My belief that YHWH is our Healer and created herbs for our service, tends to annoy the greatest majority. Judaism, Christianity, and the HRM as a rule tend to utilize mainstream medicine as well. Many are moving away from vaccinations, and antibiotics, but most still consider my "no mingling" stand to be rather fanatical. Some religious folks have even suggesting the utilization of herbs or alternative modalities is either New Age or steeped in paganism. The term "sorcery" in the Revelation is translated from the Greek word, "pharmakeia," the obvious correlation to the English word pharmacy. The destination of those practicing pharmakeia was not good. Granted there are some off the wall modalities, like Reiki and yoga, but laying hands on with oils and utilizing herbs that were created by our Creator, is far from pagan practice. Now dancing around a bonefire naked while simmering bat wings and lizard tails in a caldron; that would be pagan. I don't do that and I don't know of anyone who does!
Next we have diet. My Jewish friends and the HRM folk agree wtih a kosher diet, but Christians are just sure Jesus came to cleanse swine and shrimp. If people only realized the attempt to make unclean flesh palatable, takes a great deal of seasoning and processing. People don't naturally like the pork "flavor" of bacon or ham, they like the maple, brown sugar and smoke processing that makes those "meats." In comparing sausage to ground beef, all you need for a good burger is salt and fire. Sausage, on the other hand requires seasoning to make it palatable and then you still need salt and fire and most want gravy on top of that! Don't even get me started on the process of deveining shrimp, and by the way, they sell shrimp that is not deveined also. Here's a little secret. It's not a vein at all, but the shrimp's digestive tract. The dark "vein" is actually the shrimp's full bowel. Nobody eats shrimp without sauce and many want it breaded and deep fried to boot. If folks actually had to prepare what they consume, eating non kosher is really much more work than keeping kosher.
Sabbath is another topic of debate. Some Christians are Sabbath keepers, HRM is sorting through the traditions of Judaism, while also introducing entirely new theories that seem to make the people more set apart than the day . . . Much of Judaism is steeped in traditions regarding the keeping of Sabbath, but definitely still believe it is to be set apart. I've been participating in a local church on Sunday and to be really honest, I wouldn't have the energy to do what I do, if I didn't rest on Shabbat! All three of these aforementioned subjects; faith, diet and rest, work in my life to keep me healthy.
Let's get down to the brass tacks, because I truly believe people of faith are going to need to know how we can stand set apart, and be protected. Obviously our worldly possessions are not promised for obedience, and we know prophets and apostles have been killed for their stand. We cannot earn our salvation, and obedience is not an effort to earn it. Obedience is how we show our Heavenly Father that we do love Him. It was the curse that has been done away with by Messiah's death and resurrection, the curse of sin and death. The old covenant was that of the blood of bulls and rams that covered sin, whereas; the new covenant is one of Messiah's perfect blood that washes away sin. Messiah's death, however; did not redefine sin.
The religious cliche saying "no one can keep the law" is rather misleading. I am only addressing personal obedience laws here, not governmental stoning or temple sacrifice. The truth of the matter is, Deuteronomy states, Torah is not too difficult to keep. The problem is, we all choose to break the rules. Breaking Torah is more work than obedience. If you doubt that, just go out and try moving a boundary marker (an established fence) . . .
Disobedience to Torah is much more work than simple obedience.
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