“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of Yah, and have the testimony of YahShua ha Mashiach.”
Revelation 12:17
“I am Alef and Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:13-14
“In that I command you this day to love YHVH your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply: and YHVH your Elohim shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.”
Deuteronomy 30:16
Love should always lead to obedience. In fact, love is obedience. This is what the Messiah YahShua speaks to us in John 14 when He says, “He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me, and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”
Keeping His instructions (the Torah), brings blessings and protection. As the world chases after the anti-Messiah and sinks into the Beastly system, Yah’s people will be known as those who keep the Torah. By obeying Yah’s commandments, we will have the protection we need during the Great Tribulation.
I remember very vividly the first time obeying Torah brought blessing to my life.
I had been working for The Oregonian newspaper for a little over nine months. In the basement of the oldest building in Portland, the inside sales crew worked from a row of cubicles, selling the paper over the phone. Plugged into an auto dialer, we called virtually non-stop throughout the day.
One of the requirements for employment was to make calls at least one Saturday per month, which tended to be the highest sales day.
Only a few weeks after I had started working at The Oregonian, I had been invited to a Messianic Jewish congregation. Stepping into the dimly lit auditorium, the strong Hebrew chords resonated deep within my heart. I remember feeling as if I had entered a completely different world -- and indeed I would soon discover Truth about the Bible that I had never considered before.
It was not long before I became convicted that the 7th day of the week, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, was a time to set aside for Yah. It was the sabbath day. For several months I agonized over the conviction to honor the shabbat, yet realizing I had not even worked at The Oregonian for a year, knowing that if I requested Saturdays off, I would more than likely be fired.
My gut clenched, sweat coated my palms and my thoughts raced as I stepped into the glassed office of my boss. He sat across from me at his desk, eyes narrowing, wondering why I had asked for this special meeting.
“I’ve been convicted by God that I need to keep shabbat -- Saturday. It’s a day I’m supposed to rest and honor YHVH, and so even if I lose my job, I just can’t work on Saturdays anymore.”
At first he said nothing. Studying me. The silence deepened, and I felt sure he would fire me. Then a broad smile filled his face, and he shrugged. “Daniel, you’ve been a very hard worker. A great employee. I don’t want to lose you. Take Saturdays off from now on.”
Later that afternoon, as I emerged from work, I danced for joy, lifting my hands in the air and shouting a a very loud -- HallaluYAH!
The blessings did not stop. In the coming weeks and months, I became one of the top 5 salesmen on the inside sales team. Despite not working Saturdays, my sales either topped or nearly matched all those who did continue to work on the highest sales day at the office. Yah blessed me more than I could possibly imagine.
When Abba promises to bring us blessings, to shield us, with His Torah -- He means it. Even the very word Torah, often translated into English Bibles as “law”, is better translated as “instructions”. Instructions gives us a much more fuller understanding of Torah. When we think of instructions, we think of guidelines or rules meant for our benefit, to keep us safe and protected. Indeed, Torah are the instructions of how to live a blessed and protected life.
There are so many unseen evil spirits “seeking whom they may devour”. But the Torah literally acts as a holy armor, giving us both protection and a means to fight, making our foot steps sure. When we choose, for example, to keep the sabbath, we are protected from pitfalls that we can neither predict nor see.
These evil spirits are much more cunning and crafty than us. They deal in deception and trickery. And the more they can get us to willfully or ignorantly disobey the Torah, the easier time they have in misleading us. When Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Good and Evil, they lusted after knowledge before obedience. But partaking of the Tree of Life -- the Torah -- requires us to obey before knowledge. Once we humbly do what Abba has commanded us to do, then He begins to draw close to us in ways unimaginable, leading us in the ways of wisdom.
This is why David cries out in Psalm 119:97-100: “Oh how I love Your Torah! It is my meditation all the day. You through Your commandments have made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me, I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.”
There is no way we can outwit the enemy. We cannot put our brain cells against the cunning craftiness of Satan and his minions. But the one thing we can do, that the devils refuse, is to obey Abba. Satan works tirelessly to keep people from learning and obeying the Torah out of a love for YHVH, because he knows that obedience hampers him from wreaking havoc in a person’s life.
The Great Tribulation will be a time in which the enemy will be greatly multiplied, working overtime in concert with the great delusion YHVH will send upon those who love a lie, to deceive, distort, twist and mislead. If ever there will be a time when compliance to the Torah will be essential, it will be during the Great Tribulation.
