435 Does Torah conceal truth of Messiah

Does Torah conceal the truth of Messiah?

When reading from 2 Corinthians 3: 14, many in Churchianity interpret this verse to say that those who study Torah are not able to understand the truths taught by Yahshua the Messiah. As we’ve learned in previous teachings where Churchianity readily assume that Rav Shaul was doing away with obedience to Torah, he never discussed Torah in its entirety, but addressed specific portions from Torah in his teaching letters to the different congregations and teachers in the Renewed Covenant. In Galatians 3 for example he discussed the sacrificial law in respect of sin, which Yahshua came to replace when He became the Passover Lamb and died to save the first-born again Israelites (from both houses) from (the second) death, but also for the sin of the rest of mankind when every knee who have not bowed during this age, shall bow before Him after the second resurrection. In the last three verses of Galatians 3 and in Galatians 4, Rav Shaul addresses the law of inheritance (discussed in Leviticus 25: 25 – 28). In a similar way in Romans 7 Rav Shaul is talking about the law of marriage and divorce (discussed in Deuteronomy 24) and the command not to covet your neighbors wife (discussed in Exodus 20: 17). So contrary to what Churchianity teach, Rav Shaul never taught against Torah, but as Rav Kepha showed in 2 Peter 3: 14 – 16, their false teachers (the untaught and unstable) distort all Rav Shaul’s teachings, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

We also know that Rav Shaul never abolished the law setting-apart the meat to be eaten by believers in the Renewed Covenant, one example being in 1 Timothy 4: 4, where I was once castigated by a prominent Christian leader for teaching believers in Messiah that they cannot eat any meat, whether it comes from a clean or so-called unclean animal, since they believe that everything created by Elohim is not to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude. This leader of many, obviously did not read the very next verse which is really part and partial of verse 4, since in most English translations of the Scriptures, it is separated from or rather connected to verse 5 by a semi-colon, and should therefore also be read as part of the previous statement, as follows: ‘For everything created by Elohim is good (or has a purpose – the pig for example is a walking garbage can on land, as much as the crayfish is in the sea, collecting all the waste products man and nature abandons as garbage), and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; (5) for it is sanctified by means of the word of Elohim (meaning the Scriptures or the living word of Elohim, Yahshua) and prayer.’ Now perhaps if a believer reads only verse 4, like this Christian leader did when he questioned me, he or she might be similarly misled to believe that a believer in Messiah are free to eat whatever he/she wishes to, as long as they receive it with thanksgiving. But, any true believer, when reading the rest of the sentence in verse 5, will understand that he/she may only eat what is sanctified, an English word meaning to set-apart, will ask the question: what is set-apart for human consumption by Elohim in His word. The answer is obviously to be found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, but especially in verses 45 to 47 of Leviticus 11, as follows: ‘For I am YHVH, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim; thus you shall be holy for I am holy. (46) This is the law regarding the animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth, (47) to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.’ At this point many from Churchianity will invariably bring up the argument that now that Messiah has come, His followers are no longer under the Law, but under grace.

The question is: how did Messiah’s disciples understand the grace which we as believers in Messiah have or are now under. Rav Kepha gives us the answer in 1 Peter 1: 10 – 16, saying: ‘As to this salvation (meaning Yahshua Messiah, the salvation of YHVH), the prophets who prophesied of the grace[1] that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, (11) seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow. (12) It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Set-apart Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look. (13) Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Yahshua Messiah. (14) As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, (15) but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; (16) because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”’ In mentioning the grace which we from the lost ten tribes received through Abraham’s one seed, namely Yahshua, exactly as YHVH promised Abraham, he adds that now that we have received that grace, we are in exactly the same position as our Jewish Brothers who remained obedient to Elohim’s Torah, ever since Ezra and Nehemiah returned to the Promised land to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, as well as the Temple, 70 years after they were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Those who insist that their faith in Yahshua freed them from obeying Torah need to recall Messiah’s own words in John 5: 43 – 47: “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another (teacher) shall come in his own name, you will receive him. (44) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only Elohim? (45) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. (46) For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. (47) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” Many will immediately interject, saying that Yahshua spoke specifically to the Jews of His day here, and not to believers in Him. I agree with them, but verses 47 clearly tells us that if we do not believe in the Torah written in the main by Moses, we cannot believe in Yahshua, as He also showed His disciples when He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, after His impalement, burial and resurrection in Luke 24: 44 & 45, as follows: ‘Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (45) Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.’ So those who insist that believe in Messiah exonerates one from obeying Torah, is simply wrong. Rav Kepha is saying in 1 Peter 1: 16 quoted above, that as a result of being saved from our past sins by the grace of Elohim, we are now to live in conformance with His Torah, and as we’ve seen from verse 45 of Leviticus 11, we should now be holy as YHVH is holy – which entails obedience to all the Torah commands applicable to each one of us as individual believers, but also Elohim’s kosher food laws for those set-apart by Him for holy use.

