Torah Mistakes

The Finding Emet radio program, hosted by Brother Daniel Rendleman, aims to help people understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The program offers audio lessons, teaching articles, and a free online Bible search program on the Emet Ministries website. In one teaching called "Torah Mistakes," Rendleman shares five mistakes he has made while trying to follow and obey the Torah. He emphasizes that mistakes are different from sin and failures, as they provide opportunities for learning and growth. He encourages listeners not to be afraid of making mistakes when trying to keep Torah and obey God's commandments. Hello, and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program, or submit your prayer request. That's www.emetministries.com, or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher, Daniel Rendleman, as he helps us find the Emet. The name of the teaching is called Torah Mistakes. The name of the teaching is called Torah Mistakes, say it with me, Torah Mistakes, Torah Mistakes. The name of the teaching is called Torah Mistakes, and I come before you today to share it with you about some Torah Mistakes. Now, I'm not talking about mistakes in the Torah, in the Word of Yahweh, because we don't believe there are any. Is that right? Now, there are mistakes in translations, because that's works of man, but we don't believe that there are mistakes, that His Word is inspired. The mistakes come in when we begin to walk His Word and obey it and begin to follow it. Those are the Torah Mistakes I want to share with you today. How about that? And in fact, what I'd like to do is share with you about five of these mistakes that I've made, and hoping that you won't make them. I've got five boo-boos, five areas, but I've gone down and I've said, why did I do this? You ever done that before? Anyone here ever made a dumb mistake? A dumb mistake. I remember, dumb mistake number one. I got two hands back there. Dumb mistake number one was, well, there's so many, where do I start? Is that right? Okay. I know, I know, there's so many. Dumb mistake number one, Michael, you'll like this. I had a Nissan Sentra, and it was great, great car, great gas mileage, and I went to get some gas and everything, then I said, okay, well, I got that, and I paid, and I left. I said, oh, I need to check my oil, see if I need to add some oil, see if I need some oil for my Nissan. That's smart, right? So, I pull back around, I flip the hood, pop the hood, go in, oh, my goodness, I'm low on oil. So, I go inside and I buy one of the quarts, so I pour the oil, and I check it again, guess what? It's low. So, I go buy another quart, it's low. I go back in, go back in. Well, five quarts later, so here I am, I got my Nissan Sentra, it needs oil, I'm checking the oil, I put in five quarts, and it still says it is low as can be. I go back in and get one more quart of oil, I check it again, it still needs oil. I'm like, this is horrible. So, I decided that I needed to, you know, evidently go see somebody that knew what they were doing about cars, mine was messed up. So, I got in my car and realized that it was still running. Let me tell you something, you don't check oil if the car is running. So, I got in the car and went to drive off, and you would have thought I was trying to do a disappearing act. There was so much smoke, it was worse than September 11th buildings, it was everywhere. 30 feet wide, 30 feet long, I couldn't see nothing. I could not even pull out of the gas station. There was so much smoke. Was that a dumb mistake? That was a dumb mistake. Blew the head gasket, totally. Totally, they had to totally replace the head gasket. And when I had to explain this to the knife mechanics, they just, they didn't understand how I could be so dumb, could be so stupid. But it was something that happened. We make stupid mistakes sometimes. It reminds me of a story I heard of this lady who went to her pastor. She said, Pastor, I've got a besetting sin, I have a problem. She said, I've come to you for help. He said, okay, what can I do? She said, well, when I come to church on Sunday, I can't help but thinking that I'm the prettiest girl here. She said, you know, I look nice, and I try to dress real good, I put on makeup, and I know I shouldn't think that I'm the prettiest girl here, but I can't help but thinking it. I want you to help me with it. Pastor just rubs the top of his, you know, forehead, he says, oh Mary, don't worry about it. In your case, it's not a sin, it's simply a mistake. It's not a sin, it was a mistake. There's a difference between mistakes and sin. Did you know that? This is wild, because there's a difference between mistakes and failures. When we make a mistake, that means that we can learn from it, and we do learn from it. But when we fail, do you know what that means? It means we've fallen, and we don't get back up. Just like that old lady on TV, help, I'm falling, I can't get back up. You know what I'm talking about. Isn't it good to know that we're not our mistakes? We can change. The air is human. Thanks to Adam, we're going to make mistakes. Don, my father-in-law, states that Yahweh protects animals and idiots. He's not sure which one I fit into. But he states that, and talk about mistakes. I want to share with you one more mistake my boss made