Jesus said to him, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6
One Path
As John 14:6 says, there is only one path to salvation and that is through Yeshua Messiah.
From the mouths of the prophets, since the beginning of time, people have known that Yeshua was coming. Therefore, YHWH’s faithful people have believed in Yeshua Messiah since the fall in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
The Book of Genesis is a compilation of the writings of YHWH’s prophets and leaders made by Moses. We know this because Moses cites his sources throughout the book using phrases like, “This is the book of the generations of…“ This is also why Moses seems to repeat himself sometimes, because he is telling the story from more than one source. For example, the creation account in Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 were given by YHWH, and the account in Genesis 2:5-25 is from Adam. Moses compiled a summary of the writings of the prophets that came before him, who also had prophesied the coming of Yeshua Messiah. YHWH’s faithful people believed in Him even before He became the Word made flesh, and on the Day of Judgment, they will be resurrected to everlasting life!
Moses prophesied of the coming of Yeshua Messiah to the Israelites:
Deuteronomy 18:15-19 YHWH your God shall raise up to you a Prophet from among you, of your brothers, One like me—you shall listen to Him, according to all that you desired of YHWH your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of YHWH my God, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die. And YHWH said to me, They have spoken well what they have said. I shall raise up a Prophet to them from among their brothers, like you; and I will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. And it shall be, whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it at his hand.
The first century Jewish followers of Yeshua recognized Him by the words of the prophets.
2 Samuel 7:12-13 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
These words spoken to David were a prophecy of Yeshua Messiah.
Psalm 78:2-4 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of YHWH, and his might, and the wonders that He has done.
It was Yeshua Messiah who spoke in parables.
Psalm 110:1-5 YHWH says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” YHWH sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. YHWH has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
Yeshua is sitting at YHWH’s right hand. When He returns he will rule in the midst of his enemies, they will be his footstool. Yeshua is the high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, as the author of Hebrews tells us. You can learn all about Melchizedek in our study, here.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore YHWH himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah prophesied Yeshua’s birth. YHWH’s people have always known about him and believed in him. Just as we look backwards to the days when he walked as a man, they looked forward to those days.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of YHWH of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 35:8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
In these verses Isaiah was prophesying Yeshua’s second coming, which we are still looking forward to.
Isaiah 53:5-12 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and YHWH has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of YHWH to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of YHWH shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
There’s no way to claim that YHWH’s people, including the Jews, didn’t know Yeshua Messiah was coming. They had all the scripture pointing directly at him! Which is why many did follow him, they were the first of the apostles, and there descendants are no longer called Jews today. The Messianic Jews of today now believe in Yeshua Messiah, but they are a very small minority of the people who identify as Jewish.
Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of YHWH God is upon me, because YHWH has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of YHWH’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
Here also Isaiah is prophesying the coming of Yeshua Messiah. The only way to God.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
Daniel is prophesying Yeshua’s Millennial Kingdom.
Daniel 7:13-14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Here Daniel is prophesying Yeshua’s first and second coming, and his Kingdom both here on earth and in the New Jerusalem after the Day of Judgment.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Long before Yeshua’s birth, Zechariah prophesied the day he would enter Jerusalem, knowing he would be arrested and murdered. YHWH’s people were anticipating this event, and tody the church remembers it on Palm Sunday every year.
Malachi 3:1 Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says YHWH of hosts.
Yeshua told the people that he is the one all the prophesies were prophesying about.
Luke 24:25–27 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
The New Testament authors made it very clear that Yeshua Messiah is the one and only path to salvation.
John 3:13-15 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
There is only one path to salvation, and that is through faith in Yeshua Messiah. Please see our study: What is Faith? for an in depth look at what having faith means.
One Law
It was not just the Israelites who entered into the marriage covenant, and agreed to obey Torah, at Mount Sinai.
Exodus 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
At that time, those who were not genetic Israelites were adopted into the twelve tribes. They were “grafted in” to the olive tree of Israel. From that day on they were expected to obey Torah, and it is the same with those of us now who have been “grafted in” through faith in Yeshua Messiah. In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains how through faith we, as wild olive branches, are grafted in and become part of the olive tree of Israel. The natural branches that did not have faith in Yeshua were pruned away, but they too could be grafted back on if they repent and turn to Yeshua Messiah.
Romans 11:11-31 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
Therefore, all of the commandments given to Israel in the Torah apply now to all those who believe in Yeshua Messiah because they are now part of Israel. And YHWH said His Law stands forever!
We have established that believers in Yeshua Messiah must obey the Law because they are now a part of Israel, to whom the commandments were given. However, scripture also says that those who are not a part of Israel, but live within their gates, must also obey the Law.
Exodus 12:19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
This is part of the commandments surrounding Passover and Unleavened Bread, and a sojourner is someone who is not of Isreal, but temporarily living in the Holy Land with the Isrealites. These sojourners were still expected to obey YHWH’s Law.
Exodus 12:49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.
Well, that verse makes it perfectly clear, doesn’t it! But, there’s much more.
Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
Leviticus 16:29 And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
Leviticus 17:10 If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.
Leviticus 18:26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
Leviticus 24:22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am YHWH your God.
Have you heard of the Noahide Laws? This is a manmade, contrary to scripture, idea that there is a smaller list of laws for the Gentiles, called Noahide Laws, while the Jews are to follow YHWH’s Laws from scripture. You can clearly see that this is a lie. There is only one law for everyone!
Numbers 9:14 And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to YHWH, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.
Numbers 15:14-16 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to YHWH, he shall do as you do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before YHWH. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.
There is only one Law for everyone.
Yeshua is the Law
Bringing these two points together is the fact that Yeshua Messiah is the Law and the Prophets.
Isaiah 2:3-5 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of Elohim of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of YHWH from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 51:4-5 Hearken unto me, My people; and give ear unto Me, O my nation: for a Law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment to rest for a Light of the people. My Righteousness is near; My Salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine Arm shall they trust.
Both of these verses in Isaiah are referring to Yeshua Messiah as the Law.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Law and the Prophets are the Word of YHWH. Yeshua Messiah is the Word of YHWH. Therefore, Yeshua Messiah is the Law and the Prophets in human form—the Living Word. Yeshua was the Law walking among us! Obeying Yeshua means obeying the Law. When Yeshua says to obey Him, it is synonymous with saying to obey the Law (the Torah).
There is only one Path to Salvation and that is through faith in Yeshua Messiah. Our faith is shown through our obedience to Yeshua, who is the Word made flesh. There is only one Law, which is part of the Word. Therefore, obedience to the Law of YHWH is synonymous with obedience to Yeshua Messiah.
Hebrews 1:1-10 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
May you be blessed by this study. Shalom.