Table Of Contents...

Quest For The ETERNAL.

The ETERNAL was a friend of Abraham. (Isaiah 41:8).

Quest for the Abrahamic (Hebrew) Faith.
You too, can become a friend of the ETERNAL CREATOR.

Chapter One.
The Old Testament is The Consecrated Hebrew Scripture. But, what is the true faith of these Hebrew Scriptures?

The Designer of the universe must have an overall plan for ALL of the inhabitants of the earth. This is a search for that plan. The stars in the sky are proof of an overall power in the universe that somehow put them all in place and controls all that there is. Our goal is to search out and find what the CREATOR's will is for all of His creation.

Our Quest will focus on the ancient writings of the Hebrew people. These writings were inspired by our CREATOR. They were chosen because there are no mediating documents that our CREATOR has authorized. His Scriptures stand alone as the only authority of His will. There are NO religious factions that are based strictly on His Scripture alone. All religions factions[1] are based on other writings. We will discover that the Abrahamic Faith is based upon the Hebrew Scriptures alone. In our study, we will look at and compare the Hebrew Faith with religions which are governed by their own mediating writings.[2] We will be specifically looking at the religion of Judaism, the religion of Christianity, and the religion of Islam.

It is true that the religion of Judaism claims to be based on these ancient writings, but they have other books that are just as, or even more, consecrated to them. In our Quest we must seek out only the inspired writings by the CREATOR Himself that stand alone and has a plan for ALL of mankind. The Hebrew Scriptures are the only writings that fit this requirement.

What does the word "Hebrew" mean? The answer to that question is straight out of the Hebrew Scriptures (known as the Old Testament):

(Jonah 1:7-9).[3] (NKJV) ⁷And they [the sailors] said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" ⁹So, he [Jonah] said to them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the ETERNAL, the CREATOR of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

The Hebrew Scribes translated the Paleo Hebrew Name into modern Hebrew as "(YHWH)" which Dr. James Moffatt translates as the ETERNAL in his English translation of the Scriptures. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible also gives the ETERNAL as a meaning of "(YHWH)". Like Dr. Moffatt, I use the meaning the ETERNAL for Name because this calls immediate attention to the actual name rather than a title or description for the CREATOR.

Jonah said, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the ETERNAL [ONE single Being] the CREATOR of the heavens who made the seas and the dry land." Notice that Jonas did not say that he was an Israelite or a Jew. He describes himself as a Hebrew[4] Since he is certainly not a Gentile, and since Hebrew's are set apart, he placed himself on the other side of a moral divide with the Hebrews on one side and everyone else on the other side.

Jonah's answer to the question is the subject for today. It is important that we understand what our CREATOR would have us do. Although we say that we believe in the ONE true CREATOR, we certainly need to know that He has only ONE set of Scriptures. Since we emphatically say that we only believe in The Hebrew Scriptures, we must make sure that we do not identify with any of the other books that could be used to override the Hebrew Scripture. Having made that point clear, there is still a lot that we need to do in order to live by the writings of The Hebrew Scriptures. First, we will look at what it means to be a Hebrew:

(Genesis 14:12-13) (NKJV) ¹²They [the kings that had gone to war against Sodom] also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. ¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.

(Genesis 14:13) is the first time the word 'Hebrew' is used in the Scriptures. We are focusing on the faith that Abram lived by - the Faith of Abraham the Hebrew. What is that faith? Notice immediately that one of the first times Abram is mentioned in Scripture, he is called 'a Hebrew'. The story flow is that the CREATOR told Abram to leave the country and he did so without question.

(Genesis 12:1) (NKJV) Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.

(Genesis 12:4-5) (NKJV) ⁴So Abram departed as the ETERNAL had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

Notice that when Abram was told to do something, that he did it immediately. Abram obeyed the CREATOR. Why would Abram obey? What is it about the CREATOR that could cause Abram to have this kind of faith to obey ALL the things the CREATOR told him to do? Remember at this time that Abram did not know what he was getting into. He had no idea where he was going or what the future held. All he knew was that he was going to a place which the CREATOR would show him. Abram was tested to see if he was a man who would obey his Creator. Again, Abram was tested. Notice:

(Genesis 22:1-5) (NKJV) ¹Now it came to pass after these things that the ETERNAL tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. ²Then He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. ³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which the ETERNAL had told him. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.

Notice Abram said 'we' which is plural. WE will come back to you. To quote that verse from the King James Version:

(Genesis 22:5) (KJV) And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

Abram was confident that he would come back with his son, Isaac. Thus, we see that Abram obeyed because he knew he could trust what the ETERNAL told him. But, what had the the ETERNAL told him that made him think he would be able to come back to the men with his son? Notice:

(Genesis 12:1-3) (NKJV) ¹Now the ETERNAL had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. ²I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

What was the promise that the ETERNAL made to Abram? The ETERNAL promised Abram that from his descendents would be a great nation. According to the ETERNAL, Isaac was the son from which this promised nation would come. Consequently, Abraham trusted the ETERNAL to do just what He said He would do even if it meant that the ETERNAL would have to bring Isaac back to life.

(Genesis 12:4) (NKJV) So Abram departed as the ETERNAL had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

ETERNAL had promised Abraham that many descendents would come from him, so Abraham was not worried. Now back to Genesis.

(Genesis 22:6-8) (NKJV) ⁶So, Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac[5] his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together. ⁷But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said "My father." And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" ⁸And Abraham said, "My son, [the] CREATOR will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering." So the two of them went on together.

Again, Abraham is showing why he obeyed. He obeyed because he trusted his CREATOR. As you will see, that has an even deeper meaning. Now, down to verse nine.

(Genesis 22:9-12) (NKJV) ⁹Then they came to the place which the ETERNAL had told him; and Abraham built there an altar and placed the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹But the angel of the ETERNAL called to him from heaven and said Abraham! Abraham! So, he [Abraham] said Here I am. ¹²And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear your CREATOR since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Him.

Abraham proved that he trusted our CREATOR. The ETERNAL then knew[6] that Abraham was obedient and that He could trust Abraham. This is the faith of Abraham - the Abrahamic faith, or the Hebrew faith. There is but a single faith, in a single CREATOR, and that faith is based solely on The Hebrew Scriptures. When I say The Consecrated Scriptures, or The Hebrew Scriptures, I am referring to what the world commonly calls [The Old Testament]. This one faith, was indeed the faith of all the ancients from Seth to Noah to Shem to Abraham and then to Moses. It was and still is the ONE AND ONLY true faith of mankind. This faith is neither Christian nor Jewish nor Islamic in any modern sense of those terms. All religions are man made, and are based only partly on "the True Faith", but mostly from their own mediating documents. All religions are a deviation from THE TRUTH, and all religions use their own 'Sacred Religious Texts'*, taught by their own 'Personal Religious Advisers'**, as their main authority.

So, what is the religion of Abraham? Abraham DID NOT HAVE a religion. Was Abraham a Jew? Was Abraham a Christian? Was Abraham an Islamic? NO!!! Abraham lived by faith - the faith that the CREATOR Himself instructed Abraham to live by. How would you label Abram's faith? In addition, what about Enoch, Noah, Shem, Moses, David, or any of the Hebrew Prophets? These men loved their CREATOR and obeyed Him. They did not add to His Instructions [Commandments, Laws, Ordinances, and Statutes], nor did they take away from them. They simply obeyed. For more on this topic, see the article: 'Must We Keep The Commandments And Laws Today'?

In Scripture, our forefathers [Patriarchs] are called Hebrews or Israelites. For many years now the Jewish people refer to the forefathers [Patriarchs] as Jews but that is not correct. According to our CREATOR's words, they are Hebrews or Israelites. The terms Israelites or Hebrews also include the Jewish people; but the Jews only make up 1/13th of all of the Israelites. The Jews are only one tribe out of thirteen tribes.[7]

Here are two very important questions that we can look at here. Please think about them. What religion or faith did our forefathers [Patriarchs] practice? Is that religion or faith around today? Those are excellent questions because there are not many who practice what The Hebrew Scriptures state. This matter of labeling a religion is confusing. Most of us have worn such labels at one time or another. Many of us have changed from one religion to another in the course of our Quest for truth. I believe a growing number of people would like to resist such tags and labels, and somehow get back to the core Scriptural faith. An increasing number of believers desire to be nondenominational; free from the fetters of man-made religious organizations and creeds.

