Wwjd

WWJD In 1 John 2:3-6 it is written, "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." (NKJV) "By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy, because everyone having been born of Elohim overcomes the world. And this is the overcoming that has overcome the world: our belief." (1 John 5:2-4) The saying "What Would Jesus Do" has been popular for quite some time among those in the church and there are cloth bracelets and other paraphenalia with the letters "WWJD" to remind us to measure what we do according to what our Savior did when He walked on the earth. This is basically a very good idea. But the question arises, "What did Jesus do?" Is it what we have come to think he did? Is it what the church has told us to do? What does Scripture say that He did? And who is Jesus that we should do what He did? hi 1 John 1:1-2 it is written, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us." The Gospel of John 1:1-3 and 14 states," hi the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made, hi Him was life, and the life was the light of men.^And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." These passages are speaking of our Savior, ("Mashiach" hi Hebrew), who was God in the flesh. If we look at the Scriptures in the original language which was Hebrew, we can see that our Savior was indeed present in the beginning; Revelation 22:13 records Him saying, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End." In Hebrew, He would have been saying "I am the Aleph and the Tav" which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Genesis 1:1 translated word for word from the original Hebrew reads, "Beresheit bara Elohim et hashamayim v'et ha'aretz "In the beginning God aleph-tav created the heavens and the earth." The letters aleph-tav, "et", are found throughout the Scriptures and are often left untranslated. It is a witness of the presence of the Savior at the right hand of the Father in the beginning. The word "Elohim," "mighty one(s)," is the word we translate "God". Elohim means the one, true God when it is capitalized and is also used to mean anything that man believes in or worships as a god when it is not capitalized. Some teach that since it

has the plural ending "im", that Elohim indicates a plurality of God, but the "im" ending in this case indicates fullness, power, or majesty because the verb "bara", "created", is in the singular form. The forms of verbs in Hebrew always match the forms of the nouns that go with that verb. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, "Shema Yisrael, YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH echad." "Hear, O Israel, YHWH [the LORD] our God, YHWH [the LORD] is one.tf This reminder is given to Israel to remind them that the God they worship is not the same as the gods of the other nations who not only often worship multiple gods, but whose gods come in multiple persons as in Babylonian, Roman, Greek, Celtic, Canaanite and many other cultures. (For more information refer to the many excellent books on this subject including, "Come Out of Her My People" by C. J. Koster, "Fossilized Customs" by Lew White, and the "Two Babylons" by Alexander Hyslop.) This is not to say that Elohim cannot and does not manifest Himself in many ways to mankind. The Holy Spirit, the Ruach Elohim or Ruach HaKodesh is described as moving on the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2 and many other places throughout Scripture. YHWH has also manifested as the Son, our Messiah, often called the Angel of YHWH (the LORD) in the Tarakh, the "Old Testament", as well as the fire in the burning bush seen by Moses, a cloud by day and fire by night. The point is that Elohim is not limited in the ways in which he manifests and is able to manifest Himself. He is not limited by man's conceptions of Him. The word "Elohim" is used for God throughout the first chapter of Genesis. Then, in Genesis 2:4 the name "YHWH" is introduced. The name, YHWH, is commonly represented by the word "LORD" in most English translations, a generic title used for false gods and even people, which has reduced the Creator of the universe to a common status and is a violation of the second commandment to not take His name in vain. The name, YHWH, represents Elohim in His relationship with man as a physical being on the earth. The first use of the name YHWH is in Genesis 2:7, "And YHWH Elohim formed the man out of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of life. And the man became a living being." Genesis 1 records the creation of the spirit of man, and in Genesis 2, man's body was formed and the breath of life, the soul, was given to him, and it is here that the name YHWH first appears. YHWH is the name most commonly used for God throughout the Scriptures. This name is explained in Exodus 3:13-14: "And Moses said to Elohim, 'See, when I come to the children of Yisra'el and say to them, "The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His Name?" what shall I say to them? And Elohim said to Moses, 'I am that which I am.'" And Elohim said further to Moses, Thus you are to say to the children of Yisra'el, YHWH Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations," (Exodus 3:15). YHWH is His memorial name. The word translated "remembrance" in the Hebraic understanding means not only to call to mind as we think of the word "remember", but to testify concerning. Thus, this name was given so that we would testify of YHWH in order to honor Him before all

