Shabbat Shalom all,
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 5:32-33 “And you shall guard to do as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you – do not turn aside, to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in all the way which יהוה your Elohim has commanded you, so that you live and it be well with you. And you shall prolong your days in the land which you possess.”
These were very clear words of instruction given by יהוה for Mosheh to speak to all of Yisra’ĕl, words that are still very much alive for us today as it was for the children of Yisra’ĕl who were about to enter into the Promised Land back then! Guarding to do as יהוה our Elohim has commanded us – and to put it more simply – we know that we know Him when we guard His commands:
Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 2:3 “And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands.”
Yoḥanan continues to explain very clearly that anyone who claims to ‘know’ Elohim and refuses to guard His commands is a liar and the Truth is not in them! The Greek word that is used in Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 2:3 for ‘liar’ is ψεύστης pseustēs – Strong’s G5583 and means, ‘liar, one who breaks faith, false and faithless man’, and comes from the word ψεύδομαι pseudomai – Strong’s G5574 which means, ‘to lie, speak deliberate falsehoods’. Faith without works (that of obedience to the Torah and instructions of Elohim) is dead, and so those who claim to know the Master and Elohim, יהושע Messiah, yet does not guard (that is to do) the commands of Elohim is a false and faithless liar, with no truth in him!
We who stay in the Master must walk as He walked; and here at the end of Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 5 we are able to clearly see the ‘how’ of the command to ‘guard to do’ the commands of Elohim; and that is to simply ‘walk in all the way’ which יהוה has commanded us! So how do we ‘guard’ His commands? By ‘walking’ in all of them. Tonight in a message called, ‘WALKING IN THE WAY!’ I want us to be reminded of how we are to be an obedient, ‘hearing, guarding and doing’ people of Elohim! That is a people who truly live as a set-apart and royal priesthood and faithful submit their lives to hear, guard and do His Torah! In order to understand the call to walk in all the way, we need to acknowledge and recognise what the way is, and what is expected for us who seek to walk in the narrow way that leads to life:
Mattithyahu/Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter in through the narrow gate! Because the gate is wide – and the way is broad – that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in through it. 14 “Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard pressed which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
The ‘WAY’ that leads to ‘LIFE’ is a narrow and hard pressed way, a way that few find. As I considered about this vital concept of walking in the way that leads to life, and while having a great time of fellowship with Martin, Henry and Patrick in this week, the very powerful words of Messiah stood out for me when He said to T’oma in:
Yoḥanan/John 14:6 “יהושע said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
This verse is the verse that I want us to consider very carefully tonight, as we expand on the depth of these clear words of wisdom from our Master. T’oma asked the Master where he was going, after יהושע Messiah told them that He was going to prepare a place for them, and that if He was therefore going to prepare a place for them, then they could be sure that He would be coming again to receive them unto Himself, in order that they be with Him forever! יהושע Messiah made it clear that they already ‘know the way’; and this confused some, as T’oma asked for clarity as to where “the way” was. יהושע Messiah made it very clear – He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE – and there is No other means of access. Ok, as simple as this may sound, we sadly find that many assume to know what these words mean, yet they find themselves on the broad path that is leading to destruction!
The Greek word for ‘the Way’ is ὁδός hodos – Strong’s G3598 which means, ‘way, road, highway, journey, path’, and metaphorically it typically speaks of one’s walk and or manner of conduct, as well as the way one thinks, feels or decides. This word often has the sense of the “way and means” to achieve or do something, or the “measure,” “procedure,” or “manner” of doing something.
The Greek word for ‘the Truth’ is ἀλήθεια alētheia – Strong’s G225 which means, ‘truth, truly, according to truth’, and the Greek word for ‘the Life’ is ζωή zōē – Strong’s G2222 meaning, ‘life, alive, living’, and in the Greek this denotes the physical vitality of organic beings, animals, men and also plants.
So what יהושע Messiah was telling us was that without Him we have no life, and with no life we will die – yet He gives us life and the true way in which we are to walk in the life He has freely given us! Once again, we may all say that this is very obvious, and yes it is, however why is it then that so many fail to walk in the true way of life as they neglect to guard to do all He has commanded us to? In order to further understand the clarity of these words, we need to understand them from a proper Hebraic mind-set, or rather a mind-set that submits to following in and walking in the clear instructions of our Master and Elohim without wavering through compromise for lack of understanding, as the understanding increases in our ‘doing’ of the Word, whereas the westernised Greek mind-set seeks to understand all before deciding to do, yet this can never happen and this kind of mind-set hinders a true walk of faith!
