“It stands Written, a person shall not live by bread alone but rather on every Word that comes out from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4)
“It is written” appears quite often in our Bibles and while the meaning is clear, it became more understandable once I checked the Hebrew version of the scripture. My eyes suddenly opened wider with the comprehension of “It standswritten!” The weight and authority of the Hebrew expresses the finality of the matter of the authority of God’s Voice. God never changes and His Mind never replaces nor alters after His Voice has spoken. The words from His Mouth carries with it the depth of “Ana Nafshi K’ta’vit Y’ha’vit. The sages tell us that this Hebrew phrase means “I gave you My soul and heart, my Essence.” (Deuteronomy 15:5) He feeds us through His Torah (His Eternal Words) present in Yeshua (Jesus), the living Torah in flesh and blood). God’s Words are forever settled in Heaven. (Psalm 119:89) He clothes our souls with Divine Light from His soul when we study scripture. The Hebrew word for love is “ahava” and we are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and also our neighbor as ourselves. (Deuteronomy 6:5-15:21; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27) These commandments originated in God’s Heart. (Deuteronomy 6:5) Someone once said that “when we study, we (so-to-speak) merge with God’s Soul.” God’s Words are His Divine Wisdom as we receive them into our souls. Just for the mentioning, the soul has 613 organs from head to foot (248 limbs and 365 tendons) the exact number of precepts in the faith of Jesus (Biblical Judaism) all derived from the Torah. Even though the numbers are symbolic, they represent to our Jewish brethren the complete set of Divine instructions which many choose to follow because they love the Lord their God. Let us always respect the commitment many make to obey God…….I meditate from time to time on the faith and commitment of many here in Israel to be obedient to the God of their Fathers and wondering where to go to find this “type” of deep commitment in the church, i.e. this kind of sincere engagement and sincere dedication to the Father. He knows all hearts.
The historical Bereans studied to make certain that what the Apostles were teaching from Torah was, indeed, true. (Acts 17:11) The Book of the Covenant is the plans of His Heart, and it stands fast. His Eternal Purposes also stand and remain forever. (2 Corinthians 1:9) The Hebrew Scriptures are a lifeline for all of us and serve as guiding lights on how to live in righteous ways. The Bereans came from Berea (Greece) and digging a bit deeper into history reveals they were Orthodox Jews very strict and precise in resolutely investigating what folks were teaching. Obviously Shaul (a/k/a Paul) had a strong premonition that after his departure “…savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Act 20:29; 2 John 10-11; Romans 16:17) Outside ideas were not often welcome. Someone once said, “If the average believer with no knowledge of their Jewish Messiah believes that Jesus and Paul were Christians then they are believing in two converted Jews to another religion which was forbidden in the Torah.” Also, another wise person stated, “Instead of more Christian Education, we need more Bible Education.”
Yeshua (a/k/a Jesus, His Greek name) taught that “there hath not failed ONE WORD of His good promises” (1 Kings 8:56) and that every jot and tittle (every smallest detail or tiniest amount) would be fulfilled in the Torah. (Matthew 5:18) The full revelation of Israel will become clearer to us all as we draw deeper from the Wells of Jacob. The historical church unfortunately allowed a destroyer into its vineyard with “different” seed than the Apostles sowed. Various doctrines, creeds and traditions were accepted from “other wells” than Jacob’s. The yield of the bad seed sown from different and strange doctrines (Hebrews 13:9) plus strange fire on some altars (Leviticus 10:1) caused the fruit of the church’s vineyard to be defiled with Replacement Theology lies and all we have to do is investigate the damage done by this wrong teaching and the bad education which we inherited through the centuries and now rooted in our modern-day churches.
Let us look at the words “do you love me?” and let them sink in. Some of us need to pray this way “Lord, let Your Thoughts and Understanding become my thoughts and understanding”. This way the revelation of His intended understanding of the relationship He has with His Beloved Chosen People (Israel) can be yours and mine. Yes, the Word of God stands written and when we also as beloved by the Lord truly find all of our fulfillment in Him and His Love filling our hearts, it brings a special warm and secure feeling to us all. “Let the beloved of the Lord rest securely in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His Shoulders.” (Deuteronomy 33:12)
Feeding Your Spirit
The days in which we live are trying times for the entire world. I don’t know about you, but I live one day at a time and try to align my spirit with the Spirit of the Lord. I find I cannot make it even one day without daily undisturbed time with God who gave me a spirit, soul and body. Our bodies which need taking care of, are our tents in which we live on earth, our souls are our feelings and emotions which we feed spiritually and receive from God’s Word. They give us more power in the inner most part of our being by listening to His Voice from within. When we take the Word of the Living God into the chambers of our hearts, they change us and it draw us away from the worries and fretting situations in which we sometimes find ourselves.
Pray for His Peace
I well remember during the recent Twelve Day War with Iran, that Iran launched over 300 ballistic missiles into Israel’s air space (to kill and destroy thousands of Israelis) I had something very strange and yet encouraging and special happen to me. We are trained to know that there is little time to enter into bomb shelters or safe places once missiles are released. In June of 2025, news reports informed the public that it would take around 45 minutes after being launched before the weapons of war entered our air space. I am a widow now. I do not have my beloved by my side during times like these that can be frequent in the Middle East where we live. God alone is my total protector, my shelter, my only Comforter in my chambers of safety at home. He alone keeps me when I feel alone. And so, as I stood at the end of my bed after the alarms sounded thinking I needed to walk to my sealed room, I did something unexpectedly–I never thought I could do–and I stopped in my tracks, thought for a moment about the situation and turned back to bed and fell fast asleep through the whole missile launches that night. The greatest peace I had ever experienced engulfed my spirit, and I cannot remember any night prior to that one when the Sar Shalom (the Prince of Peace) totally removed any type of fear or apprehension about what was going to happen shortly. Even more with me, and I was not afraid. Even more uplifting and inspiring testimonies were in our news of Israeli hostages trapped deep underground in the darkest of hell holes found God right there with them! The faith of Israelis are often so amazing! One captive who was being starved said “I prayed to God and asked Him if there was anything He needed, and if I could do anything for Him”. Some of the Biblical men and women of God which we read about in the Jewish scriptures also often found great peace when they found that their connection with God was more nourishing than a meal. It is an experience I will never forget as long as I live.
For these reasons above, when we feed our spirit within us on the Bread of Life from the Sacred Words of the Bible, we need to always remember it STANDS written through the Sovereign Authority of our Creator and Maker, to align ourselves with His amazing peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) wherever we live in the world. If you are reading this in Sri Lanka, the jungles of the Amazon, in China or in Europe or any other of God’s Continents, remember HE can calm any troubled waters in your hearts as we all face different situations in today’s world. One day we will be ONE BODY, both Jew and Gentile who believe in the Lord (Ephesians 4:4-6) when we all believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let us all remember to hold on to that which can never be moved. It STANDS written! (Deuteronomy 33:12)
–Sharon Sanders–