Continued from “Introduction to Precepts” in the “False Images” series.

Before we can begin to understand what any of the precepts of the word are, we must know what “word” we are talking about.

All prophets of God must speak according to His oracles or they are not His prophets.

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’–which you have not known–’and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for Yehovah your God is testing you to know whether you love Yehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after Yehovah (the LORD) your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. Deu 13:1-4

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isa 8:20

Even Yeshua, who was the prophet that Moses said would rise up like him, always spoke according to the word, the Law and the Prophets.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Mat 5:17-19

Yeshua told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. In it the rich man pleads with father Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers so they will not be lost.

Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Luk_16:29, 31

After Yeshua rose from the dead he walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself. Luk 24:27

So you see, Yeshua always spoke according to Yehovah God’s oracles, His spoken words given to us through Moses and the other Prophets also.

David spoke these words.

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Psa 119:11-16

This section in Psalms both starts and ends with the phrase “Your word.” What word, what oracle, was David referring to? The Torah, the law, the owner’s manual on how we are to live our lives, they alone are the lively oracles that were given to us.

We are arriving now at a critical juncture, which is the writings of Paul the Apostle. Were these writings ever treated as if they were the oracles of Yehovah? Peter said this regarding Paul’s letters.

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and think of our Lord’s patience as an opportunity for us to be saved. This is what our dear brother Paul wrote to you about, using the wisdom God gave him, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the scriptures [writings]. 2Pe 3:14-16

These untaught and unstable people, just like people today, misunderstood Paul’s epistles and were in need of the sincere, pure milk of the word. And as a result of their lack of understanding, Peter says, they twist Paul’s epistles “to their own destruction” as they also do the rest of the scriptures [writing]. But what is it that these people are untaught and unstable in? The answer of course is the Law and the Prophets.

Paul talking to the leaders of the Jews in Rome tells his story saying:

Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans … So when they (the leaders of the Jews) had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. Act 28:17 & 23

In Paul’s letter to Timothy he writes;

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. 2Ti 2:15-17

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. 2Ti 3:14-17

What is the “word of truth” and what are “the Holy scriptures” which is given by inspiration of God? The only scriptures that Timothy had known from his childhood were the Law and the Prophets. These are the oracles which are given of God, “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, and thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We do not even know what is good and what is evil without the law of Moses.

Acts also gives an account of Paul and Silas’ time teaching in the synagogue of Berea.

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Act 17:10-11

When Paul & Silas spoke to these Bereans, they received the word and then searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Again, what scriptures did they search? Certainly not Paul’s writings, for how could they use Paul’s writings to see if what Paul said was true? No, they had to search the Law and the Prophets to see if what Paul said was so. Do we?

The reason we have so many thousands of Christian denominations, is due to the fact that we see the New Testament as some kind of new work of God to be interpreted in light of the doctrines and commandments of men rather than the Law of Moses and Prophets. There is nothing new about the New Testament which did not even exist until the Catholic church added them to the Holy Scriptures in the fourth century.

Please, do not misunderstand what I am saying. The epistles in the New Testament are very valuable to us, but we must understand them in light of the Law and the Prophets. If they ever seem contradictory to what Moses has taught, we must go back and rethink what they are actually saying, for they can not contradict Moses.

A rifle has a rear sight that is near the shooters eye and a front sight just above where the bullet exits. If we make the rear sight the writings of Moses and the front sight any other writings: Paul, Peter, James, Jude, John, Luther, Wesley, Mohamed, even this writer, we will have a guide to discern the truth. As long as each writer is filtered through the Law of God-given by Moses and the Prophets, we will all be able to judge the truth from a lie and stay in the way of life, just like the fair-minded Bereans did. But, the moment we look at any commentator, ourselves, our pastors, our teachers as authoritative without consulting Moses and the Prophets, we will risk twisting the writings to our own destruction and shooting ourselves in the head.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. (Psa 119:89)

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