The nineteenth day of the fifth month in the 2729th year of our dispersion.

The IFB college I used to go to had a vast number of rules. There were two peculiar things about these rules; first, they were not Biblically based. Second, the school held the position that once their students graduated, even if they did not adopt the school's position on hair length, music, et al., that the student should come up with his own standards and stick to them.

It's very sickening but this is what happens when we get away from the Torah. Our Father's laws are perfect; our laws are not. But when we desert the Torah we come up with our own laws. It's a natural consequence; we were made to be law-abiding creatures. Even atheists practice religion. They have rules by which they live, whether they realize it (or choose to admit it) or not. The problem is, people building their lives on these manmade religious rules and customs are committing some serious sins. First, and most egregious, they set aside the Law of יהוה in favor of their own traditions. Yeshua upbraided the Pereshim for this constantly. I have gone over this many times. Their problem was not that they were too focused on Law. It was that they neglected the true, loving, freedom-bringing Torah in favor of their own life-stifling traditions. Independent Fundamental Baptists do the same thing. So do the rest of humanity.

Second, they are building their "houses" on foundations of sand. The Torah is a rock. It is a solid foundation we can build our habits and lives upon. Manmade laws have no entrenched foundations. They were not instituted by the Creator and are subject to constant change and reinterpretation. They are imperfect and full of loopholes. They attempt to soothe and placate guilty souls instead of convicting them and leading them to the knowledge of their true sinfulness. People who reject Torah will never know how sinful they are. People who embrace it know the depths of their depravity very well, for the Law accuses us daily. The grace of יהוה is therefore incredibly precious to us, as His statutes and ordinances are precious.

The funny thing is, these same people call us Legalists for upholding the perfect Law of Liberty. They have far more laws and rules than we ever will. The Torah brings freedom from oppressive government and unnecessary legislation. The Jews ruined this; the "case law" which eventually, supposedly, evolved into the Jewish oral law was added on and totally defeated the purpose of having a simple Godly law system. The same problem exists in this country. Additionally, the Congress continues to pass hundreds and thousands more laws. Eventually every man will be a criminal and we will all be at the mercy of the State. This is well known among serious students of history because it has happened before. The Torah, however, is sufficient. There is no additional legislation needed. It reminds me of a few European towns which are experimenting with signless roads with only two traffic rules: yield to the right, and don't block traffic. With so few rules, liberty abounds and everyone still gets to go where they need to, unlike in America where you can break a hundred laws in a minute and now even know it. Same with the Torah. With so few statutes (compared to our monolithic law code), the citizens of a Torah-observant society have an incredible amount of liberty. And with the legal system Moses organized under Jethro's advice, there would be a quick and easy way to settle any dispute.

But the nations of the earth have all rejected the Torah and they will all pay for it. We in America are already starting to reap the consequences of ignoring יהוה for so many years. The few who are left who truly believe and obey can only pray for repentance to be granted to the rest. Perhaps the best we will get is shelter from the coming storm. Either way, may יהוה's will be done.