When dealing with how you follow the Scriptures it's good to put yourself into the context of Yahushua's time and his surroundings, and ask - what would Yahushua have done? He was against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that much is clear. What was it about them that irked Him so much? Traditions of men - which they started teaching above Torah of YHUH.
Mat 23:1 Then spake Yahushua to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
Mat 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Mat 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Mat 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Messiah; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Messiah.
Mat 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Mat 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Mat 23:18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Mat 23:19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
Mat 23:20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Mat 23:21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
Mat 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of YHUH, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Mat 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of YHUH.
Why I'm growing concerned is because I am seeing fellow believers being caught up into Judaistic practices which are a follow-on of the old Pharisaical teachings passed down by Rabbis through the ages through Talmud - oral law of the Rabbis. Rabbinical teachings and fashions have no place in the Bible / Torah observance. Rabbinic fashions like Peyot, Kippah, Tallit etc have no place in Torah observance. Men are covering their heads with shawls, tallit and Kippahs/Yarmulkes - why??! Read what Paul says
1Cor 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Messiah.
1Cor 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
1Cor 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Messiah; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Messiah is YHUH.
1Cor 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
1Cor 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
1Cor 11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
1Cor 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of YHUH: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1Cor 11:8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
1Cor 11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
1Cor 11:10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
1Cor 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Messiah.
1Cor 11:12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of YHUH.
1Cor 11:13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto YHUH uncovered?
1Cor 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
1Cor 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
1Cor 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of YHUH.
1Cor 11:17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
Come together for the better, not for the worse. Men, do not cover your heads in prayer/prophesy out of fashion of others around you. Women do cover your heads in prayer/prophesy to remember your place as YHUH would have it. Men do not grow long Peyots (side-curls), it is a shame for men to have long girly hair - do not misread the scripture - it says shave (as heathens used to bald themselves), as follows:
Lev 21:5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
The above, shaving, maiming skin (tattoos?) were heathen practices which YHUH's people were not to follow - cutting and keeping hair short is not shaving - it's fine. A beard is fine, just don't make it after the fashion of the heathen.
All that was requested of the Gentile converts in the first century by Peter, Paul and the leadership is as follows:
Act 15:18 Known unto YHUH are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Act 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to YHUH:
Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Note - Moses's law still stands as it was also heard by the Gentiles every Sabbath.
Do not as the heathen do - we do not celebrate Easter, Christmas and pagan holidays but rather we observe the feasts and Sabbath as described in the Old Testament. We discern between clean foods and unclean foods. Just remember though, don't do as the Rabbis teach - milk and meat in separate fridges etc. We're not to do as the heathen do - they used to boil up the goat's kid in its mother's milk, it was a delicacy for them.
We are to be the salt of the earth - do not lose your savor by doing as the rest of the heathens etc around you do. Big crowds and popular fashions and practices do not necessarily mean it is right. Just as you stay away from heathens stay away from Rabbinic Judaism, Kabbalah and man-made religion as a whole. Follow the Scriptures in the purest form.
Just to give an overview of the strange Frankenstein developing out there please read the following:
The Jewish man writing the article is disturbed but so was I when I read it - do as Yahushua would have taught and done Himself - keep yourself on the straight and narrow path that leads to everlasting life, do not mire yourselves down with the ways of man.