nations. The Jews have hidden the true pronunciation of the name, YHWH, having a superstition against using it, but it is commonly pronounced "Yahweh" or "Yahuweh", or "Yahooeh". In a future time, the correct pronunciation of this name will again be revealed at which time, all who hear it and use it, will fall on their face before Him in reverence and awe because of the power in His name. Does YHWH honor generic titles and false names for Himself? We believe He does, but only out of mercy for us, and not to the extent that He honors His name. Do you want to be called "woman," "man," "husband," by those dear to you? Or would you rather hear your name? The name YHWH is spelled with the Hebrew letters: Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh. Since Hebrew was originally a pictographic (pictorial, as in picture) language, each letter Of the Hebrew alphabet has a meaning in and of itself, each of which contributes to the meaning of all Hebrew words in which those letters are used. The letter Yod represents a hand, Heh represents an opening such as a door, Vav stands for a nail, and the final Heh, again, is a door. The name YHWH is understood to mean the right hand of Elohim (yod, hand) brings deliverance (a way out as through a door), through the nail-pierced hand (Messiah) unto salvation (way out). Therefore the name YHWH refers directly to deliverance by the blood mark over the door during Passover and the sacrifice of the Lamb of Elohim, Messiah, by crucifixion. Therefore, YHWH is truly Elohim in His most personal, intimate relationship with man, an Elohim of great mercy and love who provided Himself as the Lamb to atone for our sins. The name of our Jewish Messiah, Yahushua or Yahshua, comes from the name YHWH and is spelled Yod-Heh-Vav-Shin-Ayin. The first 3 letters are the same as YHWH and the last 2 letters refer to the word "yehshua" which means "salvation". Anytime you read the word "salvation" in the Scriptures, the original word is "yeshua". The name "Yahshua" or "Yahushua" means "Yahweh is our Salvation." YHWH brings deliverance by manifesting Himself as "Salvation," "yeshua", in the flesh. Yahshua is the door or the way back to YHWH the Father. In John 8:58 it is written, "Yahshua said to them [the Yehudim, the Jews], Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am."' The response to this statement was that they picked up stones to stone him. Why? Because He indicated that He is YHWH (the "I am", the Uncreated One Who was, Is, and Is to come) to refer to Himself indicating that He is YHWH Elohim. hi 1 Corinthians 12:3 it is written, "Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of Elohim says Yahshua is a curse, and no one is able to say that Yahshua is Lord except by the Set-apart [Holy] Spirit." When consulting an Interlinear version of the Bible in which the original language has the Strong's number immediately above it, it can be seen that he word translated "Lord" in this passage is "kurios" in the Greek, Strong's number 2962. New Unger's Bible Dictionary under its entry for the word "Lord" equates the term "ho Kurios" with "Jehovah" which is in Hebrew, "YHWH" states that it is the name of God most frequently used in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Jews do not have trouble believing that YHWH is their salvation. Many Jews do have trouble, however, believing that YHWH can manifest Himself in the flesh and still be YHWH. They also do not believe in a Jesus who has purportedly done away with Torah( as is erroneously taught by many Christians), because they know that this is the mark of a false prophet (Acts 6:13-14). However, many Jews have believed in Messiah down through the ages and many more are coming to the understanding that Yahshua was that Messiah. Yahshua is the living Word of God, "logos" in Greek. John 1:14 states, "And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us." John 1:18 says that, "No one has ever seen Elohim [God]. The only brought-forth Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He did declare." Yahshua is a visible manifestation of the invisible YHWH Elohim. Exodus 19:20 says that, "YHWH came down upon Mount Sinai." And He gave the words of the Torah, the teachings and instructions for how to live to the people. Exodus/Shemot 15:1-6 records Moses and the children of Israel singing a song to YHWH after their delivery from Pharoah and his army at the Red Sea: "I sing to YHWH, for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my deliverance...YHWH is a man of battle, YHWH is His Name...Your right hand, O YHWH, has become great in power. Your right hand, O YHWH has crushed the enemy." The word translated deliverance in this passage is" yeshua", Strong's number 3444. Zechariah/Zekaryah 14:3-4 reads, "And YHWH shall go forth, and He shall fight against those gentiles, as He fought in the day of battle. And in that day His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives..." YHWH will go forth and fight for Jerusalem as He fought previously in the day of battle. The day of battle refers back to Exodus 15 when the right hand of YHWH fought for the children of Israel. Whose feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives? The feet of YHWH Yahshua when He returns to the earth. Since verse three says "YHWH," and verse four talks about Yahshua's feet on the Mount of Olives, it is clear that Yahshua is YHWH. hi John 10:30 Yahushua