A Vessel Unto Honour

Did you ever realize that the apostle named Paul was actually directly quoting a prophet from the Old Testament when he said “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

With that in mind, now we have to cross examine the context of what Paul was quoting, bearing in mind that Paul was a Pharisee, he was trained to know the scriptures like the backside of his hand. He was born and raised fully immersed in the Torah, an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin. He was born and raised to pursue and practice righteousness as defined by the Word of God. The Torah was in him as he pursued righteousness when he was following the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah.

My point is this:

Paul was quoting Joel 2:32

…And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call…

What was going on here?? A lot. Prior to the book of the prophet Joel is the book written by the prophet Amos. It is thought that Amos was written in the 750s BC time period, and Joel is thought to be written in the 400-700s BC time period. Amos was written first. God spoke through Amos prophesying dark destruction because the people of God (the children of Israel) had performed multiple, ongoing, exceedingly grievous sins before God. Amos recounts numerous groups of people who were deeply entrenched in their sin and sums up how they had turned away from their LORD’s ways. Their judgement was upon them to the degree that “for three transgressions and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof…” They had performed such grievous things that God had to follow His words of promise of judgment. They crossed a severe line and were blind to their iniquity. Their hearts were so hardened that they were basically black hearts of stone. Read Amos to see some of the horrific things that they did. It is heart wrenching to imagine these things literally happened. God’s commandments were meant to have His people be amazing and the most hospitable, warm hearted and blessed people on the earth. They were supposed to be attractive and make the people of the other nations want what they had so they would join Israel like Ruth did. God’s people went way off track from following God’s calling on His chosen people.

I bring up Amos to point out that the darkness and destruction and desolation prophesied of is fulfilled in the time that Joel is writing his prophecy. Joel is literally living in the time that Amos is foretelling of. You will see. Read Amos, then read Joel and you will see that one definitely is preparing you for the other.

Joel is living in the time of judgment and God is speaking through him about a way back for His people… a way back from their sins, a calling for them to cry out to the LORD, to “Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD. Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”

The LORD calls His people to “repentance, with fasting, and weeping, rending your heart, turn unto the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of evil.”

Can you see the connection to what Paul is saying to the church in Rome? Many of the people in the early church were Israelites (Jews are only one of the twelve tribes of Israel), so these born-again believers already knew the Law and the Prophets. Paul knew that any of the Gentile new-comers would have their born-again Israelite brethren to explain the depths of scripture behind what Paul was saying. Paul’s letters are full of quotes from the Old Testament, which all point to the Old Testament context to what he is talking about in his letters to the churches. Paul did not need to say “Hey you guys, read the prophet Joel before reading my letter so that you understand that I am talking about repenting in the way that the God of Israel means when He was talking to our people through His prophets.”

So with that understanding, when we reread the letter Paul wrote to the Romans, we find that Paul’s message can be understood on a deeper level:

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved… for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

The ignorance is because they had not heard or received Jesus’s teachings which actually explain the heart of God’s law and commandments. In Matthew 5 Jesus clearly explains that it’s not enough to not commit adultery. The heart of adultery is the real issue. Lusting after someone else silently in your heart causes separation between you and God because your heart is not in a state of holiness when you’re thinking lustful thoughts.

Can you see how what Paul said would have to be true if they knew the Law, but didn’t know Jesus’s teachings. The children of Israel would have no idea about why God’s commandments were what they were, so they would just arbitrarily come up with their own interpretation of what God’s word was saying and teach that interpretation to others, thereby justifying their silent sins in their ignorance.

Jesus is the most vital part of the Law of Moses. Without Jesus’s teachings, the Law of Moses is hard to be understood and practiced.

Can you see how Paul, after coming to know Jesus as THE Lord, would suddenly have a completely different, but deeper understanding of the Torah?

Jesus said “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

One of the commandments that I found I was breaking is that I was thinking that Jesus “did away with the Law.” I was literally breaking the literal commandment of Jesus by thinking that way. How? Jesus is recorded by Matthew in Chapter 5:17 saying “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 unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter in the kingdom of heaven.”

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Jesus fulfilled prophecies and He fulfilled the Spirit and truth of the Law by walking in the Law of Moses perfectly by walking in complete submission to His Father’s commandments and He did it with a perfect heart toward’s the Holy One of Israel. Jesus did not “complete the needfulness of the Law of Moses.” Saying that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, so now we don’t have to keep the Law is a lie straight from the pits of Sheol.

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. I am alive on the earth this very day, which tells me that the earth has not yet passed away. “All being fulfilled” is referring to all the prophecies that John the writer of Revelations foretells of. Those things have not happened yet, so all has not yet been fulfilled. Just the prophecies that foretold of Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection, and Jesus finished everything that He had come to do in that earthly lifetime. Those have been fulfilled, but not the end time’s prophecies.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Keeping Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, and people who claim to be followers of the Son of God Almighty teach that keeping Sabbath is no longer necessary. They are taking a great risk in teaching such a thing. Jesus Himself literally commanded us to “think not that I am come to destroy the Law… think not... Think not that I am come to destroy the Law.”

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter in the kingdom of heaven. Teachers of lawlessness actually go so far as to teach that keeping Sunday is honoring Jesus, instead of keeping Sabbath, because they claim Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. But the scriptures say that it was early in the morning on the first day of the week when they went to find His body and He was already out of His grave. It’s more likely that He actually rose on the third day, at the same hour He had passed away, which means it’s more likely He was risen on the Sabbath day, before evening. Early Sunday morning He was found already risen, His grave clothes were folded neatly and He was already gone from the tomb.