This one Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith was indeed the faith of all the ancients from Enoch to Abraham and later to Moses[8]. It always was and still is the one true Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith. True faith is neither Christian nor Jewish nor any other man-made religion. Thus, there is a lot that we must still learn and understand. The Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith of the ancients, as defined in the Hebrew Scriptures [The Old Testament], is the only faith which claims to serve a sole 'CREATOR' who is 'ETERNAL', and that recognizes Him as the sole 'SOVEREIGN' of the Universe. In saying that, I recognize that many of us may have just come into this knowledge, and that it takes time to change belief patterns and habit patterns, that we have held for our entire lifetimes. But as you will soon see, there is only 'ONE CREATOR' who wants you to come to love Him, as He loves you. That is the true Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith, taught in the Hebrew Scriptures.

So to recap: The Hebrew Scriptures [The Torah and The Tanakh], and they alone, are the sole written Words of the ETERNAL CREATOR and SOVEREIGN of the universe. We must live by these words. I have used the three main Western religions in my examples, the ones that we have just mentioned, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because all three claim to go back to this one man Abraham, as their founding father.

Friend of The ETERNAL.

What is the basis of Abraham's faith? We need to know this because Abraham is uniquely called, 'the friend of the ETERNAL' in Isaiah.

(Isaiah 41:8) (NKJV) But you, Israel, are My servant Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.

The ETERNAL our SOVEREIGN, calls Abraham His friend. The English word translated 'friend' comes from the Hebrew word 'ohad' which comes from the verbal root 'ahed' (Strongs #H157)[9] and means "to love or to have affection for." It is a strong and tender word of affection and devotion and is even used for a passionate lover. The simple but deeply meaningful description 'friend' captures the essence of what I want us to come to understand. What would it mean to live by the faith of Abraham? It would mean 'to be the friend of the ETERNAL', and for Him to say of us that we are His friends.

The 'Abrahamic Faith' or 'Hebrew Faith' is the core Scriptural faith, and it is well represented by Abraham. It centers on three fundamental concepts. Simply put, the first one is to know the one true CREATOR[10] or The Almighty. The second one is to follow the way of the CREATOR. Additionally, the third one is to participate in the universal plan of the CREATOR for mankind.

These concepts can be stated just that simply, but each one involves profound areas of Scriptural revelation. Millions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims claim to represent the truth in these three vital areas. Yet, they are hopelessly divided as to an understanding of who the CREATOR is and how one might have an intimate relationship with Him, much less understand His way for mankind and the ultimate purpose or plan of our SOVEREIGN for our future.

This Scriptural revelation can be understood plainly. It carries a unifying message in each of these areas: knowing that our ETERNAL SOVEREIGN is ONE, the thoughts of our ETERNAL SOVEREIGN, and the plan that our ETERNAL SOVEREIGN has for us. This Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith is just that clear. It involves a singular faith that was shared by all the ancients. In other words, this one true faith for all mankind has not changed over the ages, yet, it is surprisingly different from what most people assume the Scriptures say. And that is because you do not hear this message coming from any pulpits in this land. This understanding has become almost wholly lost or even rejected by most of those who claim to follow Scriptural revelations. It is seemingly understood and lived by only a few. Still, if we are to believe the Prophets, this Abrahamic faith is the definite wave of the future. The Prophets foretell of a time when this specific wave will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

The Messianic Age.

(Isaiah 11:1) (NKJV) There shall come forth a rod from Jesse, the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots.

(Isaiah 11:10) (NKJV) And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

This is referring to King David[11] when he will be called out of his grave and stand upright. He will then sprout out of his roots:

(Isaiah 11:2-10) (NKJV) ²The spirit of the ETERNAL shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of council and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the ETERNAL. ³His delight is in the fear of the ETERNAL and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide with the hearing of his ear, ⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with a rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall slay the wicked. ⁵Righteousness shall be in his loins and faithfulness the belt of his waist. ⁶The wolf shall dwell with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf, the young lion, the fatling together, and the child shall lead them. ⁷The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸The nursing child shall play on the cobra's hole and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. ⁹They shall not hurt nor destroy in all of My consecrated mountain for the earth shall be full of the ETERNAL as the waters cover the seas. ¹⁰And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek him, and his resting place shall be glorious.

The English word 'root' is translated from the Hebrew word 'sheresh', (Strong's H8328), and means 'a root.' Root comes from (Strong's H8327), 'sharash', which means, 'to strike the soil, to pluck from.' In other words, "there shall be a root of Jesse that will be plucked from the soil, he shall stand as a banner to his people, for him Gentiles shall seek, and where he is will be a glorious place on earth." The time is coming upon the earth when the way of the ETERNAL will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

We Must Return to the Ancient of Days.

What I am giving you is a clarion call for the restoration of the True Faith. The ETERNAL CREATOR told Ancient Israel:

(Zechariah 1:3) (NKJV) Therefore say to them, Thus says the SOVEREIGN of hosts: return to Me says the SOVEREIGN of hosts, and I will return to you says the SOVEREIGN of hosts.

There is a vital principle involved here and the Scriptures say much about why and how the CREATOR has actually hidden Himself from all of mankind. We must first return to our CREATOR. Long ago Moses spoke of such a return:

(Deuteronomy 4:29) (NKJV) You will seek the ETERNAL, your CREATOR, and you will find him if you search for Him with all your heart and with all of your soul.

The Prophets make clear that the Gentile nations of the world will eventually return to the ancient faith (Jeremiah 16:19-21) This great return, this restoration of all things, is part of the CREATOR's Plan. There will come a time when the ETERNAL will set His hand and bring all nations to Himself. The beginnings of that appears to be unfolding in our time - right now in the 21st century.

At this point in history, reconciliation to the ETERNAL is totally an individual matter. It is up to each individual to Quest for, and to find, 'The Ancient of Days'. Those of you who are reading this material, praying for knowledge, studying with all of their heart and with all of their soul, will find Him. That is His promise to you. Today, those who have sought for truth, who feel rejected by those around them, who have a deep inner spiritual motivation to actually return to the ETERNAL ONE's original Scriptural faith will be few. The pressures from family, friends, religion, tradition, and the comfort one finds in staying with what he has always believed, make it very easy to stay with those beliefs. Others have been burned out by chasing down untrue and misleading biblical claims, given to them by false teachers [ministers, priests, etc] either intentionally or unintentionally. The result, is that it is hard now to make an honest and absolute open commitment to search for and find the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Especially when you are told that the ETERNAL's Holy Scriptures [The Torah and The Tanakh] are 'old' and no longer valid because the so-called [New Testament]™ book of deception has replaced it, and it was Nailed To The Cross.

Still, there are those of us who would be drawn to this ancient Way, and in being drawn we return directly to the ETERNAL CREATOR, the SOVEREIGN of the universe. We cannot return to any human being or organization but only to our SOVEREIGN. The rewards and satisfactions are great. It is like having a veil lifted from our eyes which brings clarity of understanding and a renewed purpose in life (Isaiah 25:6-7).

Ultimately, it is our CREATOR Himself who calls us into an understanding of His true faith. Yet, we are told at the same time to Quest for Him with all our heart and soul. Is that a contradiction? No it is not because the ETERNAL must put within each of us a new heart and spirit while at the same time we are told for us to "get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit"[12] How can that be? First, we must Quest to find the 'The Ancient of Days'. Then in some mysterious way the CREATOR uses our works as He works His will in our lives for those of us who will respond in time.

The foundation pillar of the Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith is to know the one true SOVEREIGN. Our problem today is that when we use the word "God" or even bring up a concept of the "Divine," we invite English confusion and controversy. Yet, Scripture speaks of One Being beside whom there is no other. In contrast to other deities or claims about divinity, this One Being is called the true living ETERNAL SOVEREIGN and CREATOR of the universe:

(Isaiah 44:24) (HCSB) This is what the ETERNAL, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am Yahweh, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by Myself; who alone spread out the earth;

(Jeremiah 10:10) (KJV) But the ETERNAL is the true SOVEREIGN, he is the living CREATOR, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

(Psalms 146:3) (KJV) Put not your trust in princes, nor 'in the son of man', in whom there is no help.

The 'gods', 'goddesses', and self-proclaimed 'saviors' of the nations of this world, are declared by the Hebrew Prophets to be idols, empty vanities, and void of living reality. For us to draw close to our CREATOR, we have to have a revelation of Him. He is the one who has acted in history. He can personally encounter us individually and directly. The foundational confession of Scriptural faith is called the 'Shema.' This great confession is repeated by faithful Jews daily whereas Christians have sorely neglected it. Although (Mark 12) plainly makes clear that the 'Shema' is the absolute core of the faith of that book, it actually came from the last sermon Moses gave to ancient Israel. The first word is 'hear' and in Hebrew that word is 'shama', (Strongs H8085):

(Deuteronomy 6:4-7) (NKJV) ⁴"Hear, O Israel: the ETERNAL our CREATOR, the ETERNAL is one! ⁵You shall love the ETERNAL your CREATOR with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶And these Words [Commandments] which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

The above affirmation defines what the Abrahamic [Hebrew] Faith is. All else is just words on how to fulfill it. The Shama is so fundamental to the Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith that it bears repeating but this time from a different version:

(Deuteronomy 6:4-7) (KJV) (Tanakh).[13] ⁴Hear, O Israel: the ETERNAL our CREATOR, the ETERNAL is one. ⁵And thou shalt love the ETERNAL thy CREATOR with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. ⁶And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; ⁷and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

There Is Only One SOVEREIGN, One Saviour.