says, "I and My Father are one." He is One with the Father and He is the Word which was with Elohim in the beginning made flesh. Let us now look at the topic "What Would Jesus Do"? Or, better, what did Jesus/Yahushua do? It is written, "And when eight days were completed for Him to be circumcised, His Name was called Yahushua [a pronunciation of the exact spelling in the Scriptures], the Name given by the messenger before He was conceived in the womb." (Luke 2:21) "And when the days of her [Mary's] cleansing according to the Torah of Mosheh were completed, they brought Him to Yerushalayim to present Him to Yahuweh-as it has been written in the Torah of YHWH, 'Every male who opens the womb shall be called set-apart to YHWH'-and to give an offering according to what is said in the Torah of YHWH." (Luke 2:22-24) "And when they had accomplished all matters according to the Torah of YHWH, they returned to Galil, to their city Natsareth." (Luke 2:39) "And His parents went to Yerushalayim every year at the Festival of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Yerushalayim according to the practice of the festival." (Luke 2:41-42) "And He came to Natsareth, where He had been brought up. And

according to His practice, he went into the congregation on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." (Luke 4:16) "And it came to be when He was in a certain city, that see, a man covered with leprosy saw Yahushua. And he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, 'Master, if You desire, You are able to cleanse me. And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I desire it. Be cleansed.' And immediately the leprosy left him. And He ordered him to say it to no one, 'But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as a witness to them, as Mosheh commanded." (Luke 5:12-14) "And the Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover had to be slaughtered. And He sent Kepha and Yohanan, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat."' (Luke 22:7-8) It is clear from these passages that Yahushua worshipped on the Sabbath (the seventh day) and He kept the feasts and other commandments of Moses and taught others to do so. What He did not do was subscribe to the traditions and commandments of men and it was this which sometimes put Him into conflict with the Pharisees who were requiring things of people which were in addition to the written Torah of Moses. We have sometimes been wrongly taught that Yahshua did away with the Torah, called the "law" in our English translations. That this is not the case is shown in Matthew 5:17-18. It is written, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done." Some translations read "fulfill" for the word here translated as "complete". The word translated "complete" or "fulfill" is the Greek word "pleroo," Strong's number 4137, "to make replete, i.e. literally to cram." The word fulfill means to fill full of meaning, hi the original understanding of the term from the Hebrew, in the Yeshiva schools where Torah is taught when the Torah is fulfilled, it means that Scripture has been correctly and completely interpreted and is said to be made to "stand up". When Scripture is incorrectly interpreted, it is said to be "destroyed." Yahushua came to demonstrate the correct and full understanding of the Torah ("law") and the Prophets." He did not come to destroy (abolish, anul). Furthermore Matthew 5:19 states, "Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens." Which commandments is Yahushua talking about? He is talking about what is in the Tanakh or "Old Testament," the instruction and commandments which everyone in His day knew about, what was given at Mt. Sinai. There were no other Scriptures in the days of Yahshua or His disciples since the "New Testament" was not codified until the year 325. Yahshua said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) Another word for keep is "guard". If Yahshua and the Father are one and there is only one God/Elohim, then nothing has changed since the beginning of time as far as what

these commandments are except that the temple sacrifices are not being offered at this time. It was always known that the blood of bulls and lambs did not pay the penalty for sin unto salvation. It was Messiah who was to come, who would provide this payment and to whom those in ancient times looked ahead as the means of their salvation, just as we today look back. Temple sacrifice restored closeness with YHWH for those who trusted in His provided atonement. In 1 John 5:2-3 it is written: "By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy." And again in 2 John 1:5-6 it is written: "And now I ask you, Kuria, not as though I wrote a fresh command to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. And this is the love, that we walk according to His commands. This is the command, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." Levels defined as guarding or keeping His commandments by walking in the commandments or doing the commandments. In Hebraic thinking, acting in obedience is considered to be part of hearing. The word for hearing/obeying in Hebrew is "schema". "Not everyone, who says to Me, 'Master, Master,' shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. Many shall say to Me in that day, 'Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?' And then shall I declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21-23). The word "lawlessness" means not practicing, Torah. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7, 8, 9 reads, "Let no one deceive you in any way, because the falling away is to come first, and the man of lawlessness [some translations say "sin"] is to be revealed—For the secret of lawlessness is already at work...And then the lawless one shall be revealed...The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan." So therefore, the word translated "lawless," in Greek, "anomia" Strong's number 458, means "without law," (without Torah), and sometimes is translated sin or wickedness or iniquity and it is connected with Satan and the anti-Messiah. The word translated "knew" in the Hebrew is a sexual term (as in "Adam knew his wife and she conceived") which indicates the intimate relationship of marriage. In other words there will be many who think that they are the bride of Yahshua and they will not be. Why? Because they do not demonstrate their love for YHWH Elohim by obedience to His commandments. In truth, they do not love in a Scriptural sense. In Luke 14 beginning in verse 16 is a parable, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all is now ready.' But one by one they all began making excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I need to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, 'I have married a wife, and because of this I am unable to come." And that servant came and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house,

being wroth, said to his servant, 'Hurry out into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and crippled, and lame, and blind.' And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room. And the master said to the servant, ' Go out into the street corners and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house is filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' In this parable, the man giving the feast is YHWH. Those who were first invited are those who do not consider YHWH important enough to come to His appointed times, His feasts. They are not willing to come because they regard the Torah as foolishness or they regard other things in their lives to be more important than the God of the Universe. The poor, crippled, lame, and blind are those who have been humbled by life and know that they need to put YHWH first in their lives. They know that it is impossible to serve two masters. The various types of people receiving the word, whether a word unto salvation or of obedience to Torah, are illustrated in the parable of the sower, Matthew/Mattityahu 13. The sower (Yahshua) came and sowed the seed (the word) and some fell by the wayside where the birds came and devoured it, and some fell on rocky places with little soil and it sprang up but quickly became scorched by the sun, and some fell among thorns and was choked out, and some fell on good soil. With some people, Satan immediately takes the word away, with others there is a joyful receiving but they can't take the heat of being persecuted for their faith and so it withers. With others, the cares of daily living always have more importance than learning about and serving YHWH. And with others, there is a fruitful yield. Another parable in Matthew 22 says that "The reign of the heavens is like a man, a sovereign, who made a wedding feast for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast. But they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, Say to those who are invited, 'See, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle are slaughtered, and all is ready. Come to the wedding feast.' But they disregarded it and went their way-this one to his field, that one to his trade. And the rest, having seized his servants, insulted and killed them. But when the sovereign heard, he was wroth, and sent out his soldiers, destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire. Then he said to his servants, ' The wedding feast, indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go in to the street corners and as many as you find, invite to the wedding feast. And those servants went out into the street corners and gathered all whom they found, both wicked and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. And when the sovereign came in to view the guests, he saw there a man who had not put on a wedding garment, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the sovereign said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him out into the outer darkness-there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." In this parable the supper is the marriage supper of the lamb. Those who were first invited are too busy or uncaring to do the will of the Father. This describes many