Now let’s address the question we raised at the beginning, which is yet another section of the Scriptures discussed by Rav Shaul and misinterpreted by Churchianity. When Churchianity reads and explains 2 Corinthians 3: 14, they immediately assume that this is another instance where Rav Shaul demonstrates that Torah is not applicable to believers in Messiah any longer, or when they study Torah it immediately conceals the gospel message of Messiah. Since chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians contains the key word ‘veil’ in reference to something being done away with, we need to consider carefully what Rav Shaul was trying to get across to the Corinthian believers in his discussion. To provide some background, it must be understood that as a representative of the congregation of Messiah, Rav Shaul taught the full (not ‘most’ with larger portions being done away with) counsel of the word of Elohim from the Torah and the prophets as witnessed in Acts 20: 27[2] and Acts 28: 23[3]. In fact Rav Shaul confirmed this to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3: 14 – 17, saying: ‘You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; (15) and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yahshua. (16) All Scripture is inspired by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) that the man of Elohim may be adequate, equipped for every good work.’ At the time Rav Shaul wrote this letter to Timothy, the collection of writings that Churchianity refers to as the ‘New Testament’ did not exist. We notice in his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3: 15 – 17 Rav Shaul told Timothy that mankind is complete (meaning perfected or whole) with the Torah and the Prophets, and furnished adequately for every good work. It is for this reason that whenever Rav Shaul or anyone else teaches us, we should search the Scriptures like the Jewish brethren in Berea did, to see if what he says is indeed contained in the Scriptures (as per Acts 17: 11[4]). Rav Shaul always quoted from the Tanach in his Letters to the different congregations. One should also remember the admonition of the Prophet Isaiah, that if one does not speak according to the Torah, there is no light (understanding) in him (as per Isaiah 8: 20). So let’s address one of the final assumptions by Churchianity to suggest that Rav Shaul was trying to do away with Torah and/or that it conceals the truth of Messiah.

To begin with, this section is not talking about Judah as Christianity falsely assume, since they fully understand Torah and believe in YHVH, but has to do with the blindness of the house of Israel before YHVH opens our minds to understanding Torah. Reading from 2 Corinthians 3: 1 – 6, we see that Rav Shaul (and in fact his fellow teachers) are speaking as ‘servants’ or ‘ministers of a ‘new’ covenant as in ‘refreshed’, the renewed covenant spoken about by Moses and the Prophets, not ‘new’ as in respect of age. We need to understand that the first ‘renewal’ of the eternal covenant can be seen in Exodus 34. It will be noticed that this Torah text is used by Rav Shaul in speaking of the ‘renewed covenant’ in 2 Corinthians 3. Also notice that the eternal covenant (or Torah) of YHVH is not changed in any way or done away with at this renewal. Speaking concerning the covenant renewed (by Moses once again at Horeb for the children of Israel who survived, after their parents died in the wilderness, wandering around for forty years) and the heart, the passage more familiar to most would be Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34 when YHVH will renew the covenant with the remnant of returnees from the lost ten tribes, as well as the house of Judah, at Messiah’s return. At that time He will write the Torah on the hearts and minds of the remnant of the house of Israel, so that they will obey Him, like the Torah observant remnant of the house of Judah did for the past 2500 years. Going to a corresponding passage where we can see the words used by Rav Shaul are taken directly from Jeremiah 31, let’s consider Ezekiel 36: 26 & 27, as follows: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. This is busy happening at this time with those who have been called out of the churches of the world, but will only be finalized when Messiah returns one day. Rav Shaul used these two verses in his discussion in 2 Corinthians 3: 3. The heart of stone that will not accept the Torah of YHVH (as per Zechariah 7: 12[5]) is replaced with a heart of flesh into which YHVH will place His Spirit, causing the recipient to walk in all the statutes and keep all the ordinances.

