The Perfect Law of Love: Repairing the Breach

By L. Lynn Derrick

"This is not for the faint of heart, nor for Christians who want to be entertained. This is for hungry Bible students seeking vast, deep answers to a vast, deep subject""the all-important subject of Love. This book could and should be the standalone text for an 8 credit hour college course, mandatory for every accredited Bible student. And, it is a must for every layman who wants to understand the most important teachings of the Bible on a serious level." - Jesse Steele, Moody Bible Institute Alum This book is offered to help you love the Lord with your whole heart and to better know your Creator. It is intended to help clarify some lingering misunderstandings that trace back far into biblical history. The book deals with the righteousness and holiness of God as seen in His laws, but from a New Covenant perspective: love. Showing the distinction between the dispensational Law of Moses and the eternal and unchanging Law of God, the book focuses on love, as love is the focus of both the Law of God and the Law of Moses (Rom. 13:8). It's all about loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself, even loving your enemy. With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. These matters have the greatest bearing on our future reward in the heavenly kingdom and upon the power of our ministry today. With a clearer view of this line in the Bible, it is our prayer that we will all stand more confidently as we await and hasten the return of our Lord. Seek first his kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. The book also covers emerging research regarding the 364-day calendar of the books of 1st Enoch and Jubilees, and how to manage it in a 365-day context. I think you will enjoy studying this with us. Think about it, your Creator wants to have dates with you, on the dates that his feasts have been observed in the heavens since creation. As we journeyed through these things I was humbled to receive seven dreams from the Lord to help shepherd us through, which I document in the appendix. Several in our extended family have also been warned and encouraged in dreams. The arm of Yahweh is not short to also give you dreams and other works of the coming kingdom. But it all begins with desperate searching in his Word. Keep asking, and you will receive. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641915809

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The Perfect Law of Love

Repairing the Breach

L. Lynn Derrick

ISBN 978-1-64191-579-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64191-580-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2018 by L. Lynn Derrick

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Disclaimer

Preface

Honor System

Chapter I

Oneness

Friendship

Love

Marriage Covenant

Vows

Hymns

Relationship

Song of Songs

Family

The Model

Our Destiny

Commandments in the New Testament

Moses in Perspective

Recovery

Aleph

Chapter II

The Lens

Observing

Mining

Holding and Testing

Advocate for Righteousness

Outward and Inward

Scriptural Basis

Reasonableness

Hebrew Studies

Take This to Him

Fundamentals

Bet

Chapter III

Jurisprudence

Which Law, Paul? The Book of the Law

Paul Believed the Law

The Way

The Jerusalem Council

One Accord

Mixture and Timing

A Visual Aid

Gimel

Chapter IV

The Commandments

The Ten

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

The Perfect Law: Love

Know the One in You

The Perfect Law of Yahweh

Forbearance

Say a Prayer

Daleth

Chapter V

Two Books, Two Priesthoods

Mutuality

Infidelity

Mediation

A Witness against You

Imposition

To Increase Trespass

But the Covenant Was Inside

Ceremonial versus Moral

The Starting Point Defined

Confirming the Divide

Father Abraham

Abraham in Jubilees

Torah Means Instruction

Sample of Right Rulings

Sample of Levitical Right Rulings

He

Chapter VI

A Change to the Law

Access for the Gentiles

Where's Your Levitical Priest?

What Remains

Accounting the Law

Until John

The Sabbath Remains

The Sabbath of Yeshua

Jesus Broke the Sabbath of the Pharisees

Sabbath in the Book of Jubilees

No Change to Yahweh's Law

The New Covenant

Rightly Dividing Romans

Waw

Chapter VII

Food

Mark 7—in Saying This, He Made All Foods Clean

Acts 10—Peter's Vision of Unclean Animals

1 Timothy 4—Foods Sanctified by Prayer, and the Word of God

Zayin

Chapter VIII

Commandments of Men

The Tradition of the Elders

Tradition Gone Horribly Wrong

Do Whatever the Pharisees Tell You?

My House of Prayer

You Observe Days

Delegated Authority

Heth

Chapter IX

Apostasy: The Great Falling Away

As Predicted

The Tangent

Roman Church Fathers

Tertullian—a Classic Example

Athanasius

Constantine

De-leaven

Living out Messiah

Faithful Church Fathers

Patrick of Ireland

The Sabbatati

Polycarp

Polycrates

John

A Ministry of Righteousness

Teth

Chapter X

God's Economy

A Primary Emphasis

Fallen From or Falling Short?

Falling from Grace

Falling Short of Grace

Balance

Morning by Morning

Contend Lawfully

The Fruit of the Spirit

Yod

Chapter XI

Hebraic Practice, Part I

The Biblical Day

Appearance

Statutes That Were Not Good

The Star of David?

