Sermon Tone Analysis

LIVING THE MARRIED LIFE

Diḇre haYamim Bet/2 Chronicles 34

Favour and peace to you all from Elohim our Father and יהושע the Messiah!

HalleluYah – it is good to be together!

Today is really a special day for us as a fellowship and as a family of the Most High Elohim.

As we walk and discover the wonder of His mercy and grace, we truly begin to understand the true freedom and peace we have with Him and so it is with great enthusiasm that I want to share with you today some crucial turning points in the life of ATFOTC.

To better help you understand this I would like you to turn with me to read from 2 Chronicles 34: My message today is called, “Living the Married Life”, and I want us to learn today how we are to live as a faithful Bride, amen!

Let us read together…

(יהוה (Yahweh) is the name of Elohim (Mighty One) and יהושע (Yahushua) is the name of His Son which means ‘יהוה saves’)

יהוה started to talk very clearly to me through this passage bringing great comfort in understanding the process of change and continually being purified in our worship unto Him.

To put this story in a nutshell, we have here the story of a young boy, Yoshiyahu (Josiah), who was 8 years old and he became king!!! What is so encouraging is that in verse 2, this young boy was very mature – he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה and walked in the ways of his father Dawiḏ, not his father Amon, and he did not turn aside(from walking in obedience), either to the right or to the left!

In other words he walked straight – and I want you to remember this as we go on – he walked the straight walk!

Progressively, as he grew and began to seek the Elohim of his father Dawiḏ, he began to make changes – in other words we see here a clear picture of hungering and thirsting after righteousness; he hungered and thirsted after the Elohim of Righteousness!

He began to purge the land of idol worship, altars and images and everything that had anything to do with Baal worship or sun worship were torn down, cut, smashed, broken – all through Yisra’ĕl – these were some pretty radical reforms if you begin to understand the major impact this pagan worship all had on the nation that was to be set apart as a Bride.

By the 18th year of his reign, 26 years old, he began to purify the land and temple.

During this restoration process, Ḥilqiyahu the priest found the Book of the Law and it was read to Yoshiyahu (Josiah); and after hearing it he tore his clothes in repentance and then went and gathered the nation, from least to greatest, to hear the Book of the Covenant and he renewed the covenant (of marriage) in the presence of יהוה, and he made everyone pledge themselves to this which they did and in turn went and removed idols, possibly out of there own homes etc. and all began to serve יהוה, and they lived long and did not fail to follow יהוה all the days of Yoshiyahu’s (Josiah’s) reign – this is pretty awesome stuff – to see such immense radical change that would have been very hard and uncomfortable to many – yet brought great freedom and joy in serving the true Living Elohim wholeheartedly with no idolatry being mixed in with their worship!

Why am I sharing this?

Well it is a great encouragement to me in the fact that it reveals that we serve an Awesome and Gracious Elohim!

When we give our lives over to Him and accept יהושע as our Saviour, we then begin to follow in His steps – now I know at first we don’t or may not know all about Him, however as we walk in Him and grow in knowledge we begin to make changes.

Last week I spoke about change that brings growth and is not always pleasant and often results in grumbling and complaining, however when we go through necessary changes with the right attitude – one of praise and not of complaining – then the growth is truly great and very much rewarding.

This is where we as a fellowship are at present.

We have, I firmly believe, been walking in a straight line and in the process have been stripping away or putting off those things that hinder the straight walk, and so as we discover His Torah or ‘Law’ as we commonly know it as, we can with joy remove all forms of idols worship and engage totally in a life committed to walking wholeheartedly in Him.

One of the controversial issues possibly to date that we find in walking out our walk ‘in Him’ is the matter of ‘Law’ and ‘Grace’ being pitted against each other, almost to the point that they are opposites and one has replaced the other (Replacement theology).

Today I want to share with you how this sadly is a misinterpretation of this common understanding we have come to understand as being taught falsely in the ‘Christian walk’ and see that in fact ‘Law’ and ‘Grace’ work together.

To begin this, we see in this chapter 34 that we have just read that when Yoshiyahu (Josiah) heard the Book of the Law, he was really ‘cut to the heart’ and truly set out to walk in the fullness of it.