Be mindful that Rav Shaul told us in Romans 7: 14 that Torah is Spirit. So is the Torah obedient Spirit that YHVH places within the hearts of flesh. In fact Rav Shaul also repeated these teachings from the Tanach in saying the ordinances of Torah are fulfilled in those who are led by the Spirit in Romans 8: 5[6]. The vague pagan concept of ‘spirit’ presented by Churchianity cannot even be spoken about here. So far from the above discussion, it becomes clear that the ideas presented by Churchianity do not agree with the passages quoted from the Tanach, since they insist that they do not keep the law, but are led by the spirit alone. What spirit is this that does not obey Torah? From the passages mentioned we see that the Spirit of YHVH brings about obedience to His Torah. Also remember that the same Spirit is placed upon His anointed one, the Messiah, and is also given to those who obey Elohim as confirmed in Acts 5: 32, in this way: “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Set-apart Spirit, whom Elohim has given to those who obey Him.” Recall that Rav Shaul told us in verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 3, that it was the Spirit Messiah placed on hearts of flesh, that makes us adequate as servants of a new covenant in verse 6, as follows: ‘who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. We’ve seen from the Scriptures quoted from the Renewed Covenant (Romans 7: 14), but also from the Tanach (Nehemiah 9: 20[7] and Haggai 2: 5[8]) that Torah is Spirit. Most of us are aware that if we have the Spirit of YHVH indwelling us, we will be resurrected as Messiah was resurrected (as per Romans 8: 11), meaning that the Spirit in us gives us eternal life. This is confirmed in Ezekiel 18: 21, in this way: “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” This is also what Yahshua told the Pharisee who asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life, in Matthew 19 : 17, saying: “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Now that we have determined that Torah is Spirit that leads to eternal life, and that it is given upon the fulfilment of the word of YHVH or Torah, we understand that the living word is indeed eternal life. But, what about the converse discussed in 2 Corinthians 3: 6, namely that ‘the letter kills.’ Let’s consider again what is written in Jeremiah 31: 31 – 33 bearing in mind that 2 Corinthians 3: 6 talks about ‘servants of a new covenant’. Jeremiah 31: 31 – 33 is also mentioned in Hebrews 8: 7 – 12. Notice in Jeremiah 31: 32 that the renewal of Elohim’s covenant will not be according to that made when Israel came out of Egypt, ‘which they broke’, but this time Torah will be placed in their hearts (as opposed to two tablets of stone and their documentation) ‘and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.’ Hebrews 8: 7 & 8 clearly shows that the fault was with the people, not with the covenant. It was because the people of the house of Israel did not continue with Elohim’s covenant, that He regarded them not (verse 9). But where YHVH speaks about the covenant renewal in Ezekiel 36: 26 & 27 (quoted earlier), the recipients will again walk in Elohim’s statutes and keep His ordinances and do them. In Deuteronomy 30: 19 YHVH clearly said: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” This is saying that the wages of lawlessness or sin[9] is death. We read further from Romans 8: 5 & 6: ‘For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.’ In 2 Corinthians 3: 7 – 11 Rav Shaul proclaims great joy of the giving of the Spirit, pointing out in verse 9 that ‘condemnation’ is unto the disobedient. Rav Shaul points out that the administration of righteousness exceeds in glory. But, we need to understand from what we’ve discussed so far, that righteousness is obeying Torah. Therefore the giving of the Spirit is life because of obedience to Torah or righteousness. Even so, the world’s largest religious system does not think of righteousness as obedience to Torah. However, we have seen that both the Torah and the Renewed Covenant equate obedience to the law as righteousness.