8 who are in the believing community today who cannot or will not hear the importance of this invitation. The wedding guests are those who have put on the wedding garment, the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:8). The would-be wedding guest was invited, but He had not clothed Himself in the doing of righteousness. He only knew about righteousness. "Outer darkness" in the Scriptures always refers to any place in the tabernacle which is outside the Holy of Holies because the Holy of Holies is lit by the light of the Shechinah glory. The rest of the tabernacle, being lit by natural light, is dark by comparison, the word in Greek is "skia" meaning shadow. All those who are in the tabernacle are saved. They made it in the door. But only those in the Holy Place will be at the wedding and only those who are in the Holy of Holies, the place where the marriage is consummated, will be the Bride of Yahshua. The ones outside the Holy of Holies will weep and gnash their teeth when they realize what they have missed. The doors into the tabernacle are called "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Therefore, those in the outer court knew the way in and made it in. They accepted the sacrifice of Yahshua (brazen altar) and were washed, mikvehed(baptized) (brazen laver), but they did not care so much to keep learning about YHWH Yahshua. Another group, kept pursuing truth, and made it into the Holy Place and are partaking of the showbread (the deeper things in the word) and prayer (the golden altar of incense) and are being led by the Holy Spirit of Yahshua (the menorrah, the lampstand) as a guide, but they never were chosen to walk in Torah, the ark of the covenant containing the commandments, and to be mature co-workers with Yahshua, priests in the kingdom. Another parable describes ten virgins. It is written in Matthew 25, "Then the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five foolish. Those who were foolish, having taken their lamps, took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard, 'See the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!1 Then all those maidens rose up and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, "No, indeed, there would not be enough for us and you. Instead, go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.1 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. And later the other maidens also came, saying, 'Master, Master, open up for us!' But he answering, said, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is coming." The word "virgin" refers to believers in Yahshua and the word for a group of ten is a "minyan". A minyan was the minimum number of righteous that it would have taken to save Sodom and Gomorrah and so the ten virgins refers to a congregation of righteous-believers in Yahushua. They all have lamps, the word of YHWH ("thy word is a lamp unto my feet"). They all have salvation.

Five of the virgins are wise and five are foolish. The Hebrew word for the wise virgins is "na'arah" meaning "young woman" indicating that they have grown to maturity and the word for foolish is "p'tee" which means "simple' or "immature" and indicates that these are still childish in their faith. They have not grown to the stage where they will be co-servers with Yahshua, but still just want to receive all the blessings and not do the things which YHWH requires of them. The reason that the foolish virgins are simple or immature is because they have not filled their lamps with oil. It is up to us to fill our lamps "go buy for yourselves." The oil represents Torah, the first five books of the Scriptures. In other words, these believers have been exposed to the word of YHWH, but they have not studied and filled themselves with an understanding of the word according to truth through studying and practicing Torah and therefore they have not come to maturity, to a marriageble age. They enter in through the wide gate rather than the narrow gate (Mattityahu/Matthew 7:14). They are not doers of the word as written in the book of James. Psalm 119:142 says, "Your righteousness is righteousness forever, And Your Torah [word] is truth". Therefore, when the bridegroom comes, these believers are not ready and the door is shut. Notice that the five foolish virgins cry out, "Master, Master". They know who He is, they know "about" Him, but He does not "know" them because they were not inclined to learn His ways. Examples of the Bride of Yahshua learning the King's ways are Chadassah in the book of Esther, and Ruth. Esther, Chadassah, learns the ways of the king in order to be pleasing to him, and is willing to sacrifice herself for her people, and she is chosen as the bride, and Ruth learns the ways of the Israelites, forsaking her old way of life, and learning the ways of Israel which is Torah. When the light (sign) of the coming of Yahushua appears in the blackness of space (Matthew 24;27,30), there will be those who will suddenly realize that they are not prepared to meet Him and they will not have enough time to grow up spiritually. They did not have enough oil in their lamps to carry them to the high place in the kingdom This is one of the reasons why James warns us to be doers of the word and not only hearers. (James 1:22) This is also why Yahushua says that some will be great in the kingdom of heaven and some least. In summary, the answer to the question, "What Would Jesus/Yahushua Do?" is that He would go to a congregation where Moses is taught (Acts 15) on the Sabbath (7th day), He would keep the feasts of YHWH (Passover, etc.), He would follow the laws of Moses and study the Torah and He would encourage others to do the same. There is nothing in the Scriptures about Yahshua (or anyone else) worshipping on Sunday or celebrating Christmas or Easter or Halloween in place of the feasts of YHWH (Lev. 23). Daniel warned that the times and seasons, which are the sabbaths and feast days of YHVH, would be changed and that has indeed happened, but YHWH is doing a great work of restoration in these times. Those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to obey are coming out of paganism and returning to Torah, the faith once delivered to the saints.