Jesus also said, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” We are called to become LIKE Him. We can’t become like Him unless we do the things that He, and we must discipline ourselves to do them with the same heart for God as He had. He teaches us His heart. He teaches us about how our hearts can be bad ground, and how to recognize when our thoughts are wicked so that we can cast our wicked thoughts and imaginations onto Him so that He can cleanse our thoughts and so we can become, over time, like Him, all the way from the depth of our heart.

Jesus kept Sabbath on the seventh day of the week and was found doing the work of the Father all the time. When Jesus performed miracles on the Sabbath, He wasn’t feeding His belly with the healings He did. He was giving all the glory to His Father, the Holy One of Israel, and doing things that only God could do; He wasn’t profaning the Sabbath… He was doing Holy things on the holiest day of the week. Even the Levites, as long as there was a Temple, were commanded to do the work of the Holy One of Israel on the Sabbath days, and the children of Israel also did the work of the Father when they would circumcise their male children on the 8th day. Doing the work of the Father was never profaning the Law. The Pharisees had no response to Jesus when He reminded them that the priests worked in the temple on the Sabbath days and are blameless (Matthew 12:5). They were being hypocrites by saying that Jesus was profaning Sabbath while giving allowance to others who weren’t threatening to their authority.

Jesus never said “After I rise again, keep the first day of the week in honour of Me.” Never. None of the Old Testament Prophets ever said “Once Messiah comes, our Law will be done away with.” Never.

Jesus fulfilled prophesies. He did not do-away with the Law. The Law gives life.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life.” The Law is the way (it is a practical application of how to live God’s way), the Truth is God’s Word (Jesus said in an audible prayer to God, the Father, in John 17:17 Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.) To follow the word of God is the path to life.

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures evermore.

Walking according to the Law of Moses is the only way to walk in righteousness, and the only way to become holy. That’s not my opinion, that’s what God’s Word says if you read the whole book and keep all of it in context.

1John 3:4 tells us what sin is:

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

If we truly are following the Jesus who is the Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Israel and Moses, then we are trying to do the things that He actually did, with the same heart that He had as He was doing them… If we are not doing those things that He literally did with His time here on earth, then we are following a Jesus formed in our own imagination. Don’t allow yourself to be one of those people that Jesus is referring to when He said “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Jesus’s Father is God Almighty, and in Malachi, God makes the statement “I change not” and God went to a great effort to educate everyone that following His Law brings life and blessings and that not following His Law brings curses and perishing.

Remember, multiple times in the Old Testament and again in Revelations: The exact layout of heaven is revealed to us and it matches what God had Moses build in that earthly tabernacle. IF the God of Abraham had Moses build a tabernacle as an exact replica of the actual tabernacle in literal heaven, then why would we succumb to the idea that God has suddenly changed anything about His law or what defines holiness to Him? God clearly stated in Malachi 3:6 “…I am the LORD, I change not…”

Also, in the last several chapters of Ezekial, Ezekial is given a vision of the Kingdom of God. The real Holy Temple. While there, Ezekial is shown that the Levites continue to serve the Holy One of Israel in His Holy Temple even then.

There is no such thing as “That word is for them, and this word is for us.” (Non-jewish saved people think the Old Testament is only for the Jews, and Paul’s letters are for the non-Jewish believers in Jesus Christ). The book written by James says “Be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only, deceiving your own selves.” Don’t fall prey to self-deception. God’s word is ALL still relevant to anyone who wants to spend forever with the God of Israel. The whole bible is meant, in it’s entirety for literally anyone and everyone.

Isaiah 56:6-7 says “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to be His servants, everyone that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer…

If you believe in Jesus, calling on the name of the Lord to be saved means you have to recognize that the Word of God is ALL true, ALL relevant and that only God knows what is right, good and true.

The Set-Apart One gave us an instruction manual for how to live, how to become holy and how to prepare for eternity with Him. It’s unholy to not keep His commandments. Yes, it’s true that the temple has been destroyed, so no one can do the sacrifices and offerings at this time, but Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice, so that part of the Law can’t be practiced, but there are plenty of other laws that can absolutely still be practically performed. Like keeping Sabbath. Why rob yourself of the joy? Once you start keeping Shabbat, you will realize that you were missing out on true joy. I started keeping the Sabbath back in May, 2024, and it has become my most favorite day of the week! It was a learning curve learning how to do it right, it’s actually hard to not clean, not cook, not do the things I am used to doing, but doing what God wants me to do on the Sabbath really blesses me in ways that are so grounded, so practical and so good, that I can’t imagine even wanting to go back to living the way I used to live.

Paul says the Gentiles are to be grafted into the same olive tree. The children of Israel have the root. They were born being taught the Torah. We, the Gentiles, are the wild olive tree and we are to be grafted into the natural olive tree.

Paul was talking to the born again Israelites and Gentile believers when he said in his letter to the Philippians “That you stand fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” and “Fulfill you my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” He wasn’t talking to Baptists, or Catholics, or Pentecostals, or Presbyterians in isolation. Paul was talking to born-again believers in Jesus Christ, many of which, (thousands upon thousands according to the book of Acts), were Jewish born-again believers. We are to be of the same mind as our Jewish born again brethren. If we are not of the same mind as the Jewish born again believers, we better humble ourselves and sit down, and pray for wisdom and understanding. We probably have a blindness somewhere in our hearts, minds or our understanding. The deception that clouds our understanding when we think “That’s for them, but not for us” is very real, very strong and very thick and miry. It was a very great challenge for me coming out of my Baptist church. I believed in them sincerely, but I learned that I was sincerely wrong walking in that way.

There is only one way to get to the Forever Kingdom: God’s way, and His way is the path to Life: the Torah… and I love pursuing His way.

Don’t take my word for it. Search the scriptures. Call out to God, ask Him to show you what is true and what’s deception.

Search the scriptures to see!