Tonight I want us to look at the Hebrew words for these 3 very powerful words that יהושע Messiah attributes to Himself; words that we need to embrace if we are to truly walk in, and stay in, the Master!
I would therefore like us to look at each of these key words in their ancient pictographic form, which will further strengthen our understanding to these clear words given by our Master!
THE WAY:
In Hebrew the term ‘the way’ is typically translated from the Hebrew root word דֶּרֶךְ dereḵ – Strong’s H1870 which means, ‘way, road, distance, journey’ and is from the word דָּרַךְ daraḵ – Strong’s H1869 which means, ‘to tread or march’ and so speaks of our walk; our every step that we take. And the first time this word is used in in:
Berěshith/Genesis 3:24 “and He drove the man out. And He placed keruḇim at the east of the garden of Ěḏen, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Due to the sin of Aḏam and Ḥawwah, they were driven out of the garden of Ěḏen, and driven from the presence of יהוה, with no access to the way to the tree of life! Before they were driven out Elohim made for them coats of skin, and in this we are able to see the powerful shadow picture of the protection and covering we have in יהושע Messiah, the Passover Lamb that was slain for us, in order that we can once again be brought near to the presence of Elohim and have access to the tree of life and have the full assurance of an everlasting life with our Master who shall come and receive us to Himself!
In the ancient pictographic symbols of this word, we are given a greater insight in understanding how יהושע Messiah is THE WAY! This word – דֶּרֶךְ dereḵ – in the ancient script looks like this:
Dalet – דֶּ
The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as a ‘tent door’. It can also have the meaning of a back and forth movement as one goes back and forth through a tent door and so speaks of an access point. It can also carry the meaning of ‘dangle’ or hanging as the tent door would hang from the roof pole of the tent. It speaks a great deal in terms of understanding the door of the tent of appointment as the only means of access.
Resh – רֶ
The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a man as well as chief, top, begging or first. Top as in the top or head of a body and chief an is head of a tribe or people as well as the one who rules the people.
Kaph – כֶּ:
The ancient form of this letter is pictured as – which is ‘an open palm of a hand’. The meaning behind this letter is ‘to bend and curve’ from the shape of a palm as well as ‘to tame or subdue’ as one has been bent to another’s will (under their hand), as an open hand symbolises submission. This also can picture for us a palm or palm branch from the curved palm shape. This also pictures for us that which has been openly revealed – by the ‘open hand’, or the revelation of the hand that has worked a function!
As we consider these three pictures in making up the Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ dereḵ, in reference to this meaning THE WAY, we can clearly see how it is יהושע Messiah who is THE WAY. As we come to the DOOR of the Tent of APPOINTMENT we are able to come and submit under the hand of our Master and Chief, who gives us access into His presence.
Yoḥanan/John 10:19 “I am the door. Whoever enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and find pasture.”
As one understands the design and service of the Tabernacle, then we are able to understand perfectly the clear words of our Master. It was at the door of the Tabernacle that the people would bring their offerings to the Priest, and before they were able to enter they needed to be washed. Looking at this ancient pictographic of the word that renders for us the meaning of THE WAY, we are also able to see the clear work of our Master, who is the Lamb that was slain, and it was His hands that took the nails for us, and in doing so released us from the dogmas which stood against us! His shed blood covers us from the punishment of death, as long as we remain in Him! The Houses that applied the blood of the lamb to the doorposts of their homes would not be visited by the Messenger of death, but would be passed over, as the final plague in Mitsrayim swept over the land, killing every first born of those homes that did not have the blood on their doorposts!
When Messiah said that He was the Living Bread, and that the bread that He gives is His flesh, which He would give for the life of the world, the Yehuḏim were striving with one another asking how He could give them His flesh to eat and He answered them clearly in:
Yoḥanan/John 6:53 “יהושע therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Aḏam and drink His blood, you possess no life in yourselves. 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the last day. 55 “For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him.”