Few who claim to follow Scriptural revelation uphold the vital affirmation that there is only one SOVEREIGN. The CREATOR chose the people of Israel to be witnesses to this simple tenet of Scriptural faith with all of its implications. Notice carefully the following quotation from Isaiah where the SOVEREIGN Himself speaks in the first person addressing the nation of Israel and He makes this point very clearly:

(Isaiah 43:10-11) (NIV) ¹⁰You are My witnesses declares the ETERNAL and My servants whom I have chosen in order that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no other CREATOR or no other SOVEREIGN formed, and there will be none after Me. ¹¹I, even I am the ETERNAL and there is no Savior besides Me".

(Isaiah 43:10-11) (TLB) ¹⁰But I have witnesses, O Israel, says the ETERNAL! You are my witnesses and my servants, chosen to know and to believe Me and to understand that I alone am SOVEREIGN. There is no other CREATOR; there never was and never will be. ¹¹I am the ETERNAL, and there is no other Savior.

That is an incredibly profound passage. It is the absolute foundation of the faith spoken of by the CREATOR Himself. Israel's purpose is to deeply absorb this notion of the oneness of the CREATOR in order that she might declare it to the Gentile nations:

(Isaiah 44:6) (ALL) Thus saith the SOVEREIGN the King of Israel, and his redeemer the SOVEREIGN of hosts; I am the first and the last; and beside me there is no CREATOR.

(Isaiah 45:6) (ALL) That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the ETERNAL, and there is none else.

This truth is also stated in (Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 44:24; and Isaiah 45:5) Now, take these passages that say "I am the ETERNAL, there is no other besides Me." What do people of all religions do with these powerful words? Millions of people are able to run quickly through these passages without absorbing the significance of this unequivocal language. This teaching of one SOVEREIGN can not be reconciled with the doctrine of the 'trinity' as three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or the doctrine of a 'twinity' of two persons, the Father and a son. You can not even reconcile a doctrine or teaching which confuses or equates a Messiah, (in Christian's minds the one they call "Christ") with the one SOVEREIGN. There can not be a trinity or a twinity. There is only ONE ETERNAL CREATOR, and SOVEREIGN of the universe, and HE ALONE is our Saviour.

How many times dear friend, must the ETERNAL CREATOR and SOVEREIGN of the universe say it, before you believe it? The self-proclaimed, 'saviour', of the counterfit 'man-god' trinitarian saviour mythology (John 14:6), who claims to be the 'Alpha and Omega' (Revelation 1:8; Revelation 1:11; Revelation 21:6; and Revelation 22:13), of the equally counterfit [New Testament]™ book of deception, can not possibly replace the true ETERNAL CREATOR and SOVEREIGN of the universe! To believe otherwise, is to willfully reject the clear meaning the ETERNAL has set forth in His word, not to mention the first four of the ten commandments:

(Exodus 20:2-11): (KJV)
1st Commandment:
²I am the ETERNAL thy SOVEREIGN, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
³Thou SHALT HAVE NO OTHER MIGHTY ONES before me.

2nd Commandment:
⁴Thou SHALT NOT MAKE unto thee ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
⁵Thou SHALT NOT BOW DOWN THYSELF TO THEM, NOR SERVE THEM: for I the ETERNAL thy SOVEREIGN am a jealous CREATOR, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3rd Commandment:
⁷Thou SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL THY SOVEREIGN IN VAIN; for the ETERNAL will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4th Commandment:
⁸"REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, to keep it holy.
⁹You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the ETERNAL THY SOVEREIGN. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
¹¹for in six days the ETERNAL made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the ETERNAL blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

To know the CREATOR as ONE is to love Him with one's whole being and to follow the Commandments with their full implication. This alone is the true faith. This teaching about one CREATOR, "The Only One" and "There Is No Other", is not just some technical doctrinal point. IT IS THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE TRUE FAITH! Isaiah speaks of knowing, of believing, and understanding just who the CREATOR is. In (Isaiah 43:10) above, note these three verbs knowing, believing, and understanding. This is a vital matter of personal faith and experience. To come before the one true SOVEREIGN, the one CREATOR, the Righteous One of Israel, is a very concrete and distinct experience. It involves the whole being, mind, as well as the heart.

The term 'god' is used in so many confusing ways. For most people, it is somewhat vague and perhaps often a bit unreal. After all, can anyone really say they absolutely know 'god'? How can anyone be sure? There have literally been countless thousands of 'gods' or idols represented by a multitude of religious figurines throughout history. How are we to know which one is real?

According to the Hebrew Scriptures, the ETERNAL revealed Himself clearly and dramatically. He did this once for all in the time of Moses at Mount Sinai when Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt. This fundamental revelation was like no other before or since. It is constantly referred to in Psalms and by the latter Prophets. It is the actual, absolute fundamental truth that is never to be superseded nor forgotten. This is not some Old Testament bible story that 'Christians' can quickly skim over as some kind of background to the [New Testament]™. Rather, this is the absolute essential bedrock. Without a deep understanding of this core revelation at Mt. Sinai, no one will ever understand and know the one true SOVEREIGN. This extra ordinary revelation comes directly through Moses.

Initially, the CREATOR appeared to Moses in the Sinai area as a voice speaking in the first person from the burning bush. Notice that the SOVEREIGN first identifies Himself.

(Exodus 3:6) (NKJV) Moreover He said, "I am the SOVEREIGN of your father; the SOVEREIGN of Abraham, the SOVEREIGN of Isaac, and the SOVEREIGN of Jacob."

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon 'God'.

In the above verse, I substituted 'SOVEREIGN' for the word 'God.' The way the SOVEREIGN describes Himself here is striking. He is not merely the CREATOR, the first cause, or a cosmic power of force. He is the intimate personal SOVEREIGN of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This means that there is a definite family line through which He revealed Himself.[15]

To speak of the SOVEREIGN of Abraham is to tie into a definite claim about historical revelations. It is a claim that the one "God" the CREATOR, has involved Himself specifically in an unfolding historical plan. In other words, He will be known and understood through the concrete historical experiences of His chosen people, the Israelites (all 13 tribes, not the jews only, as they would have you believe today). This is in contrast to the philosophical inquiry or individual path of seeking the Almighty, which we all must do.

When the CREATOR told Moses to go and deliver the people, Moses had protested that if he goes to the Israelites and tells them that the 'god' of their fathers had appeared to him, they will say, "what is His name?" In other words, they would want this 'god' to be identified. At that point, the CREATOR tells Moses:

(Exodus 3:15) (LEB) And the ETERNAL said again to Moses, So you must say to the Israelites, Yahweh, the 'God' of your ancestors, the 'God' of Abraham, the 'God' of Isaac, and the 'God' of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.

If you think about it, it is quite remarkable that the CREATOR appeared to Moses, speaks directly in the first person to him, and most importantly, that He identified Himself by Name. Our CREATOR actually has a name just as human beings have an identifying name. The name here, represented by the four Hebrew constants 'Yod He Waw He' [YHWH], are used nearly 6,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a compound of the Hebrew word 'hayah' (Strong's H1961) meaning 'to be.' The meaning appears to be "the one who was, the one who is, and the one who will be". The Hebrew meaning of 'YHWH or Yahweh' translates into 'the ETERNAL' in English.

It is important to understand that at this time, the precise pronunciation of the Almighty's name is unknown. Many scholars prefer to use the name 'Yahweh'. In spite of what you read in most reference books, very few will use the pronunciation 'Jehovah' or perhaps, 'Yahovah' which then becomes 'Yah' in a shortened form. The Almighty, is the SOVEREIGN and CREATOR of all that exists, who was, is, and will always be. He is ETERNAL. That's what the name Yahweh, means.

So, rather than use 'God' or 'Lord' or the Jewish names for 'God' with their pagan origins, I usually say 'CREATOR' or 'ETERNAL' or 'SOVEREIGN', as these terms are always appropriate. However of all the proper names used for the ETERNAL, I personally find YHWH or Yahweh to be the most acceptable.

Why His Name Is Not Known To The Jews Today.

