If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:15
When Jesus was preparing Himself and His disciples for Jesus’ imminent arrest, He was giving them some marching orders. They were to carry on the ministry of Jesus. The ministry of reconciling mankind back to God, and preparing a people, a Bride, for the arrival of her Bridegroom. In order to do that, they needed to be obedient. Obedient to what? His commandments.
But this is a huge task. This will take some serious trust. Without that trust, and without God’s commandments firmly planted within us, we cannot be in step with what God is up to, and we make things more complicated than they need to be.
This is an enormous moment, and without going back to the beginning of the story, you’ll miss a lot of what’s being said here.
The Plan of Redemption
We were created in God’s image from the very beginning. When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought the curse of death into this creation, and drove a wedge in that beautiful relationship that existed. Adam and Eve had everything. They had a purpose, provision of eternal life, complete innocence and were unashamedly completely, safely exposed (seen) and known by God.
Then the primal, rebellious creature Satan brings in the temptation to “be like God” and have the “knowledge of good and evil” with the false pretext that God was withholding good things from them. He caused Eve to doubt God’s words. The very words that were also capable of creating this perfect world she now stood in– as God had just spent the last week speaking the Universe into existence.
There is nothing wrong with God’s instructions and commandments.
It’s mankind’s lack of trust in God that’s the issue.
As a result of this betrayal, Adam and Eve saw themselves in a new light and shame came into the picture as they realized they were naked. They try to cover their own shame (nakedness) with fig leaves. As God walks through the garden that afternoon, they hide from Him. This new shame that resulted from disobeying God’s instruction leads to the first instance we see of man retreating from God. He did nothing wrong. They did.
Of course God is upset about their betrayal. He issues a consequence– a curse. Eternal life, provisioned by God through the Tree of Life, has now been cut off. That very Tree of Life that was at the center of the garden, right alongside the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That very Tree of Life they had free access to, along with EVERY OTHER TREE, except for that one— the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Up until this point, all of God’s instructions were a few to-do’s and one don’t.
As I mentioned earlier, this new shame lead them to cover themselves. Man’s means of trying to “cover” for themselves, was inadequate. Those fig leaves won’t do it. God will provide the cover. That cover came in the form of animal skins.
Animal skin. The first death. An innocent one. To cover for man’s shortcomings. This is prophetic.
Noah’s Ark
When we get to the story of Noah, “man’s shortcomings” are an absolute understatement. In fact, things got so bad that we read the following:
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Things got completely hopeless for man’s future– with one exception; Noah “found grace in the eyes of God”.[0]
The Bible passage says that Noah:
Walked with God (halak): This isn’t talking about physically walking. This word means to go with or continue with. In the same way God went with Israel through the wilderness after He set them free from Egypt. This word’s root is similar to the word yalak, which Ruth, a Gentile, uses when she makes the decision to go with her mother-in-law Naomi (Mara) to Bethlehem and join the people of God. Ruth says, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”
Was righteous (sadiq): Noah acted justly, and lawfully.
Was blameless (tamim): Same word Biblically as without blemish, perfect and with integrity. Deuteronomy 18:13 calls for God’s people to be “blameless before YHVH your God.”
2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah a “preacher of righteousness”. In other words, he was an announcement. His life was a message on righteousness we should be paying attention to. Was it because Noah was truly sinless? I’d say Genesis 9 would disagree with that. But like king David (also a sinner– we’ll get to him in a bit), he demonstrated abiding in God.
He stayed close to God, he steered away from the corruption that was plaguing the rest of the world, and maintained his integrity because he trusted God.
This TRUST, that goes beyond a feeling or thought, but one that results in obedience, is what God is after.
God tells Noah that because of the wickedness that has filled the earth, God is going to wipe it out with a flood.
However, God’s plan is to preserve a remnant: Noah and his family, as well as a remnant of the animals of the earth.
God hasn’t forgotten the redemption plan He spoke of in the Garden of Eden. Noah will get a chance to be part of that plan, due to his faithfulness and trust in God.
Think of how insane it must sound.
“Listen Noah, I know this has never happened before in the history of the world, but I’m going to wipe out every other human being on this planet other than you and your family with a giant flood. Water is going to come from the sky, as well as springs deep in the ocean that will open up.