Kaph

Chapter XII

Hebraic Practice, Part II—the Calendar

The Feasts in the New Testament

A History of Disorder

Hasmonians

The Calendar of the Bible

New Year's Day

The Greeks

The Book of Jubilees

Equinox Validated

Greek Strategy

The Book of Enoch

Christ in Enoch

Calendar References

New Moon?

Hebrew University

Yahweh's Polemic

Weekdays in Qumran

The Witness in the Moon

The Result

Messiah's Season

Calendar Synopsis

Time to Reorder

LXX

Hymn by Katherine Davis

Lamed

Chapter XIII

The Pentecost Problem

Shavuot

Counting the Omer

The Pharisee Count

The Essene/Zadokite Count

The Sadducee Count

Comparison

Mem

Chapter XIV

Blessing and Cursing

Beast Nations in the Bible

Ezekiel 23—Yahweh's Perspective

Solomon—a Top Example

His Excellent Beginnings

His Tragic End

Rightly Divide

Nun

Chapter XV

Warnings

Hebrews

Jeremiah

Nehemiah—repairing the Breach

Peter

Paul

Reward and Punishment

Fatherly Discipline

Dispensational Reward

Separation

Summary

Reward in Psalms

A Hymn

Samekh

Chapter XVI

Arm Yourselves with Obedience

Having a Mind to Suffer

The Rechabites

Sisters and Brothers

By Abiding

By Enduring

Not Despising Prophecy

Great Judgements

Coming Glory - and - Deceiving Spirits

The Ways of Deceivers

The Way of Triumph

God's Part and Our Part

Ayin

Chapter XVII

Preparations

Clothed through Good Works

Prepare for a Transition

Think Win-Win

Reconsidering

The Order of Things

Applying It

By Eating

Full Reconciliation

Conclusion

Parting Scriptures

Pe

Appendices

Sadhe

1,050 New Testament Commandments

Seven Abstains. Abstain From:

Seven Things to Avoid:

Three Asks:

Two Things to Awake to:

Seventy-Four Be's:

Thirty Be Not's:

Fourteen Beware's:

Four Things to Believe:

One Thing Not to Believe:

Two Classes to Bless:

Three Things to Cast Out or Away:

Two Classes to Comfort:

Six Classes to Honor:

Five Things to Charge:

Five Things to Consider:

Three Things to Continue:

Two Things to Covet:

One Thing Not to Cast Away:

Two Things to Endure:

Who to Fear:

Three Things Not to Fear:

Five Things to Feed:

Four Things to Flee From:

Ten Do's:

Ten Do Not's:

Ten Things to Follow:

Seven Things about Giving:

Six Things to Lay Aside:

Seven Things to Keep:

Five Go's:

Seven Have's:

Fourteen Hold's:

One Hundred Let's:

Twelve Let Not's:

Forty-Two Let Us's:

Eight Let Us Not's:

Three Ways to Live:

Four Commands to Love:

Two Things Not to Love:

Three Ways to Love:

One Person to Pray To:

Three Things to Pray For:

Two Ways Not to Pray:

Three Ways to Pray:

Four Things to Prove:

Two Commands to Rejoice:

Eight Put Away's:

Six Put Off's:

Twelve Put On's:

One Class Not to Rebuke:

Three Things to Rebuke:

Two Ways to Rebuke:

Four Things to Rejoice In:

Five Things to Remember:

Four Things to Seek:

One Command to Stand Fast:

Three Things to Stand Fast With:

Five Things to Stand In:

Eight Things to Think On:

One Way to Think:

Five Commands to Submit:

Twelve Take's:

Eighteen Take Heed's:

Two Ways Not to Walk On:

Four Thou Shalt's:

Seven Things to Walk In:

Eight Thou Shalt Not's:

200 Miscellaneous Commands:

The Right Rulings and the Feasts of Yahweh

Exodus 21–24

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Feasts

Qoph

Resh

Dreams

First Dream: Repairing the Breach

Second Dream: The Old House at Sunset

Third Dream: Mining Costs

Fourth Dream: Underground on High Ground

Fifth Dream: The Substitute Teacher

The Timing

Sixth Dream: The Cauldron of Little Suns

Seventh Dream: The Ox Cart Revisited

Eighth Dream: The Bride in the Wilderness

Ninth Dream: The Up Side

Shin

Feast Calendar 2017-2044

Salvation

Discipleship

Education

Career

Developer

Geopolitics

Bible Study

Taw

Special thanks to

my dear wife and partner

on the journey,

and to many friends

for helping us out of some of these ditches

Translations

Scriptures predominately used are taken from the World English Bible, in the public domain. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Five or less verses not noted may be taken from the following translations:

21st Century King James Version (KJV21)

American Standard Version (ASV)

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

BRG Bible (BRG)

Common English Bible (CEB)

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Darby Translation (Darby)

