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Observing Mitzvot:

How to Love God and Neighbor

 

Torah and Sin:

The Torah teaches us to love God and hate sin. In it we are given mitzvot (commandments), first to love God, and second to love our neighbor as ourselves. These are further expanded to ten commandments - five showing how to love God and five showing how to love our neighbor, who is created in the image of God. These ten are further expanded to 613 commandments.

All are under sin (Galatians 3:22), and sin desires to rule over man, but man is commanded to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7). Since sin is the transgression of the Torah (I John 3:4), and whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23), it may be concluded that transgressing the Torah is contrary to acting in faith.

By one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12). We inherited a sinful nature. There is no "Adamic sin", that is sin imputed to us from Adam; it is common but unbiblical teaching that (1) Christ died for Adamic sin of all, (2) baptism covers Adamic sin, and (3) that Christ died for all sins of everyone except the sin of unbelief. In our final redemption, when we receive our resurrection bodies, we will leave behind our inherited nature.

For the present, we are commanded to hide the Torah in our hearts, so that we do not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). In the fulfillment of the Renewed Covenant, God will write the Torah on our hearts, and we will sin no more.

Yeshua was so named because He came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).Yeshua came to take away the sin of the world - not only Jews (John 1:29).

Sin has no dominion (rule) over the righteous, because they are under grace, not law. That means they cannot be condemned to death by the law because their penalty has been paid. It does not give license to freely transgress the law - sin.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  (Matthew 5:17-18)

Whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

Torah and Loving God:

You shall love Yaveh Eloheinu (the Lord your God) with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

                You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 10:27)

                                On these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:40)

                                                If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15)

Following is a sampling of the 613 commandments of the Torah that have been delineated by Rambam.
    248 are positive, 365 are negative.
    Some apply only to priests, some only to men, some only to women.
    Some are only for certain times, such as on Sabbath, preceding a Festival, or after childbirth.
    Some are only for certain places, such as at home, in the Temple, or in Israel.
This is to indicate how all 613 hang on the ten commandments, which in turn hang on the two greatest.


How to love God 

How to love our neighbor
1  I am the Lord your God.                  
    + 1 Believe in God       
    + 5 Worship God   
    +20 Build Sanctuary for God
6  Do not commit murder
    +184 Remove sources of danger
    - 302 Do not hate brother
2   Have no other gods, 
       no graven images.
    - 10 Do not study idolatrous practices  
    - 31 Do not practice divination
    - 38 Do not seek info from dead
7  Do not commit adultery.
    - 350 No homosexual intimacy
    - 355 No intimacy outside marriage

3  Do not take God’s Name in vain
    + 9 Sanctify God’s Name  
    - 61 Do not violate oath
    - 64 Do not test God’s promises
8   Do not steal.
    +200 Pay wages on time
    - 230 Charge no interest (usury)
    - 246 Do not alter land boundaries
4   Remember the Sabbath Day
    +154 Assemble to worship (Lev 23:3)
    - 320 Do no work
    - 322 Kindle no flame
9   Do not bear false witness.
    +177 Treat litigants equally
    - 274 Do not accept bribe
    - 299 Give no misleading advice
5  Honor father and mother
    - 318 Do not curse parents
    - 319 Do not strike parents
10   Do not covet.
    - 47 Do not follow heart or eyes

The five commandments on the second stone parallel the five on the first stone. Murder parallels not having Yahweh as your God. Adultery parallels having other gods - idolatry. Stealing (which actually means kidnapping) parallels taking God's Name in vain. Bearing false witness against a neighbor parallels bearing false witness against God's creation - dishonoring the Sabbath Day. Coveting parallels dishonoring authority under God.

Note: See complete chart under construction below.

Biblical Categories of Commandments:

1) Mishpatim - Judgments . . . . . . . . . moral and ethical laws.

That the moral and ethical laws apply to today’s followers of Yeshua is seldom questioned. Yeshua himself stressed that hating a brother is sin under the commandment against murder, and lust is covered by the commandment against adultery (Matthew 5).

