Me, wear what?

We are all familiar with Yahshua’s words in Matthew 5: 17 – 20, saying: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill (or make it more binding). (18) For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. (19) Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Nevertheless, most of us are also aware that many in Churchianity teach that the Law, which they usually refer to as the 10 Commandments, has been abolished by their savior. However, when you question them, asking questions like: Is it OK to murder another human being? Or, is it OK if someone steals your expensive car? It is then when you find out that it is only the fourth commandment – the one about the Sabbath that they say is abolished. The Catholic Church altered their version of the Ten Commandments to exclude the second commandment. They still have ten but split the tenth Commandment into two separate Commandments to accomplish this bit of forgery, also allowing them to portray an image of their savior on a wooden cross in all their churches.

This church did exactly what Daniel prophesied would happen from before Messiah’s first coming, right up to the time of His return, in Daniel 7: 23 – 27, saying: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms (in that it will be both a civil and religious kingdom), and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it (meaning subdue and rule it by force). (24) As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. (25) And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times (of worship services) and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (26) But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. (27) Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ This is talking about the Roman Empire which existed since Messiah’s time in various resurrections throughout the past two thousand years, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Another commandment ignored by Churchianity, because of misunderstanding, is the third commandment. This is the commandment about the Name of the Eternal Father. We know that the Name of YHVH is very important to Him, but will be more so when we will need to call on Him, during the soon coming Great Tribulation, as witnessed in Joel 2: 32, in this way: “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of YHVH will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as YHVH has said, even among the survivors whom YHVH calls.” Jews and Christians both agree that the Name of YHVH should not be used in vain, but their explanations for not using the Name are completely opposite. Jews maintain that the Name of the Eternal (YHVH) is too Set-apart to be vocalized, whilst Christianity teaches that it does not matter what you call the Creator – because He knows your heart anyway. The truth however is that; firstly the Torah of YHVH was never abolished and secondly, Scriptures explicitly says in Isaiah 52: 6, “Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’” However, we need to be careful where and how we use the Set-apart name of the Eternal in order not to be guilty of blasphemy. We should only use it during prayer and worship services and not in our everyday conversation, thereby teaching unbelievers to blaspheme it the way they do the title G-d. In addition we need to make sure that we are obedient to Elohim’s commandments when we do, such as keeping the Feast Days of Elohim at the times He ordained through the Levites among the house of Judah, where we are suitably warned as in Malachi 2: 1 - 8. Yahshua’s words in Matthew 5 which we quoted at the beginning, was what He taught at the very onset of His ministry, to show that Torah will remain forever - it will be the basis of rulership during the Millennium and on into eternity. This is also why Rav Shaul wrote in the first part of Romans 7 verse 14, saying: ‘For we know that the Law is spiritual’ and why we came to understand from 1 Corinthians 15, that ultimately only the spiritual will survive. According to Revelation 20: 14, in the end, even death and Hades (the grave) will be thrown into the lake of fire to be destroyed. If the Torah then, being spiritual will remain into eternity, we need to pay much more attention to it. Once, we have been called out of the religions of the world and started following the way of Elohim, it is incumbent upon each one of us to studying and applying Torah, to the way we live our lives, as Rav Yaa’cov tells us in James 1: 23 – 25, saying: ‘For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in the mirror; (24) for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. (25) But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty (meaning Torah), and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.’ Yes, we need to study Torah with a view to see where we fall short and start doing the things we are not doing yet. We need to get away from the idea taught by Churchianity, that we may pick and choose which Torah commands we believe are applicable to us and which are not.

