Everlasting Good News of Yahweh

The prophet Isaiah made two very profound and important statements in chapter eight. Verses 16 & 20 read;

“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples…to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Most people understand what the law is, but not many know what the testimony is or its importance in their lives. We can see, in verse 20, that a person who speaks against the law and the testimony is without light. This is confirmed, at least concerning the law, in Proverbs 6:23:

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”

Those who believe in Christianity teach that the Messiah is now the true light of all believers (John 1:9). Yet they do not see light in the law, teaching instead that Messiah died to deliver us from the law. In 1 John 1:5, we find that Yahweh is light as well.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that Yahweh is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Yeshua Messiah his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

Yahweh was light even during the time when men were under the light of the law. Both existed as light simultaneously. The same holds true for the law today. It is still a light unto true believers. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:31;

“Do we then make void the law through faith? [Yahweh] forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

As we shall see, the testimony is the foundation of the law.

Exodus 31:18 says, “And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of Elohim.”

The testimony, then, is a Scriptural designation for the ten commandments. Yahweh had previously told Moses where to put the testimony:

“And you shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 25:21-22).

The ark of the testimony, then, is a Scriptural designation for the ark of the covenant. This would include the Law and the testimony.

“And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 4:44-45).

“And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your Elohim, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26).

We can read about this ark in Revelation 11:19;

“And the temple of [Yahweh] was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”

It is also spoken of in Revelation 15:5;

“And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.”

The earthly tabernacle was patterned after the heavenly tabernacle (Exodus 25:40; Hebrews 8:5; 9:23,24). Although the earthly tabernacle was destroyed in 70 C.E., the heavenly tabernacle still exists today. Within that heavenly tabernacle is the ark of the testimony housing the ten commandments exactly as they were written according to the pattern shown to Moses. Yahweh sat upon the mercy seat that covered the ark. It was His throne as He reigned over the Israelites. The ark of the testimony is also Yahweh’s throne in heaven. The King of the universe sits upon the laws of His Kingdom as He rules the nations.

James tell us that Yahweh will judge all men by this royal law of liberty, the ten commandments;

“If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, You shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well: But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law. So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment” (James 2:8-13).

What happened to the ten commandments that were housed in the ark? Yahweh allowed them and the ark to disappear because He had a greater, more glorious means of preserving the ten commandments. When Jeremiah prophesied about the New Covenant he said;

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahweh, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33; also Hebrews 8:10).

What law is Yahweh talking about here? He is talking about the same law that He originally wrote on tables of stone – the ten commandments – the testimony:

“For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Messiah ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living Elohim; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Perhaps the ark and the ten commandments will be revealed someday in order to be a testimony against those that break them. But those of us who keep them now don’t have to worry about that because we show the works of the law written in our hearts (Romans 2:15).

Now that we know the ten commandments were and are a “testimony” to the entire law, let’s look at some other important Scriptures mentioning them. As you read them, replace the word “testimony” or “testimonies” with “ten commandments.”

“The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

“All the paths of Yahweh are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10).

“I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation” (Psalm 119:;99).

“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart” (Psalm 119:111).

“Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful” (Psalm 119:138).

“The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live” (Psalm 119:144).

“Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them for ever” (Psalm 119:152).

Can anyone now claim that the ten commandments have been done away with or changed in any way? Yahweh’s Holy Spirit says “no” in these Psalms, and our Savior said no in Matthew 5:17,18.

If the ten commandments have been founded forever, then the fourth commandment (the weekly seventh day Sabbath) must be founded forever as well. Won’t you take hold of Yahweh’s blessing of rest and allow the Holy Spirit to write this commandment on your heart as well?