2) Edot - Ordinances or Witnesses . . . rituals and festivals showing religious truths.

While baptism was taught by John the baptizer and the apostles, it is seldom seen today as the ordinance of the Torah concerning ritual immersions in the mikvah. A detailed explanation is given in the page Mikvah/Baptism.

Yeshua and the apostles also taught concerning the application of festive ordinances to us - even gentiles. For examples, the applicability and messianic nature of Sabbath and Festivals are shown in those pages.

3) Huqqim - Statutes or Decrees . . . . . . commands bonding God and man, having no obvious reason.

The statutes include kosher diet (which cannot all be explained by health reasons), and circumcision.

You shall love Yahweh your God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, always (Deuteronomy 11:1).

Acts 15:20 is commonly used to show that the statutes do not apply to gentile believers, and yet this verse affirms that gentiles should abstain from things strangled and from blood, as prohibited in a dietary statute of Deuteronomy 12:23. The following verse (Acts 15:21) indicates that we should learn the rest at synagogue on the Sabbaths.

 

Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments

Called habrit esereh davarim – The Covenant of Ten Wordings, in the original Hebrew text (v.34:28).

These were written by God, five on each of two stone tablets given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Yeshua said (Matthew 22:37-40), 37 “ ‘You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).’ 40 On these two commandments hang all of the Law and the Prophets.”

 

Each of the commandments on the first stone contain God’s holy Name – Yahweh. They teach us how to love Yahweh as our God.

None of the commandments on the second stone contain God’s holy Name. They teach us how to love our neighbor.

The commandments on the second stone parallel the commandments on the first stone
with a one-to-one relationship of subjects.

 

1

2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

          (Some modern versions call verse 3 the first commandment.)

6

13 “You shall not murder.”

 

Doing away with your neighbor relates to doing away with Yahweh as your God.

 

2

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

7

14 “You shall not commit adultery.”

 

Adultery is used throughout the Bible to represent idolatry (i.e.: Jeremiah 3:8).
Having improper gods relates to having improper mates.

 

3

7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

8

15 “You shall not kidnap.”
          (Common stealing is covered by the tenth commandment.)

 

Using God’s holy Name on something improperly relates to using your family name on someone improperly.

 

4

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

9

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

 

Bearing false witness against a neighbor relates to bearing false witness against God in creation.
The six days of creation culminated with God making the seventh day holy.
“Remembering” the Sabbath, to “keep” it holy, is a witness to our faith in our God as Creator.

 

5

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.”

10

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Honoring father and mother signifies honoring all authority under God.
Honoring authority under God relates to honoring your neighbor’s authority over his property.

 

 

 Sept 29, 2012 addition

 

613 MITZVOT CATEGORIZED
under the Ten Commandments, by positive and negative, and
by the three Biblical categories (Judgments, Ordinances, and Statutes)

Note: This is part of a long term congregational project, under construction.

First of Ten Commandments - "I AM YAHWEH YOUR GOD"

Pos/Neg Torah Ref Commandment Apostolic Ref
 
JUDGMENTS (Moral and Ethical Laws)
P  1 Exo 20:22 Believing in God Heb 11:6
P  2 Deu   6:4 Unity of God 1Tim 2:5
P  3 Deu   6:5 Loving God Mark 12:30
P  4 Deu   6:13 Fearing God 2 Cor 7:1
P  5 Exo 22:25 Worshipping God John 4:23
P  6 Deu 10:20 Cleaving to God  
P  7 Deu 10:20 Taking Oath by God's Name  
P  8 Deu 28:9 Walking in God's Ways Eph 5:8
P 10 Deu 6:7 Reading the Sh'ma twice daily  
P 11 Deu 6:7 Studying and teaching Torah  
 
