TORAH OBSERVANCE AS MESSIAH FOLLOWERS
Andre Widodo
© ORI
Shalom,
This article is still related to the previous article Defining The Word "Torah". Please click here for detail : Defining The Word "Torah" .
But, before you read this article too far, I strongly suggest you to read the previous article, so you can have a good definition what "Torah" really is.
If you have a real definition what "Torah" really is, some people, having discovered the joy of the Jewish roots of their faith, want to take it to the next level by becoming "Torah observant", by which they mean obligated to follow the commandments found in the writings of Moses and interpreted by certain Rabbinical authorities as halakhah, or the "way to walk" the Jewish life.
This is very good, but I must give a warning, because we do not want to be like Ebionites and Maimonides in observing the Torah.
What is Ebionites? What is Maimonides?
Ebionites
The name was from the sect of the Ebionites. The Ebionites actually were a Jewish-Believers sect that insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites, which they interpreted in light of Yeshua's expounding of the Law. They regarded Yeshua as the Messiah but not as Divine, they rejected the teachings of Paul and insisted that the writings of Moses should be strictly observed for the true follower of Yeshua/Jesus.
Today, this teaching is spreading all around, and also in "Sacred Name Movement". This position actually is recognized "neo-Ebionism".
Today's neo-Ebionites will say that since Yeshua and his first followers were "Torah observant," we should be likewise. This is true, but since they do not accept Yeshua as Divine Personality, then it is a false teaching actually.
I must say, the deception is very, very, very thin.
Since they do not accept Yeshua as Divine personality, it means there is no Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) in them, because the Holy Spirit will be inside those people who admit Yeshua is Son of God, Divine personality (Joh 7:39).
Joh 7:38 KJV
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 KJV
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Sometimes, the neo-Ebionites will point out that the only reference in the Tanakh for the New Covenant (Brit Chadashah) is in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where it is clearly stated that God would write his Torah within our inward parts and write in upon our hearts.
Jer 31:31 KJV
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 KJV
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 KJV
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 KJV
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Matthew 5:17-20 is then often cited by the neo-Ebionites as a proof-text that Yeshua explicitly taught His followers to observe the commandments of Moses (the Torah) :
Mat 5:17 KJV
Think not that I am come to destroy the law (Torah), or the prophets (Nevi'im): I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 KJV
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot (Yod) or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 KJV
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 KJV
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes (soferim) and Pharisees (Perushim), ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
But wait a minute....this is important. Do not stop until Mat 5:20, but continue afterward.
Immediately after saying these things, Yeshua goes on to explain what He meant by saying : your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes (soferim) and Pharisees (Perushim).
In the next verses, Yeshua says :
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time... but I say unto you..." (Mat 5:21-48).
Note that in each case, Yeshua takes the outward meaning of the commandment (takes the Mosaic Torah) and moves it inward (as Messianic Torah), to the "inward part" by "writing it upon our hearts":
This is actually what Yeshua wants. Keep the Messianic Torah!
Old (written upon tablets) New (written upon the heart)
No Murder (Exo 20:13; Deu 5:17) No Anger / resentment (Mat 5:21-4)
No Adultery (Exo 20:14; Deu 5:18) No Lust (Mat 5:22-32)
No False Witness (Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20) Simple Honesty (Mat 5:33-7)
Eye for Eye Justice (Exo 21:24) Forgiveness (Mat 5:38-42)
Love friends; hate enemies (Lev 19:18) Love all people (Mat 5:43-48)
Outer Righteousness Inner Righteousness (Mat 6:1-4)
Formulaic prayer Secret Prayer (Mat 6:5-6)
Ostentatious Religiosity Secret Fasting (Mat 6:16-18)
Outwardness Inwardness (Mat 7:12)
That's the mistake of Ebionites that we should not to follow as Messianic Believers in Yeshua. Now, we are going to discuss the Maimonides. What is Maimonides?
Maimonides
Maimonides was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher, one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He is also known by the names Moses Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam .
He was born in Córdoba, Spain, in 1137 or 1138, and died in Egypt on December 12, 1204.
He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. With the contemporary Muslim sage Averroes, he promoted and developed the philosophical tradition of Aristotle, which gave both men prominent and controversial influence in the West, where Aristotelian thought had been lost for centuries. Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas were notable Western readers of Maimonides.
