Faster Horses

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. 

Psalms 119:165

There is a country music singer who had a hit song quite a few years ago, named Tom T. Hall, who sang “Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money” in a song that he wrote named Faster Horses. In the song, Tom T. Hall was an idealistic poet looking for the meaning of life, only to have someone convince him life was about faster horses and these other things in the song. Going after faster horses is one of the options in life and it is equivalent to trusting in man rather than God. Trusting in the Creator God of the universe, Yahweh, is the opposite path. This concept is found in the book of Isaiah.

Isa 31:1 Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help! They rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.
Isa 31:2 And indeed, he is wise, and he brings disaster, and he does not remove his words, and he will rise against the house of evildoers and against the help of workers of iniquity.

Looking for help from Egypt (the world system), and relying on fast horses, rather than trusting Yahweh, will yield very poor results along the way, and in the end. This is proven over and over in scripture.

Isa 30:15 For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; your strength shall be in quietness and in trust.” But you were not willing,
Isa 30:16 and you said, “No! For we will flee on horses!” Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses!” Therefore your pursuers shall be swift!
Isa 30:17 One thousand because of a threat of one, because of a threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved” could mean repentance and keeping the Sabbath. In other words, rest in Yahweh by keeping His instructions rather than trusting in the world system, which is run by “the satan”. Some think they can outrun the enemy with a fast horse, but this is where Yahweh says He will give the enemy faster horses.

Yahweh gave His people simple instructions, yet they rejected them. God’s people are no different today. Yahweh even told us what would happen when we reject His instructions for a successful life on Earth.

Lev 26:14 “‘But if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out all these commands,
Lev 26:15 and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self abhors my regulations, to not carry out all my commands by your breaking my covenant,
Lev 26:16 I in turn will do this to you: then I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed in vain, and your enemies shall eat it.
Lev 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated before your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but there shall not be anybody who is pursuing you.
Lev 26:18 “‘And if in spite of these things you do not listen to me, then I will continue to discipline you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:19 And I will break the pride of your strength; and I will make your heaven like iron and your land like copper.
Lev 26:20 And your strength shall be consumed in vain; and your land shall not give its produce, and the land’s trees shall not give their fruit.
Lev 26:21 “‘And if you go against me in hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins.
Lev 26:22 And I will send wild animals out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate.
Lev 26:23 “‘And if you do not accept correction from me through these things, but you go against me in hostility,
Lev 26:24 then I myself will also go against you in hostility, and I myself also will strike you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:25 And I will bring upon you a sword that seeks vengeance for the covenant, and you shall be gathered to your cities; and I will send a plague in your midst, and you shall be given into the hand of an enemy.
Lev 26:26 At my breaking the supply of bread for you, then ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight; and you shall eat it, and you shall not be satisfied.
Lev 26:27 “‘And if through this you do not listen to me and you go against me in hostility,
Lev 26:28 then I will go against you in hostile anger, and also I myself will discipline you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:29 And you shall eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat.
Lev 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and I will cut down your incense altars, and I will place your corpses on your idols’ corpses; and my inner self shall abhor you.
Lev 26:31 And I will lay your cities in ruins, and I will lay waste your sanctuaries; and I shall not smell your sacrifices’ appeasing fragrance.
Lev 26:32 And I myself will lay waste the land, and your enemies who are living in it shall be appalled over it.
Lev 26:33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin.
Lev 26:34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths.
Lev 26:35 All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest for the time that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it.
Lev 26:36 As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight before a sword, and they shall fall, but there shall not be a pursuer.
Lev 26:37 And they shall stumble over one another as from before a sword, but there shall not be a pursuer; and you shall have no resistance before your enemies.
Lev 26:38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you.
Lev 26:39 And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors, they shall decay with them.

This is a discouraging set of events which are still happening to God’s people. All one has to do is look around at any church and its people to see these curses. You may be thinking “but through Jesus we only get the blessings”, and “these curses were only for Israel”. This is twisted dispensational theology, and you have been lied to. After Israel was completely cut off, with no way to return to Yahweh because of sin from breaking the holy covenant, Jesus, more accurately, Yeshua, the salvation of Yahweh, came to restore the ability to return to Yahweh. Through the dispersion of Israel, caused by disobedience, the whole world could come back to Yahweh through repentance and obedience thanks to Yeshua.

Lev 26:40 “‘But when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility—
Lev 26:41 I myself also went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt,
Lev 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Lev 26:43 And the land shall be deserted by them, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths in its being desolate from them, and they themselves must pay for their guilt, simply because they rejected my regulations, and their inner self abhorred my statutes.
Lev 26:44 And in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them, and I will not abhor them to destroy them, to break my covenant with them, because I am Yahweh their God.
Lev 26:45 And I will remember the first covenant for them—whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am Yahweh.'”
Lev 26:46 These are the rules and the regulations and the laws that Yahweh gave between himself and the Israelites on Mount Sinai through Moses.