recently, true story. We are getting in his truck, and everything's good, and my boss likes to chew tobacco. And it was a hot July day, and so of course we've got the windows rolled up with the air going, and he's chewing tobacco. The problem is he goes to spit and can't find a cup. So he does what anybody would do, which would be spit out the window. But he forgot to open the window. So all of a sudden I hear him go, you know, and then, and then, oh! Expletive, expletive, expletive. That's a bad mistake. That's a real bad mistake. But you know, to reason with you a little bit, sometimes that dirty mistake he made, is kind of like how we keep the Scriptures, how we obey the Torah, how we obey the Bible. It's kind of hit and miss. Sometimes we do okay. Sometimes we don't. I'll never forget the time, speaking of my cars. Can I tell you one more? Speaking of cars. I ran out of that blue fluid that you put in your windshield washer. So I did what anybody else would do. I went and got the closest blue fluid I could find, which was Dawn dish detergent, and filled it up. A couple days later, I'd forgotten all about it. I went to clean my windows. There was so many sun. Instant car wash. If you need an instant car wash, just put the Dawn dish detergent in there. Can you believe they let me drive? Can you believe that? I mean, it was so bad. That was a mistake, a funny mistake. So I found out. I kept pouring water in it and kept pressing it to get it all out and dilute it down. Oh, my goodness. But sometimes, you know, we make stupid mistakes. Sometimes we make stupid mistakes, even when we're trying to follow the Bible. We do what the Scriptures say. When we keep Torah, sometimes it's hit and miss. Because we're not exactly sure how to do it. So we try something. And if it works, that's good. And if it doesn't work, then we should change. Don't do it again. We should change. Proverbs 24, 16. You turn with me there to a great passage about mistakes. Mishle 24, 16. There is hope for us yet. Proverbs 24 and verse 16 says, For a just man falls seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. The tzaddik, the just man, the one who's seeking after Yahweh, shall fall seven times and he'll get back up. Proverbs 24, 16. You know, that's a good definition of a righteous person and an unrighteous person. Because we fall down, but we get back up. And sometimes you have to keep getting back up and back up. But the wicked falls into mischief. Seven is the number of completion. Notice that here, they could have used any number, but he used the seven number because seven is the number of completion. We are to allow ourselves to make mistakes until Yahweh has completed the good work in us. Don't be afraid to step out and keep Torah or to obey the commandments that you may make a mistake. There are lessons that I've learned along the journey of faith and over ten years of keeping Torah, that I've made some bad mistakes. And I'd like to share with you a couple of those in hopes that you, Brother Denroy, won't make them. And that you, Sister Sarah, will learn and say, you know what, I don't have to do that. So, Brittany, you can take my word for it, or you can make the mess yourself. So, Torah mistake number one. Are you ready for this one? Torah mistake number one. This is the one that they all hinge upon. Torah mistake number one is, the Torah has to be obeyed this exact way. It's got to be this way. This is probably the biggest error of our faith that causes more splits and more fights and more fusses. Now, I come from the Baptist church. Any Baptists here? Or ex-Baptists here? Tuesday night we have Baptist rehab class. So, you come on. I'm joking. I love the Baptists. They're fun to pick at. So, I come from the Baptist church, and in the Southern Baptist Convention, they have what's called the Baptist Faith and Message. And it's about a hundred page booklet, and it tells you what to believe, and why to believe it as a Baptist. That's pretty convenient, isn't it? Don't even need the Bible. Just get the Baptist Faith and Message, and you know what to believe. See, we're kind of used to that, having this tight-knit... We like having this idea of what we're supposed to believe and keeping it easy. And that's great because the Torah does give us commandments. But on the other hand, the Torah is very liberal. I used the L word. Liberal. Because we all can look at the Torah and read the same verse and get something totally different out of it. Think about it. If you're in the South Carolina ocean, and you're snorkeling. The South Carolina ocean. It's the ocean off South Carolina. You're in the Atlantic Ocean, and you're snorkeling. And then somebody beside you is in the ocean, and they're swimming. You're both in the water. You're both looking at the water, but you're going to see two different things, aren't you? The depth, the perception, maybe the fish, maybe the shark. You're going to see all these things differently. But you're still looking at the ocean. When we look at the Torah, we have to take it into perspective. And the Hebraic mind allows us to do that. The problem is, we weren't raised in the Middle East. We weren't raised in the Western culture, which says black or white. Torah gives room in some places for gray. Philippians 2.5 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Yeshua. Take, for