The reason that we do not know the ETERNAL's Name is that He declared that His Name would no longer be named in the mouth of any man of Judah. Therefore, since no one is certain how to pronounce the name in Hebrew, I prefer to use the English translation of the Name as it is the most important attribute that we have left.

The Name of our SOVEREIGN is not known to the Jews today because He took it away. Notice this startling statement:

(Jeremiah 44:26-28) (MULTI) ²⁶Therefore hear the word of 'Yehovah' (H3068), all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt. "Behold, I have sworn by My great name," says 'Yehovah,' "that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, 'Adonay' (H136) 'Yehovih' (H3069) lives. ²⁷Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them. ²⁸Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, (but with out the Name) and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs."

Strong's concordance states that 'Yehovih' (H3069), a variation of 'Yehovah' (H3068) used after 'Adonay' (H136), and pronounced by Jews as Elohiym (H430), in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound, since they elsewhere pronounce Yehovah (H3068) as Adonay (H136) Editors Note: No wonder His name is lost!

For centuries, devout Jews have considered this name too sacred to pronounce and they have substituted 'Adonai' meaning 'Master' or 'Lord' in prayer and 'HaShem,' which means 'the name,' while speaking. The important point here is that the CREATOR reveals Himself by Name, and not by just any name, but the awesome sacred Name that only belongs to Him. There is a great difference between saying "I am the Lord" and saying, "I am the ETERNAL." The latter is personal and direct. It immediately calls forth the absolute unique and singular understanding of the one true CREATOR. Notice again what we have just gone over above in the quotation from Isaiah how the CREATOR uses the name constantly in the first person. "I am the ETERNAL, there is none other besides Me".

The Scriptures speak of "calling upon the name of the ETERNAL" which conveys a completely unrelated meaning when mistranslated and says, "calling upon the name of the Lord" (Joel 2:32) There are many so-called 'gods' and 'lords' who people call upon. We hear constant talk of the 'lord' of this or the 'lord' of that and one might just ask, "Well, who is this 'lord'? What is his name"? What 'lord' of what religion are you talking about?" Notice what Jeremiah says:

(Jeremiah 33:2-3) (NASB) ²Thus says the ETERNAL, who made the earth, the ETERNAL, who formed it to established it, the ETERNAL is His name. ³Call to Me and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

What an extraordinary declaration of promise spoken directly in the first person by the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN Himself. To literally call upon the ETERNAL leads one into an intimate relationship with the very CREATOR.

But you may ask, "If we do not know what His name is, how can we call on it?" Let's let the ETERNAL answer that through Isaiah.

(Isaiah 52:6) (KJV) Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore, they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: "Behold, it is I."

He took His Name away and will give it again. Notice that "shall know" is future. We will know when we are given a new language.[16] In the meantime for His Name, we must use the best that we have and that is the meaning of His Name which is the ETERNAL.

The ETERNAL's Characteristics.

Knowing our CREATOR's (Perpetuity), is a tremendous revelation and once understood it can transform one's whole sense of who our SOVEREIGN is. In Exodus, the CREATOR tells Moses:

(Exodus 6:3) (TLV) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, as 'El Shaddai'. Yet by My Name, 'Adonai', did I not make Myself known to them.

Though the meaning ETERNAL was not revealed to Abraham or those before him, the essential meaning of the Name was known. We find this in (Genesis 21:33) where Abraham calls on the Name of the everlasting 'God' (El in Hebrew). In (Genesis 14:19)'s time, El was understood to be "most high SOVEREIGN of heaven and earth." The revelation of the name 'ETERNAL' at Mt. Sinai serves to capture in a single, supernatural awesome word the concept of who He is.

Much later when Israel comes out of Egypt and is gathered by Moses at Mount Sinai, the CREATOR Himself is revealed to the whole nation in an overwhelming display of power and glory speaking directly to them setting forth the Ten Commandments. There was thunder, lightning, and clouds of smoke and fire, the piercing sound of a trumpet and the whole mountain shook. Finally, the SOVEREIGN Himself spoke in an audible voice for all to hear. But, first, He identifies Himself.

(Exodus 20:2-3) (NKJV) ²I am the ETERNAL your SOVEREIGN, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³You shall have no other SOVEREIGNS before Me.

The reaction of the people is terror. They call out to Moses.

(Exodus 20:19) (AMP) ¹⁸Now all the people witnessed the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the smoking mountain; and as they looked, the people were afraid, and they trembled [and moved backward] and stood at a [safe] distance. ¹⁹Then they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let the ETERNAL speak to us or we will die. ²⁰Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid; for the ETERNAL has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is, a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin.

Forty years later Moses reminds the Israelites of the uniqueness and purpose of this great moment of revelation.

(Deuteronomy 4:32-39) (KJ21) ³²For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that the ETERNAL created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? ³³Did ever people hear the voice of the ETERNAL speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? ³⁴Or hath the ETERNAL deigned to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the ETERNAL your SOVEREIGN did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the ETERNAL He is SOVEREIGN: there is none else besides Him. ³⁶Out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice, that He might instruct thee; and upon earth He showed thee His great fire, and thou heardest His words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷And because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt ³⁸to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. ³⁹Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the ETERNAL He is SOVEREIGN in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

The further dramatic and awesome aspects of this revelation of our SOVEREIGN at Mt. Sinai took place the second time that Moses ascended to the mountain after the golden calf incident. The CREATOR literally identifies Himself to Moses and offers him a remarkable description of His SOVEREIGN character. The CREATOR told Moses He would send His angel to accompany them further, but would not personally go in their midst because of their rebellion. Moses had an extraordinary personal relationship with the ETERNAL. The ETERNAL our SOVEREIGN would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11) Primarily the ETERNAL would speak to Moses in the Tabernacle Tent but also speak to him in other places as well. The ETERNAL would manifest His audible voice along with His physical presence during times in the wilderness.

In a conversation on the mountain, Moses pleads with the ETERNAL to accompany them personally rather than through an agency of an angel or messenger. The ETERNAL was persuaded and agreed (Exodus 33:12-17) Then Moses asks something more. "Oh let me behold your glory," he asked and is told that no human could see CREATOR face to face and live. However, he would be allowed to experience some measure of the SOVEREIGN's Shechinah glory or direct presence. As the ETERNAL passed by him, Moses was allowed to see the SOVEREIGN's backside (Exodus 33:18-23) in what is surely the most significant self-revelation of the CREATOR in the entire Hebrew Scripture.

(Exodus 34:5-7) (NKJV) ⁵Now the CREATOR descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the ETERNAL. ⁶And the ETERNAL passed before him and proclaimed, "ETERNAL, ETERNAL SOVEREIGN, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

Let us explore the phrase "who will by no means clear the guilty." First, notice that unrepented sin not only causes grief in a person's life but also in his children's lives. Depending on the severity, the sin may affect several generations. I am sure you have heard people say from time to time, "Well I know what it says, but because of this or that (excuse) I did it. But the ETERNAL is a loving SOVEREIGN and I know He will understand." An example of this could be: "I know it says to get rid of leavening from our homes, but, you know, I'm on a limited income and I just can't afford to throw that away. I'm sure our loving SOVEREIGN will understand." Well, don't be too sure. Let's look at some other examples and notice the rule, the breaking of that rule, and then the excuse.

1. The CREATOR had only one rule: Do not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

(Genesis 2:17) (NKJV) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

(Genesis 3:6) (KJV) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Her excuse was probably like this: "I know Adam said not to eat the fruit, but it's good for food and it's pleasant to look upon, and I'm hungry and I'm sure the loving SOVEREIGN will understand."

2. The Scripture said to roast the lamb, but they have already boiled it and I am sure the CREATOR is going to understand:

(Exodus 12:8-10) (NIV) ⁸That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire, with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.

So the bottom line is, if the SOVEREIGN says to do it a certain way then that's the way, that He wants it done. No amount of human reasoning will be enough to excuse it. Going back to Exodus.

(Exodus 34:5-7) (NKJV) ⁵Now the CREATOR descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the ETERNAL. ⁶And the ETERNAL passed before him and proclaimed, "ETERNAL, ETERNAL SOVEREIGN, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

However, if we have done anything wrong, that does not mean the ETERNAL will immediately zap us with a lightning bolt, but when we come to realize that we did something wrong, we must repent. Now, to repent does not mean, "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry about that." Repent means to change. It means to do something different, to go at it an entirely different way. If you throw a ball up into the air, gravity begins to take hold and it slows down, stops, and then falls back to the earth.