One of the central tenets of Maimonides's philosophy is the impossibilty for truths arrived at by human intellect to contradict those revealed by God. Maimonides held to a strictly apophatic theology in which only negative statements toward a description of God may be considered correct. Thus, one does not say "God is One", but rather, "God is not multiple".
Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics met with opposition during his life, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, his copious work a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship, His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law.But...regarding observing the Torah, the Maimonides, we will be questioning some dogmas of Maimonides.
The immutability of the Torah of Moses (or the covenant given on Sinai) is one of the most basic principles of the Jewish faith. Indeed, the Rambam's ninth principle (Mishneh Torah) is the belief that the lawcode given to Moses on Mount Sinai is entirely unchangeable and never to be superceded by another form of Torah.The Rambam's ninth principle :
Ani ma'amim be'emunah sh'leimah, shezot ha-Torah lo t'hei muchlefet velo t'hei Torah acheret me'eit ha-borei yitbarakh sh'mo ("I believe with complete faith that the Torah will not be changed nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, blessed be His Name").
Even today this faith in the eternality of the Torah is expressed each time the Keriat Torah ceremony is completed at the synagogue, when the Torah scroll is held up and the people recite :
Deu 4:44 KJV
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
When this statement is made, the claim is being made that the scroll being held up before the congregation is entirely identical with the Torah that Moses himself received while upon Mount Sinai thousands of years ago. As such, this response is a sort of "vote of confidence" in the work of the soferim (scribes) and their work in preserving the Torah scrolls throughout the centuries.
Textual Changes by the SoferimHowever, as a matter of historical fact, the original script of the Torah was not the square script (called ketav ashurit) that has been preserved over the centuries by the soferim (scribes), but rather ketav Ivri - an earlier script that resembles ancient Phoenician.
This statement is born out not only by qualified paleo-linguists, but by Jewish authority itself, since the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) itself says :
Mar Zutra or, as some say, Mar 'Ukba said: Originally the Torah was given to Israel in Hebrew characters and in the sacred [Hebrew] language; later, in the times of Ezra, the Torah was given in Ashshurith script and Aramaic language. [Finally], they selected for Israel the Ashshurith script and Hebrew language, leaving the Hebrew characters and Aramaic language for the hedyototh. Who are meant by the 'hedyototh'? — R. Hisda answers: The Cutheans (i.e., Samaritans). And what is meant by Hebrew characters? — R. Hisda said: The libuna'ah script.
The "they" in this statement refers to the men of the Great Assembly, and in particular, Ezra the Scribe who transliterated the ancient Hebrew script into the Aramaic script of his day.
Ezra did this to distance the Jewish people from the Samaritan transplants living in Israel after the return of the Jewish captives in Babylon (the Samaritan Torah still uses the older ketav Ivri and is extant today).
Now the question that is begging to be asked is simply this :
By what authority did Ezra translate the Torah into ketav Ashurit, especially since Moses himself in the Torah stated: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deu 4:2)?
There is no one-to-one correspondence between the two scripts, either in morphology or in phonetics.
So, is it not obvious that the transliteration of Ezra represents a real change in the Torah itself?
Changes to the Torah in Olam Haba
The sages believe in two olams (worlds). A this-world (olam hazeh) and a next-world (olam haba), with a Messianic 'transitional' world somewhere at the intersection (each olam reflects an 'indefinite' duration of time, but not an 'infinite duration').
The question that needs to be considered is whether the Torah, understood here to refer to the various mitzvot found in the writings of Moses, will abide as "everlasting" commandments, or whether the conditions of the world will be so transformed that they will no longer apply.
Some Jewish sages (such as Rebbe Schneerson) have said that in yemot HaMashiach (the days of the Messiah) the Torah will be more strictly obeyed, but in the olam haba - the world to come - "the mitzvot will be nullified," which means that they will no longer be needed, since they will be "as the light of a candle is nullified in the blaze of the noonday sun".
In other words, in heaven itself there will be no litany of mitzvot that will be scrupulously adhered to, since the Substance of that which the commandments aimed will be fully manifest. As Schneerson said, "In the world to come, the mitzvot will be annulled. No longer will the laws of the Torah be the stuff of a divine relationship with an extrinsic reality. Rather, they will be fully and unequivocally realized in a world that is no longer separate from its source, unhindered by "laws" that define a finite and mortal world".