example, Shabbat. I guarantee you, no one in this room kept Shabbat the same way this week. We all do it a little differently, don't we? Some people welcome Shabbat by lighting candles, having a ceremony, saying blessings, having a big dinner. Some of you welcome Shabbat by just having some prayer. Some of you didn't do anything at all. Some of us might have forgot. Shabbat? Really? Watching TV? Take, for example, Shabbat. The Bible says in Exodus 20, Six days shall you labor, do all your work, but the Shabbat is the Sabbath of Yahweh. Isn't that right? But yet how we keep Shabbat is very different. It says remember to keep Shabbat set apart. So let me ask you, Jeremiah, if someone keeps Shabbat differently than you, does that make them a sinner, a heathen, a pagan, someone you don't need to talk to, you don't need to fellowship with? Okay, good. The important thing is they're keeping Shabbat. The important thing is that they're keeping Shabbat. They're trying. Now, if they're keeping it on another day, that's a whole other discussion. Amen? Because the Bible's clear. Six days shall you labor. The seventh day is Shabbat. But there's freedom in saying how Brother Stephen's going to keep Shabbat and how Daniel's going to do it. And that freedom we get when we open our mind to Torah. Now, I might think I've got it all figured out, but I'll soon realize, no, my wife was right after all. I've got a story I want to share with you that will explain the Hebraic mindset better than anything. This is awesome. Are you ready for the story? Everybody say, I'm ready. I'm ready. One more time. I'm ready. One more time. I'm ready. Thank you, SpongeBob SquarePants. So there's this priest and he goes to the rabbi and he says, Rabbi! You have to say that to a rabbi. Rabbi! Rabbi! He says, you've taught me many things as my friend. He says, but rabbi, I want you to teach me the Torah. I want you to teach me the Torah. And the rabbi looks at him and says, I can't. You can't learn it. You're a Christian. You have a Greek mindset. You have a Western mindset. He said, you don't understand Torah. You'll never get it. He said, but rabbi, teach me. Please, teach me. He says, your mind's not open enough for the Torah. He says, but please teach me. He says, okay. He says, I'll teach you Torah if you answer one question. So the priest is like, okay, great. All I have to do is answer one question and I'll learn Torah. So the rabbi says, okay, here's the question. Two men fall through a chimney. One comes out dirty. The other one comes out clean. Which one goes to clean up? Which one cleans himself, bathes himself? And of course, the priest is pretty smart. He says, oh, it's simple. The dirty one cleans up because the clean one doesn't need to. No problem. Not a problem whatsoever. The rabbi just looks at him and says, I knew I couldn't teach you Torah. That's wrong. He said, what? He said, look. The exact opposite happened. The clean one looks at the dirty man that fell out of the chimney and says, oh, I must be dirty. So he goes to clean. The dirty man looks at the clean one and says, I'm clean. I don't have to clean at all. When the priest heard this, he said, oh, my goodness, rabbi. I didn't think about that. Oh, please. Teach me Torah. Teach me Torah. So finally the rabbi says, okay. I'll teach you Torah, but you've got to answer one question. He says, okay, no problem. He said, two men fall down a chimney. One comes out dirty. The other one comes out clean. Which one goes to take a bath and wash up? Well, the priest is pretty smart, Melanie. The priest says, oh, I got it. He says, the dirty one looks at the clean one and thinks he's dirty, thinks he's clean, so he doesn't go. The clean one looks at the dirty one and says, oh, I'm dirty, and he goes and cleans. No problem. Rabbi looks at him and says, no, I knew I couldn't teach you Torah. He says, what do you mean? I don't know. He says, the two men fall out the chimney. The dirty one looks in the mirror and sees that he's dirty, so he goes and washes up. The clean one looks in the mirror, sees that he's clean, so he doesn't need to wash up. He says, but, oh, rabbi, you didn't tell me there was a mirror. The rabbi looks at him and says, when you study Torah, there are many possibilities, many possibilities. He says, oh, teach me Torah. Teach me Torah. So finally, the priest agrees and he says, okay, I'll teach you Torah if you can answer one question. Two men fall down a chimney. One comes out dirty. The other comes out clean. Which man goes and bathes and washes up? The priest looks at the rabbi and says, I got you now. Very simple. If there is no mirror, the dirty man looks at the clean man and thinks he's clean. The clean man looks at the dirty man and thinks he's dirty. But, rabbi, if there is a mirror, the dirty man looks at himself and goes and cleans himself. The clean man looks at himself and says, I'm not clean. The rabbi looks at him and smiles and then the smile turns to a frown. He says, I told you, you never get it right. You can't learn Torah. You're not a Hebrew. Tell me, how is it possible for two men to fall through a chimney and for only one to come out dirty? It's not possible. It's funny. But do you see all those possibilities from that one question? Did you know that every Hebrew word has so many different