Disciples' Literal New Testament (DLNT)

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

English Standard Version (ESV)

English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

Expanded Bible (EXB)

1599 Geneva bible (GNV)

God's Word Translation (GW)

Good News translation (GNT)

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

International Children's Bible (ICB)

International Standard Version (ISV)

J. B. Phillips New Testament (Philips)

Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB)

King James Version (KJV)

Authorized King James Version (AKJV)

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Living Bible (TLB)

The Message (MSG)

Modern English Version (MEV)

Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament (MOUNCE)

Names of God Bible (NOG)

New American (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New Century Version (NCV)

New English Translation (NET Bible)

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

New International Version (NIV)

New International Version—UK (NIVUK)

New Live Version (NLV)

New Living Translation (NLT)

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)

New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Recovery Version (RV)

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

The Voice (VOICE)

World English Bible (WEB)

Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

Unless otherwise specified, hymns used are taken from hymnal.net, in the public domain.

Disclaimer

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book are correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause

Preface

This book is a compilation of lifelong research by the author. It is offered to help you love the Lord with your whole heart and really get to know your Creator. It will also help clarify some misunderstandings that trace back far into biblical history and remain entrenched today. To help get to know this wonderful person, the crux of the book deals with the righteousness and holiness of God as seen in His laws—but from a New Testament perspective: love. Showing the distinction between the Law of Moses and the Law of God, the book focuses on love, as love is the focus of both the Law of God and the Law of Moses (Rom. 13:18). It is all about loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It's about a kind of love that even loves our enemy.

These matters have the greatest bearing on our future reward in the Kingdom and upon the power of our ministry today. With a clearer view of this line in the Bible, it is the hope and prayer that we all will stand more confidently and peacefully as we await the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Seek first His kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Our Savior said that the kingdom of God suffers violence, so expect that this type of book will be attacked, but know that it will also help equip you with some of the weapons and armor for God's kingdom. The righteousness of Yahweh is a great protection in battle, a fortified high tower where the righteous flee.

I taught fifth-grade Sunday school for many years, and I love that age-group. By that age, young people are making some core formative decisions regarding the Bible and the faith. Since coming into a deeper understanding of these things, I have explained them to a fifth grader in our own home fellowship. We have been pleasantly surprised to see that she has been able to explain them simply and clearly to her own friends, and that makes me so happy! At the same time, I do want the text to be able to withstand some academic rigor. So expect to see a balance between simple presentation, helpful stories and links, many scriptural references, and thoroughgoing research. Ultimately the book should lead you to green pastures and springs of waters of life. If it does not, I will have failed in my purpose.

One of the great surprises that dawned on me as I researched these things was the matter of the festivals in the Bible, particularly their schedule. I found that there is an eternal calendar of the greatest, most wonderful precision, and it is known only by a very few. Again, there is much history and much confusion surrounding the biblical calendar. But what I found has not only put my mind at ease, it has caused me to prostrate myself in humility before the awesome majesty of our Creator. The wonders he has put in place in the timepieces in the heavens are beyond a full description. But I think you will enjoy studying it with me, and hopefully observing. If we can unlock the biblical calendar, I think it even offers the hope of bridging some very old gaps between the Christian, Hebraic, and even Islamic faiths through the gospel. Think about it, your Creator wants to have dates with you. Don't be late!

Another surprise, both helpful and most humbling was that I have received a half dozen dreams from the Lord to help shepherd me through this process, and even several in our extended family have been warned and encouraged in dreams. This was new to all of us, sadly. I say sadly because this should not be rare in the life of a believer. From time to time we should have the most personal and almost audible or lucid leading from the Lord. If you have been taught to discount this, you will almost certainly not experience it. But if you begin to be delivered from that kind of teaching, you will find new experiences in the foretaste of the works of power of the coming kingdom, not just dreams but I tell you even miracles of healing and deliverance. The arm of Yahweh is not short to do these things through His Son and by the power of His Spirit. And it all begins with desperate searching in His Word. Keep asking, and you will receive. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you!

Honor System

I encourage you to share what you learn from this book. Use it freely to study and to teach others, and please critique it. But I do ask that if you find the book useful, please encourage others to buy their own copy. Please do not make copies of this book to give away. You may capture portions to include in other contexts, but if you would, please credit the source where possible. But again, please do not copy and give it away. One, this is right and proper. And two, this will ensure that future readers obtain the latest copy. I fully expect to continue to make corrections and revisions over time as the scriptures continue to open up to us. I hope you see yourself the same way. Our Heavenly Father is perfect, and His law is perfect (Ps. 19:7). But this book is not perfect. As we continue to learn, it will need to be updated. Thankfully in this modern age, we can easily do that.

