07/29/2005 Sabbath Meeting Transcript

Matthew 5:17 - Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Tonight, I would like to share some thoughts on a particular concept found in scripture that has resulted in a lot of confusion.

Here are some examples of statements or questions I have heard which indicate these misunderstandings:

"We don't have to keep the law because the Messiah fulfilled it"

"We don't do sacrifices because the Messiah fulfilled that"

"Which parts of the law were fulfilled"?

Tonight, I would like to share some scriptures that reveal the true meaning of the concept of fulfillment.

The true meaning of "fulfill" is important because there are many examples where the Messiah is said to "fulfill" certain things

A common notion is that the Messiah "Fulfilled" all the law and prophets so that now we are in a situation where "one jot/tittle" has passed from the law.

Matthew 5:18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matthew 5:19 - Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Before we analyze this scripture and all its meaning, let's examine the Greek word translated "Fulfill".

The literal meaning found in Greek lexicons is to "Fill up" or "make full" (#3137 Pleroo).

This can be a bit confusing. How can a person "fill up" the Torah/Law?

One of the best ways of understanding the meaning of a word is to examine it in various contexts. So that is what we will do

Here are some examples found in scripture:

Romans 15:13 - Now the Elohim of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here, "Pleroo" (#4137) is translated "fill" and is used in the context of Yahweh filling us with joy and peace. This certainly makes sense.

Luke 2:40 - And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of YAHWEH was upon him.

In the above verse, it is translated "filled". Yahushua was "filled" with wisdom.

Ephesians 5:17 - Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of YAHWEH is.

Ephesians 5:18 - And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 5:19 - speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to YAHWEH,

In this context, we are encouraged to be "filled" with the Spirit. Examples of that are "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to Yahweh". These certainly make sense in how they speak of a "filling up" something that was lacking.

Now in the following verse, the word is found in a little different context:

Luke 21:23 - But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

Luke 21:24 - And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Here we see that time can be "fulfilled" (Pleroo).

There was a space of time that the Gentiles were appointed to trodden down Jerusalem, and there would be a completion or 'filling up' of this fixed time that Yahweh appointed.

We see this again in Luke 2:

Luke 2:41 - Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.

Luke 2:42 - And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

Luke 2:43 - And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Yahushua tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

Here, there were certain days that Yahushua's parents had to "Fulfill". This can be somewhat related to keeping the Torah. The Torah requires the keeping of Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread:

Leviticus 23:5 - In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is YAHWEH's passover.

Leviticus 23:6 - And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto YAHWEH: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

So Yahweh's command to keep the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread was kept by Joseph and Miriam (Mary). They fulfilled the days, or filled up the space of time required by Yahweh to eat unleavened bread.

Yahweh said to eat unleavened bread for "Seven days" and they "fulfilled the days". In their fulfilling of these days, they kept Yahweh's commandment.

Now let's look at the example where John the Baptist's father Zacharias was given a prophecy about what would take place and what his son would do . Zacharias' response to the angel was:

Luke 1:18 - And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Luke 1:19 - And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of YAHWEH; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

Luke 1:20 - And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Here we see that words can be "fulfilled".

Zecharias has difficulty believing the words of the Angel when he said that they would have a son. When John the Baptist was born, Zacharias able to speak again.

So here we have some words that were spoken, but they were not "filled up". But when the words that Gabriel spoke were "fulfilled" or "fully filled", Zacharias was able to speak again

If I say to another person that I am going to be obedient to Yahweh, my words are "empty words" unless I "fulfill" or "fully fill" them by being obedient to Yahweh.

If I tell my son to bring me a glass of water and he does not do it, then my words were just empty words because my request was ignored. They were words lacking fulfillment

But if I tell my son to bring me a glass of water and he does it, then my words were "fulfilled" or "Fully filled" because my will came to pass.

My son "fulfilled" my request to bring me a glass of water.

In the case of Zecharias and Gabriel, Gabriel said that they would have a son, but Zecharias had difficulty believing that Gabriel's words would be "Fulfilled" or "Fully filled".. but when it happened Zecharias was able to speak again

We must believe Yahweh's words are not empty even when they haven't been "Fully filled" as of yet. When Yahweh says something, it is as good as done!

There are other examples of this in scripture where Yahushua was to "fulfill" certain prophecies spoken of Him:

Luke 4:16 - And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Luke 4:17 - And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

Luke 4:18 - The Spirit of YAHWEH is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luke 4:19 - To preach the acceptable year of YAHWEH.