meanings? Every Hebrew word is made up of letters that have meanings and a numerical value. Every letter is a depth of understanding. That's why when we go and study Torah, we do the weekly Torah portion. Every year, it's like, I don't remember reading that last year. Are you sure that's there? We're amazed every year that we pick it up. But tell them it says to get in the Torah and turn it over and turn it over and turn it over until you're a great, great, gray man. When you're a gray man, keep learning it because we'll never get it. That's the beauty of the Torah. The problem is we take the Torah's beauty and we turn it to ugly. We make it bad because we condemn people about the way they do things. There are certain Scriptures that are very clear. Thou shalt not kill, for example. But what does that mean? There's many levels for that. And understanding that people are at different places. Romans 12. Turn with me there. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. We're going to have our minds renewed just like this priest had to do. Our minds renewed. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Romans. Not quite. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. Therefore, I urge you. I urge you. Paul says, I'm urging you. I urge you. I plead with you, dear brothers. In view of Yahweh's mercy. Not in view of his judgment. Not in view of his hatred. But in view of Yahweh's mercy. To offer yourselves to Elohim. A living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable. Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. But be what? Transformed. By the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to approve. You'll be able to test what Yahweh's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will. We have to be transformed. In the Greek, that word for transformed is metamorphous. You've heard of metamorphosis? You've got a very hungry caterpillar. Eats a lot of food for seven days. Pops in a cocoon. Pops out. What is he? A bright big butterfly. That's what we have to be transformed. Into his image. From glory to glory. It's a mistake to think that all Torah keepers got to behave the same way. Or believe the same thing. Yahweh gives us much freedom for personal convictions. What we should do. Study. Believe. Know what we believe. Support our leadership. And you know what? Let other people believe what they want. And don't get all upset over it. Amen. Let other people believe what they want. And don't get all upset over it. Isn't that what the serenity prayer says? Yahweh, help me. Yahweh, help me to have the courage to change the things I can. The serenity to accept the things I cannot change. And the wisdom to know the difference. Our brains are hardwired to think this. 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 3. The western mind says that. The eastern mind, the Hebraic mind says 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 1. Have you noticed how some people can separate what they believe and how they behave? That's a very Greek mindset. It's a very worldly mindset. The Hebraic mind says it doesn't matter what you believe. It matters what you do. That's the difference between a Greek influenced mindset or philosophy. Oh, I know that's what the Torah teaches. Chomp on my pork chop biscuit. Right? I know that's what the Torah teaches. The Hebraic mindset focuses on works. It says what are you doing? The Greek mindset or the western mindset says what do you believe? James, the book of James says, What good is it, my brothers, to be claimed to have faith but have no deeds? Can such a faith save him? James 2.14. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. And you say to him, okay, be well, keep warm and well fed. But you do nothing for his physical needs. What good is it? James 2.17. In the same way, faith by itself without works is dead. No good. It's no good to have faith that doesn't express itself. Amen? That's Torah mistake number one. Don't think everybody has to keep Torah the same way. Who's ready for Torah mistake number two? You ready? How about first story first? Quick story, quick aside. So there's this man and this woman and they're having dinner in this fine restaurant. So their waitress is taking order, you know, at another table a couple of paces away. And notices that the man just starts sliding down in his chair. He's sliding down his chair and under the table. And the woman is not acting concerned whatsoever. The woman just looks calm and collected and unruffled. Apparently unaware that her dining companion is just sliding out and disappearing. So the waitress walks over after she finished taking the order, you know. She came over to the table and said, pardon me, ma'am, but I think your husband just slid under the table. She looks up and said, oh no, he just walked in the door. That's a mistake, ain't it? That's a bad mistake. He just walked in the door for you late bloomers. That's a bad mistake. Not very funny. Don't make this next mistake. Forgive me. Don't make this next mistake. Mistake number two. And I've done this. I've written this. I've told people this for years. I've said this. The Torah is a blueprint for living. It's an instruction manual for life. And that sounds good. That sounds really good. But it's fundamentally incorrect. The word Torah means teachings and