One Torah for All

back

Accepted by YHWH

At some point in every person’s life, one has had a desire to be accepted by his Creator.  Furthermore, every single person has a deep-seated desire to know YHWH has accepted him.  What bliss there is in knowing YHWH accepts us! 

Notice from the following passage what it is going to take to be accepted by YHWH.

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 43:27 
“And when they have accomplished the days, it shall be that upon the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt-offerings upon the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you,” says Adonai YHWH.

This is a very important verse because it teaches us that when we offer our sacrifices according to His commandments, He will accept us.  The sacrifices He has commanded are not about YHWH’s accepting the sacrifices, they are about YHWH’s accepting us.  This is an important distinction as it shows us that what our walk is about is not about doing things out of rote or habit in keeping His commandments.  Rather, our walk is about obeying Him from a heart of love towards YHWH.

YHWH says much the same thing in chapter 20, but with some additional information. 

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 20:40
40 “For in My holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,” says Adonai YHWH, “there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve Me in the land; there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.”

 Notice that YHWH will accept us once again as He returns us back to the Land He promised to our fathers.  Also, notice that He will require all our offerings as well in order for us to be accepted.

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 20:41
“As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.”

When YHWH does this, He will be sanctified in us in the sight of all the nations.  What a day that will be, when all the nations will see YHWH do such a wonderful work in the midst of Israel, His people!

Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 20:42
“And you shall know that I am YHWH, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.”

Notice that when this will happen, when YHWH brings us into the Land that He promised to Avraham and to Yitzchak and to Ya’aqov, then we will know that He is YHWH.  This somewhat implies that most of those who return will not truly know beforehand that He is YHWH our Elohim.  This is a rather disturbing thought on one hand, and tells us that we perhaps need to be a little more compassionate and merciful towards those who do not yet know YHWH, particularly if a person is not serving the Creator using the name of YHWH, but rather using a substitute name.  This is not to excuse this on the other person’s part, but rather to warn those who use His name to extend grace to those who have not yet come to that understanding.
 
Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 20:43
“And there shall you remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.”

In addition, when this happens, we as a people will look back at our previous lives and be deeply grieved at how we had all gone astray, and the depth of depravity to which we had sunk.
 
Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 20:44
“And you shall know that I am YHWH, when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, house of Israel,” says Adonai YHWH.

Moreover, perhaps most poignant of all is why He is doing this.  It is not because of us.  We certainly have done nothing worthy to merit this wondrous blessing.  In fact, if YHWH were to treat us as we deserved to be treated, then what we should get is nothing short of death, complete and total. 

However, He does not act in accordance to what we deserve, but rather He acts according to His great name.  In addition, because He is gracious, merciful, and compassionate towards us, what we will receive is to be gathered in from all the nations of the world and to be planted in the Land He promised to our fathers.  Moreover, the greatest of all blessings:  YHWH our Elohim will accept us as His people.  Wow!  I truly look forward to that day.  May it come soon and in our lifetimes!

This process actually began when Mashiach Yeshua came the first time two thousand years ago.  It is still in process and that process will culminate with YHWH gathering us back into the Land. 

Colossians 1:19-23
19 For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell;
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the Blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
21 And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
22 yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and beyond reproach before Him;
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Besorah which you heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Shaul was made a minister.

Please note that this reconciliation of all things is to Himself through the Blood of Mashiach.  Without the Blood of Mashiach, there can be, and is, no reconciliation back to the Father.

This reconciliation is also conditional in that we must continue in the faith.  We must remain steadfast in Mashiach Yeshua at all times.  Otherwise, we are not, and cannot be, blameless and beyond reproach before Him.

How can we know if we are accepted by YHWH?  It is through the witness of His Spirit in us.

Ma’aseh (Acts) 15:8 
And Elohim, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did to us;

In the passage above, we see in the discussion at the counsel at Jerusalem in Acts 15, that one of the main points of this discussion was the witness of the Spirit in the lives of those who were not of Jewish origin, in that their hearts were also cleansed by faith. 

Romans 8:16 
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of Elohim.

It is the presence of His Spirit in us that bears witness to our spirits to let us know we are His children and accepted by Him.

Notice also what the writer to the Hebrew believers says as he gets ready to quote and make reference to this passage in Yirmeyah 31.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 10:15-17
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for He has said,
16           “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days,” says YHWH; “I will put My Torah on their heart,
And upon their mind also will I write them;” then says He,
17           “And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

What YHWH is doing in getting us to the place that we are acceptable in His sight, is to write His Torah upon our hearts and place His Torah in our minds.  It is as He does this that we become acceptable to Him and we become His people, hearing and obeying His Voice.

ABBA YHWH, write Your Torah upon our hearts and place it in our minds, that we might be acceptable in Your sight; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach.  Amein.

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

© All material is copyrighted and no part may be changed, added to, shortened or edited; however, the entirety of the article may be reproduced as long as the author’s name remains attached to the article.  It is encouraged and a blessing for others to forward these teachings to others, and permission is hereby granted for this as long as the teaching is kept wholly intact, which includes the author’s name and contact information, the “One Torah For All” header, and this copyright paragraph.  Furthermore, it must be passed on without any cost whatsoever to those who receive it.  The act of forwarding or sharing this teaching in any way constitutes agreement by the party forwarding it that he agrees to the terms and conditions of this paragraph.

back