I need you to build a giant boat, to my specifications, and fill it with a pair of every living creature (male and female, so they reproduce), as well as 7 pairs of every clean animal (for food and sacrifices after the floodwaters subside), and I’m going to keep you all safe and fed with plants while you’re in there for 40 days.
Oh yeah, and don’t worry about how you’ll close that massive door on the “Ark” as the floodwaters come rushing towards you, I’ll take care of that personally.”
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Hebrews 11:7
When Noah emerges from the Ark, God gives him the same command He had initially given Adam and Eve in the garden, “be fruitful and multiply.”[Genesis 9:1]. The plan for the world was still in place. Despite mankind getting almost completely wiped off the face of the earth.
All because Noah was a faithful servant and friend of God who was obedient through faith.
…but why is faith so important?
Well, for starters, it REQUIRED faith for Noah to carry out such a monumental task. Without trust, we might try to “obey”, but may end up trying things our own way because we’re not quite sure God’s way is going to work out. Imagine if Noah skimped out on Ark building materials, or got lazy on gathering animals? Noah needed to trust God, and not try to manipulate the process.
Let’s see our next big step of the journey, with a man named Abram…
God reveals His promise to Abraham (Abram)
This section is going to be a little longer, because there are some IMPORTANT foundational understandings you will need to grasp.
When God spoke to the patriarch of the Jewish people, Abram (Abraham), we read the following:
Genesis 12:
1 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you into a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
As we read here, Abram is asked to leave his country, his relatives, his father’s house (which would include inheritance), in exchange for a promise that doesn’t sound like it might give him any immediate benefit. In fact, as far as Abram knows, he might not get any personal benefits out of this until the end of his life, or even after he dies.
There’s certainly a multi-generational aspect to this promise. Going from one man to a great nation doesn’t happen overnight. This is also an enormous promise in scope. It says all the families of the earth will benefit from this promise.
This is going to require trust in God’s goodness, and obedience by leaving his old life behind in order for God’s promises to happen through him.
But that’s easier said than done. See, Abram was 75 years old by this point.
He takes his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot (a relative who is part of his father’s household and someone he shouldn’t have brought along), and all their belongings with them towards the land God promised. Because of a severe famine in the land, he took shelter in Egypt. This is where we see Abram’s struggles with trust start to show. He’s worried he will get killed by the Egyptians so they can take his wife for themselves, so he asked her to deceive them and pretend she was his brother. A brother wouldn’t be competition.
Because the Egyptian Pharaoh did end up taking Sarah as his wife (through no real fault of his own), God brought severe plagues on him and his household. Part of God’s promise was, “I will bless those who bless you, whoever curses you I will curse.” When he finds out what Abraham did he says, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she’s your wife? Why did you tell me she was your sister, so that I would take her to be my own wife? Take your wife and get out of here!” [Gen 12:18-19].
If God made a promise, Abram needed to trust that God will provide the means for it to happen. So far, he hasn’t done too great.
How would God make His promise if Abram gets killed? God would have to protect Abram’s life, or bring him back from the dead to make it happen.
Keep this in mind. This is important. God will overcome death, to bring forth His promise. Abram’s job, was to trust God, and stop trying to manipulate the process.
Remember that nephew Abram brought, Lot?
Genesis 13:6 says, “And the land could not support both of them while living together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.”
So now we reach a problem caused by Abram’s disobedience. The land could not sustain both Abram and Lot. They brought too much stuff, and their servants were fighting amongst each other. This could have been avoided if Abram obeyed God’s instructions.
Instead, the following happens. Abram gives Lot the better part of HIS Land. The land promised to him. Not only that, but then Lot leaves that good land and moves in close to Sodom. Yes, Sodom– one of the 2 cities that God destroyed because of the rampant sin within them. So now Abram is left with less land, and more drama.
Well, Abram was still childless and God’s word to him included him becoming a great nation. God makes it clear that it will be Abram’s own child that will inherit this promise. Not a servant, not a relative.
In other words, don’t try to manipulate things and make this promise happen on your own. God will do it. God confirms this by putting Abram to sleep, and establishing a covenant ceremony on His own. This is God’s promise, God’s task and God will accomplish it.