Contrary to the dogma of Rambam, not all of the Jewish sages agree in the dictation theory of the Torah as an immutable document :
"We absolutely do not admit that which Maimonides laid down, that the entire Torah will not change, for there is no decisive proof for this -- neither from reason and logic nor from the Bible. Verily, the Sages tell us that the Holy One will give a new Torah in the future. If our King should wish to change the Torah, or exchange it for another, whatever the King wishes, whether it be to descend on Mount Sinai or another of the mighty mountains, or even a valley, there to appear a second time before the eyes of all the living, we would be the first to do His will, whatever be His bidding.
R' Abraham Hayim Viterbo (quoted from Marc Shapiro. Littman:2004, in The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)
Changes to the Torah in Olam Hazeh
But even in this age, called olam hazeh, we find evidence that Torah is not as immutable and unchanging as Rambam and the Rabbinic tradition would maintain.
For it is instructive to consider how Moses himself changed Torah during his own lifetime when he first instructed b'nei Israel to eat the Passover in their individual homes (Exo 12) but later commemorated its observance "in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there" (Deu 16:2).
Deu 16:2 KJV
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Later still the Torah was modified to allow meat to be eaten that was not slaughtered at the sanctuary as a sacrificial act (compare Lev 17 and Deu 12:15-16).
This is also seen in the various laws concerning the gathering of the manna were annulled after the Israelites took possession of the land. In short, because historical circumstances had changed, some of the older laws given to the wilderness generation were annulled and newer ones created.
Yeshua also indicated that Moses had changed the meaning of God's Torah in olam hazeh. For instance, consider this verse from Matthew's gospel :
Mat 19:6 KJV
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mat 19:7 KJV
They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
Mat 19:8 KJV
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9 KJV
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Note :
In verse 8, Yeshua was saying : but from the beginning it was not so. These words of Yeshua clearly imply that Moses was permitted to command things that were not originally from the LORD "because of the hardness of men's hearts".
That is, God permitted Moses to institute "laws" regarding divorce (the get) because He knew that the people would act contrary to His perfect will.
Consider also how King David appears to have transcended (changed) the literal words of Torah in light of HaShem's covenant with him - and the subsequent revelation that came to him as HaShem's prophet. For indeed David did add to the words of Moses by devising and planning the Bet Hamikdash - the holy Temple - that would be constructed by his son Solomon in Jerusalem :
1Ch 28:11 KJV
Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
1Ch 28:12 KJV
And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
1Ch 28:13 KJV
Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD.
1Ch 28:14 KJV
He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:
1Ch 28:15 KJV
Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.
1Ch 28:16 KJV
And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver:
1Ch 28:17 KJV
Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:
1Ch 28:18 KJV
And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
1Ch 28:19 KJV
All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
1Ch 28:20 KJV
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
What's going on here?
It is clear that King David was changing the Torah of Moses from the mishkan-centered sanctuary, to a temple-centered sanctuary.
Moreover, he was also changing the duties of the kohanim (priests) and their age requirements (plus adding a new schedule of service for them). Note especially that the text from 1 Chronicles states that these changes to the pattern explicitly commanded to Moses were sanctioned as being the result of a revelation from the LORD Himself.
1Ch 28:19 BHS
הַכֹּל בִּכְתָב מִיַּד יְהוָה עָלַי הִשְׂכִּיל כֹּל מַלְאֲכֹות הַתַּבְנִית
All this that the LORD made me understand by His hand on me, I give you in writing -- the plan of all the works.
Someone might argue that this was not really a change of Torah, but then we will need to rather loosely construe the meaning of the term "change" here, since David's modifications of the sacred pattern that Moses was instructed to follow touched on every aspect of the mishkan and its parts, including the role of the very priesthood and its activities.
In fact, the translation of the Mosaic formulation of the mishkan to the Bet Hamikdash amounted to an enormous change in the life of the Jewish people, and was only justified if King David was truly and divinely authorized to transcend the clear instructions given by the Lord in the Torah of Moses.
Furthermore, according to the rabbis themselves the Torah was somehow changed when the Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 A.D. and the sacrificial system was abandoned.
But, does this not affect the meaning of Torah, especially when you consider that nearly half of the 613 commandments of the written Torah are found in the book of Leviticus, the Torat Kohanim (laws of the priests), and much of the writing found in the Talmud is based upon it?
