One Torah For All

One Torah shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exodus 12:49

"Behold,
I have told you in advance."

Chapter 4:
Scripture is Not for Private Interpretation

Don't take my word for it!

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Kepha Bet (2nd Peter) 1:20

In this chapter, a Biblical principle will be presented that is a safeguard to keep oneself from becoming heretical in his beliefs. Two sides of this truth will be examined. This principle is succinctly stated in the verse just quoted above.

The duty of interpreting what Scripture says and what it means, belongs solely to the Assembly of Israel. This is also the body of Messiah, which is filled with the Holy Spirit to accomplish this task, among other tasks. Israel is the body of Messiah[5] on earth, as it is involved directly in the daily spiritual battles of this present life. The responsibility of interpreting Scripture rests, and is built upon, the experience of Israel as a whole (this includes both Houses). This is a continual process that will not be completed until the return of Messiah. It is within the body of Messiah that this function is to take place. No one person is to be the sole interpreter or authority of YHWH’s word.

This means that the person who hears the word of YHWH preached or taught is under obligation to investigate the Scripture regularly to see whether these things are so. This goes for reading various authors also, the present one included. If each person in the body of Messiah does this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then the body will stay true to her Master and Savior, Yeshua Messiah.

The more a person respects a particular preacher, pastor, or teacher, the more susceptible that person is to believing everything the teacher says. Each member of the body of Messiah must guard against placing too much emphasis upon the teachings of only one individual. By so doing, the body will safeguard itself from tragedies like Jonestown, Africa, in which most of the followers of Jim Jones lost their lives by following him in death by suicide.

There are many lesser tragedies that go unnoticed; e.g., when a member of the body of Messiah suffers spiritual shipwreck because of his faith in a particular Scripture teacher who has drifted away from YHWH.[6]

The Scriptures were given to train and instruct each person who would follow YHWH. One so desiring to follow YHWH, must allow YHWH’s written word to penetrate his life and continually change him.

Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

As was shown in the previous chapter, the Holy Spirit is the teacher of truth. As such, He teaches each disciple the truth found in the Scriptures, and then teaches him how to apply this truth to his own life. It is not the disciple in Messiah that does the interpreting of His holy word. The tendency in today’s world is to take one’s own experience and use that as a rule and measure for interpreting YHWH’s word. This will only lead a person into false doctrine and wrong living. However, what each person must do is to allow YHWH’s word to interpret one’s own spiritual experiences. Thus, this ensures that the false is weeded out, and only the true and good remains in one’s life.

2nd Timothy 3:16-17
All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of YHWH may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

While YHWH many times uses a person as His agent to deal with another person and to teach him, that person is still only an agent or messenger of YHWH. The One who is doing the actual dealing is, of course, the Holy Spirit, using His written word in the life of the disciple.

Each individual must continually strive to keep his eyes, even his life, focused upon and following Yeshua, not something or someone else. Doing so will help him to properly interpret and understand what the Scripture says.

[5] The reader will do well to remember that the Scriptures teach that there is but one body. This includes all disciples, both Jew and Gentile; both those who lived before Yeshua’s time, and those who lived after. Many splinter groups try to make more than one body, but this is contrary to YHWH’s word. This is usually done in the attempt to make that particular group “spiritual Israel” (this is what Hitler did, thus justifying the murder of the Jewish people). This is quite dangerous, as Scripture also teaches that there is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile) in the spiritual realm.

[6] Many times what will happen is that a spiritual leader or teacher will fall into sin temporarily and cause others to fall away. The leader may then repent of his sin, but what becomes of those who fell away before he repented? This illustrates the need to follow only YHWH rather than some man, as following Yeshua as Mashiach only will be a safeguard to one’s spiritual life and well-being.