Ours is not a smorgasbord religion, where we may pick and choose what we like, and leave the rest up to our Jewish Brothers. Nazarene Judaism, the faith which both Nazarene Jews and Israelites espouse, is completely Jewish, except for the fact that we also believe in Yahshua as the Messiah. It is for this very reason that we read from Numbers 15: 15, that there is one Torah, applicable to all who follow the way of Elohim, in this way: ‘As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before YHVH.’ To a Jewish person, the word Torah means the ‘teachings of Elohim’ or the ‘word of YHVH’. We know that of the 613 laws in the Tanach, not every one of these laws applies to each and every one of us. There are laws that apply to farmers – for example; do not sow two different kinds of seed together. Also, do not plow with two different types of animals, such as an ox and a donkey at the same time; certain laws apply to Judges and others apply specifically to ladies. However, the laws that apply to each one of us are for example the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20; the clean and unclean meat laws in Leviticus 11; the laws regarding the weekly and annual Sabbaths in Leviticus 23; circumcision for men; the laws against incest; and the laws against eating fat or blood. Most of us believe that that is it – there cannot be more commandments applicable to us. However, there are many other commands which we have not mentioned yet, which also apply to us, especially those of us who claim to be part of the commonwealth of Israel by quoting Ephesians 2: 11 – 16, as follows: Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Un-circumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands – (12) remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise (given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), having no hope and without Elohim in the world. (13) But now in Messiah Yahshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. (14) For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and former Gentiles) into one (Israel), and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, (15) by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, (16) and might reconcile them both in one body to Elohim through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity (not Torah).’ Also we who for the same reason quote Galatians 6: 16: ‘And those who will walk by this rule,[1] peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of Elohim.’ If we are part of Israel, then we need to keep the Laws applicable to all Israel.

To commence with, let’ reflect on Elohim’s teaching concerning the wearing of tassels or fringes (known as ‘tzitzit’ in Hebrew). We read about this in Numbers 15: 37 – 40, as follows: ‘YHVH also spoke to Moses, saying, (38) “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. (39) And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of YHVH, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, (40) in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be Set-apart to your Elohim.”’ These tassels are to be worn to remind us to do all the commandments of YHVH and that they are Set-apart to Him. A second witness to this command may be read in Deuteronomy 22: 12, as follows: “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.” But, we who come from Churchianity have been taught that we do things differently; we were taught that we are spiritual and should not hang onto these physical reminders. Yes, it is true – we should be spiritual and have faith in Yahshua. His sacrifice should be sufficient to atone for our past sins. However, what about our present and future sins? In addition, how spiritual are we really? To determine how spiritual you really are, take the well-known pin prick test. Simply take a pin and prick yourself with it and if you feel pain, you are definitely not spiritual yet. Also realize that being “Spiritual” does not give us a license to continue to break our Father’s Commandments. Unless YHVH gives us a clear cut command, negating His spoken words in Torah or changing them in some way, we are taking an enormous risk, if we declare such laws done away with, as witnessed in Deuteronomy 4: 2, in this way: “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHVH your Elohim which I command you.” We should also remember that when YHVH calls us out of the religions of the world, He wants us to completely forget the falsehood we were taught, which were mere counterfeits of the faith once delivered to the original disciples.

The problem is that the house of Israel consisting of the lost ten tribes, were scattered into the nations of the world, for not heeding the commandments given in Deuteronomy 12: 28 – 32, as follows: ‘Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, in order that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of YHVH your Elohim. (29) When YHVH your Elohim cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, (30) beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?” (31) You shall not behave thus toward YHVH your Elohim, for every abominable act which YHVH hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (32) Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.’ The time has come for us to consider the word of Elohim very carefully, to see what we may be misunderstanding. For example, we who keep the Feast Days of YHVH, like to quote Zechariah 14: 16 - 19[2], to show that because people will be ‘forced’ to keep these Feast Days of YHVH during the millennium, we should also keep them during this age. In Ezekiel 44 we read another Scriptural witness about a time when Yahshua will sit as a Prince before YHVH (verses 2 and 3); we also see that part of the priestly attire at that time will be turbans or caps (in verse 18). Churchianity teaches that when you appear before YHVH or a public figure, such as the queen or the president of a country, you must remove your head covering, as a sign of respect. Yet, when YHVH spoke to Moses in the wilderness, He told Moses to remove his sandals, as the ground on which he was standing was Holy. He did not tell Moses to remove his head covering, but his sandals. This event happened before the first Passover, which always occurs in early spring in the northern hemisphere - in other words it was during winter in the wilderness. Most of the middle eastern dwellers of that time (as well as of today) wear some sort of a head covering, be it a turban or a hat. I am therefore certain that Moses also wore a head covering to protect his head from the wind and the midday sun. We also see from Exodus 29: 9 that Aaron and his sons were commanded to wear caps or head coverings.