Chapter I

Oneness

Heavenly Father,

We love You. We love You supremely, uniquely, and humbly. We pray as we begin this study together, give each of us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Give us discernment in Your Word. Draw us close to You to receive a word of love, and lead us in Your truth. Teach each of us directly. May this study increase the fellowship of love among your people.

Amen and amen.

Friendship

When God begins to call you, His first offer is that of friendship (Matt. 9:15, John 15:13–15). It is a great thing to be called a friend of God (James 2:23, 3 John 14), for He does not offer it casually. He is committed to the friendship with you, unequivocally. One cannot begin to imagine all the benefits of such a friendship.

To learn the principles of friendship, God has ordained that we experience friendship through the course of our lives. Those who have found and maintained lifelong friendships will testify to this blessing. And by learning human friendship, we come to value this friendship extended to us by God. Even if by some tragic turn of life you lose every friend you ever had, if you maintain your friendship with God, you know everything will be okay.

Much as we value friendship, to really get to know someone and remain lifelong friends is not that easy. Some of us are easier to get to know than others. But generally it requires a few basic factors to adequately know one another. Typically it requires conversations and spending time together in person. But frankly, it really requires at least some conflict, either with one another or at least getting to witness the other in handling conflict. You have to see the person in action, in situations. How does your friend conduct themselves with people of a higher or lower social status? Do they get along with people having a different point of view? How is their relationship with their parents and siblings? How do they handle themselves at work? Have they struggled to maintain friendships? All these factors contribute to a framework of trust and can form the bonds of friendship, especially if you share a common interest. You may not always agree with your friend, but at least you come to accept them for who they are, even if they are very different from you. If these factors are not present in enough degree, the bond of friendship fails to solidify. But with strong friendships, even opposites can help one another along life's journey.

Ecclesiastes 4

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn't have another to lift him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? 12 If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Proverbs 17:17a

A friend loves at all times

Proverbs 27:6, 17

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.

James 2

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.

Psalm 119

63 I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.

And in Song of Songs 5, our friendship with the Lord is part of that beautiful metaphor of the love relationship between us, shown by Solomon and Shulamite:

Song of Songs 5

16 His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

Love

In the matter of courtship, friendship progresses to love. This is because we are made in the image and likeness of God, and He made us for the very reason that He Himself did not wish to be alone. We know this because after he formed Adam, He said, It is not good for the man to be alone. This was a window into the very heart of God. Our God does not want to be alone. As I considered the message of this book, I reviewed just what had brought me to where I am today in my faith and what has been placed upon my heart to write. I began to realize that more than anything in my church background, the Lord had prepared me to be a lover. In my church, we were taught early on that the Bible is a romance. Consider this passage of scripture:

Jeremiah 2:2 (NKJV)

2 "Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:

"I remember you, The kindness of your youth,

The love of your betrothal,

When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.

And Isaiah 54

4 "Don't be afraid; for you will not be ashamed.

Don't be confounded; for you will not be disappointed.

For you will forget the shame of your youth;

and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.

5 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name.

The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer.

He will be called the God of the whole earth.

6 For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

even a wife of youth, when she is cast off," says your God.

7 "For a small moment have I forsaken you;

but with great mercies will I gather you.

8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment;

but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you," says Yahweh your Redeemer.

Marriage Covenant

God the Father viewed His early relationship with Israel as a courtship, and His covenant commandments can be viewed as His marriage proposal to a people. Yahweh opened His heart to Israel and did His very best to let her know His ways by speaking forth the righteous and holy commandments in Exodus 20 through 24. Yahweh had established the principle of Covenant relationship with Abraham. Now after leaving Egypt and passing through so many dealings, Israel willingly entered into a marriage covenant with Yahweh, saying, All that Yahweh has said we will do. They confirmed this with an exchange of vows, burnt offerings, and a meal, there in Exodus 24. The result was that the leaders in Israel were invited up the mountain and saw God, surrounded by a sapphire pavement.

But tragically, Israel so quickly became an unfaithful wife to Him. In their impatience and sinfulness, they had Aaron fashion a golden calf and called it their god.

This must have wounded the heart of God immeasurably, to the point where He was ready to start over with Moses and put a full end to the nation of Israel at that time. But with mediation from Moses, God in His mercy sent the marriage contract to mediation. There would now be a mediator between God and His wife. The mediator would be the Levitical priestly service of the Law of Moses to instruct Israel in how to be a faithful, loving, and submissive wife to Him. That brief sequence of events and its lasting impact even today is the focus of this book, because the New Testament perspective of this has been greatly misunderstood. We who have entered into covenant with our Creator still want to walk in a way that is pleasing to Him, following in the footsteps of our father Abraham. While the Law of Moses spanned only a dispensation of time, something remains of the righteous ways of God in His covenants of promise. We must understand the difference from the scriptures.

