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Ancient Path of Obedience: Create in me a clean heart

Leigh Anne Caruthers

"Create in me a clean heart!"

This has been my heart cry for years now. I am embarrassed to say that before stepping onto the ancient path of obedience I never really gave thought to what it meant to ask for Father to create in me a clean heart. Let us look at the scripture I am referencing. 

Psalm 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O Elohiym; 

and renew a right ruach within me.

Psalm 51:11  Cast me not away from your presence; 

and take not your Ruach Ha’Qodesh from me.  

 

  Psalm 51:12  Restore unto me the joy of your yeshu`ah; 

 and uphold me with your free Ruach.

  

 

My first shaky steps on the ancient path of obedience were at times painful. Unlearning and relearning. I felt anger at myself for not doing my due diligence to read the scripture and research for myself the understanding Yahuah longed to give me and any person seeking Him with their whole heart. I wanted to understand what it meant to have a clean heart and the knowledge of how to obtain a "right ruach" within me. I prayed to Yahuah and asked what would make it difficult for the "right ruach" to dwell within me? Yahuah answered and said to read your scripture. So I did. I also obtained the tools to help me search for the truth Yahuah was leading me to. I downloaded E-Sword with all the dictionaries, and commentaries needed to embark on this journey. To gain complete understanding and for the word to be revealed in its fullness I searched for the Hebrew word for clean.

H2889   (Brown-Driver-Briggs); טהר / טהור; ṭâhôr;  

BDB Definition:

1) pure, clean

1a) clean (ceremonially - of animals)

1b) pure (physically)

1c) pure, clean (morally, ethically)

Photo by Leigh

 When we think of ourselves as "clean" we usually only think about our external body. What about the inside? Yahuah gave us a list of clean and unclean animals. The part of scripture that is skipped over in most churches due to misunderstanding scripture or what Yahuah was telling us. 

Lev 11:1   And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying to them,

Lev 11:2  “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘These are the living creatures which you do eat among all the beasts that are on the earth:

Lev 11:3  ‘Whatever has a split hoof completely divided, chewing the cud, among the beasts, that you do eat.

Lev 11:4  ‘Only, these you do not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have a split hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;

Lev 11:5  and the rabbit, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;

Lev 11:6  and the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;

Lev 11:7  and the pig, though it has a split hoof, completely divided, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you.

Lev 11:8  ‘Their flesh you do not eat, and their carcasses you do not touch. They are unclean to you.

Lev 11:9  ‘These you do eat of all that are in the waters: any one that has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas or in the rivers, that you do eat.

Lev 11:10  ‘But all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, all that move in the waters or any living being which is in the waters, they are an abomination to you.

Lev 11:11  ‘They are an abomination to you – of their flesh you do not eat, and their carcasses you abominate.

Lev 11:12  ‘All that have not fins or scales in the waters are an abomination to you.

Lev 11:13  ‘And these you do abominate among the birds, they are not eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture,

Lev 11:14  and the hawk, and the falcon after its kind,

Lev 11:15  every raven after its kind,

Lev 11:16  and the ostrich, and the nighthawk, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind,

Lev 11:17  and the little owl, and the fisher owl, and the great owl,

Lev 11:18  and the white owl, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture,

Lev 11:19  and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

Lev 11:20  ‘All flying insects that creep on all fours is an abomination to you.

Lev 11:21  ‘Only, these you do eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.

Lev 11:22  ‘These of them you do eat: the arbeh-locust after its kind, and the solam-locust after its kind, and the ḥargol-locust after its kind, and the ḥagaḇ-locust after its kind.

Lev 11:23  ‘But all other flying insects which have four feet are an abomination to you.

I read this list over and over. I started researching and most commentaries said this list was done away with because Yahusha had "nailed it to the cross" and that the list was a burden to keep. Why? If Father made us, would he not have the divine understanding of what was good for us and what was bad? Yahuah says we are not to eat any abominable thing. When you look at that word in Hebrew תּעבה / תּועבה tô‛êbah. It means a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable. This is a strong word Yahuah used for something that the world now thinks is irrelevant. Why would anyone think that the Elohiym that never changes was changed for any reason? 

