What is Torah and what are the various funtions of Torah.

First Fruits of Zion's Take Hold

by Ariel Berkowitz

Review by Ted Newstad

What a great book! I highly recommend it to those who are wondering what their relationship is to the Land, the People, and the Scriptures of Israel. Take Hold reveals the profound equality in the relationship between Jewish and Non-Jewish Believers in the body of Messiah. It also describes the exciting inheritance that non-Jewish believers have in the Covenants of Israel. Take Hold also demonstrates the Biblical continuity woven throughout the scriptures from the first revelation of the Torah through its culmination in the New Covenant. This is a book you definitely will want to Take Hold of and not put down!

Ted Newstad, Certified FFOZ Hayesod Instructor.

Note: For more depth, I’ve included some of my own "book review" statements submitted to the FFOZ Ministry as part of my certification.

1. Please pay close attention to our [FFoZ] view and understanding of how non-Jewish believers in the Body of Messiah relate to the Land, the people, and the Scriptures of Israel. How does an accurate understanding of the Torah produce true and enduring clarity concerning our identity in Messiah, which, as a result, promotes unity in His Body?

There are a number of Biblical insights that are helpful in relating non-Jewish believers to the Land, the people, and the Scriptures of Israel. The first and foremost Biblical insights that can be of help in this regard are a Biblical understanding of the covenants.

A Non-Jewish Believer’s (NJB’s) understanding of how he or she relates to the four covenants charted in "Take Hold" is crucial to understanding their true identity in Messiah. A NJB, by trusting in the Person of Yeshua the Messiah and His atoning sacrificial death and resurrection for justification, has entered into the Abrahamic Covenant. Abraham received by faith the unconditional covenant cut with him by God. Provisions included posterity, inheritance, land, greatness, and blessing. The NJB can most readily relate to the promise of God’s provision in this covenant by noticing the way God promised to Abraham to make one righteous; that is, by trusting He would provide (Gen 22:14,CJB) the perfect sacrifice and blood atonement God requires.

True believers in the days of Abraham and Moses were made righteous by believing in the future atonement of God’s Messiah, while the NJB of today trusts in that same atonement seeing it fulfilled in Yeshua’s atonement and resurrection. The sign of this covenant was circumcision, and this sign can be in the flesh, but is always on the heart of a true believer. Beyond this, the NJB needs to see the other provisions of this covenant, and then begin to relate to (God invited gentile participation, Deut 4, Isaiah 56) and fully enjoy the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic covenant was conditional, with blessings or curses based on obedience with the sign being Shabbat.

One key to understanding Shabbat was to understand the entitlement to enter into and eternal resting from one’s own work for justification before God. When physical work or spiritual service was done, it is out of a new heart of love and desire to be obedient to God’s Torah. It was a "living out" of one’s new life and identity in the Messiah out of gratitude for His Love and free gift of righteousness.

While we understand God made these two covenants above with the physical descendants of Abraham (w/ foreigners and NJBs invited to participate fully), gentiles can also relate to one other covenant made with the physical descendants - the Davidic covenant, by virtue of their union with David’s greatest Son, Israel’s Messiah. Here, NJBs are related (adopted or grafted into) the Royal family (signified by "A House" or "A King") and called to participate in a covenant that has significance for all mankind (2 Sam 7:19), both now and future (Zech 14).

Finally, the Renewed Covenant promises in Jer 31, while originally directed at two groups within the house of Israel (Godly believers vs. those who needed to repent from not trusting) became especially relevant to NJB. The scriptures say that, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son and gentiles were grafted in great numbers. This covenant "brought forward" all the provisions of the previous covenants discussed above, and also addressed itself to the new situation believers found themselves. It was both unconditional and conditional, faith and obedience were required, and its special sign was the blood of the Messiah (plus all the previous covenantal signs).

While I could take much more time to explain the other examples in "Take Hold" of the Divine permissions for NJBs to identify with the Land, People, and scriptures of Israel, I believe I’ve given the most significant of the crucial identity truths, for the purposes of this essay, for the NJB to understand and relate to.

I’ll now turn to attempt to address:

2. "How does an accurate understanding of the Torah produce true and enduring clarity concerning our identity in Messiah, which, as a result, promotes unity in His Body?"

I believe that NJBs who become united with the Messiah by faith will want to learn more of the divine permissions and blessing (as outlined above and in "Take Hold"). I think that these believers, through the work of the Living Torah, will begin to identify with and love the remnant and with one another as they share in the inheritance provided by the Messiah. The work will be done by the Holy Spirit through each believer’s life, in each person’s heart, one person at a time. It will be a supernatural process, by the power of the Living God and His Word, that will work to promote unity in the Body of Messiah.