Repentance is the same way. If you are doing wrong; going away from the CREATOR, and the pull is against you making you realize that you are going in the wrong direction, you should stop and go back the other way. Repentance is going before the SOVEREIGN with a contrite and broken heart, declaring your guiltiness, and asking for mercy because He is abounding in steadfast love for thousands, forgetting iniquity and transgression and sin. So when we have transgressed, all we have to do is to stop doing the transgression, and ask Him for mercy. You do not need a blood sacrifice as some religions say you have to have. The CREATOR says what He is interested in is a contrite and broken heart with repentance, and that is what He expects us to have. And if we sin, then follow the example in (Psalm 51) as King David did and go before the ETERNAL and pour out your heart confessing your sin and He will forgive you.

The ETERNAL's Glory.

Although it must have been awesome to see the SOVEREIGN coming down to show Moses His glory, Moses' face was turned away so that he would not die. Moses experienced the glory of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN to the extent that his face even glowed after he was in the CREATOR's presence. The SOVEREIGN personally proclaimed His awesome Name, the ETERNAL, to him. He also described His basic nature, His inner character, "merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6) Remember that this is what Abraham understood also.

Abraham understood that the ETERNAL was "merciful, gracious, and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." And it is out of His faithfulness that we can obey the CREATOR. This self-revelation is so basic, so profound that it occurs repeatedly in various forms throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. It becomes a heavenly-revealed character sketch of the ETERNAL Himself. Moses refers back to it on numerous occasions.

What is so impressive, so remarkable about this whole Sinai revelation is its absolute concreteness. When we read Exodus and Deuteronomy, our two accounts of these awesome events, there is an unmistakable feeling or sense of what the texts convey. It has to do with the notion of our SOVEREIGN breaking into the normal events of history and actually introducing Himself by making Himself known in the most objective sense imaginable; similar to the way that we encounter another human being. It is truly extraordinary.

The first three Commandments, summed up in the Shema, tell us that we must love the ETERNAL our SOVEREIGN with all our hearts, with all our soul, and with all our might. How is it that our SOVEREIGN could command us to love Him? Think about that. He commands us to love Him. Is love something that can be demanded? When one deeply understands the greatness and the goodness of our CREATOR, fear and love are the natural response. In other words, to truly know the ETERNAL is to fear Him and to love Him as King David sang about in Psalms 145...

(Psalms 145:3) (KJV) Great is the ETERNAL and highly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable.

(Psalms 145:8) (KJV) The ETERNAL is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.

(Psalms 145:9-10) (KJV) ⁹The ETERNAL is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works. ¹⁰All thy works shall praise thee, O ETERNAL; and thy saints shall bless thee.

Verses eight through ten is the precise description of the ETERNAL's character as revealed to Moses and is repeated here; "full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The ETERNAL is good to all. His tender mercies are over all His works." Our love for the ETERNAL arises out of a deep realization of His goodness as expressed toward us and all creation and in keeping with this very specifically revealed character. In other words, this is absolutely what He is like. As we truly learn to experience that, we are drawn in love towards Him. Notice how Moses puts all these concepts together in his great farewell address to ancient Israel:

(Deuteronomy 10:12-13) (KJV) ¹²And now, Israel, what doth the ETERNAL thy CREATOR require of thee, but to fear the ETERNAL thy CREATOR, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the ETERNAL thy CREATOR with all thy heart and with all thy soul, ¹³To keep the commandments of the ETERNAL, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

This is a very definite unfolding sequence of response in coming to truly know the CREATOR, the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN. First and absolutely vital is the fear of the ETERNAL. Without this fear of the CREATOR, there is no possible relationship and certainly no love. As Moses goes on to say:

(Deuteronomy 10:17) (KJV) For the ETERNAL, your SOVEREIGN is SOVEREIGN of elohims and SOVEREIGN of adonais, the great SOVEREIGN, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

The fear of the ETERNAL is the very beginning. That is the absolute foundation of everything else.

(Psalm 111:10) (KJV) The fear of the ETERNAL is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His Commandments. His praise endures forever.

To fear our SOVEREIGN is to have a deep and awesome reverence for who and what He is. This fear or rather, absolute awe, is based on His majestic greatness. As King David said, "His greatness is unsearchable. It is past finding out." First and foremost, the ETERNAL is the very CREATOR. The Scriptures declare:

(Psalm 33:6) (KJV) By the word of the ETERNAL, the heavens were made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

ETERNAL is the great one who spoke order and life into existence on this planet. He gives us our very life and breath. Without His awesome creative wisdom and power, which belongs to Him and Him alone, planet Earth would be a vast and empty waste much like Mars or Venus today. Likewise, the fear of the ETERNAL rests upon His great and mighty acts in history, particularly the exodus from Egypt and at Mt. Sinai. This fear of the ETERNAL necessarily results in a concrete response of us walking in all His ways.

The way one comes to know, and accordingly to love the ETERNAL, is analogous of the way one comes to know and love a fellow human being. There is no separation between these elements of fearing, loving, and obeying the SOVEREIGN. This is the bedrock of an intimate relationship of friendship with the ETERNAL. Notice how the Shema begins by speaking of loving the CREATOR with all your heart, soul, and might but immediately adds:

(Deuteronomy 6:6) (KJV) And these words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart.

Having a deep fear or absolute awe of the ETERNAL, coupled with a heartfelt desire to follow [to do, observe and obey] His ways, will cultivate in you, your own complete and total love for the ETERNAL. This is something that only you can experience.

Chapter Two.

Three Words That Show the Way.

Well, what about that way? The way of the CREATOR is intimately bound up with and absolutely grounded in the revealed character of the ETERNAL. As mentioned earlier, CREATOR tells Moses that He is the ETERNAL. A SOVEREIGN merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, but that He will by no means ignore sin. This very specific character sketch spoken of by the ETERNAL Himself, about Himself is reflected throughout the Hebrew Scriptures by three Hebrew words. These three words are unquestionably the three key concepts of the Scriptural Abrahamic Hebrew Faith. Yet, ironically, they remain virtually unknown to most English readers of the Scriptures.

To introduce them, I will turn to a truly profound passage by the prophet Jeremiah that really says it all in a very few words directly from the ETERNAL CREATOR:

(Jeremiah 9:23-24) (NASB) ²³Thus says the ETERNAL, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might and let not the rich man boast of his riches. ²⁴But let him who boasts, boast of this; that he understands and knows Me, that I am the ETERNAL who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. For I delight in these things says the ETERNAL.

Now the words loving kindness, justice, and righteousness come from three Hebrew words. Loving-kindness comes from "checed"* (#H2617: khek'-sed), justice comes from "mishpat"** (#H4941: mish-pat'), and righteousness comes from "tsedaqah"*** (#H6666: tsed-aw-kaw'). "I can say here what I said earlier about the Shema. This is the faith all else is commentary.

If you know and live by these three words, that's it in a nutshell. That IS the Faith, anything else is just words. There is more in these two verses than in shelves full of theological books. It is simple. First the CREATOR specifically identifies Himself by name, "Thus says the ETERNAL". Then He lists the way of mankind, that mankind is boastful of his own wisdom, boastful of his own power, and boastful of his own wealth.

We then come to our three great words, hesed, mishpat, and tzedakah. In these, the SOVEREIGN Himself delights. After all, they are a description of His very character, as a prescription of His way for mankind:

* "Checed which is often translated "mercy, love, or kindness" is a tender word. It is the very heart of our SOVEREIGN's character and is much connected to the concept of grace and forgiveness. The combination translation of "loving kindness" though somewhat awkward is a fine one, I think. Through the prophet Hosea, the ETERNAL declares:

(Hosea 6:6) (NIRV) I want mercy and not sacrifice. I want you to recognize me as SOVEREIGN instead of bringing me burnt offerings.

Micah declares in answer to Moses' question "what does the ETERNAL require of you? "that one must love 'checed'"[17] which might strike one as an odd way to put it, yet, the point is profound. Those that come to know the SOVEREIGN, which is to know the Way of the CREATOR, must learn to delight in "checed".

** "Mishpat is usually translated "justice." It means to act with fairness, equity, and impartiality in any situation. Again, Micah, in the same passage declares that the ETERNAL requires that one do justice. That's (Micah 6:8) The Prophets constantly speak of "mishpat." In a well-known passage, Amos cries out:

(Amos 5:24) (NKJV) But let justice [mishpat] run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.

*** "Tzedakah is often linked directly with "mishpat." They are closely related, sometimes overlapping. It is usually translated "righteousness" referring to the fine and upright way of behavior. In other words, these are the CREATOR's moral standards for humankind. The three words together form a balanced and complete foundation of faith.[18] They combine with one another to play off of one another. Loving-kindness can sometimes temper justice. And yet, what is truly just and right often defines the way of loving kindness in the first place.

The following quotations illustrates this point quite well:

(Psalm 33:5) (NKJV) He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the ETERNAL.