Vows

No one wants their marriage to be defined by legal consequences and remedial boundaries. Rather, a healthy marriage should be an abiding testimony to the vows of mutuality expressed from the beginning of the relationship. Communicating through your lawyer is no way to be married. It is one step ahead of divorce, and that did end up happening to Israel. Yahweh eventually divorced her (Jer. 3:8). Covenant fidelity is reflected in marriage vows. Here is an older, traditional form. The language is a little antiquated, but I think that adds to the timelessness of vows:

I take thee, John, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my betrothal.

The best vow of covenant always includes the intent to obey, especially if it is out of love. And even with failed marriages, trust can be recovered through repentance and consistent demonstration of fidelity, mutual understanding, and kind obedience.

Hymns

Let me give you a couple of songs from my tradition. The first one reflects this heart of faithful obedience seen in marriage vows.

By Lucy A. Bennett:

1 I am the Lord's! O joy beyond expression,

O sweet response to voice of love Divine;

Faith's joyous Yes to the assuring whisper,

Fear not! I have redeemed thee; thou art Mine.

2 I am the Lord's! It is the glad confession

Wherewith the Bride recalls the happy day,

When love's I will accepted Him forever,

The Lord's, to love, to honor and obey.

3 I am the Lord's! Yet teach me all it meaneth,

All it involves of love and loyalty,

Of holy service, absolute surrender,

And unreserved obedience unto Thee.

4 I am the Lord's! Yes; body, soul, and spirit,

O seal them irrecoverably Thine;

As Thou, Beloved, in Thy grace and fullness

Forever and forevermore art mine.

Here is another by Frederick William Faber:

1 O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord!

Forgive me if I say,

For very love, Thy sacred name

A thousand times a day.

Chorus

O Jesus, Lord, with me abide;

I rest in Thee, whate'er betide;

Thy gracious smile is my reward;

I love, I love Thee, Lord!

2 I love Thee so I know not how

My transports to control;

Thy love is like a burning fire

Within my very soul.

3 For Thou to me art all in all;

My honor and my wealth;

My heart's desire, my body's strength,

My soul's eternal health.

4 Burn, burn, O love, within my heart,

Burn fiercely night and day,

Till all the dross of earthly loves

Is burned, and burned away.

5 O light in darkness, joy in grief,

O heaven's life on earth;

Jesus, my love, my treasure, who

Can tell what Thou art worth?

6 What limit is there to this love?

Thy flight, where wilt Thou stay?

On, on! our Lord is sweeter far

Today than yesterday.

What an intimate relationship is expressed in that hymn. I found in my reading that it is an echo of Psalm 89:

I will sing forever of Yahweh's acts of loyal love.

From generation to generation

I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.

2 For I say, "Forever your loyal love is built up.

The heavens you have established with your faithfulness in them."

Here is another by Brother Howard Higashi, about the romance in the Bible:

1

The Bible is a romance

In the most holy sense:

God and His chosen people

In love it so presents.

This Universal Couple

Throughout it is displayed;

God in Christ is the Bridegroom,

His saints, the Bride, portrayed.

2

Through shadows, types and figures,

God's deepest thought is known;

As typified by Adam,

The Husband, Christ, is shown.

A rib brought forth from Adam

Reveals the source of life

By which God built a woman:

Eve, as the church, His wife.

3

To be His people's Husband,

To take them as His wife:

This is what our God desires

To live in marriage life.

Their sacrifice and worship

Alone could not content;

But with them to be married

Was God's foremost intent.

4

This romance is the finest

As seen in Song of Songs;

For her Beloved's kisses

His seeking lover longs.

Love's work in her produces

No person of her own,

But she becomes the City,

Her Person, Christ alone.

5

Christ is our coming Bridegroom;

We are the Church, His Bride,

Redeemed, regenerated,

The issue of His side,

In source, in life, in nature

And person fully one,

His counterpart forever,

The New Jerusalem.

We grew up singing dozens and dozens of songs like this. They are a real treasure. Here is a key hymn that the Lord would often bring to my mind in the past couple of years to cause my love for Him to mature:

1

He's the vine and we're the branches,

We should e'er abide in Him,

And let Him abide within us

As the flow of life within.

Chorus

In the vine, in the vine,

In the vine, in the vine,

We would know Thee, Lord,

more deeply,

E'er abiding in the vine.

2

As we hear His instant speaking,

He's the rich indwelling Word;

To abide we must be faithful

To the speaking that we've heard.

3

For 'tis here we know abiding

In the real and deepest way;

If we love our Lord completely,

We would do whate'er He'd say.

4

Then His love abides within us,

And in love abiding, we

Know the joy of life-communion,

Full and perfect harmony.

5

Oh, how precious this abiding,

Oh, how intimate and sweet;

As the fruit of life is added,

And our joy is made complete.