Now we get to the cause of the problem with the incorrect interpretation of the section under discussion. We read from the second part of 2 Corinthians 3: 13, ‘that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away.’ What in the text under discussion is ‘fading away’? We return to the second part of verse 7 for the answer, as follows: ‘so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was.’ So we see that it was not Torah that was fading away, but the glory or glow of Moses’ face that was fading away. Continuing in verse 14, we read: “But their minds were hardened….” We also read from Hebrews 3: 8 – 19, that the Israelites did not obey and hardened their hearts, and as a result did not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief. They were disobedient and as we continue in 2 Corinthians 3: 14, we see that; ‘for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains.’ This means that we have the same situation today, as they had then. What is that situation and why the veil? Verse 14 clearly shows that it is because their minds were hardened. In 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 11 and specifically in verse 11 Rav Shaul stated that Torah was specifically written for those of us upon whom the ends of the age have come! So we who have again discovered our Israelite identity should learn from the mistakes of ancient Israel, not to make the same mistakes. However, continuing in verse 14 of 2 Corinthians 3, we read, ‘the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Messiah.’ The object of this sentence is the ‘veil’ and we see here that it can be removed. But, can this be proven? Certainly, verses 16 & 17 repeats this as a second witness, saying: ‘but whenever a man turns to YHVH (the NASB reads the Lord), the veil is taken away. (17) Now YHVH is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of YHVH is, there is liberty.’ But, how can we change the fading away in verse 14 from Messiah, to YHVH in verses 16 & 17? We read the answer given by Yahshua Himself in John 4: 24, saying: “Elohim is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (meaning the word of Elohim or the Tanach as Yahshua also said in John 17: 17).” Yes, Yahshua is YHVH in the flesh, but as He himself indicated in John 4, the usage of the phrase ‘the Lord’ in this instance is talking about YHVH Elohim the Father, who is Spirit and cannot be seen. The point is Yahshua the Messiah’s first advent was to bring the lost sheep of the house of Israel back to the covenant that we made with YHVH together with the house of Judah at Mount Sinai; similar to the way Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt.

In verses 12 – 13 of 2 Corinthians 3 Rav Shaul speak of boldness, not like when the children of Israel could not look upon the face of Moses. Then he says it was because of their hardness and disobedience that they could not look. We’ve seen in the first part of 2 Corinthians 3 the Spirit of YHVH brings obedience. We need to remember that the children of Israel accepted the covenant and its instructions in Exodus 19, when they were eager to obey, even before hearing the terms of the covenant! At that time they had a heart to obey and were not afraid, even after the glory of YHVH appeared as a devouring fire before their eyes in Exodus in Exodus 24: 16 & 17. However in Exodus 34: 30 the people were afraid of a lesser glory of only the face of Moses shining. What is the difference between the two events? The first time they had a heart to obey, but the second time, when the veil was used for even a lesser glory, was after a hardening of heart and disobedience. So when the hearts of the children of Israel where turned to YHVH for saving them out of Egypt, there was no veil. The veil came only after the hardening of their hearts and disobedience. However, we see from 2 Corinthians 3: 16 & 17, that whenever a man turns and becomes obedient to YHVH (when he answers Elohim’s call to come out of the false religions of the world), the veil is taken away and he will understand the Renewed Covenant in the light of Torah. Remember the Spirit of YHVH means obedience to His teachings, as is also witnessed by David in Psalm 119: 45, saying: ‘I will walk at liberty for I seek Thy precepts.’ The Spirit of YHVH, which they had received earlier, was not among them any longer, after they had fallen into transgression and gone back into bondage of sin, they lost the freedom contained in the perfect law or Torah. The problem with ancient Israel was that they did not obey Torah, and as a result did not have the Spirit of YHVH, and all of them, except for Joshua and Caleb died in the wilderness. They did not have the freedom contained in the Torah, as Rav Yaa’cov also explained in James 1: 25: ‘But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.’ As a side light: The transliterated Hebrew word ‘cheiruth’ meaning freedom is written the same in Hebrew as the transliterated Hebrew word ‘charuth’ meaning engraved. This is perhaps why a Hebrew speaker will immediately recognize that the engraved tablets of stone containing the commandments also ensured freedom.