Luke 4:20 - And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Luke 4:21 - And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

So here, we see that Yahweh predicted something would come to pass and Yahushua declared that these words were "fulfilled" that day. We know that He "fulfilled" many other prophecies by His obedience:

John 12:37 - But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:

John 12:38 - That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, YAHWEH, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of YAHWEH been revealed?

Here, we see where Yahweh predicted that the people of the Messiah's generation would not believe in Him.

This prophecy is found in Isaiah 53 where the Messiah is said to be rejected by men. These words were "fulfilled" when the people failed to believe in the Messiah despite the many miracles He did.

A study into the Tanakh/Old Testament will reveal that the Hebrew word "maleh" or "malah" (#4390) carries the same basic meaning as "Pleroo" (Fulfill) and is used in the same way.

Here, the Hebrew word speaks of filling the land and sea:

Genesis 1:22 - And Elohim blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Here, the word speaks of filling up a space of time:

Numbers 6:13 - And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

And here it speaks of "fulfilling" or "fully filling" a word spoken by Yahweh:

2Chronicles 36:20 - And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

2Chronicles 36:21 - To fulfil the word of YAHWEH by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Additional evidence to this is found in the Septuagint (An ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament/Tanakh), where the word "Maleh" is translated "Pleroo" in each of the above verses.

Now, let's look again at Matthew 5 where Yahushua says that He has come to fulfill the law and the prophets:

Matthew 5:17 - Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

In the Torah/law, Yahweh commanded that certain things be done. They were not only commanded for the Messiah, but for all. Up to that point, nobody had fulfilled the Torah.. nobody had ever kept Yahweh's law

But Yahushua "Fully filled" Yahweh's word in the Torah. He did not fail to adhere to any of the commandments in the Torah, but followed them perfectly and blamelessly.

He was the only one who has ever fulfilled the Torah

He did not sin:

Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

In scripture, we see that sin is transgression of the law:

1John 3:4 - Whoever commits sin trangresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

So it is very clear that in this sense, Yahushua "fulfilled" the law, as well as the prophets.

When Yahweh spoke, Yahushua fulfilled the words

There is no evidence anywhere in scripture that would indicate "Fulfill" means "abolish/set aside/do away with"

Matthew 5:17 - Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

We see from Yahushua's words here that nothing is going to 'pass' from the law until all be fulfilled.

Are there any things in the law and prophets that have yet to be fulfilled?

It is true that Yahushua fulfilled all that was required of Him while on the earth, but scripture says that there is more that Yahushua is going to do.

For instance, Yahushua quoted a verse in Isaiah 61. Let's examine that verse again:

Luke 4:18 - The Spirit of YAHWEH is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luke 4:19 - To preach the acceptable year of YAHWEH.

Notice that Yahushua quoted Isaiah and stopped where it says "To preach the acceptable year of Yahweh". Let's look at what came next in Isaiah 61 where He quoted:

Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Master YAHWEH is upon me; because YAHWEH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isaiah 61:2 - To proclaim the acceptable year of YAHWEH, and the day of vengeance of our Elohim; to comfort all that mourn;

Just before "and the day of vengeance of our Elohim", Yahushua stopped and said that it was fulfilled in their hearing.

There will come a day when Yahushua will return and vengeance will be executed on the earth. Yahushua will also set up His reign over the earth.

So have all the law and prophets been fulfilled? Certainly there is more to come

The feast days for instance.. Yahushua fulfilled the Passover when He came to be the Passover Lamb for us

And Pentecost/Feast of Weeks is when Yahweh gave the outpouring of His Spirit in Acts

But the Feast of Trumpets fulfillment is yet to come..

But it will be fulfilled when we hear the "last trump"

When all of the law is fulfilled, there will be no need for it any longer:

1Timothy 1:9 - Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the wicked and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

In the future days when sin comes to a complete end, there will be no need for a law to teach us the difference between right and wrong. Everyone will be fulfilling the Torah!

There will be no need for a prophet to come and tell us the will of Yahweh. We will all be practicing righteousness so there will be no need for a law to reveal our sin

We will know His will, so there will be no need for a prophet to come and tell us.

How about now?

Should we be fulfilling the law as Yahushua fulfilled the law?

Or should we be disobeying the law because Yahushua fulfilled it?

What does scripture say?

Romans 13:8 - Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:14 - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Brethren, who could say that we don't need to fulfill the law after reading scriptures such as these?

It is so clear!

We are also to fulfill the law!

Fulfilling the law/Torah isn't just something that Yahushua alone is to supposed to do.

