by way of the golden calf. Though they were worshipping Him (or so they said) they were doing it by way of an idol they had made themselves. The Roman Catholic Church is not of YHWH. They have changed His law, worship other gods, and bow down and worship graven images and idols. We cannot follow anything they do.
Shalom sisters, and praise be to Yah!
Praise YAHUAH and Shalom to all ….. Was searching for like minded Torah followers and was lead here….. Awesome page ahkys and achotis(Hebrew Brothers and Sisters)
Can I please state that to say Jesus rose from dead on the first day of the week is against the math, and there are no scriptures that say as much.
If he was put in the grave just before sunset and he said 3 days and 3 nights….just use basic math and you’ll come to the exact time he was put in the tomb….Just before sunset….what day?
Well John 20 says Mary came to tomb early while still dark on 1st day (which began Saturday sunset) AND THE TOMB WAS EMPTY!
these things show you Jesus time of resurrection….
Now His ascension as The Wave Sheaf Offering of The Firstfruits by Law was on the Morrow after the Sabbath during Passover…..The 1st day of the week he DID ASCEND.. As to the other assumptions that this creates a new sabbath or does away with The 4th Commandment- you have no Scriptures to back up that assumption. That is Catholicism. Whereas Isa.66 and Zech.14 both tell you The Sabbath will be observed by ALL NATIONS in the end. And Jesus warns anyone NOT TO BREAK OR TEACH THE BREAKING OF The Law of God – Matthew 5.17-20
Even Matthew Henry, on change of day topic state there is no scripture nor command per say for the change of day….The teachers of the fallen don’t deny it, because they believe they have right to form doctrine aside from Commandments.
What about rules like those governing shatnez, found in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:9–11? Do you follow these kinds of laws?
Yes, to the best of our ability we do.
What about references Paul makes in Col. 2:16 and Rom. 14:5-6, regarding the new Christian church and the Jews. When the Jews were offended that new Christians were not observing the Jewish customs and the Law, Paul said to not to condemn anyone over matters of food or drink, festivals or the Sabbath. He also says in Romans 14 (above) that some claim one day is better than another day, others say all days are equal, but the real issue is where your heart lies, not in the observance of certain days over others. Paul also makes references to “the first day of the week” when it comes to meeting together to worship and take offerings.
It demonstrates, to me, that with Christ’s death and resurrection there was a fundamental shift in our relationship with God. The ritualistic laws that were the stand-in for salvation (as we know it in the church age) were no longer needed because Christ finished the work of salvation. Paul actually rebukes Peter in Galations for hypocrisy because he withdrew from the Gentiles (unclean under the law, you couldn’t share meals with them) when Jews began to arrive in Antioch. Paul calls him a hypocrite because he believed in salvation through grace alone but was “not walking uprightly in the truth of the gospel” by giving higher credence to Jewish traditions and practices under the Law.
Heather, Thank you for your response. I want to make one thing very, very clear. As I stated in the post above, salvation is found in faith in Yeshua our Messiah alone. Nothing, absolutely nothing we think, say, or do will change that. But faith is an action, if I believe something I show my belief in it by what I do. Romans 14, Colossians, and all of Paul’s letters to the early church were written to encourage and exhort them in walking in the Way that Yeshua taught Him and all of us to walk. Paul did indeed rebuke Peter for forgetting that all people are children of Yehovah and should be treated as equals. This was never a command of the old testament to not eat with gentiles, it was a tradition of the Jews.
Peter showed great respect and held Paul in high regard, and even explains himself that Paul can be difficult to understand at times. AS we read in 2 Peter 3, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”
Paul never ever taught to do away with the obedience of Torah, Paul never ever said to stop keeping Sabbath on the seventh day, Paul also continued to keep the feasts and make sacrifices. If there was a shift in the way Yehovah wanted us to obey and worship Him, do you not think He would have clearly stated this in His Word to us?
AS for me and my house we will choice to trust that all scripture is to be upheld until He returns to tell us differently. We must each search our hearts and seek His Truth in His Word, and with fear and trembling work out our faith.
Shalom
Hi you mention tzitzit in Number 10 but I’m sure it’s Numbers 15 (37-40). Shalom 🙂
Thank you, I will correct that.
Thank you ktmom12 for your words. My wife and I have recently started keeping Torah with today being our first day of keeping the Sabbath. I grew up catholic and I already know that its going to be a fight with my Parents regarding Christmas and Easter especially with our 9 year daughter. Fortunately my daughter understands that Mommy and Daddy want to do what is best for her and she is a child in Christ.
Thank you for your comment. i will be praying that YHVH will lead and direct your family, and pour out His favor on you.
Hi,
I am a new Torah follower (Torah observant for 2 years), and am doing my best to convert my family over (my wife is Catholic, semi open to Torah.
I wanted to throw a Torah curve ball at you, but wanted to hear your input, as i highly value what you’ve been saying in these blog posts.
Sabbath. Many denomination’s have been mislead/deceived into thinking Sabbath is a Sunday, due to Roman emporer Constantine’s egotistic desires, who essentially manipulated the real Sabbath day to be Sunday. I stopped following Sunday sabbath once i found that truth. Then, i concluded Saturday was my Sabbath….until 1 year ago. While reading a great Torah observant book called, Gods Day Timer, by Mark Biltz, I’ve found a new truth i missed all along! The process my country uses for depicting time, years, months, weeks, days, seasons, was all pegan. Our calendar pegan. It’s mans calendar, not Yahweh’s. …So I asked myself, how can Saturday be the Sabbath, when God doesn’t follow a pegan calendar? We must follow moon cycles to determine a Sabbath that is always changing year round, usually every 4-6 weeks. It can fall on any day…
The problem i still have is, in my society, i cannot follow a changing Sabbath, as i work Mon-Fri. I do my best to follow as best i can, and recognize/repeant when i fall short.