(Adapted from Silas Jonas Wail)

Of course, this song does appear to focus on the instant speaking, in the moment. As vital and precious as that is, in midlife here the Lord brought me back to consider the fundamentals of His speaking. You might say He and I have renewed our vows. God would never speak something in the moment, which contradicts his speaking in the Bible. God has given us a solid basis to know Him through His speaking, first of all in His loving commandments in the marriage covenant. If you begin to consider this hymn through that lens, it can really shine some light on the quality and fidelity of our relationship with Him.

If we love our Lord completely, we would do whatever He would say.

The soft, gentle question He has had in front of me during this time is, What about My commandments? What about the fourth one? This has become the recovered basis of His instant speaking to me, from the constant Word. These two can never be divorced.

Relationship

Over the years, if there is any one thing the Lord has taught me, it is that His relationship with me is a love relationship like that of a spouse in regard to His Son, or that of a father-son relationship in regard to the Father, depending on the lesson. Consequently He has used my marriage and my father-son relationships to teach me about love. We all learn many spiritual lessons from these human relationships.

For example, when you court your spouse, you experience a certain kind of love. In courtship you may spend hours together talking about anything and everything, agreeing on anything and everything. Yet as you move into marriage, you find out that your spouse has preferences, even expectations. Their preferences are usually different than many of your preferences. You learn sooner or later to acknowledge the other's preferences and to make allowances. If this will happen sooner or later, why not sooner? Well, it takes time. Your spouse may prefer the lights on in the evening, for instance. You may prefer to have the lights turned down. There are always new examples like this in our marriage.

Eventually you realize, it is just best to work through these types of things and find a happy solution. But why bother? It is because of love. If you really love each other, you will work it out. Conversely, if you consider it of little importance to work these things out, love grows cold. Love is much sweeter when you acknowledge the little things that make your spouse happy. I have been brought to my knees by my wife's ability to exceed me in this regard. She loves me by remembering what makes me happy and what makes me upset. I sometimes feel like I am scrambling to try to make up the gap.

Really it comes down to the golden rule, and by the way, your Savior is providing you guidance there from the Law:

Matthew 7:12

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

If you would like for your spouse to respect your wishes, it really helps if you respect theirs first. Don't wait for them to respect you first. And if you can do that without expecting something in return, you have learned the highest form of love. You have learned what Paul calls forbearance. If you are the one in the relationship expecting the other to conform more to your wishes, please do not take this word as an excuse to keep your expectations arbitrarily high, expecting forbearance from the other. People have their limits, no matter how godly, no matter how apparently selfless. You will stand and give account for this primary relationship, so please do your part to lower any unreasonable expectations. This is the top way to live out Christ.

Song of Songs

The spousal relationship is best seen in the Bible in the Song of Solomon. The love relationship between Solomon and Shulamite is a metaphor for the love between Yeshua and His bride, the holy people. We have been espoused to Him so that we might one day be presented to Him as a chaste virgin (2 Cor. 11:2) at the Wedding Feast. Today we are learning fidelity in preparation for that day when we are to be married to Him. The Bible consistently affirms that God is jealous for this union:

2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. (2 Cor. 11:2)

Here is the poetic utterance from Song of Solomon 7:

6 Set me as a seal on your heart,

as a seal on your arm;

for love is strong as death.

Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

a very flame of Yahweh.

7 Many waters can't quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,

he would be utterly scorned.

Notice how it uses the name of Yahweh. You can really sense the jealousy of love here. And yet this same book also confirms that He wants it to be mutual, not coerced:

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,

that you not stir up, nor awaken love,

until it so desires. (Song of Sol. 3:5)

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

that you not stir up, nor awaken love,

until it so desires. (Song of Sol. 8:4)

Given that the Bible repeats this matter, it must be important. He wants our obedience, but he wants it to come from the love within us, not just from external sources. This is not to say that we shouldn't encourage one another to love the Lord, because we should (Heb. 10:25). This book is encouraging you to love Him to the uttermost. But when we see how attractive He is, we cannot help but love Him. Conversely whenever we try to walk properly without having seen Him personally, we go astray. We must continually look away to Him (Heb. 12:2), beholding and reflecting His glory with unveiled face (2 Cor. 3:16). What we want to see in this book is what it means to love Him, according to Him.

Family

As a son, I also learned about relationship from my interaction with my father. I went through the difficult teen years where I saw all the downside of his parenting, and this was complicated by his alcohol addiction during those years. But as he began to work on recovering from his addiction, I found that I wanted to reconcile with him, and I began to value things he had said and done in raising me. I realized that the man I had become was a result of wanting to make my dad happy, to live up to his expectations. Thankfully he had said a lot of things to me over the years to make it pretty clear what made him happy, and what did not. And thankfully, the Lord granted me the grace and growth to persevere, even though I know I disappointed him many times. Now that I have two grown sons, I have had a chance to see it from both sides, and I have a fuller appreciation for how our Heavenly Father's heart must ache sometimes for the sins that He has endured, longing for the maturing of His sons and for the full preparation of the Bride for His Son.

