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 3:
The Holy Spirit is The Teacher of Truth

Schoolroom blackboard

The previous two chapters would be entirely meaningless if a person does not have the Holy Spirit to guide and teach him. The Scripture is a unique book in that it is a spiritual book, the Word of YHWH. Because it was not written by man in the normal sense, but inspired by YHWH, His help is needed to understand what is being read. One such passage that teaches this principle is:

Qorintyah Aleph (1st Corinthians) 2:10-14
10 But YHWH has revealed them to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of YHWH.
11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of YHWH no man knows but the Spirit of YHWH.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of YHWH; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by YHWH.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of YHWH; for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

And again:

Yochanan (John) 14:16, 17, 26
16 “And I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever;
17 even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows him; but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you.”
26“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.”

If one wants to be able to understand what the Scripture says, then one needs to have the Holy Spirit. This is not an option, but an absolute necessity. Without the Spirit of YHWH in a person’s life, it is not possible to have a proper and true understanding of His word.

The Spirit comes into a person’s life when that person gives his life to Messiah by repenting and asking for forgiveness of his sins. Then, as these verses teach, he will have the Helper to teach him. Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, He will teach true disciples what the Scripture is truly saying.

In order for this to be accomplished, a learner’s heart is needed. Openness and honesty are virtues that are very essential to learning truth. This cannot be done partially or half-heartedly.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:2
Blessed are they that keep His testimonies
And that seek Him with the whole heart.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:58a
I entreated Your favor with my whole heart:

As seen in these verses, seeking the truth of YHWH should be done with all of one’s heart. The implication is that if seeking His truth is attempted with only a half-hearted attitude or an attitude that is not pure and pleasing to YHWH, then what will be gained is something less than the whole truth.

While as finite imperfect humans in this life it is not possible to gain the entirety of truth, one can and must seek it with his whole being. How this works out in the life of the disciple, is that when a new truth is encountered, it is tried and tested; and once proven to be the truth, it is then accepted and incorporated into the life of the disciple. Thus, the new truth replaces the false doctrine that was once a part of the disciple and error is rejected, thus showing us that there is constant growth and change in one’s spiritual understanding as we follow Yeshua our Mashiach.

Purity of heart is another condition for knowing and understanding Scripture. The implication of this can be clearly seen in the following verse.

Tehillim (Psalm) 73:1
Truly YHWH is good to Israel,
Even to such as are of a clean heart.

Each person has preconceived ideas, assumptions, and prejudices[4] that hinder one’s search for truth in understanding the Scripture. These are impurities within one’s heart which need to be dealt with. The Holy Spirit knows and is aware of these in a person’s life even if the individual is not. One just needs to ask that these impurities and hindrances be revealed. He will not only reveal them but also help one to overcome them as long as one is honest and sincere in this request.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 4:12
For the word of YHWH is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Scripture is reasonable and logical as well. This is important to understand especially when reading studies and articles written by man, including this present study. If what one is reading does not seem reasonable or logical, then it most likely is not according to Scripture. The Holy Spirit can show this to anyone who asks that this be revealed to him. Two of the verses that reveal this principle are:

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 1:18a
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says YHWH,

Ma’aseh (Acts) 17:2
And Shaul, as his manner was, went in to them, and three Shabbat days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,

There are three things a person needs to ask for if Scripture is to be properly understood and rightly divided, as examined in this chapter. First, a learner’s heart should be asked for. A person who has a learner’s heart is a person who can objectively listen to another person’s ideas without feeling threatened. He will also be able to judge the soundness of that idea using the Scripture as the rule of measure. Furthermore, he is willing to learn the lessons YHWH is trying to teach to him through his life’s situations.

Second, any misconceptions, preconceived ideas, assumptions, or prejudices that would hinder one’s understanding the truth of Scripture, need to be revealed by the Holy Spirit. Then these need to be dealt with in such a manner as to enable one to see what Scripture is teaching.

Third, Scripture is reasonable and logical, but this may not be seen unless one asks the Holy Spirit to reveal it to him. These three things are needed, founded in the realization that it is the Holy Spirit who is the teacher of truth, not this author or any other person, or any particular denomination, or organization. This is particularly important to understand and cannot be over emphasized! Then one will be well on his way to being able to grasp the truth of the Scripture. And in this particular context, to be able to grasp and understand the prophecies concerning the return of Yeshua Messiah contained within the YHWH’s Scripture.

[4]Some of these will take the form of denominational dogma in which the individual has been indoctrinated. This type of prejudice can be especially difficult to overcome. So, student of Scripture – beware!