instructions. But it's not just for life. It's for our relationship with Yahweh. With Yeshua. The Torah is the blueprint to get to Yahweh. The Torah is the blueprint to get to Yeshua. If it's nothing but a bunch of rules and regulations, what good is it? If all the Torah is is a bunch of rules, 613, thou shalt not and thou shalt, who needs instruction books? We don't read them anyway, do we? The Torah will lead us to Yahweh. We shouldn't minimize it to just a bunch of things to do or not do. The word mitzvot in Hebrew is the word for commandment. The mitzvot. You obey the mitzvot. That Hebrew word, if you were to look it up, the root word means connection. Connector. It's like an extension cord connecting yourself to Yahweh. When you're in obedience to the commandments, you are connected to Yahweh. Like joined at the hip, you're connected to Him. But when you're in disobedience, guess what? You break that connection. That's what the Torah does. But if we just tell people it's the instruction book, it's the instruction book for living, the blueprint, you know, it's all His commandments, nobody really wants things to do. What they want is the relationship with Yahweh. And we get there through the commandments. Our obedience should flow from our relationship with Yeshua, not the other way around. Some people think, oh, well, I'll obey and then He'll accept me. I'll get right, I'll make myself righteous, then I'll go to synagogue. I'll clean up my act, then Yahweh will love me and accept me. It's just the opposite. He takes us as we are, and then He works on us. Amen? I had someone tell me recently, she said, today in fact, she said, well, I don't come to synagogue because I just can't sit there with my husband and pretend like there's nothing wrong. I said, well, dear, you need to because the rest of us do. I said, the rest of us do. Because you know what? We're not perfect. We do have problems. We do have issues. Hang out with me. I will offend you in 3.3 seconds or less. Thank you, wife. That's us. So, we don't need to let this idea in our mind telling us that Yahweh can only use us if we got things right. He will use us where we are. He can use us more as we follow Him. How many know He used Pharaoh? Hmm. The Torah should not just be this instruction book or book. Oh, I got to go read the Torah portion for this week. Got to go to synagogue, see what Daniel's going to say. Hope he hurries up. I want to share a verse with you. And if you don't get anything else from this teaching, get this verse. 2 Peter chapter 2, excuse me, chapter 1 verse 4. Kephabet chapter 1 verse 4. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4. I repeat it for us guys. The women got it the first time. The guys have to hear things four times before they understand. Is that right, ladies? It says that He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them we could partake in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by our evil desires. Read it again. It says He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them, through the great and precious promises, we could partake of the divine nature and escape corruption in this world caused by our evil desires. Do you know what that means? He has given us this blueprint for life and living, the very great precious promises of Torah, the Bible, the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Not so that we can be good human beings, but that we can be supernatural human beings. That we could partake, get this, in the divine nature. That our old nature would be gone and His new nature would be upon us. That's the difference. That our nature changes. That we don't do the things we used to do because His very great and precious promises have changed us. That's how we escape corruption. Dr. Phil is great. But take a couple pills of Torah and call me in the morning because it will change your nature. And that's how we overcome. That's how we overcome. So don't just minimize this book to be a book. This book will change who you are. You know what? That's what I want. Daniel is not a nice person. I can be nice, but deep down inside I'm selfish. I want chocolate ice cream. And I don't want to share it with you. And I want it breakfast, lunch and dinner. I want my way or the highway. But through Yeshua's nature, by partaking of His nature, I can be changed. Alright, number three. You ready? Torah error number three. Don't stone me. Judaism has it all right. And Christianity has got it all wrong. Or, everybody say or. Or Christianity has got it all right. And Judaism has it all wrong. I'm telling you. This Torah mistake, number three, will paralyze your faith. We are Israel. Amen. We have to learn what it means to be Israel. But Israel is not just Judah. There were twelve tribes. The Hebrew Roots Movement is not about being Jewish. We're not simply to copy what the Jews do and follow their examples. Some of what they do has benefit. Some of it is treachery. Some of what is in Christianity has benefit. Some of it is treacherous. I praise Yahweh for the foundation that I got in Sunday school. I praise Yahweh for that. We've got to learn what it means to be Israel. And you know what? We must learn what it means to be Israel. What it means to be Israel. And you know what? We might not look like the other eleven tribes. To disregard all