Let’s look at what Rav Shaul is using to explain this. He is evidently talking about Exodus 34: 29 – 35, and especially from verse 34, where we read: ‘But whenever Moses went in before YHVH to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded.’ Also notice when Moses proclaimed the Torah that the veil was removed. The point is that Moses in this case was a type of Messiah. We see in Exodus 34: 30, that when the children of Israel beheld the face of Moses shining after coming from YHVH, they were afraid. In 2 Corinthians 3: 15 Rav Shaul wrote ‘to this day’, showing that nothing has changed, because Israelites who believe they are nothing but Gentile Christians, still have a veil over their hearts, whenever the Torah that Moses wrote, is read. We read next from 2 Corinthians 3: 18, ‘But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of YHVH, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from YHVH, the Spirit.’ As seen from James 1: 25 we are to look into the perfect law (Torah) of liberty as looking into a mirror (as explained in James 1: 19) and learn to examine ourselves. Verses 23 – 25 of James 1, tells us that we should examine ourselves to ensure that we remain obedient to the perfect law. In the last part of verse 21 of James 1 we read about ‘the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.’ The truth is that we have to be obedient ‘doers’ of the word to have the Spirit of YHVH indwelling us, as confirmed in both Romans 2: 13 and Jeremiah 11: 6, respectively, as follows:

‘For not the hearers of the Law are just before Elohim, but the doers of the Law will be justified.’
‘And YHVH said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.’

When we obey Torah we have liberty, meaning freedom from slavery to Satan and sin. Rav Shaul tells us further in 2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 18: ‘Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (15) Or what harmony has Messiah with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (16) Or what agreement has the temple of Elohim with idols? For we are the temple of the living Elohim; just as Elohim said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR ELOHIM, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (17) Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE (meaning set-apart to YHVH), says YHVH. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; and I will welcome you. (18) And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says YHVH Almighty.’

As much as Yahshua our Messiah came specifically to bring us from the lost ten tribes back to YHVH and His covenant, so He also taught Rav Shaul what to do to further Messiah’s main purpose when He spoke to him whilst he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the believers in Messiah, as witnessed in Acts 26: 12 - 18 in this way: ‘While thus engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, (13) at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. (14) And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ (15) And I said, ‘Who art Thou Master? And the Master said, ‘I am Yahshua whom you are persecuting. (16) But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; (17) delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, (18) to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to Elohim, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ From this it is clear that Torah does not conceal the truth of Messiah, nor did Yahshua instruct Rav Shaul to teach this falsehood even now believed by most in Churchianity. If we from the lost ten tribes of Israel obey Torah, YHVH will give us His set-apart Spirit to discover the real Messiah, as Yahshua confirmed in John 5: 47, saying that if you do not belief the Torah written by Moses, you cannot believe in Him. Think about it!

[1] The grace that we from the lost ten tribes received since Messiah did away with the curse of the law given in Deuteronomy 28: 16 – 68, which we earned for rejecting and not living by Torah in the past (as witnessed in Galatians 3: 14), but which we like any Torah obedient Jew or Israelite will again reap if we continue to break Elohim’s commandments after repentance and immersion in Yahshua’s saving name, including His food laws given in Leviticus 11. Galatians 3: 24, tells us that the Sacrificial Law has become a tutor to show us that whenever we sinned, there had to be shedding of blood to pay for the penalty of our sins – so instead of the blood of goats and bulls, Messiah became the sacrifice to Passover our past sins.

[2] Acts 20: 27, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of Elohim.”

[3] Acts 28: 23, ‘And when they had set a day for him (Rav Shaul), they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of Elohim, and trying to persuade them concerning Yahshua, from both the Law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.’

[4] Acts 17: 11, ‘Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.’

[5] Zechariah 7: 12, “And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which YHVH of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from YHVH of hosts.”

[6] Romans 8: 5, ‘For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.’

[7] Nehemiah 9: 20, “And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them, Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth.”

[8] Haggai 2: 5, ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’

[9] 1 John 3: 4, ‘Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.’