When I consider how far Christianity has fallen from the model of obedience to the commandments of Yahweh, I am comforted by this principle of father-son relationship. I now have one grown son who has joined us in learning to walk in the Way, but at the time of writing, my other son is not choosing to walk in this way, for now. It grieves me, but I still love the guy, and I even really admire him. But there are many things he is both choosing and ignoring that I believe to be, shall we say, fraught with peril. He is taking great risks by separating from Yahweh and Yeshua. But I still love him. And Abba has shown me that while I must continue to try to guide him where possible, I must also still care for him, regardless of his choices. I believe this can show us something about Yahweh's view of His children. Some of His sons are making their best attempt to serve Him, while walking in what we might describe now as basically lawlessness. Not completely lawless, but the lawlessness of neglect (Matt. 23:23, Luke 11:42). Vast numbers of believers have been taught that obeying the commandments of God is the Old Testament and should not be practiced. This is in direct violation of Matthew 5:17–19, and other scriptures we cover thoroughly in this book. Yet we cannot deny that we see God caring for them and even providing for them. Don't we all hope to have this kind of mercy from God, having His patient care while we learn obedience? Please be patient with your brothers, respecting their ministries and service, for as Paul says, such were some of you, and none of us have arrived.

Nevertheless, the scriptures clearly and repeatedly utilize the father-son relationship to instruct us in this crucial aspect of loving obedience – namely, respect. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). Here is a sample from Malachi 1:6:

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name.

The Model

Human relationships teach us a lot about the love relationship we have entered into with the Father and His Son. Jesus offers us the opportunity to be part of this father-son relationship in John 15:

8 In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

In our church tradition with respect to this passage, we focused our attention on obeying the inner voice of Messiah each day in practical and spiritual matters. It was explained to us that the way Messiah obeyed His Father was by listening to the Father's instant speaking in every situation, modeling the closest communion. This is wonderful, and it is the basis of our ongoing relationship with God.

Proverbs 25:12

As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

I was taught that this listening ear would obey the Father's speaking in practical ways such as the following: brush your teeth, make your bed, do not quarrel with your spouse, don't go shopping for pleasure, dress in an uplifted way, stop at the stop sign, share your faith, serve, attend meetings on time, etc. These are wonderful practical examples. But the Lord has called my attention to the text; there is something much more fundamental to what Jesus said:

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments.

This is the model. Messiah did model obedience in personal ways such as by folding his grave clothes (John 20:7), but what the verse says in John 15 above is that He modeled obedience by His keeping of God's commandments as a condition of remaining in the Father's love. If we believe Jesus to be the standard model, this should be the biggest part of the model that we are to follow. This is foundational.

Our Destiny

You can see this matter of relationship in our Father's heart and in our future, prophesied in Isaiah 62:

62 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,

until her righteousness shines out like the dawn,

and her salvation like a burning lamp.

2 The nations will see your righteousness,

and all kings your glory,

and you will be called by a new name,

which Yahweh's mouth will name.

3 You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh's hand,

and a royal diadem in your God's hand.

4 You will not be called Forsaken anymore;

nor will your land be called Desolate any more:

but you will be called Hephzibah, [meaning I delight in her]

and your land Beulah; [meaning married]

for Yahweh delights in you,

and your land will be married.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin,

so your sons will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

For the sake of this, my relationship with God, the question I began to ponder was this: As the Bride of Christ, does the New Testament consistently confirm our love-duty of keeping of God's commandments? Or is the Law truly nailed to the cross of Christ? It is my earnest hope to open up something to you that I believe will help you make sense of this, from scripture.

Commandments in the New Testament

Here is what the New Testament has to say to help frame the answer. When you just compile the list and read through it, it is more straightforward than you might have thought. Does the New Testament tell us to keep the commandments? Let's let it speak for itself:

Matthew 5:17–19

Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall obey and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 19:17, 25

He said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.… With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 22:35–40

One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Yeshua said to him, ‘You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' The whole law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

Matthew 5:43–44

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you.

Luke 1:6

They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

John 14:21, 31

One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."… but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

John 15:10

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Romans 13:9

For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (cf. Lev. 19:17)

1 Corinthians 7:19

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God is what matters.

1 Timothy 6:11a, 13–14, 17–18

But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness… I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession, that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ… Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works.

2 Peter 2:20–21

For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

1 John 2:1–5

My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. One who says, I know him, and doesn't keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn't in him. But whoever keeps his word, God's love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: 6 he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

1 John 3:21–24

Beloved, if our hearts don't condemn us, we have boldness toward God; and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

1 John 5:3

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.

2 John 1:6

This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

Revelation 12:17

The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 14:12

Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 22:14 (KJV)

Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.