of Judaism or all of Christianity, I believe, is totally wrong. And to disregard the people as lost is totally wrong. There are some very good, sincere people in the church and in the synagogue. I was there. Yahweh rescued me. Christian teachers like Max Lucado, Charles Spurgeon, Chuck Swindoll, James Dobson. They have some very good points to make. Rabbis like Rashi or Shem Tov or Yitzhak Ginsberg or the Rambam. They have some very good points to make. We have to learn to take the best from both worlds. And that's the beauty of this faith. Is we don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I've got to go there. Can we put Yahweh in a box? And we can't put Yahweh's people in a box. When I left institutional, mainstream, churchianity, Christianity, I was mad. I was hurt. I was frustrated. I felt like I had been robbed of my identity. I wondered why my pastor didn't tell me about the feast days. Why were we so far away from the Old Testament? Why were we so far away from the Old Testament? Who was really to blame? Constantine? The seminary? The preachers? The Sunday school teachers? Shouldn't these people have known better? Shouldn't they have known better? I was mad. I was angry. I was bitter for years. And truth be told, it would be better if we didn't blame anybody. And got rid of the blame game. And instead of beating people up with the Torah scroll and telling them, you better do this and you better do that and here's what the Torah says, why don't we win it in front of them and tell them about the blessings of it? Some people, all they want to do is tell you about the curses. You got a Christmas tree? The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 9 and 10, you better not do that. You're going to be cursed. How about telling them about the blessing? Even Shabbat. Blessing of Hanukkah. A good friend, Rabbi Yirmiyahu, told me one time, he said, Yahweh never takes anything away without giving you something better to replace it with. Leviticus 19, 18. We know the verse. It says, you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. Golden rule, right? Do unto others as you want them to do unto you. But do you know what the verse says? Let me read it in context. Leviticus 19, 18, the whole verse. You ready? It says, you shall not take revenge. You shall not bear a grudge against the members of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Don't bear a grudge. So how do you feel? Let me ask you this. I want to ask you to gauge your feelings. How do you feel when you think of that preacher or that pastor in your past? And if there's anger, if there's resentment, if you get a little tight in the stomach, you need to let it go. Pray for them. And don't hold theology against anybody. Because we were once there. It says, love your neighbor as you love yourself. Do you know what that means? Can I give you the best definition I've ever found for that, Sister Sarah? To love your neighbor as you love yourself is to give them the benefit of the doubt. To not expect the worst. If you truly love your neighbor as you love yourself, you don't expect the worst. There are people in the church that are blinded by religion, anti-Semitism, false beliefs. But there are also many good, righteous, born-again, spirit-filled believers. They need our prayers, amen? They need our witness. They need our acceptance. Turn with me to Romans chapter 2. Turn with me to Romans chapter 2. Because I want to show you that much of Christianity today keeps some of Torah. Romans chapter 2, verse 14 and 15. Romans chapter 2, Romans 2, verse 14 and 15. For when the nations, which do not have the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these not having the law, these nations, are a Torah unto themselves, which show the work of the Torah written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, their thoughts, the mean, while accusing or excusing one another. It's saying that the nations, though they might not know about the phylacteries, and about the tzitzit, and about the head coverings, and about tishbeav, the modayani, and all this Hebrew stuff, that when they do, show love, that they actually have it written on their hearts and are doing it. They are a Torah unto themselves. For two years my wife was sick. As she carried our little girl. Very sick. After she had the baby, tons of problems from the delivery. The complications had complications. She was in ICU one day for 26 hours. She had five blood clots in her lungs. During that time, our children were watched, and our meals came from not a bunch of Torah keepers, but a group of Christian women that she fellowships with. Meal upon meal upon meal upon meal. They showed compassion and care and love. Not to disregard what others have done. But I want to express to you that Yahweh used that to show me in April to give them compassion and turn our hurt and pain against people in churchianity because they don't have all this truth into, wow. Not everybody is evil. Not everybody has got, you know, Constantinian. Not everybody is Constantine. That ministered so much to us. And it taught us a lot. And I share that with you because I think sometimes we demonize the bandits. I'm guilty. We demonize the Pentecostals. You know what we need to do for them? We need to pray for them. And we need to love them. Torah error number