We know that the Word of Elohim is sharper than a double edged sword – it cuts to the heart, aměn!

Now the word Law in verse 14 and other verses here is the Hebrew word “Torah”.

Many of you have probably heard this word before and link it simply to a ‘Jewish’ person who is sadly still in bondage and has in fact no bearing on us who are ‘saved’; and in effect simply contain great ‘stories’ of the past.

Torah consists of the first 5 Books of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, written by Mosheh, and is even referred to as the Law of Mosheh.

The Torah, as we will see, is more accurately defined as the ‘instructions’ of Elohim for His set apart people, containing instructions for those who desire to live righteous, set apart lives in accordance with the will of Elohim.

Having said that, please turn with me to Yoḥanan (John) 1:17 for it says:

Yoḥanan/John 1:17 “For the Torah was given through Mosheh; the favour and truth came through יהושע Messiah”

Earlier translations, such as the KJV and the New KJV have the word ‘but’ in between Mosheh and favour (grace) – law given through Moses, but grace and truth through יהושע (incorrectly transliterated as ‘Jesus’).

This sadly misinterpreted into English gives us the impression of two opposites that one has replaced the other and I am glad that the newer translations have corrected this, as there is no word in the Greek for ‘but’ and certainly has no place here.

So in essence it is saying that Torah came through Mosheh, and it is this word Torah that I would like for us to examine today, in order to get a greater and clearer understanding of The Scriptures, amen!

Firstly when many people often hear the word ‘following the Law or Torah’, they so easily jump immediately to a perception that you are legalistic, that you are in bondage and you are doing a ‘bad thing’.

After all we are taught that “The Law” was given to man to show him that he is not able to keep it and in need of Grace.

How sad this perception is, as we will see has no Scriptural bounds to back this theory up!

It is a wrong perception and misunderstanding that we do not need Torah, and I want to show you why.

The English word ‘Law’ typically stirs up emotions and thoughts of police, judges, fines, punishment and even prison!

And with this in mind it is very clear to see where translators have greatly influenced then how we read, how we understand and how we interpret Scriptures.

Some people often refer to Torah as the Old Testament, again another sad and misleading title for a group of writings that can aid in the perception of ‘old’ and no longer in effect.

The Old Testament as we have come to know it is in fact properly known as the ‘Tanak’, which includes Torah, the Prophets (Nebi’im) and the writings (Kethubim).

The term ‘Old Testament’ is a man-made title which is so far removed from the truth it is ridiculous!

The Word of יהוה is ‘eternal’, meaning that it is not affected by time and stands outside of time, and therefore that being said the Word can never be old – it is as ‘new’ and fresh and alive for us today as it was back then!

Are you still with me?

It gets very technical I know, yet it is necessary in understanding the Truth, as we are on a great journey of discovery this morning!!!

The word Torah in Hebrew means: ‘utterance’, ‘teaching’, ‘instruction’ or ‘revelation’ from Elohim.

Other definitions include: information that is imparted to a student; direction; body of prophetic teaching; instruction on Messianic Age; body of priestly direction.

The Hebrew word Torah comes from the Hebrew word ‘Horah’ which means ‘to direct’ or ‘to teach’ and is derived from the stem word ‘yara’ which means ‘to shoot’ or ‘to throw’.

Therefore what we can clearly see here is that there are two aspects to the word Torah:

1) Aiming or pointing in the right direction and

2) Movement in that direction.

In other words it means that you aim or point in the right direction and you move in that direction.

You can see that this meaning is way different as to how we understand the ‘burden’ that is typically associated with the word ‘Law’.

It is also interesting and wonderful for me how the word Torah clearly reveals the Messiah, let me show you how.

The original language spoken by Hebrews is now referred to as Ancient Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew, and though the Hebrew Language went through a number of changes, we are able to discern the original symbols or pictures that were used which actually resembled their meaning.

Each symbol or picture carried a meaning or meanings and when symbols were collectively put together they would spell a word that carried a meaning or clear description.

The word Torah is a combination of four symbols: (Remember Hebrew is read right to left):

(Ancient Hebrew) and ר ה ת ו (Modern Hebrew)

= ת (t tav) a “cross” which means ‘to seal or covenant’ or ‘mark’ or ‘sign’ (Please remember these words for when we close!)