We see further from 1 Peter 2: 5 – 9 that those of us who correctly understand Yahshua to be the Rock of our Salvation, the foundation stone on which the congregation of Elohim is built, we similarly to what YHVH wanted ancient Israel to become, become a royal priesthood. Do we who claim to become priests under Messiah, during the Millennium, refuse to wear head coverings today? In fact we see in both 1 Peter 2: 8 & 9 (and Revelation 1: 6) that because we do not stumble over Yahshua, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE” we “…are (already) A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR ELOHIM’S OWN POSSESION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” If we are already priests, should we not already wear head coverings and proclaim the Superiority of Him who called us out of darkness (this world) into the light of His Gospel (or the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim)? If priests will have to be circumcised physically and in the heart, during the millennium, as stated in Ezekiel 44: 6 - 9[3], are those of us who are not yet circumcised, going to refuse to have it done during this life time? We read from Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 about some more commandments we from the lost ten tribes have forgotten to obey, as follows: “Hear, O Israel! YHVH is our Elohim YHVH is one! (5) And you shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; (7) and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (8) And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. (9) And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Do we teach the Sh’ma to our children? If not, why not? Is it perhaps because we believe that with the birth of the Messiah this is no longer true, since those who believe in a twinity allege that He is a second, but lesser YHVH? We know that this cannot be true, since when asked by one of the scribes ‘What command is the foremost of all?’ in Mark 12: 28, Yahshua answered in verses 29 & 30, saying: “The foremost is, ’HEAR, O ISRAEL! YHVH OUR ELOHIM IS ONE YHVH; (30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE YHVH YOUR ELOHIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’” In addition He said in John 10: 30, “I and the Father are one.” Notice carefully that Yahshua who according to Matthew 1: 21 is the salvation of YHVH, since His death atoned for both houses of Israel and He did not say He is a second lessor YHVH. Also notice, that this is in total agreement with what YHVH Himself said in Isaiah 43: 10 & 11, as follows: “You are My witnesses, ”declares YHVH, “and My servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no Elohim formed, and there will be none after Me. (11) I, even I, am YHVH; and there is no savior besides Me.” The questions we from the lost ten tribes of Israel, need to answer, are: Do we bind the Sh’ma on our hands and on our foreheads (using tefillin)? Do we put mezuzahs on the entry points to our homes?

The commandment of tefillin can only be fulfilled from after dawn till sunset, and not on the Sabbath or a Set-apart Day. It is also only mandatory for men. Right handed individuals place the arm tefillin on their left arm. A left handed individual puts it on his right arm. The box of the arm tefillin should be placed on the middle point of one’s bicep pointing inward towards the heart. It should be about two finger-breaths from the inner side of the elbow joint. After putting on the arm tefillin, prior to wrapping it, pray, saying: “Bless You YHVH Our Elohim, King of the Universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin.” There is no required number of times one should wind the strap around one’s arm, but it must be able to reach the middle finger, wrap around it 3 times, and be tied. Once one finished tying the arm tefillin in place, the head tefillin are placed on one’s head. If an interruption that was unrelated to putting on tefillin was made between putting on the arm and head tefillin, one repeats the blessing previously said. The box of the head tefillin should be positioned between the eyes on the hair just above the hair line. The knot of the head tefillin straps should be placed in the middle of the back of the head at the highest point on the neck right where the skull begins. The straps of the head tefillin should be long enough to encircle the head and descend down to one’s naval or slightly above it. The straps that descend down from the head tefillin can be tucked in between one’s vest and shirt to prevent the straps from causing distraction when bowing. When removing one’s tefillin, one should first remove the head tefillin and then the arm tefillin. The arm tefillin should not be placed below the head tefillin when placing it in a container. Apart from the benefit of focused prayers, the lesson of tefillin is very important, as it teaches the believer that he must dedicate both his heart and his mind in service to YHVH. The message of tefillin is that the heart is the source of our passions or desires, whereas the mind is the source of our intellect. Human nature tempts us to give free reign to our passions and then to create intellectual justifications for succumbing to them. This is why the law requires us to don the arm tefillin before the head tefillin. The box on the arm lies opposite to the heart, teaching us to channel our passions to YHVH and only then may we dedicate our intellect to Him. The purpose for putting on tefillin is to draw near to YHVH in prayer.