four. Finishing up. Amen. Finishing up. Torah error number four. And this is going to sound right. This is going to sound like Daniel flew the coop and is wrong. Torah error number four. Obedience leads to blessing. Disobedience leads to curses. That sounds good, doesn't it? Obedience? Oh, if you obey the Torah, you're going to be blessed coming and going. You're going to be made the head not the tail. Everything you're going to do is going to prosper. Yeah. Deuteronomy 28. It's the chapter of blessings. If you faithfully obey the voice of Yahweh, doing all of His commandments, all of His blessings shall be upon you. They shall overtake you. You'll be blessed coming and going. The fruit of your womb will be blessed. Everything. It goes on down. It says you're going to be blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed if you obey Torah. And then it says if you disobey, you're going to be cursed. You'll be cursed going. How can this be an error? It is. Let me tell you. These verses of blessing that's commanded when it says we'll be blessed when we obey Torah doesn't mean you're going to be the richest person in the world. Or on your block. Or that you should want to be. When it says that Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, it doesn't mean that physically. It's metaphorically, right? It means that when you obey Torah, you're creating the environment for blessing. The potential for blessing is there. What brings confusion is we don't know how to tell the difference between somebody that's blessed and somebody that's cursed. Did Donald Trump become a billionaire because he keeps Torah? I don't think so. Bill Gates? A billionaire? Many times over because he eats a Torah keeper? You ever seen Donald Trump or Bill Gates at a Passover Seder? It'd be kind of funny. You're fired. You know, it just wouldn't. It'd be interesting. Did the Jewish people go through the Holocaust because they disobeyed? Was that their curse? I can't. I can't accept that. Yahweh's blessings and Yahweh's judgment are not always understandable or discernible. If you have a bad day today, it doesn't mean that you sinned yesterday. People think of, bring it back up, Katrina. Hurricane Katrina. Was it judgment of Yahweh? It could also have been His mercy. If Hurricane Katrina would have hit Mexico City, millions of people would have died. Landslides? It would have been bad. Would have been worse. Hurricane Katrina could have gone up the whole Florida peninsula. Hurricane Katrina could have gone up the whole Florida peninsula. Wiped out Walt Disney World. That would have been bad. Then we're goofy. The rabbis tell us that when you obey the mitzvot, the reward for the mitzvot is the mitzvot itself. The reward for obedience is obedience. Taryn, let me tell you something. Straight from the mouth of Rabbi Daniel, let's say it's the Daniel. You don't have to keep Torah. Janie, you don't have to keep Torah. Stephen, you don't have to keep Torah. We don't have to keep Torah. We get to keep Torah. We have the privilege of keeping Torah. Yahweh has blessed us and allowed us to keep Torah and allowed our minds to be opened. Don't be mocked, it says in Galatians, Whatsoever a man reaps, he shall sow. That person might look like they're blessed, but in the end, it may turn into a curse for them. We need to be mature as believers. I want to encourage you. This is a mistake I made. Stop focusing on blessings and curses. Focus on relationship and following Yeshua. Because you know what, Matthew? He is our blessing. Not a new house. Not a good job. Whatever you want to say. Yahweh is our blessing. Because the other stuff will come and go, won't it? Here today, gone tomorrow. Or for me, it may be here today, gone tomorrow. You know, I don't know. I hope not. Psalm 63 says, Oh, Yahweh. Oh, Yahweh. Psalm 63. Oh, Yahweh. Early I will seek you. Oh, Yahweh. Early I will seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you. In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. I have looked for you in your sanctuary to see your power and your kavod, your glory. There's the problem. We're sleeping. It says early in the morning I will seek you. We got all this other stuff to do. Yah, and we don't seek his face. Can I share one more error? Give me five more minutes. 63 verse 1 and 2. One more error. This is a tough one. Torah error number 5. Torah error number 5. I am Israel. And I'm proud of it. Or I am Israel. Na, na, na, boo, boo. Or I am Israel. We understand that we are Israel. The restoration of the two houses. Feast days, Hebrew language. It's great to know these things. And boy, we're excited when we find out about Torah. Man, we're just on fire, aren't we? We want to tell everybody. We want to tell our friends, our family. When we get a new revelation from Yahweh, when we read, wait a minute, I was supposed to be doing that? Here's the tough part. Even if you're right and you want to share your Hebraic heritage and what you've learned, don't do it. Don't tell your family, this is a mistake I made, you're hell bound. You got that Christmas tree and that Easter bonnet. Don't make a scene when you show up at somebody else's house or a picnic or a business function and there's a bunch of pork. Hold back from telling your neighbors why you're wearing those tassels. Don't eat the pork. Wear