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Should we do the commandments, if we can’t do it all properly?
It is almost the seventh Biblical month, and the fall feasts are just around the corner. YHVH gave us these feasts as celebrations, but also as teaching aids to learn more about Him and His Kingdom. As the feasts draw near, we need to look into what YHVH requires of us, because we want to please Him. This sometimes leads to discouragement, because we can’t keep all the commandments due to the absence of a Temple. Some people even teach that we, in the diaspora, are not to celebrate the feasts at all because we don’t live in the land. This mindset affects other areas as well, and we have been asked if we are to do the commandments at all seeing that we can’t do it all properly. We shall first seek to find proof that we are to keep the commandments wherever we are and then see if we can find out to what an extend we are to do it.
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A night of watching…a study of Exodus 12:42
We were in Israel last year with Pesach and just before the first day of Unleavened bread, the discussion of whether or not to keep a vigil on this night came up. Most of the believers in the Jerusalem hostel at the time were of the opinion that we are to stay awake all night, and that it was commanded to do so. This was new to us; we have read the verse they quoted to prove this many times, but we have never really seen it that way. We did a quick study, and their interpretation to stay up seemed to be right so we decided to err on the side of caution and just do it. It turned out to be quite a blessing. We did some Bible study and talked and when the sun stated to rise, we went to sleep for a while. So, it is almost Pesach again, and we want to do a proper study of the subject to make sure our interpretation is correct, and we do stay up if we are indeed commanded to do so.