(Psalm 89:14) (NKJV) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

When the ETERNAL finally stands on the Mt. of Olives[19] and King David is resurrected as the Messiah (Mashiach), his basic plan is to establish the Kingdom or Rule of the ETERNAL on Mt. Zion[20] with justice and righteousness. And yet, the throne will be established in loving kindness."[21]

The Way Of The ETERNAL.

There is an interesting text in the early part of Genesis. The ETERNAL CREATOR determines to share with Abraham, His intimate friend, His plans for utter destruction of the wicked ones of Sodom and Gomorrah. The ETERNAL reasons within Himself:

(Genesis 18:16-18) (NASB) ¹⁶Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ¹⁷The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Then comes an absolute and fundamental verse:

(Genesis 18:19) (ESV) For I have chosen [the literal meaning is "known"] him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the Way of the ETERNAL by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

There you have it. The very Way of the ETERNAL is defined precisely. It is doing and practicing righteousness [tzedakah] and justice [mishpat]. The entire Plan of the ETERNAL involving the very message of Abraham, depends upon the preservation and extension of this way of life of the ETERNAL.

What is involved here? The terms righteousness and justice mean many different things to different people. Each individual or culture tends to reason out their own sense of what they consider to be just and right. "Human beings have been apt at developing their own systems of ethics and morals. However, when the Scriptures use these terms, something absolutely specific and concrete is intended.

There is a definite 'Way of the ETERNAL'. It is not determined by shifting sands of human culture and opinion. It has never changed in the least from the creation of Adam until our day. We can specifically know it that Way. It is actually laid out in concrete form with all of its details.

There is only one place and one place alone that one can truly come to know and understand the Way of the ETERNAL. One must turn to what is called in The Hebrew Scriptures the "Torah and the Testimony."[22] Perhaps the most misleading translation of any term in the entire Scriptures is the rendering of Hebrew word "Torah" as "law." The modern English word "law" in no way conveys the beautiful, highly positive and compelling meaning of the original Hebrew concept. The very first Psalm describes the way of the righteous person:

(Psalm 1:2) (KJV) But his delight is in the law [Torah] of the Lord; and in his law [Torah] doth he meditate day and night.

The Hebrew Scriptures always speak of the Torah of the ETERNAL in the most positive way. Note the following verses:

(Psalm 19:7) (KJV) The law [Torah] of the ETERNAL is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the ETERNAL is sure, making wise the simple.

(Psalm 119:142) (KJV) Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [Torah] is the truth.

(Psalm 119:97) (KJV) O how love I thy law [Torah]! it is my meditation all the day.

(Psalm 119:18) (KJV) Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law [Torah].

Eighteen times in (Psalm 119), David exclaims his love for, and delight in, the Torah. So, what precisely is the Torah? The Hebrew word itself means "instruction or teaching". But it is most always used in a more specific way to mean the Torah or teachings of the ETERNAL, given to Moses at Mount Sinai. See: (Deuteronomy 4:8; Deuteronomy 31:9; Nehemiah 8:8).

Unfortunately, this is not the way many "Christians" have been taught to think of the Torah.[23] Their understanding, in direct contradiction to those plain verses, has been poisoned by a serious wrestling in the writings of Paul, and a thoroughly anti-Judaic "Christian" theology which developed in the 2nd century CE.

"Regrettably, through the greatest deception of western history, millions of "Christians" have been conditioned to think negatively about the so-called "Law" as if it is something to be despised as inferior, void of deep spiritual meaning. And yet it is the everlasting, perfect revelation of truth spoken by the ETERNAL CREATOR Himself. David, throughout the Psalms, exalts the Torah. He clearly has something specific in mind. As King of Israel, he was even required to write for himself a copy of this Torah and to read it and mediate on it all the days of his life (Deuteronomy 17:18-19) David, a man after the CREATOR's own heart, loved this Torah of the ETERNAL making it the very center of his life. Those who speak against the Torah are under a great deception and have lost the knowledge of the true CREATOR, His way, and His plan for humankind.

The word "Torah", is a broad term that can refer to total Divine Revelation to humankind. However, it is preeminently the Teachings revealed in the books of Moses and the Prophets. And even more specifically, the teachings of the so-called Pentateuch,[24] or the Five Books of Moses, are the first five books of Scripture. The statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment of the "Torah" can never be revoked, are everlasting, and never to be superseded. Not by man, not by other 'gods', because all 'gods' other than the ETERNAL are false 'gods'.

(2 Kings 17:36-38) (KJV) ³⁶But the ETERNAL, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, Him shall ye fear, and Him shall ye worship, and to Him shall ye do sacrifice. ³⁷And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which He wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other 'gods'. ³⁸And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other 'gods'.

And yet, we have a great many false religions, that have books that they claim, supersede the fundamental teachings of the everlasting Scriptures of the ETERNAL.

What millions of "Christians" have woefully misunderstood is that the Torah is universally and perpetually valid. Jeriamiah's teaching about the New Covenant says nothing what so ever about replacing or abrogating the Torah. On the contrary, in the Messianic age the Torah is to be put into the very heart of the restored people of Israel.[25] Ultimately, the Torah is for all humankind. Isaiah declared it is the Torah that will go forward from Zion to all nations, defining that way of justice and righteousness.[26]

The Torah is the perpetual standard of righteousness [tzedakah] and justice [mishpat]. It is only by going to what is called the Testimony (which I will explain later), and to the Torah in full as amplified by the Prophets that one can come to truly understand the way of the ETERNAL in all of its concrete and practical implications.

The material we have been going over thus far, regarding the true understanding of the CREATOR, His Name, and His very character is drawn from the Torah. The rest of Scripture is merely an amplification and reinforcement of this foundational revelation. This is among the most essential revelations in Scripture. It is not merely background material. It is bedrock, benchmark, and truth about the fundamentals of the faith and is essential to any true Scriptural understanding of the true CREATOR and His Way.

The Torah and Testimony.

Human beings long for the supernatural, for some revelation about the mystery of our existence. Isaiah tells of a time when CREATOR will hide His face from both Israel and the nations and people will walk in darkness turning to spiritism and to the occult in order to find the answers. But the Scripture states:

(Isaiah 8:16-22) (KJV) ¹⁶Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. ¹⁷And I will wait upon the ETERNAL, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. ¹⁸Behold, I and the children whom the ETERNAL hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the ETERNAL of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. ¹⁹And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their CREATOR? for the living to the dead? ²⁰To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. ²¹And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their 'god', and look upward. ²²And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

This is an important and fascinating portion of prophetic Scripture. The true disciples of the ETERNAL will turn to the Torah, which is the true light in a world of darkness. Isaiah also speaks of the Testimony. What is the Testimony? Does he have something specific in mind when he said that? Notice carefully the instructions that CREATOR gave Moses at Mount Sinai:

(Exodus 25:21) (KJV) And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark [of the Covenant]; and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee.

Here we learn that the Testimony is something quite specific. It is an actual object that can be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. Indeed, the Ark itself was often called the "Ark of the Testimony." The more familiar term the "Ark of the Covenant" is merely a variation of the phrase, "Ark of the Testimony."[27] In other words, the whole point of having the Ark, which is a gold-plated wooden chest, was to hold this Testimony. And yet, the Ark, as the only furnishing in the inner room of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, radiated the very Presence of Glory of the ETERNAL. Here, before the Ark of the Testimony, the CREATOR would directly speak in an audible voice to Moses. And Moses would behold the "form" or the shape of the CREATOR Himself.[28] There had been no other revelation quite like this in history. Obviously, there is a profound point to all of this.

The Testimony is vitally important. It is the very focal point of the revelation of the CREATOR's glory. Further, the entire Tabernacle which Moses was instructed to build is called the "Tabernacle of Testimony" (Exodus 38:21) In other words, this Testimony, whatever it is, is the central focus of the entire system of worship that was revealed to Moses.

Many think of the Tabernacle as primarily a place for the ritualistic slaughter of animals. Actually "animal sacrifices" were not the focus of the Tabernacle, nor of the later Temple of Jerusalem. Rather, this special "Tent" is called the "mikdash" ("Sanctuary" or "Holy") or the "mishkan" ("Dwelling or "Tabernacle"). Both have to do with the CREATOR actually dwelling among humans. In other words, the Tabernacle or the Temple is the "earthly House" for the literal manifestation of the Glory of the "Face" of the ETERNAL Himself. This glory is described as appearing like a Cloud or a Fire. The people could see an actual physical manifestation. Only Moses could go near the ETERNAL as He manifested Himself in this extraordinary way. And the Testimony is an intricate part of this phenomenon. What, then, is the Testimony? Exodus gives us the plain answer:

(Exodus 31:18) (AMP) When He [the ETERNAL] had finished speaking with him [Moses] on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of the ETERNAL.