the tassels. Keep the feast days. But be careful when you share your faith. The reason why you need to be careful is because you will get in the way. I have gotten in the way of so many people learning Torah. Here's how it would go, Janie. Somebody would say to me at Walmart as they're shopping and I'm shopping, they'd say, what are those little tassel things? What is that? 45 minutes later, their eyes would be glazed over, their mouth would be foaming, there'd be like flies starting to buzz around their head. And they'd walk away from me and they'd know about everything from Constantine to the Nicene Council. They'd know everything. And the next time they saw me, they'd run the other way. I've done it so many times. Don't make that mistake. You know what that was? It was me trying to draw that person instead of the Holy Spirit drawing that person. Maybe it was them just saying, what's that blue tassel? You know what I could have told them? I like this. Oh, it's something I wear to run the commandments. Or I could have said, you don't want to know. You don't want to know about it. What do you mean I don't want to know? How do you want to know? I asked you about it. You really don't want to know about it. Yes, I do. They say. Yes, I do. You really don't want to know. Yes, I do. Tell me. If I tell you, you might feel you have to wear them too. What do you mean? Okay. Do you believe in the Bible? Yes. Well, the Bible says, Numbers chapter 11, where tassels are blue. Three minutes or less. Three minutes or less. We set ourselves up for failure when we dish out facts and the latest revelations and we leave Yahweh's spirit out of the equation. I've said this. You really going to eat that? You going to eat shrimp? That's lobster. That's the cockroach of the sea. You know how nasty that is? That's a bottom feeder. You going to eat that? You know what they do with those things? People are not attracted to our condemnation. We might be right all day long, but we're, we might be right all day long, but we're wrong if we condemn people with it. There's only two people, Brother Davis, that want the truth that we should share the details of our faith with. First of all, somebody who asks us. Second of all, somebody who's in deep trouble. Everybody else is not interested. We would attract many more people to Yeshua if we allowed our actions to witness more than our mouths. Actions shout out if our message is true anyway, right? Because here's what's happened. When we tell people about Israel, I'm Israel and I'm proud of it. They look at us and say, so what? Don't they? I'm Israel. I'm proud of it. Don't they? They look at us and say, what does that mean to me? We're going to let our love and devotion shine forward. We don't just learn Hebrew roots. We do Hebrew roots. Have your say. Here's the key part. Have your say. They get the other person talking and say, what do you think about that? You don't really want to know about. OK, you do. OK, we'll find this. You know, it's commanded. The Bible commands us not to eat pork. So that's why I don't have any pork on my plate. Well, you just look like you're going to starve. All you're eating is fruit? Salad? Well, I'll be OK. Well, let me ask you, what do you think about the commandment not to eat pork in the Bible? Get them talking. And if they begin to talk and then you begin to share with them the scriptures, do you know what's going to happen? The Holy Spirit, the ra-ka-ko-desh is going to move upon them. Get out of the way. That's Torah mistake number five. Many mistakes we make when we follow Torah. It is hit and miss. And hopefully y'all won't fall into some of these traps. We each are going to have opportunities to get it just right. I'm here to tell you today that when you get it wrong, Yahweh forgives. And He's the Elohim of second chances and third chances and fourth chances. And that as we seek His face, as we seek His face, He will forgive us. He will forgive us. He will forgive us. As we seek His face, as we seek His face and as we listen to His voice, He will make straight the paths for us. So I want to end with Proverbs chapter three, verse five and six. Trust Yahweh with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. And He will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes. But fear Yahweh and turn away from evil. The best advice I could give you in keeping Torah is that to walk His path to learn from others and don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't think you've got to know it all before you can do it all. Walk in what you know. Bloom where you're planted. If Yahweh has shown you something, do it. Trust Him with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him and He will make straight the paths. He will figure it all out. We might get up to heaven one day and realize we were doing a bunch of stuff wrong. In fact, I'll be surprised if we don't. He'll work it out for us. Amen. The Truth of the Scriptures. Search the Bible. Submit your prayer request. Or read an article on various subjects. The website is CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Or write to us at That's EMET Ministries Thank you again for listening to Finding EMET with Daniel Rendlin. May you find the EMET and may the EMET may the Truth set you free. 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