The Mezuzah is to remind us that we ought to keep the Torah every time when we enter our homes. It also tells outsiders that the residents are Torah observant, believing in YHVH the one and only true Elohim. The mezuzah is more than a small box with a scroll with verses written from the Torah inside and attached to the doorpost of your home. Hidden deep within this 'chuk' is a key to help us as Israel to remember YHVH the Elohim of Israel, our enslavement to Egypt, and the Creators Torah for us to implement and follow. The mezuzah helps us to see what others cannot – the reality of the Divine. It is unfortunate that the significance of this commandment has not been taught or studied by Nazarene Israel. It is not enough to affix one to the doorpost of your house, but we should also be aware of its significance. It might not protect us physically, but it does have spiritual benefits. It is a mitzvah that has assisted the house of Judah to endure throughout the ages. A mezuzah is a parchment scroll in a case, written in Hebrew containing three Torah sections; namely Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 (quoted before), Deuteronomy 11: 13 – 21[4] and Numbers 15: 37 - 41[5]. The mezuzah is affixed on the right-hand side of the door as you enter. It is positioned on an angle, with the top of the mezuzah pointing toward the inside of the room. An additional reason for affixing a mezuzah to the door posts of the house can be found in one of the laws of the Sabbath. The gates of a house separate the private domain from the public domain. On the Sabbath it is forbidden to carry an object from one domain to another. The Kabbalists associates the domain of one with the Singular Master of the Universe. The public domain is the domain of many and represents the domain of evil – the multiplicity of the physical world that hides the underlying unity of Creation.

During the first six days of the week, we must deal with the world, trying to refine and repair it, but on the Sabbath we must abstain from all creative work to observe the set-apartness of the day. Creation exists in three dimensions; time, space and soul or life. The primary task of an Israelite is to reveal the hidden set-apartness in each of these dimensions. Elohim sanctified the seventh day, a point of set-apartness in time. He sanctified the Promised Land for ever increasing set-apartness in space. He set us apart by giving us life (a soul containing the spirit in man) to increase our set-apartness by making decisions conforming to His will and way for all Israel. The mezuzah combines the set-apartness of all three dimensions. It is affixed to the doorposts of our homes and as the threshold marks the shift from one domain to another, it symbolizes motion. The Hebrew root for mezuzah (zuz) means to move. Motion is the essence of time. The words ‘shanah’ (meaning year) and ‘shniyah’ (meaning second) come from the word ‘shinui’ (meaning change). All these words signify change or motion. Therefore, the mezuzah marks set-apartness in time. Torah requires that a mezuzah be affixed to a permanent structure. The essence of space, as opposed to time is immobility. The stillness of the mezuzah connects it to the concept of space and it brings set-apartness to the concept of space. The mezuzah protects the souls (lives) of all Israel, and is associated with the concept of soul (the way we live our lives), in the context of the text written on the mezuzah scroll, i.e. ‘You shall love your Elohim with …all your soul.’ So we see that the mezuzah unifies and sets apart the three dimensions of time, space and soul. The concept of the mezuzah unifying time, space and soul is ultimately expressed in the last verse inscribed on the mezuzah itself, namely ‘that your (soul or life) days (time) and the days (time) of your children may be prolonged upon the land (space) which YHVH swore to give to your fathers for as long (time) as the heavens (space) are above the earth.’ Elohim gave His people signs of their special relationship. Whereas the Sabbath is a sign in time, the mezuzah is a sign in space, and circumcision is a sign on the level of the soul. Orthodox Rabbis believe that circumcision uncovers the promise YHVH made with Abraham and his offspring through Isaac and Jacob. Now that all the pieces of the puzzle is fit together, we understand that in the dimension of time, one is not allowed to carry an object from one domain to another on a Sabbath, as it violates the set-apartness, the lines of separation of the day. In the dimension of space, the mezuzah stands to separate the domain of one from many, and this separation should not be violated by bringing ideas, customs and moral values of the people (goyim) into the home. Just as the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time and the soul is a miniature sanctuary in the dimension of the soul, in that our lives should reflect the spirit indwelling us, the mezuzah makes a home as a miniature Temple in the dimension of space. I firmly believe that it is because of these physical reminders to obey Elohim’s commandments, such as wearing tzitzit to remind us not to turn aside from Elohim and follow other religions, described as committing spiritual adultery, that the house of Judah remained loyal to Elohim for 3,500 years and why the house of Israel went astray.