This was a hard teaching for most and many turned away from following the Master, as they found these words too harsh to hear and understand. What Messiah was clearly teaching here is that unless we eat of the Pěsaḥ Meal, we have no access into life. The Passover Meal and the Feast of Matzot is a sign on our hands and our foreheads that we belong to the Master and that we abide in Him and He in us, and that we have come to the Door and confessed our sins, having been immersed in Him and washed by His Blood, are now able to have access into the House into which we must abide, as we are built up in Him as living stones! The WAY for us to return from sin and destruction, is to come to the Door and acknowledge the work of the Master as we guard to keep His Feasts. When Messiah showed Himself to His taught ones after His resurrection T’oma was not there the first time and he said that unless he sees in the Master’s hands the mark of the nails, and be able to put his finger into the imprints of the nails and into the Master’s side, that he would not believe. When the Master appeared a second time, while T’oma was present we see the following in:
Yoḥanan/John 20:27-28 “Then He said to T’oma, “Bring your finger here, and see My hands. And bring your hand and put it into My side – and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And T’oma answered and said to Him, “My Master and my Elohim!”
The Hand of Elohim had now been revealed to T’oma and He acknowledged that יהושע Messiah was his Master and Elohim!
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?”
Messiah is THE WAY – the Outstretched Arm and Hand of Elohim that has been revealed, and we who partake in the Pěsaḥ Meal and guard to keep all His Feasts, have access to the WAY He has called us to walk in!
THE TRUTH
In Hebrew the word for ‘truth’ is אֱמֶת emeth – Strong’s H571 which means, ‘truth, firmness, faithfulness’, and this word carries an underlying sense of certainty and dependability – and we know that The Word of יהוה is truth:
Tehillim/Psalm 119:142 “Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your Torah is truth.”
Tehillim/Psalm 119:151 “You are near, O יהוה, and all Your commands are truth.”
Tehillim/Psalm 119:160 “The sum of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous right-rulings are forever.”
Anyone who claims to serve יהוה without walking in and giving heed to follow His Torah, commands and instructions are not serving in Truth, and those who claim that the Torah/Law of Elohim has been done away with are sadly riddled with the leaven of the hypocrisy of man’s theologies and dogmas that seeks only to serve self rather than the Giver of Life, while claiming the opposite!
In the ancient pictographic symbols of this word, we are given a greater insight in understanding how יהושע Messiah is THE TRUTH! This word – אֱמֶת emeth in the ancient script look like this:
Aleph – אֱ
The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals. This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!
Mem – מֶ
The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘water’, and also carries the meaning of ‘chaos’ (from the storms of the sea) and can also picture that which is mighty or massive as well as the unknown. We are also able to understand this letter as representing the nations, for the nations are often likened to the seas in Scripture.
Taw – ת
The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah in the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One, for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – the beginning and the end of all creation!
As we consider these letters in describing Messiah as being the TRUTH we are able to clearly see that it is by His strength and might that He has passed through the waters in order to secure for us His Covenants of Promise! Messiah is the Aleph and the Taw – the first and the last, who came from above (passing through the waters of the heavens and the earth) in order to redeem us according to His Word!
He is the Truth and His Word does not return empty! His Word is Truth and His Word leads us in His Truth. His Word lights our WAY and as we walk in Him by walking in His Word we are assured that our feet are on His solid path!
What I find very powerful in this pictographic is the immense insights we can glean from these. We know that the Aleph and the Taw are the first and the last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and that the ‘mem’ is the 13th letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. The term אֶחָד eḥad – Strong’s H259 in Hebrew means ‘ONE’ and carries the numerical value of 13 – אֶ =1 (Aleph); חָ =8 (Het); ד =4 (Dalet), and so we who are immersed in the Master are grafted into His body, and we walk in His Word as we submit to His clear commands as given through His Written Word!
Another aspect of the Aleph and Taw is seen in the Urim and Tummim:
אוּרִים Urim – Strong’s H224 means ‘lights, illuminations’
תֻּמִּים Tummim – plural of תֹּם tom, and carries the meaning of ‘perfections’
While there is no evidence to clearly tell us what the Urim and Tummim consisted of, be it stones or any other substance, what we can see is that the High Priest would use these in order to get right-ruling and so the Urim and Tummim speaks of our seeking the perfect truth from יהוה. What is very interesting and worthy of noting is that the first letter of ‘Urim’ is the א ‘aleph’ and the first letter of Tummim is the ת ‘taw’:
Ḥazon/Revelation 1:8 “I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, beginning and end,” says יהוה “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 44:6 “Thus said יהוה, Sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, and his Redeemer, יהוה of hosts, ‘I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no Elohim.”