ORDINANCES (Rituals & Festivals showing religious truths)
P 12 Deu   6:8 Wearing Tephillin on Head  
P 13 Deu   6:8 Wearing Tephillin on Hand 1 Cor 10:31
P 14 Num 15:38 Make Tzitzit 1John 5:3, Matt 9:20,14:36
P 15 Deu   6:9 Affix Mezuzah Eph 5:8
P16 Deu 13:12 Hachel during Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)  
P153 Lev 12:2 Determining Rosh Hodesh (New Moon) 1 Thes 5:2
P156 Exo 12:15 Removal of Leaven on Passover 1 Cor 5:8
P157 Exo 13:8 Recounting Exodus on Passover 1st Night  
P158 Exo 12:18 Eating Matzah on Passover 1st Night  
P159 Exo 12:16 Resting on 1st Day of Passover  
P160 Exo 12:16 Resting on 7th Day of Passover  
P161 Lev 23:15 Counting the Omer Acts 2:1
P162 Lev 23:21 Resting on Shavuot (Pentecost)  
P163 Lev 23:24 Resting on Rosh Hashanah  
P164 Lev 16:29 Fasting on Yom haKippurim  
P165 Lev 16:29,31 Resting on                Rom 5:11
P166 Lev 23:35 Resting on 1st Day of Sukkot (Tabernacles)  
P167 Lev 23:36 Resting on Shemini Atzeret (8th Day)  
P168 Lev 23:42 Dwelling in Sukkah for 7 Days Rev 19:7
P169 Lev 23:40 Taking a Lulav on Sukkot  
P170 Num 29:1 Hearing a Shofar on Yom Teruah 1 Thes 4:16
  
STATUTES (Laws with purpose not obvious, that bind us to God)
N172 Deu 14:7 Not to eat any unclean animal Acts 10:15
N173 Lev 11:11 Not to eat any unclean fish  
N174 Lev 11:13 Not to eat any unclean fowl  
N175 Deu 14:19 Not to eat any swarming winged insect  
N176 Lev 11:41 Not to eat anything which swarms on the earth  
N177 Lev 11:44 Not to eat any creeping thing that breeds in decayed matter  
N178 Lev 11:42 Not to eat living creatures that breed in seeds or fruit  
N179 Lev 11:43 Not to eat any swarming thing  
N180 Deu 14:21 Not to eat any animal which is a nevelah  

Second of Ten Commandments - "NO OTHER GODS, NO GRAVEN IMAGES"