Finally we understand the purpose for wearing tassels given in Numbers 15: 39 & 40, to be: ‘for you to look at and remember all the commandments of YHVH, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your Elohim.’ Are we going to show our love to our Father by our works; by wearing tassels and head coverings, by affixing mezuzahs to the doorpost of our homes and by donning tefillin on our arms and foreheads? Are those who are not circumcised yet, going to make the necessary arrangements to have it done? Or is ours a smorgasbord religion, where we may select which commandments we want to obey and which not? It is time we realize that Messiah’s great purpose was to bring a remnant of the lost ten tribes back to the faith into which He was born. Are you and I prepared to follow Him all the way? We know that Messiah was circumcised; He wore tzitzit and will wear a head covering upon His return as our High priest and King of the Universe, as also shown in Zechariah’s vision of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3; in verse 3 he sees Joshua clothed in filthy garments standing before the Angel. This is a reference to Yahshua, who according to Galatians 3: 13 has redeemed us from the curse of the law: ‘having become a curse for us – for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.”’ Yahshua became unclean with our sins and was cursed on our behalf. Yahshua was standing before the Father as the first of the first-fruits, to be accepted on the day that He was cut off as the lamb of Elohim who takes away the sins of the world, as well as the waive sheaf offering, as witnessed in Leviticus 23: 12 & 13 and Daniel 9: 27.

We see from Zechariah 3: 4, how He was accepted before the Father where we read in the second part of the verse: “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” In verse 5, a clean turban is put on His head and He is clothed with clean garments, while the angel was standing by. In verse 8 we read a reference about ‘the Branch’ that we know refers to Yahshua, but also read about His friends who were sitting before Him. This is talking about Yahshua’s disciples (including us His modern day disciples), whom He called His friends in John 15: 14 & 15, saying: ‘You are My friends, if you do what I command you. (15) No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.’ Zechariah 6: 11 again talks about Joshua the high priest and in verses 12 & 13 about ‘the Branch’ who will build the Temple of YHVH and will have two offices, namely, that of King and High Priest. We know that kings wear crowns and according to Exodus 29: 9, a High Priest wears a cap. So yes, Yahshua our King and High Priest is pictured in Zechariah as wearing a turban and will certainly wear some sort of a head covering during His rulership as our King and High Priest during the millennium, as He is shown wearing a golden crown in a vision to Yochanan in Revelation 14: 14. Are we prepared to follow His example? Think about it!

[1] The rule given in Romans 9: 6 & 7 ‘But it is not as though the word of Elohim has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”’ We like Isaac are children of promise (see Galatians 4: 28).

[2] Zech. 14: 16 – 19: ‘Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which YHVH smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.’

[3] Ezekiel 44: 6 - 9: ‘“And you shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says YHVH Elohim, “Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.” Thus says YHVH Elohim, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.’

[4] Deuteronomy 11: 13 – 21: “And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love YHVH your Elohim and to serve Him with all your heart (belief system) and all your soul (the way you live your life), that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. And He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you shall eat and be satisfied. Beware, lest your hearts be deceived and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them. Or the anger of YHVH will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which YHVH is giving you, You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which YHVH swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.”

[5] Numbers 15: 37 – 41: “YHVH also spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of YHVH so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your Elohim; I am YHVH your Elohim.’”