Do you remember the game, “Whisper down the Lane?” Some of you may have called it “Telephone.” You whisper a message to someone, they whisper to someone else, and so forth. By the end of the line, the message is often quite different than the original.
I remember playing it once and not hearing what was whispered to me, so I did the best I could and relayed something to the next person. By the time it got to the end of the line, even my message had morphed into something else entirely.
Unfortunately, this has occurred in modern Christianity.
“O Yah, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have INHERITED ONLY FALSEHOOD, FUTILITY, and there is no value in them.” – Jeremiah 16:19
How easy was it for the ancient Hebrews to distort the message in the days of old? They went from obeying the Torah to worshipping false gods, sacrificing their children to Moloch, and building high places and Asherah groves. Often, it would take only one generation. By the time of the Messiah, the faith had morphed into a Talmudic religion of rituals littered with beliefs they had carried from Babylon and inherited from other religions. The priests were corrupt. Many of their laws were traditions added on to Yah’s Torah instructions. And the teachers were hypocrites. The average person was illiterate of the Scriptures, relying on “guidance” from the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom Yahusha (Jesus) called “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16).
Sound familiar? It only took 70 years in Babylon and a few centuries of error to get to the Pharisaical practices of that time. How much more have we distorted the message of Yahusha (Jesus) in 2,000 years?
Jeremiah 16:19 is about us. This is a message regarding the end times. We are the modern recipients of these falsehoods – some innocent, some not. Over time, the message has changed. The very early gathering of believers were followers of The Way (see teaching – The Way). They emulated Yahusha (Jesus) in every way possible. They followed the commandments, observed the Feast Days and weekly Sabbaths, differentiated between clean and unclean, and did their overall best to look like the Messiah.
Paul even had this to say:
“Imitate me as I imitate Messiah.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1
But soon we began to whisper down the lane. Changes were small but eventually evolved into a system that looks nothing like the first-century assembly. Leaders rose up and eventually became paid professionals. Councils formed to dictate doctrine. Creeds were issued instead of relying purely on Scripture. Denominations were created to fit narratives and divisions. Believers no longer met in homes to read and discuss the faith, but became spectators of a manufactured production.
It wasn’t long before religion became big business. (See – Why Most Churches in the U.S. Are Businesses). Baskin Robbins had 31 flavors to choose from. The Christian faith produced tens of thousands of denominations. Most with their own creeds, core beliefs, and organizational rules that attempted to align with the Bible.
Many of these congregations lessened the importance of what we call the “Old Testament.” Others relied ONLY on Paul’s writings. Some even threw Paul out and called him a false teacher. A handful of assemblies embraced the Old Testament but did not glean doctrine from it. Yet…
“ALL SCRIPTURE is breathed out by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness.” – 2 Timothy 3:16
Do we really mean “ALL?” Or are we just giving lip service.
The adversary has been at it from the beginning. We are just deceiving ourselves if we think otherwise. But this lie that we have bought into – that we are no longer expected to walk in His commandments – may be the biggest stumbling block of what the Father truly expects of us.
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalms 119:105
We have all heard that verse from the 119th Psalm. But what does it mean?
“For the command is a lamp, and the Torah a light.” – Proverbs 6:23
The Torah provides a light to the path of believers. It’s commands are a lamp that we carry as we navigate this world. The faith is simple when you strip away denominational doctrines, creeds, and tradition.
- REPENT
- KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS
- BE SET-APART
Yahusha (Jesus) did not come to free us from following God’s instructions (the Torah). He came to become our High Priest (see teaching – What Changed with the New Covenant?), able to cleanse us from unrighteousness.
Think for a minute how ridiculous it would be for the Messiah to follow His Father’s Word to perfection so that we could now live in sin. Paul lays it out in the letter to Titus:
“Our Savior Yahusha Messiah…who gave Himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people, his own possession, ardent for good works.” – Titus 2:14
Yahusha did that so we could become like Him, cleansed. We won’t be perfect in our walk, but we should be “ardent for good works,” as Paul told Titus. The New Covenant does not cancel our responsibility to keep the commandments. But it does provide for us a new High Priest to cleanse us when we fail.
Are you the recipient of someone whispering down the lane? Probably. I certainly was. Do your best to throw off the teachings of man. Read the Scriptures for yourself with unblemished lenses. Let Scripture interpret Scripture. And open your heart to Yahuah and His Word.
Shalom!
FAITH IN MOTION 