These mysterious tablets were further described in the next chapter. They are written on both sides, engraved with the writing of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN Himself (Exodus 32:15). This is quite a phenomenon. The ETERNAL CREATOR Himself wrote on two tablets of stone His Testimony and gave them to Moses to be preserved in the very heart of the Sanctuary, in the most consecrated Ark of the Covenant.

The Tabernacle is understood to be the earthly model of the heavenly Sanctuary (Exodus 25:9) "Written on the tablets are the Ten Commandments. Literally, the words spoken by the ETERNAL Himself on Shavot (the Feast of Weeks) to all Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28) At this unprecedented moment in history, the CREATOR Himself gave awesome testimony to His ETERNAL Way of justice and righteousness. He literally spoke the Ten Commandments in a voice that was heard by all, and in a marvelous display of power and glory.

These Ten Commandments are the heart and core of the Torah. Our CREATOR spoke those words, "and He added no more" (Deuteronomy 5:22) They are complete within themselves. All other commandments, statutes, and ordinances of Torah which were given for Israel to observe in the land are essentially applications of this ETERNAL Way of justice and righteousness. Check: (Deuteronomy 12:1)

This Testimony offers in a beautiful summary form, the outline of the CREATOR's Way for all humankind. Each of these Ten Commandments, including the seventh day Sabbath, were known and practiced by those who knew the SOVEREIGN from Adam to Moses.[29] We read that Enoch walked with CREATOR and that Noah was a righteous man who also walked with the CREATOR (Genesis 5:22; Genesis 6:9) The SOVEREIGN reminds Isaac that Abraham was chosen: "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." (Genesis 26:5)

Although these men and women did not know of the Torah in the precise and full form the nation of Israel knows it, they certainly knew this basic way of justice and righteousness See: (Genesis 18:19).[30] Although it actually became the center and core of the CREATOR's specific Covenant with all of the tribes of Israel at Sinai, these Ten Commandments, as they are called, are much more than mere commandments that one might legalistically just tack off and throw away. Each one represents a topical heading, an entire category of true understanding: (proper worship of the ETERNAL, human relationships, property rights, and legal matters). They are amplified and expounded throughout the Scripture.

Those who maintain that this awesome Testimony of the ETERNAL, these Ten Commandments, with their ordinances, statutes, and laws spoken by the the ETERNAL Himself, have somehow been abrogated, altered, or superseded by other false doctrines and books, or worse still "Nailed To The Cross", are under the most serious kind of deception. And make no mistake about it. The entire world is deceived on matters of the true faith of the ETERNAL.

Sadly, now that mankind has completely shredded the true faith of the ETERNAL, in the paper shredder of human self-importance, let us understand what would be required to restore the true faith of the ETERNAL back to the forefront of this world:

(Isaiah 2:3) (AMP) And many peoples shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the ETERNAL, To the house [temple] of the SOVEREIGN of Jacob; That He may teach us His ways And that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go out from Zion And the word of the ETERNAL from Jerusalem.

Abrahamic [Hebrew] Faith For All Nations.

Did you see that the Torah will go forth and many people, many nations, the whole world in fact, will be restored to the Abrahamic or Hebrew faith. It will be required to have the Torah faith in all nations. "Although the Torah was given once, for all by Moses to Israel at Mount Sinai, it is essentially universal for all humankind. It is to the Torah that we must go, and from Torah, we must derive the essentials of the faith. It is useful to call this faith the "Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith" or "Hebrew Faith," since the very mission and the meaning of Abraham's calling and the subsequent Covenant with Israel was that all nations would be blessed. Remember, we covered that, (Genesis 12:1-3), the first time the ETERNAL dealt with Abraham. In other words, any view of Abraham, or of the Torah, which ignores the universal aspects is wrong headed from the start.

I want to emphasize that I am not advocating Judaism[31] or that anyone should become Jewish. The Jewish sages and rabbis have developed through their written and oral traditions a particular understanding of Torah observance which is based upon the writings of the Talmud and the Mischnah See footnote[1]. So I am not in any way advocating that anyone should become Jewish. To be of the Hebrew or Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith is not the same as the Jewish faith. Remember that there a total of thirteen tribes of Israel, and Judaism is strickly the religion of the Jews.

The Abrahamic Hebrew Faith, or true faith in the ETERNAL, is the Torah (The Hebrew Scriptures Only [OT]), and is not based on the Talmud, Mischnah, Oral Traditions, or any other religious books or writings.

Yet, the Prophets speak of Gentiles (Isaiah 56:1-8) who know and fear the ETERNAL and who associate themselves with the mission of Israel (all tribes), taking up the Way of the ETERNAL, the Way of Abraham, which will be a blessing to all people. Most Gentiles have assumed that the teaching of the Torah is a "Jewish thing" and they have viewed the living Torah of The ETERNAL as a historical relic, largely irrelevant in the modern 'Christian' world, thanks to the false doctrines of the so-called [New Testament]™.

But, the Scriptures teach that there is a valid form of Torah Faith and observance for all of humankind. The Shema speaks of "laying these Commandments upon your heart," of "talking of them" constantly. King David spoke of "mediating on the Torah day and night." Is there a single Commandment (mitzvah) of the Torah for which one can not learn the essential aspects of the ETERNAL's nature and Way for humankind? Which of the Commandments of Torah are to be spurred or forgotten? One has only to page through whole sections of Torah such as (Leviticus 18-20) or (Deuteronomy 12-25), to realize it's vital relevance and importance for humankind as a whole. All mankind should:

(Deuteronomy 8:3) (KJV) And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the ETERNAL doth man live.

This is something that is mirrored in the so-called [New Testament]™.[32] "The Torah addresses all aspects of human life: social relations, economic justice, health and hygiene, ecology, criminal justice, sexual conduct, and on and on. The Torah is a blueprint, framed in an ancient Israelitish setting, of a Way of justice and righteousness for all humanity. Until the whole world turns to the principles of the Torah, we will continue to suffer all of mankind's self-made collective ills and horrors. The Prophets make that clear. The collapse of our human societies and the judgement that comes upon all nations on the Great and Terrible Day of the ETERNAL" is based on our flouting the Way of the ETERNAL CREATOR, revealed in His Torah. See: (Isaiah chapter 24) and (Isaiah chapters 59-66). Also, the Torah is much more than just Commandments. It contains a fundamental, unfolding heritage. It is from that core, fundamental, narrative that we learn of the fundamentals of the way of the ETERNAL.

The Hebrew Prophets go hand and hand with the Torah. They too come to us in their ancient dress, reflecting the conditions of Israel and Judah from the 8th through the 5th century BCE. But they preserve for us an entirely valid commentary by the ETERNAL Himself, on every aspect of human life and society. Are these very words of our CREATOR to be ignored because they are said in the context of ancient Israel? Anyone who has deeply studied Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, or Micah comes away with the impression that the Prophets speak with a voice that is perpetually relevant, literal, and up to date as the morning paper. Furthermore, large sections of the Prophets directly address the "last or latter days," as they are called. In that sense, important parts of these writings are more so for us today, than for ancient Israel.

The ETERNAL is the SOVEREIGN of history. His Way and His Plan are revealed and are worked out in time and history. This requires that His word be historically conditioned coming out of a specific time and place. But in application, the revelation of the entire Hebrew Scripture is universally relevant to all mankind at all times.

Each individual, in seeking a relationship with our SOVEREIGN CREATOR directly and without contemplation, will find his or her own way to express Torah faith and observance appropriate to the situation. I can not think of any Commandment of the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN of the universe, that can be abrogated or ignored. Even so, that would be up to Him to do, Not us. As of the current era, no such change has been issued by our CREATOR, despite other religious texts insistence to the contrary.

As a matter of practical fact, the "Christian" churches are starving for the riches that come from the deep and submissive study of the Torah and the Prophets. And this has nothing to do with a discussion of "legalism," "law and grace," or earning "one's salvation." And yet, most of the Torah is abrogated and becomes a part of the so-called "Old Testament" that one might consult on occasion for "historical background." Millions talk about how "they just can not understand the Old Testament" or "they just can not identify with the "God" of the Old Testament.

The deeply spiritual nurturing that comes from meditating on the direct words of the ETERNAL Himself as revealed in Torah and the Prophets is lost to many "Christians." Instead, they try to cling to a "[New Testament]™" which is thoroughly removed from the historical Israelite context, heavily interpolated, poorly translated, and paraded forth in its Hellenistic/pagan dress. Surely, it goes without saying that none of the writers of the [New Testament]™ document had the approval of the CREATOR to write it. They took that upon themselves, as they looked to The Hebrew Scriptures as a source of material to plagiarize their false doctrines from. The Hebrew Scriptures were preserved by the Jewish tribe of Israel. Accordingly, the "Christian message" that most hear Sunday after Sunday from their pulpits is stripped of all true spiritual power. It is largely cut off from the understanding that the ETERNAL is the ONE true SOVEREIGN, and that His word is found in His Torah alone, and that His chosen people are the entire 13 tribes of Israel, not just the jews, who are destined to become a kingdom of priests, and a nation unto Himself.