It looks simple, and with the proper lens, it really is. But if you know the Bible, you will point out that there are also commandments to stone people in situations such as breaking the Levitical Sabbath, adultery, etc. How do we reconcile what we are still to obey and what we are no longer to obey? If we love Him, we will want to be very careful in this matter, and properly obey. We do not wish to fall short in obedience, neither do we wish to expect too much in obedience in others or in ourselves. The last thing we want to hear when we stand before Him in the judgment is, Depart from me you workers of lawlessness (Matt. 7:23). And though one may be worthy of a most severe consequence, neither do we wish to resume nor justify the stoning consequence for disobedience. Our Savior is merciful in judgment. This book will provide a simple way to sort this out.

Throughout church history teachers have been tempted to oversimplify the New Testament teaching by saying that the Son's commandments are basically a simplification, or even a replacement of the Father's commandments. While there is undoubtedly a progression with the Son, it is more of a development of the same theme, love. The Son's commandments are the Father's commandments, and this is proven in the source material of the Torah in Deuteronomy 18:

13 You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God. 14 For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do. 15 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again Yahweh my God's voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.

17 Yahweh said to me, "They have well said that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. 19 It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

So ask yourself, what was it that Israel refused to hear at Mt. Horeb? It was the loving commandments of Yahweh. Ironically, Yahweh kindly affirms Israel by saying they spoke well there. It was almost like he was admitting that it was hard for Israel to hear him. But right away he also affirms that he will one day raise up a prophet like Moses, in reference to his own Son. Israel will listen to him, listening to the very same words of Yahweh which he would put in his Son. As the Son said, he could only speak what the Father gave him to speak. May we follow this pattern.

Moses in Perspective

Before we go further, one thing must be clear here at the beginning, based upon the feedback from early reviews:

This book will not tell you to be under the Law of Moses.

No. Quite the contrary, rest assured this book will actually show why believers are not under the Law of Moses. But it will also show from scripture that there is a seed within the believer that loves to keep the covenant commandments of God by the virtue of the divine birth, through faith, and out of love for the one who spoke them (1 John 3:9). This is the fruit of our new birth, not the prerequisite. It is in the genes of every genuine child of God. The question becomes, which commandments? What is the difference between covenant commandments and the Law of Moses? There is a difference, a clear one. As you read patiently through the development here, the complicated history behind this question should become much more understandable.

But this book will encourage you to hear the writings of Moses. While the Law of Moses will be shown to have a more narrow scope, the writings of Moses are broader, covering Genesis through Deuteronomy. For now, just consider this word from our Savior:

John 5

45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; there is one who accuses you: Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote concerning Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

Yeshua uses a classification He calls the writings of Moses. He could have easily used the phrase the Law of Moses there, and He did in other places. To know the righteousness of God that was manifested in Jesus Christ in His life and sacrifice, you absolutely must know the writings of Moses. Yet we must distinguish between the writings of Moses and the Law of Moses, the Law. The short phrase the Law sounds all-encompassing, but actually it is used very specifically in the New Testament. This is the crux of the confusion.

Some of you may have a visceral reaction to the generic term the Law, and understandably so. It can convey a sense of overwhelming obligation if not properly understood. As a helpful illustration to begin to understand this generic term, the Law, consider how many types of secular law there are—criminal law, civil law, tort/contract law, maritime law, military law, sharia law, even natural laws. The definition of the term depends on the context and jurisdiction. This is where we get the legal term jurisprudence.

This term jurisprudence should govern how we understand the generic term the Law. A chapter will be devoted to jurisprudence to help simplify the distinction between the Law of Moses and the Law of the Lord. These phrases from the Bible sound synonymous, but the Word of God has seen fit to make a distinction. Therefore, they should be distinguished.

Frankly, the scriptures do portray the Law as a heavy obligation with Peter's response concerning the Gentiles and the Law of Moses:

Acts 15

10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.

But the scriptures also say that the commandments of God are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). Why the apparent contradiction? That is what this book is about. Once you make it through, you should find solid ground and relief from this apparent contradiction. The proper understanding of the place of the Law should bring you into freedom, not condemnation (Rom. 8:2).

The scope of our obligation under Law has confused believers for two thousand years, because the apostles John, James, Peter, and Paul—and even Jesus himself—addressed it frequently. Through primary research, standing upon the shoulders of those who have gone before, what is compiled here is a very simple framework for understanding the term the Law, in its various aspects. In the end we will know it is not about obligation. It is about love. It is about faithfulness. It is about relationship. But let's be clear: it is truly about obedience.

Recovery

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church slowly and systematically repressed or twisted most of the core truths of the Bible, as she increasingly had to justify her external authority, which was neither echoed nor supported in scripture. In my church, there was always a strong emphasis on the recovery of lost truths. Twice a year for thirty years, we would enroll in a