It is something that WE ALL are supposed to do

Did you know that we cannot love our neighbor unless we love Yahweh?

1John 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of YAHWEH, when we love YAHWEH and keep His commandments.

Therefore, if anyone says that we need not fulfill the law because Yahushua already did it, it is the same thing as saying that we don't need to love Yahweh or our neighbor because Yahushua already did!

Let's examine a comment that Yahushua made concerning the law of Yahweh:

Matthew 22:36 - Rabbi, which is the great commandment in the law?

Matthew 22:37 - Yahushua said unto him, Thou shalt love YAHWEH thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Matthew 22:38 - This is the first and great commandment.

Yahushua did teach that the essence of the Law and Prophets is love. All the commandments written in the Torah/law have to do with loving Yahweh and/or loving our neighbor

Matthew 22:39 - And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Matthew 22:40 - On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

For some reason, many say that if you do these 2 commandments, you need not follow the Torah.

But Yahushua wasn't teaching that at all! He was only pointing out that all of Yahweh's commandments had to do with loving Yahweh and loving our neighbor:

So if one refuses to obey the Torah commandments, then based on Yahushua's words here they aren't walking in love.

So if one refuses to obey the Torah commandments, then based on Yahushua's words here they aren't walking in love.

Some would like to cut the Torah/Law off of the two commandments from which they hang.. but we cannot say that we love Yahweh and our neighbor "instead of" keeping the Torah. For loving Yahweh and our neighbor is what the Torah is all about!

Loving Yahweh and loving our neighbor is what the Torah teaches through its commandments!

Many say that "we have a new law now, we don't keep the Torah.. we just love Yahweh and our neighbor". They lack understanding.

First of all, those two commandments are FROM the Torah:

Deuteronomy 6:5 - And thou shalt love YAHWEH thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronomy 19:18 - And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

So these two commandments don't "replace" the Torah, they are the two greatest commandments in the Torah.They are a part of the Torah and reveal the purpose of the Torah.

Loving Yahweh and keeping His commandments are evidence that we love our neighbor. No wonder why all the law is "fulfilled" when we love our neighbor!

These things I shared in detail last week

Now let's look at Matthew 5:17-19 one last time:

Matthew 5:17 - Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

One important point in verse 18 is that the word translated "fulfilled" in this verse is not "Pleroo" which means to "fully fill"

It is #1096 (ginomai), which means "come to pass, accomplish"

But the translators retained the same word, perhaps to give this thing a 'twist' that was never intended

Yahushua has much more to accomplish, my brethren!

Until the last enemy is destroyed: Death

But if there is ever any question as to what Yahushua meant here.. simply look at the next verse

Matthew 5:19 - Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The words in Greek that are translated "therefore" literally means "because of this".

"whosover therefore...

So when Yahushua said -- "Because of this" (or "because of what I just said") "whosoever breaks one of THESE least commandments"-it would be referring to the commandments He just spoke about in the law and prophets. The commandments that He was to fulfill rather than destroy

Furthermore, He said that if we desire to be among the great in the kingdom of heaven, we must do and teach THESE commandments rather than failing to do them and teaching men so (as is commonly seen today!).

So, clearly Yahushua's fulfillment doesn't mean that we don't have to do it anymore. Rather, He fulfilled the law as an example for us to live by!

1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

If the Messiah fulfilled the Sabbath or any other command with the result being that we don't need to keep them anymore, then neither do we need to keep any other commandment. Even a homosexual could conceivably make the same argument "hey the Messiah fulfilled that old law, we don't have to keep it anymore" (and they do)!

It is time to forsake this foolish doctrine, seek Yahweh's ways and commandments, and be like our Master Yahushua the Messiah!

For we are clearly told:

1John 2:4 - He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

He called to remembrance and repeated the commandments to love Yahweh and our neighbor

And Paul clearly said that we should also fulfill the Torah, just as Yahushua did

Therefore, let's allow the love of Elohim be perfected in us by following His example. Let's allow Him to keep those commandments in us that He kept while on the earth

Let's forsake these common false notions and lets embrace the full word of Yahweh rather than excusing away certain portions as "fulfilled'!

For if we understand fulfillment properly, we will say..

Let's keep His word

1John 2:5 - But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of YAHWEH is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

Let's abide in Yahushua

1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Let's live as He lived

Let's walk as He walked..

Allowing Him to keep Yahweh's work in us by His Spirit being in us..

Fulfilling the Torah!

Let's do it!

May Yahweh bless you and may He have mercy on us all!