What Do I Do?
originally posted 4/24/2014, updated 1/10/2020
What instructions from our Creator should I be following that I am not currently?
We will address this question assuming that it is coming from more of a traditional Christian mindset or background.
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Now that you have entered into the understanding that the whole Word of God is still true and applicable to all in the faith, then there are a few instructions that are not too common in mainstream Christian circles today that are a part of the Word of God.
Often, when one begins this journey they immediately search out to see what “the Jews do.” It is assumed that they have everything figured out and that they follow the Torah.
That assumption is both correct and not so correct. Many Jews claim that there are 613 commandments. When one really begins inspecting this rabbinical list and examining the Scripture provided for that list, a couple things are realized.
One, there are commandments that appear to repeat on the traditional list of 613 commandments. We are working on examining them all in our blog series The 613 Mitzvot.
And two, sometimes, even when looking at the Hebrew, it is very difficult to understand how they conclude something to be a commandment when the Scripture that is cited does not seem to support it.
So it seems there may not really be 613 commandments after all. Some of them seem to be more tradition which means there are actually fewer than 613. It very well may be that 613 commandments is a close estimate, but that is something you can test out for yourself and see what conclusions you arrive to, even as we are.
In addition, many of the commandments in the Torah require a temple and altar, but there is no temple or altar today. Some require being in the land, and yet we have not been restored to the land as of today. This does not mean these commandments are abolished or changed, they are simply waiting for the established criteria and conditions to present themselves in order to be followed again.
An Example
There are countless traffic laws in the United States. If all of the roads in the United States disappeared, it does not mean that the traffic laws disappeared too. The traffic laws are still written and exist. One cannot obey them however because there are no longer any roads. Now, if roads appeared the very next day, those traffic commandments could be observed again.
So, in this example, the traffic laws were not abolished, even though they could not be observed.
Their observation was dependent on the existence of roads.
This is true for many of God’s commandments as well.
Many of the commandments require a temple. There is no temple today. Those commandments are still in effect, but are unable to be kept and so we are waiting for the temple to exist again in order to obey them.
Things to Consider
Just like in the United States, there are laws you must observe if you are a homeowner, for example, property taxes. Or, there are laws if you are a farmer, for example, the safe application of fertilizer. If you are not a homeowner, or a farmer, those particular commandments of the United States do not apply to you. You can obey the whole law of the United States, even though it does not all apply specifically to you…but, the whole law of the United States applies to all U.S. citizens.
This is the same with the law of God. There are commandments for woman. If you are a man, these commandments will not apply to you.
There are commandments for farmers. If you are not a farmer, these commandments will not apply to you.
There are commandments for those with parents. If you no longer have parents, these commandments will no longer apply to you.
There are commandments for Levites. If you are not a Levite, then those commandments do not apply to you. Most of the temple commandments relate to one being a Levite.
Thus, there are many things to consider here as it relates to what commandments are observed, and it really becomes more of common sense.
These are all still things that many have not really considered.
Here is another way to consider this.
Let’s suppose that you do not break any of the laws in the country you live in. You are a “law abiding citizen.” Does that mean that you observe the whole law of your country? Yes, you do, because you do not break any of the laws.
BUT, in the same way, you do not really observe every law, because not every law is for you, or observing the law is circumstantial. But you do keep all of the laws of your country…or at least, we hope you do. There are laws if you are driving a car, flying an airplane, starting a business, owning a house, etc., etc. But, if you are not driving a car, you cannot observe the traffic laws.
Or, if you are not a pilot, the laws of flying are not for you to actively follow. But, all the laws are for all of the citizens of your country.
Likewise, our Creator has laws for His Kingdom as well. It is called the Law of God, or the Torah.
And just like you need to figure out how the laws of your country relate or don’t specifically relate to you, we need to look at the Word of God and see what commandments are written for you specifically, based on who you are, where you live, what you do for a living, if you have a family, if you own land, if you loan money, etc, etc.
So we have said all of that say this, there are several things that you can start working on in a time when there is no temple and altar, there are no Levitical priests functioning, and we largely do not live in an agrarian society.
Quick and easy. Four things you can do in your walk.
1. Rest on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. For more on this please see (click on the title) our teachings,
2. Change your diet to match the dietary instructions found in Leviticus 11. For some insight on this, you may find these teachings to be of interest (click on the titles to go to the teachings):
- Can We Eat All Things? (1 Timothy 4)
- Does God's Law Prohibit Cheeseburgers?
- Are All Things Clean? (Mark 7)
- Meat Sacrificed to Idols
- Kosher Slaughtering
3. Wear tassels, also called tzitzits, tzitziyots, tassels. For more on this topic, please see our teachings (click on the titles):
- Should Women Wear Tzitzits
- Tzitzit FAQs
- Our blog post "Should Children Wear Tzitzits?"
4. Finally, do your best to observe the appointed times (mo'edim) of our Creator. These are outlined in Leviticus 23 and some additional information in Deuteronomy 16. We would recommend watching our teaching series, The Mo'edim, click on the titles below to be taken to the teaching pages of the teachings we have completed thus far.
- Passover and Unleavened Bread
- Time: How to Calculate First Fruits
- Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets)
- Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
- Sukkot (Tabernacles/Booths)
- Hanukkah (Not actually an appointed time of the Creator)
There you go, a quick and easy way to get started. You may be wondering WHEN these appointed times are. Check out the (click on the title) 119 Calendar. If you're interested in how we came up with those dates, please check out our Time: Our Creator's Calendar series.
For more on this topic, watch or read our teaching "Welcome to the Whole Word". (click the title to be taken to the teaching page)
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