Prayer: Father, reveal to me a greater understanding of Your Torah and the importance of loving You with all my heart. Amen.
Reading: Proverbs 28 key: vs. 4-5
4 Those who forsake Torah praise the wicked,
but those who keep Torah stir them up.
5 Evil men do not understand justice,
but those who seek Adonai understand it fully.
Attention: In preparing to write my journal today, I reviewed the word Torah to see if I had a full understanding of the Torah of God. From the pulpit, I heard that the Torah is the Ten Commandments and I think we Greeks tend to limit the Torah to the Exodus 20 recording.
However, in pondering my past years of reading the Bible, I recall reading statements of conversations between Adonai and Moses which are recorded in Leviticus which read like this: “This is the Torah of the sin offering (6:18b)”; “This is the Torah of the trespass offering (7:1)”; and, “This is the Torah of the one with tza’arat in the day of his cleansing (14:1b).”
These additional examples were the Torah and were to be obeyed by the Kohen, Kohanim, and the Hebrew nation. They were not any less of the Torah (Law) than the Ten Commandments.
So, are we able to conclude from our scriptural focus, that in Solomon’s day, those who forsook the Torah were those who “praised the wicked?” Can we make the correlation that those who forsook the Torah then were those who were rebellious in their heart about obeying the law? Can we make the correlation today, regarding both the full Torah and our law? Can we make the correlation that if we are rebellious in our heart regarding God’s Law (Torah in full), we too are praising the wicked by our rebellious attitude?
Justice is a hot topic in our culture today. Our scriptural text tells us “Evil men do not understand justice.” I will go as far as to say, men separated from God, do not understand justice. It is not possible for a man who is apart from God to be just, because only God is just. Social justice is not justice. Social justice by man’s definition is exalting a race over another race, even all other races.
God’s justice is wrapped up in the Golden Rule. “So in all things, do to others what you would want them to do to you—for this is the Torah and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). Notice, there is not race or gender mentioned. What would happen if everyone would operate under the same rule? The wisdom of God is simple and true.
Will you help change our culture today by applying the Golden Rule in all things?
Action: I will embrace the Torah of God and apply His standard of justice to my life!
Yield: I will yield to God’s ways in living a life pleasing to Him.
Engage: I will engage with Scripture as my guide for living for Him.
Relationship: I am in full relationship when I know God’s Torah and live obediently unto Him.
Prayer: Father, I love You. I love Your Word and I love Your Torah! Help me to live out Matthew 7:12. In Yeshua’s name, amen.
Memory Verse: Matthew 7:12 “So in all things, do to others what you would want them to do to you—for this is the Torah and the Prophets.”
Music Video: Steve Green & Kids – Do To Others
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”