What are the urim and tummim? They are the things that illuminate and perfect. We know that יהושע is the Light and He was the Perfect Lamb, and so this represents for us our need to hunger and thirst for righteousness and be perfect before Elohim, for He is perfect; and we are called to be the salt and light, which we can only be when we seek out His Right-Ruling and walk according to that which is to be upon our heart – His Torah (notice the positioning of the Urim and Tummim in the breastplate – by the heart!!!)
He writes His Torah on our hearts, and so it is in our hearts and mouths that we may do it (Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 30:14)!
This pictographic lettering of the word for TRUTH clearly shows us our need to seek, study, meditate upon and walk in the Torah; and anyone who claims to know the Truth yet refuses to guard and keep the Torah and instructions of Elohim are liars and the Truth is not in them! How can people say that the Truth is in them when they say that the Truth is no longer applicable!!!
THE LIFE
In Hebrew the word for ‘life’ is חַי ḥay – Strong’s H2416 and means, ‘life, alive, living, flowing, fresh, running’.
What we must guard against is the looking to the ‘letter of the Torah’ only; as we must recognise that the Torah without Messiah contains no life – but it is only in Messiah that true life of the Torah becomes something that can and does sustain us.
Tehillim/Psalm 36:9 “For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”
The Hebrew word for fountain is – מָקוֹר maqor – Strong’s H4726 meaning, ‘a spring, fountain’ and comes from the root – קוּר qur – Strong’s H6979 which means, ‘to dig’ and we know we are to dig and seek out His kingdom and His righteousness – the question is whether people have found the True well of LIFE and are sitting and learning at it or is it a muddied counterfeit?
With יהוה is the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE!!!
Tehillim/Psalm 68:6 “Bless Elohim in the assemblies, יהוה, from the fountain of Yisra’ĕl.”
When we come to the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE and gather when we should, as an obedient flock who know His voice, then that Water of Life becomes a fountain in us as our lives are changed and our speech is renewed enabling us to bring life and healing to the nations!
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 10:11 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wrong.”
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 13:14 “The Torah of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one away from the snares of death.”
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of יהוה is a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death.”
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 16:22 “Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, But the disciplining of fools is folly.”
יהושע is The Living Torah and our source of Life, or rather He is the Life of the Torah – and when we drink of Him – the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE begins to flow out of us as we gain understanding, and walk in the fear of יהוה by walking in the Torah, and our speech becomes a flowing source of life!!!
In the ancient pictographic symbols of this word, we are given a greater insight in understanding how יהושע Messiah is THE LIFE! This word – חַי ḥay in the ancient script look like this:
Ḥet – חַ
The ancient script has this letter as which is a ‘tent wall’, and carries a meaning of ‘separation’, as a tent wall separates two halves of the tent; or it can also reflect the outside walls that separate the people inside from that which is outside and so can also symbolise protection and security to those inside, while picturing a cutting off of those who are outside. Hence this letter can mean ‘established, secure’ as well as ‘cut off, separated from’. As a tent wall we are also able to recognise the picture of stones being built up to make a complete wall.
Yod – י
The ancient script has this letter as which is ‘an arm and hand’ and carries the meaning of ‘work, make, throw’, from the primary functions of the arm and hand, and it also represents worship or giving thanks in the extending of hands as a gesture of this. The work of one’s hands is the basic meaning of this letter!
From this ancient pictographic lettering of the word for LIFE we are clearly able to see how by the work of Messiah – the outstretched arm and hand of Elohim, we as living stones, are built up in Him as the Dwelling Place of the Living Elohim!
What gives us our ability to be built up as living stones in the Master, is our continued obedience to walking in that which is our life – His Torah!
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 32:45-47 “And when Mosheh ended speaking all these words to all Yisra’ĕl, 46 he said to them, “Set your heart on all the words with which I warn you today, so that you command your children to guard to do all the Words of this Torah. 47 “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yardĕn to possess.”
When we consider the words of our Master in declaring that He is the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE, we are able to clearly see how He was given us clear direction and insight as to the importance for us to be a hearing, guarding and doing people of His Torah, for then we will stay in Him and have the assurance of entering into an everlasting reign with our King!
Shemoth 18 tells us that the laws and the Torot of Elohim are THE WAY:
Shemoth/Exodus 18:20 “And you shall enlighten them concerning the laws and the Torot, and show them the way in which they should walk and the work which they do.”