If you are a person who claims you follow Yahweh, how can you willfully break the covenant and not expect the curses? Will Yahweh treat you differently than Israel? No, He will not, because when you come to Yahweh through Yeshua, you are joining yourself to Israel just as Paul explains in his letter to the Romans.

Rom 11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
Rom 11:14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Rom 11:15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17 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,
Rom 11:18 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.
Rom 11:19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
Rom 11:20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
Rom 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
Rom 11:22 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.

Paul tells us that as people from other nations, Gentiles, we are grafted into the natural olive tree that is Israel, but only if we continue in his kindness, or else we will be cut off. What does “continue in His kindness” mean? The word translated to kindness is Strong’s G5544, which actually means usefulness.

G5544
χρηστότης
chrēstotēs
khray-stot’-ace
From G5543; usefulness, that is, moral excellence (in character or demeanor): – gentleness, good (-ness), kindness.

Jesus tells us a parable about a useless fig tree. It was given chances, but in the end, if there is no fruit the tree is cut down.

Luk 13:6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
Luk 13:7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
Luk 13:8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
Luk 13:9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

I can tell you firsthand that this usefulness, or fruit, is keeping the commandments of Yahweh, not some ambiguous set of expectations a church or man decides. It is also not kindness practiced where a person says nice things, plays pretend nice, then does evil in their heart. What does Jesus say before the parable of the fig tree?

Luk 13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
Luk 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus didn’t come to start a new world religion. He came to turn people back to an ancient path. Repent! This was told to us over and over. The word repent does not simply mean change direction. That would mean you just need to do something different than what you are doing. Repent does not mean you are walking one way, then turn and walk the other way, because that explanation does not give any direction. Repent is Strong’s H7725. It means return, refresh and restore.

H7725
שׁוּב
shûb
BDB Definition:
1) to return, turn back
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to turn back, return
1a1a) to turn back
1a1b) to return, come or go back
1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back
1a1d) of dying
1a1e) of human relations (figuratively)
1a1f) of spiritual relations (figuratively)
1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise
1a1f2) to turn away (of God)
1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent
1a1f4) turn back (from evil)
1a1g) of inanimate things
1a1h) in repetition
1b) (Polel)
1b1) to bring back
1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (figuratively)
1b3) to lead away (enticingly)
1b4) to show turning, apostatise
1c) (Pual) restored (participle)
1d) (Hiphil) to cause to return, bring back
1d1) to bring back, allow to return, put back, draw back, give back, restore, relinquish, give in payment
1d2) to bring back, refresh, restore
1d3) to bring back, report to, answer
1d4) to bring back, make requital, pay (as recompense)
1d5) to turn back or backward, repel, defeat, repulse, hinder, reject, refuse
1d6) to turn away (face), turn toward
1d7) to turn against
1d8) to bring back to mind
1d9) to show a turning away
1d10) to reverse, revoke
1e) (Hophal) to be returned, be restored, be brought back
1f) (Pulal) brought back

Peter defines repentance in his speech in Acts:

Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Repentance through Jesus is the only way.

Joh 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
Joh 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Joh 10:13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Joh 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus also says that anyone that tries to get into the fold another way is a thief and a robber.

Joh 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Joh 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The question becomes how to enter the fold through Jesus? It is not by doing the things of Egypt or our current world. Jesus tells us over and over to repent and follow the commandments of Yahweh. Moses told us this would happen.

Deu 18:15 “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen, and to him you shall listen.
Deu 18:16 This is according to all that you asked from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘I do not want again to hear the voice of Yahweh my God, and I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!’
Deu 18:17 And Yahweh said to me, ‘They are right in what they have said.
Deu 18:18 I will raise up a prophet for them from among their countrymen like you, and I will place my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him.
Deu 18:19 And then the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.

Yahweh sent Jesus to speak His words, not new words of his own. So what are we to do then? Repent! Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, keep just scales, keep the Sabbath and remember the covenant!

Isa 58:3 ‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’ Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!
Isa 58:4 Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice heard on the height.
Isa 58:5 Is the fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate himself? To bow his head like a reed, and make his bed on sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
Isa 58:6 Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice, to untie the ropes of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and tear every yoke to pieces?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring home the poor, the homeless. When you see the naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.
Isa 58:8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.
Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’ If you remove from among you the yoke, the finger-pointing and evil speech,
Isa 58:10 if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy the appetite of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like noon.
Isa 58:11 And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.
Isa 58:12 And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect the foundations of many generations, and you shall be called the bricklayer of the breach, the restorer of paths to live in.
Isa 58:13 If you hold your foot back from the Sabbath, from doing your affairs on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a pleasure, the holy day of Yahweh honorable, if you honor him more than doing your ways, than finding your affairs and speaking a word,
Isa 58:14 then you shall take your pleasure in Yahweh, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

Are you a Christian experiencing chaos in your life, wondering where the peace of God is that you supposedly have? Are you unsettled and being tormented by things seemingly out of your control? Try walking out your faith the way our Messiah told us to. The ancient path. Do things the way the Bible tells us to do them instead of the ways of man and tradition. Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”