Clinging to God

G9

We are to cling to God.

Category: God & Yeshua

Type: Positive

Form: Explicit

Source dataset: Old Testament

Uniqueness: Not unique

Classical commandment: Yes

New Covenant Literal Application

Applies to Person Categories: Everyone

Literal Application: mandated

More explanation about New Covenant Literal Application

The New Covenant Literal Application Code (NCLA) is an interpretive guide used by the authors to indicate which person categories a mitzvah applies to, and at what level of literal compliance.

It combines person categories such as Jewish, K'rov Yisrael, and Gentile, together with male/female distinctions and an application level such as mandated, recommended, optional, or prohibited.

This code reflects the authors' interpretive opinion and is provided for prayerful consideration. On this page, the technical code is summarized into plain language to help new readers understand it more easily.

Read the full explanation from the source

Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

John 15:1-5

Key OT Scriptures

Deuteronomy 10:20
Deuteronomy 11:22
Deuteronomy 13:5
Genesis 32:25-31
Jeremiah 13:11

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

Clinging to God means that we are to tenaciously grab hold of Him and not let go. We are to derive our strength from God, trust Him, and allow nothing to separate us from Him or entice us away from Him. This becomes most meaningful during times when we are tempted us to abandon God and follow the path of self or sin. James 4:7-8a teaches that, during such times, we must submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you [us]. Come close to God, and he will come close to you [us]. We do this by remembering God's Word in 2 Timothy 2:26 : that [we] may come to [our] senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Yeshua addresses this in Matthew 6:13a , in the prayer he recommends to His disciples: And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.

Classical commentators

Maimonides states his mitzvah as our being commanded to cleave (or cling) to God, and he goes on to say that the cleaving or clinging to God is accomplished through associating with wise men. Meir's and HaChinuch's mitzvot do not even mention clinging to God in the way they are stated (although Deuteronomy 10:20 is quoted as the operative Scripture); instead, they command us to attach ourselves to Torah scholars and their disciples. They then say that if we do so, it is as though we are attaching ourselves to the Shechinah . It is ironic that all three commentators choose to redirect Scripture's clear message of clinging to God, to a different message - that of clinging to men. They derive this equivalence from Talmud .

Related Law of Messiah commandments

Classical sources

Maimonides

Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th century) organized all 613 Torah commandments into a structured list. These linked items show where this Law of Messiah commandment overlaps with that classical framework.

Meir of Rothenburg

Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (13th century, Germany) was a leading Talmudic authority. These reference numbers link this commandment to his halachic rulings.

MP16

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

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