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Enough With the 613 Already!

Published by Rob Skiba April 8, 2015 at 2:49 PM

I have to tell you… the whole issue of the alleged 613 commandments argument is getting soooooooooo old. Yet, I hear it alllllllllllllllllll the time. I just went through yet ANOTHER e-mail dialogue with someone who was going off on me about that issue, while saying that I was into a mixture of Talmudic, Kabbalistic and rabbinic theology. LOL! Wow. Those are some seriously ridiculous accusations. Especially since I have NEVER read the Talmud. I have NEVER read the Kabbalah. And I regularly teach/talk against the same rabbinic traditions that both Yeshua and Paul were opposed to. SMH. And people wonder why I get sarcastic in some of my responses. The truth is, I think it keeps me sane as I deal with nearly constant lunacy.

Now, to be fair, the person I was just corresponding with did keep things civil and did realize they were making snap judgments, lacking facts and apologized for it. I respect that. So this note is not meant as a slam to that particular individual. We parted ways amicably, agreeing to disagree, while still considering ourselves to be brothers (which is a nice change). But his e-mail is actually a representation of many similar correspondences I have with a wide variety of people on a somewhat regular basis. Therefore, I’m going to post some of the responses I gave to this particular person via e-mail here, because they are just as applicable on Facebook and could likewise apply to many others concerning this issue of the alleged 613 commandments…

If some of my Notes, status posts and/or responses seem “pretentious and arrogant” it comes from having to repeat myself over and over and over again and from regular attacks from ill-informed people who would rather proceed from preconceived ideas than actual facts, or who merely “glance over” what I write instead of actually reading it, or who hear one snippet of what I say and/or pull things out of context and build strawman arguments and then spread slanderous lies all over the Internet based on those strawmen and cherry-picked sound-bites. I’ve really lost patience with such annoying ignorance. I guess we all have our flaws.

For instance, some have accused me of “blasphemy” for saying that “even Yeshua couldn’t have kept the alleged 613.” They think I’m either saying He sinned or was in some way less than perfect – which is not at all what I am saying. Of course, I KNOW Yeshua was perfect in every way, however the fact remains, He did NOT (nor could He) keep the alleged 613 commandments, because He was not REQUIRED to do so…

Was He a woman? NO. So all of those commandments just dropped from the list.

Was He a Levite? NO. He was from the tribe of Judah. So all of the MANY commandments that applied ONLY to the Levites – when there is a stone Temple – just dropped from the list. And that’s a large amount of them that just dropped off by the way.

Was He operating in the capacity of an earthly judge? NO. So all of those commandments just dropped from the list.

Was He operating and actively serving in the capacity of an earthly king? NO. So all of those commandments just dropped from the list.

Was He a farmer? NO. So all of those commandments just dropped from the list.

Thus, the number of commandments in the alleged 613 list that Yeshua could keep, just dropped substantially. I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. Most who argue about the alleged 613 have never actually read them. For if they had, they’d know that no single person on the planet could have ever kept them all – as NO ONE PERSON was ever meant to! It is physically impossible. As I’ve said many times before,

“You’d have to be a circumcised female Levite king working in a stone temple in Jerusalem as a priest with a side-job of being a court judge who enjoys farming to keep ‘all’ of the commandments of Torah!”

There is no “blasphemy” in that. It’s just the facts mixed with common sense. Was Yeshua perfect? Yes. Absolutely. Did He keep His Father’s Law perfectly? Yes indeed He did! Was He required/able to keep all of the alleged 613 commandments in the Torah? Nope. Nor was He supposed to for all the reasons stated above and more. In fact, if He were to try and keep the commandments that were not meant for Him, it would have been a sin. A man should not pretend to be a woman. People from the tribe of Judah are not to attempt to do what is specifically commanded of the tribe of Levi… and so forth. So, since Yeshua Himself could not have kept all alleged 613 commandments, why on earth should any of us even think for a second that we should/could?? This is why I revert back to the Big 10 and the other moral, dietary and celebratory laws that I can keep. Are they FOR my salvation? Nope. But obedience to them, reveals that I am saved and that I love the One Who made such salvation possible (1 John 2 – 5).

Anyway… moving forward, please make an effort to at least get marginally informed on what I actually DO believe before responding to me publicly here on Facebook or privately in PM’s and e-mail with absurd accusations. And PLEASE – I am begging you – for the love of all that is holy, take the time to educate yourself on the so-called 613 commandments, before bringing that subject up again. I think I can safely say, we are all getting tired of this exceptionally lame argument.

Thanks.

If you’d like to learn more about the 613, please check out this website:

This is what Yeshua’s “Two Commandments” really means:

2 Responses to “Enough With the 613 Already!”

  1. Benson Elmore says:

    Awesome brother Skiba!

  2. Cathy Catey says:

    Wonderful! I posted a question elsewhere about how to honor the commandments and statutes where they are introduced as “When you come into the Land…” Your post makes clearer your point about keeping “all” the commandments (that apply to us! love it!). It is where my reasoning wants to go as well. They all stem from the two objectives of the Torah – Love God, Love your neighbor as yourself. This is so helpful in having a solid rational explanation for why all 613 commandments would not be kept by all of Israel in the first place. What a relief! And thank you for the simplicity of the point.

    I’m about to get in trouble at the messianic congregation I’m a part of – however I believe it will set MANY free! “I have come to give you life, and that more abundant and FREE!! (Yeshua)” Hallelu YAH! Thank you Rob.

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