Abram, in his infinite wisdom (see: sarcasm), listens to Sarah’s advice to impregnate their servant Hagar. After all, it was through Abraham’s child that the promise would come to fruition… right?
Sarah was old at this time and was past her childbearing years. As a result we get Ishmael. God points out that he’s the son of the flesh, NOT the promised son. Regardless, God cares for Hagar and Ishmael and sends them on their way.
In order to bring forth this promise, God miraculously enables Sarah, Abraham’s wife, to bear a child. Even at her old age, God brings life to something that the Bible calls “dead”, her womb. The promise came through God bringing life out of death.
God will overcome death, to bring forth His promise. Abram’s job, was to trust God, and stop trying to manipulate the process.
Allow me to put it more simply…
Genesis 15 tells us that it was Abram’s faith (belief and trust) in God that was credited to him as righteousness.
Galatians 3 affirms that and tells us that it’s through faith that we are adopted by God and into His promises. Not through being physical descendants of Abraham. Ishmael was a physical descendant just as Isaac was. In fact, Ishmael was born first (therefore technically having a birthright inheritance). However, the heir of this promise wasn’t just any descendant.
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
Jesus is the true heir of this promise, Abraham’s faith was the model, and the promise still stands, but it’s not through an act of the flesh (Ishmael) that the promise comes to fruition. It’s by an act of God (Sarah > Isaac).
We are saved by grace through faith.
No amount of effort could bring Sarah’s womb back to life. At best, all Abram would be able to produce without God’s intervention is Ishmael. Anything else would require an act of grace by God. Faith (trust in God) and obedience (Abram sleeping with his WIFE) God uses to carry out His promises.
The passage that I don’t hear people acknowledge is in Genesis 26:
4 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
The faith is what leads us to TRUE obedience. Not trying to make God’s promises happen on our own, but as a response to God BECAUSE of faith.
Galatians 4 continues to reinforce this.
Without faith we are no more inheritors than Ishmael. Even rightful heirs do not get their inheritance while still children. As children, they have the same status (when it comes to receiving an inheritance) as a servant– no inheritance– YET.
Furthermore, the law is a guardian. Galatians 4 connects the Law of Moses (received at Mt. Sinai) to serve, guard and teach until the inheritance arrives.
Now follow closely. Here’s the picture God is painting.
God pulled Israel out of slavery (representing the world and sin), through the blood and death of an unblemished lamb (representing Jesus, the “lamb of God”). Moses (representing the Law) lead them through the wilderness and showed them how to be God’s people, and was the guardian as they learned to trust Him. However, Moses could not bring them INTO the Promised Land.
THAT job was reserved for Joshua. Whose name is actually the same as Yeshua (Jesus).
IN the Land, the Law is not void. It’s the Law they are to follow while IN the land! It just did not provide entry!
The New Covenant as described in Jeremiah 31 has nothing to do with the Law being bad.
The Law does its job! However, God knows it’s by the Spirit writing the law on our hearts that we are transformed. Once again, an act of God enabling His promises to come to full fruition.
Hebrews 8 even talks about the logic behind this new covenant.
Verse 8 spells it out for you:
8 For finding fault with them, He says, [continues by quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34]
The issue with the covenant was one of the 2 parties involved (God and Israel).
The issue was Israel’s unfaithfulness. Not the law. The law in itself cannot transform you, nor was it designed to. Just like good wedding vows don’t make for a good spouse.
Also see Ezekiel 36:26-28
This brings us to Matthew 5:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
OUR righteousness (“good works”) are as filthy rags, as Paul states in Romans. It’s God’s righteousness, being credited (grace) to us by a faith like Abraham’s. The law is still good.
Jeremiah 31 tells us THIS is how good it is:
33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
We learn God’s law, and submit to God’s work on our hearts, to KNOW HIM.
Jesus says in John 14, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Of course, after having shared all these things with you, there will be lots of questions that still arise. I get it.
This is why we’re not done! See below.
Blog Posts you should read next:
- How to Follow God (recommended next reading)
- Torah Observance Q&A
Useful External Links:
- Everday Torah: Real Series (YouTube)
- 119 Ministries (YouTube)
- Torah Resource Learning Center (Website)