One endlessly hears a single theme; accept, the one they call the 'christ', and tell others so that you can enter into heaven when you die. How tragic! This aborted message in no way reflects the grand revelation in the message of Scripture. Millions of 'christians' have truly sold their birthright for a mess of potage! They wonder why their frantic, emotional, 'save yourselves and others' program of the 'believe on him' message does not satisfy. They question why our CREATOR is not "real" to them and why they never seem to find true contentment in their way of life. In the meantime, our society is cut off and drifting into a kind of moral chaos which is truly frightening. We've been there before. Think of sodom and gomorrah, and the days prior to the flood. And this is all because the powerful, direct, living word of the ETERNAL, is not heard in the land:

(Hosea 4:6) (TLB) My people are destroyed because they don't know me, and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will 'forget' to bless your children.

See (ALL Versions) of this Scripture.

Read (Isaiah Chapter 59). This is the message that needs to ring out from our pulpits, shouted out by those who know and obey the true and living ETERNAL SOVEREIGN, The Righteous One of Israel.

Further, I lament that 'christians' have largely missed the richness provided by the serious in-depth Scriptural study of the Torah. There is nothing to compare to the richness, depth, spiritual insight, and technical knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. On the positive side devout Jews throughout the world follow a weekly cycle of reading and study of the Torah and the Prophets. When we draw close to the ETERNAL in this way, lovingly and seeking "to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth," the results will be phenomenal.

O ETERNAL, CREATOR of the universe, Father, we come before Your presence to thank You for the knowledge You have given, and to thank You, Father, for the knowledge of the Faith of Abraham. The Hebrew Faith, which is the Faith, needed to save the world. It is the Faith that some day, the world will live by. And O ETERNAL Father, as we are here waiting on You, learning Your Way, trying to live by it, we need to have Your strength and Your Spirit upon us. We ask that You guide and direct our paths so that we can draw ever closer to You, because the world needs the message to ring forth that You are the Living 'ETERNAL SOVEREIGN', that You are 'The Only One', that Your Way is plain, is pure, and is simple. The Way that will bring happiness to this very sick and dying world. So, Father, help us promote the study of Your word. Help us promote Your Torah and work toward a reunification of Israel and Judah under the Messianic reign of King David. Bless those who hear your words today, and take them to heart and obey them. Faithfully yours, and for those hearing this message today, Thank You so very much for the wisdom and knowledge you have shared with us today'.

ONCE AGAIN; The Abrahamic Hebrew Faith, or true faith in the ETERNAL, is the Torah (The Hebrew Scriptures Only [OT]), and is not based on the Talmud, Mischnah, Oral Traditions, or any other religious books or writings.

Footnotes: Chapter One.

[1] American Heritage Dictionary, [Faction:] 1) A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group. 2) Conflict within an organization or nation; internal dissension.

[2] Our purpose is not to prove or to disprove any of the "inspired" books which claim Abraham as the beginning of their religion but simply to point out that they are at variance with the Hebrew Scriptures. There is confusion in the three main religions of the world, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. All three claim to have descended from Abraham and use the ancient Hebrew Scriptures or the Hebrew Scriptures. Each of these religions are vastly different from each other and each has its own "inspired" set of writings which all differ from each other and supersede the Hebrew Scripture text in the mind set or paradigm of each group.

[3] [a]All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.

[4] The English word "Hebrew" comes from the Hebrew word "'Ibriy" (ib-ree') (#H5680) in Strong's and means a descent of Eber. The word Eber means a region across or the other side.

Quoting from the Stone Edition of the Tanakh: The ArtScroll Series, Published by Mesorah Publications Published in 1996, Page 28, Note for (Genesis 14:13) "Abraham was called the 'Ivri' from the word, the other side. Literally, this means that he came from the other side of the Euphrates. Figuratively, he was on the other side of a moral and spiritual divide from the rest of the world. Alternatively, the name means that he was a descendant of Eber as were other Hebrews. However, only Abraham's descendants are called "Ivrim" for they alone spoke Hebrew, Eber's language.

Keep that point in mind for we are like Abraham. We are on the other side of a moral and spiritual divide from the rest of the world. We are not "Christian," Jewish, or Islamic, we are Hebrews. We are Questing for the Faith of The Hebrew Scriptures that I believe is the single religion of the clan of the patriarchs, the Abrahamic [Hebrew] faith, or the Hebrew faith. I believe that this religion has the ETERNAL CREATOR as the ONE being, the Supreme Being who created the heavens and the earth.

[5] Isaac was not a child, but a young man. Observe his loving submission to his father. The ETERNAL had told the two angels (Genesis 18:19) that Abraham would train his children to obey their SOVEREIGN. Thus, this test has several facets: 1) Did Abraham trust the ETERNAL to keep His Word about Isaac's descendants? 2) Did Abraham teach his children to trust their SOVEREIGN? 3) Did Isaac believe his father enough to trust Abraham with his life?

[6] Notice that the ETERNAL did not know until that moment if Abraham would pass the test. It is the same with us, our future actions will show our SOVEREIGN if we love Him or not. If we do not, then we will not be a part of the remnant.

[7] Jacob's twelve sons formed the tribes of Israel. However, Joseph was replaced by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh giving a total of 13 tribes. Since the Jews are but one tribe, they are only 1/13th of the total of the Commonwealth of Israel. All Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews. Just as all Texans are Americans, but not all Americans are Texans.

[8] See the article: "The History of Prophesy".

[9] From Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

[10] The terms "God" and "Lord" are derived words from the pagan religion of b-alism and I prefer to use the more Scriptural terms of CREATOR, SOVEREIGN, The Almighty, or The Mighty One of Israel and the ETERNAL. Dr. James Moffatt uses the word ETERNAL in his translation of the Scriptures and Strong's gives ETERNAL as a meaning of "(YHWH)".

[11] See the essay, "New Proof of the Messiah".

[12] (Ezekiel 18:31). Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?

[13] Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, (Philadelphia, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society) 1985.

[14] (Deuteronomy 4:35) (Tanakh). "It has been clearly demonstrated to you that the Lord alone is God; there is none beside Him."

[15] See the article: "The History of Prophesy".

[16] See: (Zephaniah 3:8-9; Jeremiah 16:21; Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 39:7).

Footnotes: Chapter Two.

[17] "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the ETERNAL require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your CREATOR? (Micah 6:8).

[18] These three are often linked with two others: 'emet' which is truth, and 'emunah' which is faithfulness. These five are the great concepts of the Abrahamic or Hebrew Faith. See: (Psalms 25:10; Psalms 26:3; Psalms 36:5-7; Habakkuk 2:4; and Lamentations 3:23).

[19] "And His (ETERNAL's) feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, (Zechariah 14:4).

[20] "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the ETERNAL of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23).

[21] "Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice." ...In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the Tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness." (Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 16:5).

[22] "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait on the ETERNAL, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him. Here am I and the children whom the ETERNAL has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the ETERNAL of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. And when they say to you, 'seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' shouldn't a people seek their CREATOR? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? [They should seek] the law and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:16-20).

[23] "The Hebrew Scriptures (called the Tanakh), incorrectly labeled the Old Testament by 'Christians,' are divided into three parts: Torah, Prophets, and Psalms (or Writings). The Torah is made up of the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The contents or number of books of The Hebrew Scriptures is identical to the 'Christian' "Old Testament," however, the order and arrangement of the books in the 'Christian' Bible is different.

[24] A Greek term referring to the five Books of Moses.

[25] If you wanted to read that, read (Jeremiah chapters 30-31), and Ezekiel chapters 36-39).

[26] "Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the ETERNAL, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the [Torah], And the word of the ETERNAL from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3).

[27] Compare (Exodus 32:15-16) with (Deuteronomy 9:10-11).

[28] To check that, see (Numbers 7:89 and Numbers 12:8).

[29] See the article: "The History of Prophesy".

[30] "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the Way of the ETERNAL, to do righteousness and justice, that the ETERNAL may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." (Genesis 18:19).

[31] The rabbis say that the Goyim (basically anybody not observing the religion of Judaism) should not try to convert to Judaism or keep the Torah but should keep the Noahide Code (a watered down version of the Ten Commandments) as specified in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a-75a.

[32] If "Christians" followed (Luke 4:4), which mirrors (Deuteronomy 8:3), they would also follow Torah.