Pos/Neg Torah Ref Commandment Apostolic Ref
 
JUDGMENTS (Moral and Ethical Laws)
P185 Deu 12:2 Destroying all idol-worship 2 Cor 6:14-18
P186 Deu 13:17 Law of the apostate city  
P187 Deu 20:17 Law of the Seven Nations  
P188 Deu 25:19 Extinction of seed of Amalek Mar 12:33, 1Jn 5:3
P189 Deu 25:17 Remember nefarious deeds of Amalek John 16:2-4
P224 Deu 25:2 Whipping transgressors of certain commandments  
P226 Exo 21:20 Beheading transgressors of certain commandments  
P227 Lev 21:16 Strangling transgressors of certain commandments  
P228 Lev 20:14 Burning transgressors of certain commandments  
P229 Deu 22:24 Stoning transgressors of certain commandments  
P230 Deu 21:22 Hanging after execution, transgressors of certain commandments  
N  1 Exo 20:3 Not believing in any other god Mat 4:10, Luk 4:8
N  2 Exo 20:4 Not to make images to worship Rom 1:23
N  3 Lev:19:4 Not to make idol for others to worship  
N  4 Exo 20:20 Not to make figures of human beings  
N  5 Exo 20:5 Not to bow down to idol  
N  6 Exo 20:5 Not to worship idols  
N  7 Lev 18:21 Not to hand over any children to Moloch  
N  8 Lev 19:31 Not to practice sorcery of the ov  
N  9 Lev 19:31 Not to practice sorcery of the yodde'oni Acts 16:16-18
N 10 Lev 19:4 Not to study idolatrous practices  
N 11 Deu 16:22 Not to erect pillar for people to honor  
N 12 Lev 20:1 Not to make figured stones to prostrate on  
N 13 Deu 16:21 Not to plant trees in sanctuary  
N 14 Exo 23:13 Not to swear by idol  
N 15 Exo 23:13 Not to divert people to idolatry 1 Cor 8:9
N 16 Deu 13:12 Not to try to pursuade to worship idols  
N 17 Deu 13:9 Not to love one who seeks to lead to idols Matt 10:37
N 18 Deu 13:9 Not to relax aversion to misleader  
N 19 Deu 13:9 Not to save life of misleader  
N 20 Deu 13:9 Not to plead for misleader  
N 21 Deu 13:9 Not to oppress evidence against misleader  
N 22 Deu 7:25 No benefit from ornaments from idol  
N 23 Deu 13:17 Not rebuilding an apostate city Rev 18:21
N 24 Deu 13:18 Not deriving benefit from apostate city  
N 25 Deu 7:26 Not increasing wealth by idolatry connection  
N 26 Deu 18:20 Not prophesying in name of idol  
N 27 Deu 18:20 Not prophesying falsely  
N 28 Deu 13:3-4 Not to listen to prophecy in name of idol 2 Pet 1:20-2:3
N 29 Deu 18:22 Not fearing or keep from killing false prophet  
N 30 Lev 20:23 Not adopting habits / customs of unbelievers 2Cor 6:14-17, Eph 5:11-13
N 31 Lev 19:26 Not practicing divination  
N 32 Deu 18:10 Not regulating one's conduct by the stars  
N 33 Deu 18:10-11 Not practicing art of soothsayer  
N 34 Deu 18:10-11 Not practicing sorcery  
N 35 Deu 18:10-11 Not practicing art of charmer  
N 36 Deu 18:10-11 Not consulting necromancer who uses the ov  
N 37 Deu 18:10-11 Not consulting sorcerer who uses the ydo's  
N 38 Deu 18:10-11 Not to seek information from the dead  
N 46 Deu 17:16 Not settling in the land of Egypt  
N 47 Num 15:39 Not to follow one's heart or eyes  
N 48 Exo 32:32 Not to make a covenant with the seven nations of Canaan  
N 49 Deu 20:16 Not to spare the life of the seven nations  
N 50 Deu 7:2 Not to show mercy to idolaters  
N 51 Exo 23:33 Not to allow idolators to settle in our land  
N 52 Deu 7:3 Not to intermarry with a heretic  
N 53 Deu 23:4 Not to intermarry with a male from Ammon or Moav  
N 54 Deu 23:8 Not to exclude the descendants of Esav  
N 55 Deu 23:8 Not to exclude the descendants of Egyptians  
N 56 Deu 23:7 Not offering peace to Ammon and Moav  
N 58 Deu 7:21 Not fearing heretics in time of war  
N 59 Deu 25:19 Not forgetting what Amelek did to us  
N 310 Exo 22:17 Not permitting a sorcerer to live  
ORDINANCES (Rituals & Festivals showing religious truths)
N 39 Deu 22:5 Women not to wear men's clothing  
N 40 Deu 22:5 Men not to wear women's clothing  
N 41 Lev 19:28 Not imprinting any marks on our bodies  
N 43 Lev 19:27 Not shaving temples of the head  
N 44 Lev 19:27 Not shaving the beard  
N 45 Deu 14:1 Not making cuttings in our flesh  
       
  ROBBING GOD    
P 78      
P 79      
P 80      
P 81      
P 82      
P 83      
P 127      
P 128      
P 129      
N 91      
N 92      
N 93      
N 94      
N 95      
N 96      
N 97      
N 106      
N 107      
N 108      
N 109      
N 110      
N 111      
N 113      
N 114      
N 138      
N 139      
N 140      
N 150      
N 151      
N 152      
N 153      
N 154      
N 155      
N 156      
STATUTES (Laws with purpose not obvious, that bind us to God)
N 42 Deu 22:11 Not wearing shaatnes (mixed wool & linen cloth)  

 

 

 

 

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