= ו (w vav) a “nail” or a “peg” which means ‘to add or secure or hook’

= ר (r resh) a head which means “a person, the head or the highest” or “first” or “top” or “beginning”

= ה (h hay) a man with arms raised which means “to reveal” or “behold” or “what comes from”

Combining these symbols gives us a profound definition of the word ‘Torah’ as:

‘What comes from the man nailed to the ‘cross’ or upright pole’ and ‘Behold the man who secures the covenant’ and ‘To a cross is nailed the highest, it is revealed in Torah’

Wow – how awesome is this!!! Now – does this sound like a heavy law???

Not at all – this description or definition does not make me think of fines or of a judge or of punishment or even of prison!

יהושע tells us that His yoke is easy – His yoke is Torah!

Now then understanding that sin (cha-ta - א ט ח) means ‘to miss the mark or target’ – then it is so very clear that Torah becomes very vital to us if we do not want to miss the purpose and fulfilment of our life or ‘miss the mark’.

Remember, Torah is aiming in the right direction and moving in that direction – Sha’ul (Paul) describes this as fixing our eyes on יהושע – the author and perfector of our faith.

We aim our sights at יהושע, lock them in and run with perseverance that which has been marked out.

Sin is missing the mark – running off the mark as you take your eyes off of יהושע!!! Torah is the way to aim and go in Him!

Understanding Torah then could be more accurately defined as:

“The instructions of Elohim for His set apart people as was given through Mosheh and revealed by the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, יהושע”

The Torah came through Mosheh on Stone Tablets and then through the flesh in Messiah יהושע!

No more on stone, now on flesh!!!

The Word became flesh!

The Torah contains instructions, guidance and direction for those who desire to live righteous, set apart lives in accordance with the will of Elohim, which יהושע show us by walking in Him.

Whoever claims to live in Him, must walk as יהושע did (Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 2:6) – How did יהושע walk?

He walked according to Torah!

While these instructions were written on scrolls by Mosheh, they ultimately are written by the Almighty on the hearts of Believers, aměn!

Having said all this, it is very clear then that the word ‘instruction’ has a much different connotation to the word ‘law’.

It is with this in mind that I would like to give an illustration of this word Torah in terms of our relationship with יהוה יהושע:

As we know יהוה brought His people out of bondage (Mitsrayim/Egypt) by ‘Grace’ so that they could be a city and His House where He will live with them.

He ultimately did this by sending His beloved Son, יהושע, to build a house – the body of Messiah – for His Name where He could dwell.

His desire is one of a bridegroom and His Bride living together in His House.

This marriage, I would like to tell you today, took place at Mount Sinai where He gave His Commandments or ‘Words’ to them, known as the ‘Ketuba’ – Wedding Contract.

In order to understand the significance of this event, one has to understand the picture of a Hebrew marriage to fully embrace our ‘betrothal’ to our Saviour, for a Hebrew marriage is one of the most prophetic pictures revealing יהוה’s plans to His people.

In essence the marriage consists of two parts:

1) First there is a Covenant drawn up between the Groom and the Bride, and this is called the ‘betrothal’.

Understanding then that when a groom would seek out a wife, he would ‘save’ her from being alone and ‘call her out’, then he would offer her a cup of wine and if she accepted then she would take the cup and drink of it and then a bride price was discussed and a contract drawn up.

How wonderful this is of Elohim who ‘saved’ His Bride out of bondage through ‘Blood’ (the cup) offering marriage, calling her out.

They accepted this cup by putting the blood on the doorposts of their homes and so he delivered them and brought them to Mount Sinai where the ‘contract’ was drawn up!

2) The second stage is when He comes to fetch His Bride to live with Him forever, after He has prepared a house or room for them at His father’s house.

Look at what יהושע says:

Yoḥanan/John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

So then, you enter the ‘first stage’ of ‘marriage’ as soon as the ‘betrothal’ contract is made between the two parties.

The written contract is called the ‘Ketubah” pronounced ‘ke-tu-va’, and during the betrothal period you are legally married, yet do not physically dwell with your mate!