Mal 3:6  For I am Yahuah, I change not;

I've recently come to the realization that unclean animals would have never been considered food. They were an abomination to eat. The animals listed as unclean are still unhealthy for us. They are poison to our bodies because they are all the garbage collectors of the earth. They eat dead things and they clean up the waste from the earth and waters. In doing so they consume bacteria, viruses, parasites, excrement, and many things very harmful to us in many ways. Yahuah gives us a list because, by taste and immediate physiological response, we can't discern the negative effects like we would a poisonous herb or berry. The negative health impacts are usually a gradual process over time that eventually lead to hypertension, high cholesterol, or strokes we associate with pork. Oysters and shellfish however can kill a person pretty quickly if infected with vibrio vulnificus which is a bacteria that causes immediate distress to our GI system (from the same family that causes Cholera). The world consumes these unclean animals and then prays for healing when they have heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, diabetes, or any of the long list of illnesses that are from consuming meat that has a poisonous effect on our bodies. We have been given the warning label by the Creator and still, we don't understand why we have these illnesses and diseases. 

Lev 11:44  For I am Yahuah Elohaykem: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Lev 11:45  For I am Yahuah that brings you up out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohiym: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Lev 11:46  This is the Torah of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps upon the earth:

Lev 11:47  To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

Photo by Leigh

Wait a minute. He says to sanctify ourselves to be holy like Him and not defile ourselves. Why is this not understood? Sanctify ourselves. What is sanctified in Hebrew? 

H6942   (Brown-Driver-Briggs)

קדשׁ

qâdash

BDB Definition:

1) to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to be set apart, be consecrated

1a2) to be hallowed

1a3) consecrated, tabooed

Now we are on the right track. "To be set apart, be consecrated." Yes, this is where my feet were leading me. Sabbath day is a day sanctified by Yahuah forever.  When observing Sabbath, we are set apart and consecrated to him. Now we see that following His food laws also sanctifies us. HalleluYah! As I progressed through this study in those early steps out in Faith, I realized our bodies were His Temple. A place he could not be if it was defiled in any way. 

1Co 6:19  What? Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Ruach Ha’Qodesh which is in you, which ye have of Elohiym, and ye are not your own?

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Elohiym in your body, and in your ruach, which are Elohiym’s.

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Elohiym by Yahusha Ha’Mashiach.

Rom 12:1  I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohiym, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohiym, which is your reasonable service.

The picture came into focus. Create in me a clean heart. One where I am willing to give my body up as a spiritual sacrifice for the "right Ruach" to dwell within me. The Father cannot be where there is no obedience and discipline to him and his ways. Many think Yahusha came to do away with the commandments. The "Old Testament" is put on the back shelf because in our society things that are "new" are better. Yahusha came to take away our death sentence and to be the last perfect sacrifice for sin. We have been allowed to choose to walk like Yahusha in his footsteps or to give lip service claiming to do so with our lips but not with our lives. Yahusha tells us exactly what His purpose is. 

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the Torah, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:18  For amein I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one yod or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Parashiym, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Yahusha fulfilled the Torah because He kept it perfectly. Fulfilled does not mean completed, made void, or done away with. One of the meanings of the Greek word for fulfill (πληρόω plēroō) is "to fully preach." He came to fully preach the Torah and set right what was the true word instead of what had been added by man. The traditions and doctrine of man.  He knows we cannot keep the Torah perfectly on our own, however, through Him and with Him in our lives, we can follow in His footsteps as closely as possible. 

John 1:1  IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with את Elohiym, and Elohiym was the Word.

John 1:2  The same was in the beginning with את Elohiym.

John 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

John 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 1:5  And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:6  There was a man sent from Elohiym, whose name was Yahuchanon.

John 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

John 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John 1:9  That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world.

John 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Elohiym, even to them that believe on his name:

John 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of Elohiym.

John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the yachiyd of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Yahusha is the word made flesh. That word was everything in scripture before His birth, death, and resurrection. So to deny the Torah (instructions) of the Father is to deny Yahusha and His purpose for each of us. To deny Yahusha Ha'Mashiach is to deny the Torah. You can't choose to follow one without the other. I chose this path because it is the path my Savior took. I want a clean heart that the right Ruach will dwell within. I believe the biblical food laws are part of how we obtain that infilling of the Ruach Ha'Qodesh! 

Photo by Leigh

Here is a link to a presentation we did concerning eating clean (under our previous name Between the River and the Ravens). 

https://www.youtube.com/live/8qZWoT6C99w?si=9LYklHdbBBK0HaY7

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Thank you for taking the time to read and please share this message if you know someone who would benefit!

Scripture used (both can be found on E-Sword): 

(App available. To order go to https://www.cepher.net/shop.aspx?itemid=2406&prodid=97023&pagetitle=%D7%90%D7%AA-Cepher-Scriptures-Millennium-Edition-2022-)