Looking forward to your perspective.
Ryan,
I do not want to disagree and have a debate here, but I will answer your questions. First, we do not agree with the view of calculating time as Mark Biltz outlines in his book. We believe that days are counted by the going down of the sun each evening. Months are counted by the cycle of the moon. The pagan calendar that is used today is incorrect, but the one thing that our Abba has preserved throughout all time is His weekly Sabbath. We can go back through all history and see that the counting of the week by sevens has always existed and survived even when Empires and people have tried to create calendars based on ten days, six, and eight.
That being said, it is very hard in the diaspora to keep the Sabbath and feasts as Yehovah our God has commanded. So in all things, we do our very best. We continue to study the scriptures and seek the truth. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing fully that we will make mistakes. We are ever so grateful for the cleansing blood that Yeshua shed for us.
Shalom
In the beginning of your article you state “Yeshua, is often called Jesus in main stream Christianity, was a man who lived, died, and rose from the dead over 2000 years ago.” Do those who keep Torah believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God or just a “man”? Also, where does the Holy Spirit fit in? I am just asking because I am unfamiliar with your belief system and wanting to know. Thanks.
Great questions. Thanks for asking. I can only speak for myself, and I hope all Torah Observant Christians, agree with the following answer. As for YESHUA, I believe He is God, the Messiah, and that is why I suggest that the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John be read for verification of this Truth. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is called by many Torah Observant people the Ruach Chodesh. Many Torah Observant people do not use the word, trinity, as it is not found in scripture. But the Spirit of God is mentioned in Genesis chapter one, and understood to be a part of Elohim, God.
“In the beginning God(Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (Ruach Chodesh) was hovering over the waters.”
I hope that answers your questions. May the Holy Spirit guide you as you seek all truth in the Word of God.
Shalom
Shalom, I found your website and wanted to reach out, I’ve created some TO Children’s books. I’d love to share with ya’ll. & I Love the website and resources here!
I would love to take a look at your books.
Do you believe Jesus (Yeshua) is God the Son?
Yes, I believe YESHUA is the promised Messiah, and is God.
Shalom sister – I stumbled across your blog post seeking a wbb assembly near me (north central Florida) I am not sure if you are located close to me or not – wanted to comment to say shalom to you and your family and shalom to Yirushaleyim All Praise and All Glory to YHWH & HIS Begotten Son Our High Priest Yeshua HaMashiach ❤️
Christina,
Shalom, we are located in Michigan. But I do have a friend that lives in Florida. Here is her website. https://www.alittleperspective.com/
May Yehovah bless you and give you peace.
to the truly Torah YaHoשUvAֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶֶH observant According to the Torah how should the Sabbath be kept in our post Y2K modern times; how is it to be properly observed ie. what can be done; what prohibitions are still to be observed? Thank You; Shalom!
Dr. David,
I do not want to add to or take away from Scripture, nor do I think that I have all the answers. Therefore, I would humbly reply with this. Prayerfully consider what is commanded in the ten commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, along with the directions given in Leviticus 23. Then ask Yehovah to make it clear to you how you ought to observe this Holy Day in this time and place.
Shalom
Hello! I am new believer and want to live a biblical life. I do try to keep Saturday as a sabbath day. I’m a stay at home mom, so I refrain from house work, and add in extra times of worship. I spend majority of my time outside with my little ones. But on Sunday we still all attend church. ( biblical, verse by verse taught) is that wrong?
I think it sounds like you are blessed to be able to have a weekly day of rest and connect with the Creator and Redeemer, and a day of worship and teaching me too. I see nothing wrong with that at all.
Great blog!
Just for context, let me quote the relevant verses from Luke 17.
20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
As an ex-Catholic and subsequently a traditional, non-denominational born-again believer, I still felt that something was missing. I take great joy now in learning to be Torah observant.
The Kingdom of God did not come to me by observation of rules and regulations, but because the Kingdom of God is now within my temple, I desire the perfect Law of the Lord and it is converting my soul.
The Pharisees had the cart before the horse.
May God grant us ever-increasing understanding of His Perfect Word.
thank you for this article . I came across somehow.. your site comes up.
shabbat shalom from the Philippines
Hi Katie, I’m so totally blessed to find your blogs and particularly this one which describes in the opening lines my experiences with family/friends since becoming a “whole-bible believer” in 2017.
Although I have been an evangelical Christian since 1973, baptized in 1975, my family especially find it difficult to accept that I do things a little differently from previous years. I try to keep my revitalised faith-walk as simple as possible and I love setting aside the Sabbath. I feel that most of the meaning and intention of being set-apart and keeping one day holy has been lost in modern-day Christianity.
I do also believe that Yah has a different walk of faith for each of us and I do not judge because we are all at a different place on our spiritual walk with Yah.
I would love to receive your new posts! Shabbat Shalom from South Africa
Is there a list of commandments Torah observant Christians observe with scriptures I could go over and study? Not the inflated 613.
Great question. I am going to work on an answer to this question and when it is ready, I will post it on my blog.