יהוה’s LAWS AND TOROT:
יהוה’s LAWS – which is the word חֻקָּה ḥuqqah – Strong’s H2708 which means, ‘ordinances, custom, manner, something prescribed, an enactment, statute, fixed order’, and is the feminine of חֹק ḥoq Strong’s H2706 meaning, ‘something prescribed or owed, boundary, allotment, portion, ordinance, statute’. This word comes from the primitive root חָקַק ḥaqaq – Strong’s H2710 which means, ‘to cut, inscribe, hack, engrave, decree, carve, sceptre, lawgiver’. In essence we get the clear understanding of a ḥuqqah as being a ‘law cut in stone’, which means that it is set and fixed!
Tehillim/Psalm 119:16 “I delight myself in Your laws; I do not forget Your word.”
יהוה’s TOROT – Torot is the plural of the word תּוֹרָה– Torah Strong’s H8451 which means ‘utterance’, ‘teaching’, ‘instruction’ or ‘revelation’ from Elohim’ and comes from the primitive root יָרָה yarah – Strong’s H3384 meaning, ‘to shoot, throw, instruct, direct, teach’.
His Torah and laws show us the way we are to walk in truth, for His Torah and His Word is Truth, and the Torah is our Life – if we walk the Torah Road/Path – that is the narrow way – we shall have long life! WALKING IN THE WAY is what we have been called to do – are you?
Ma’asei/Acts 24:14 “And this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all that has been written in the Torah and in the Prophets”
This is a ‘true believing’ – that not only hears what is written in the Torah and the Prophets, but does what is instructed in them!!!
In a prayer of Dawiḏ we see how he cried out to יהוה and asked that he be shown the Way:
Tehillim/Psalm 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O יהוה; Let me walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your Name.”
In our quest to be WALKING IN THE WAY may we submit to the clear instructions given in His Torah and walk in the Truth, so that we have life and life abundantly, in the Master!
I hope that by seeing these three words in their original pictographic form that you will further see the need to be a people who hear, guard and do all that has been commanded and not neglect our need to meditate upon and walk in His Torah! Those who say that they do not need to listen to or walk in the Torah, as they claim it has been done away with and is of no effect, are sadly denying the Master; and He clearly tells us:
Mattithyahu/Matthew 10:33 “But whoever shall deny Me before men, him I shall also deny before My Father who is in the heavens.”
Let us recognise our need to be sober, alert, awake and steadfast in guarding to do His Word, without compromise, by keeping His Sabbaths and Feasts and guarding all His commands, with great joy and reverence for His Word and His Name that is upon us; so that when He comes to receive us, we shall be found proclaiming the Master before all by WALKING IN THE WAY, and shining the clear light of the Truth! Let us not be found to be like so many who are on the broad path, and are denying Him daily as they refuse to hear and submit to walking in the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE!
Messiah is the promised Teacher who was no longer hidden from Yisra’ĕl, and now we all have the ability to be faithful to WALKING IN THE WAY, without compromise:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 30:20-21 “Though יהוה gave you bread of adversity and water of affliction, your Teacher shall no longer be hidden. But your eyes shall see your Teacher, 21 and your ears hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the Way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right, or whenever you turn to the left.”
WALKING IN THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE – this is the narrow way that few find! You have found it – do not depart from this WAY and stay in the Master יהושע Messiah – the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE!
דֶּרֶךְ dereḵ – אֱמֶת emeth – חַי ḥay
The LIFE The TRUTH The WAY
We have been given access to enter into the presence of Elohim as we come to our Master and Elohim, who worked for us redemption as spoken through His Word that was made flesh, that by His outstretched Arm and Hand we are able to be built up as living stones, having been immersed in Him and stay in Him as we hear, guard and do all He commands us to – that is what this WAY, TRUTH and LIFE pictures for us!
The purpose for me sharing the powerful pictures that these three words (WAY,TRUTH and LIFE) show us is simply that to ‘know’ our Master and Elohim, יהושע Messiah, is to ‘know’ the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, and to truly ‘know’ the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE is to guard the Torah and commands and instructions of Elohim!
Praise our Master and Elohim as we recognise how we are now able to walk in the WAY, the Truth and the LIFE and do so with great joy as we seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness by hearing, guarding and doing all His Word commands us to, and never be found to be like those liars who have hated His instructions and cast His Words behind them!
יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show you favour; יהוה lift up His face to you and give you Shalom!