It is only by means of rabbinical re-interpretation (change) of the Torah that Judaism - as a non-Temple-based system - could continue to exist in the world, despite the teaching of Yohanan ben Zakkai, the Jewish sage of the first century, who is credited with the dogma that animal sacrifices could be replaced with prayer and acts of lovingkindness :
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai once was walking with his disciple Rabbi Joshua near Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Joshua looked at the Temple ruins and said: "Alas for us! The place which atoned for the sins of the people Israel through the ritual of animal sacrifice lies in ruins!" Then Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort: "Be not grieved, my son. There is another way of gaining atonement even though the Temple is destroyed. We must now gain atonement through deeds of lovingkindness." For it is written, "Lovingkindness I desire, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6). Siddur Sim Shalom, (Avot DeRabbi Natan) Jules Harlow, ed. (New York: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
Indeed, this "Judaism without the Temple" by-passed nearly half of the explicit commandments given by God to Moses in the Torah while simultaneously establishing rabbinic Judaism as the interpretive authority of the Torah for Jews throughout the Diaspora. Surely this change in authority indicates a change in the Torah!Changes to the Torah in the Messianic Age
In yemot hamashiach - the days of the Messiah - Messianic Kingdom, many Jewish sages have argued that the Torah will undergo change.
For example, a passage in Vayikra rabah 9:7 states : ''In the Time to Come all sacrifices will be annulled, but that of thanksgiving will not be annulled'' .
This passage is cited by numerous authorities, including Nahmanides in his commentary on Leviticus 23:17. It appears to be a reference to the messianic era and not the time of resurrection, since the proof text cited from Jeremiah 33.11 is a messianic prophecy.
"In Leviticus Rabba, it is stated that all sacrifices and prayers will be abolished in the Messianic days, except for the thanks offerings and thanksgiving prayers, because, as Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel (1437- 1508) explains, in those happy days there will be no Evil Inclination and thus no sin, so that no offerings or prayers to atone for transgressions will be needed. Of course, Leviticus Rabba was written in the fifth century, that is, about four hundred years after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of the sacrificial ritual, which made it relatively easy for the authors to contemplate such a contingency."
Brit Chadashah and Torah
After Yeshua came to ransom Israel from her sins (as Mashiach ben Yosef - the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53), the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people began to suffer their nearly 2,000 year long Galut (exile).
Various exegetical techniques were subsequently employed by the rabbinical tradition to establish a form of Jewish worship that did not require the presence of an earthly Temple, and Torah became a matter of inward observance, with prayer substituted for animal sacrifices, etc.
Messianic Jewish believers instead understood that the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-33) was beginning to be fulfilled, an "already-not-yet" state of affairs that awaits awaits complete eschatological fulfillment when Yeshua returns as Mashiach ben David to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile the inner meaning of the Torah, distilled as the commandment to love God and one another by the indwelling power of the Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), becomes the guiding principle of the life of faith.
The book of Hebrews provides the main New Testament commentary on this "new" covenant, quoting directly from the Jeremiah reference to establish its application through the work of the Mashiach on our behalf (Heb 8:8-12).
Heb 8:8 KJV
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 KJV
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 KJV
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 KJV
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 KJV
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Interestingly the word "new" used is "kainos" in Greek, a word that does not mean "renewed" but rather "unheard of," "entirely new," or "unique."
G2537
καινός
kainos
Thayer Definition :
1) new
1a) as respects form
1a1) recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn
1b) as respects substance
1b1) of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of
Part of Speech: adjective
Now the words of the covenant are one thing, and the covenant itself is another. The new covenant changes the way of obtaining justification and righteousness before the LORD (through faith in the grace of God as demonstrated in the offering of His Son as our kapporah or atonement for sin), but it does not change the inner meaning of the Torah to love the Lord and to love one another (as these examples from the new covenant writings will attest) :
Rom 13:8 KJV
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 KJV
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 KJV
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 KJV
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
1Jn 3:11 KJV
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Mat 7:12 KJV
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Mat 22:35 KJV
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Mat 22:36 KJV
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 KJV
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 KJV
This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 KJV
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 KJV
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Luk 10:25 KJV
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26 KJV
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27 KJV
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28 KJV
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Conclusion
To ask the question whether "Torah" can be changed is obviously a bit more complex. First we need to define what is meant by the word "Torah".
From the first article we understand that every Covenant, has its Torah. Noahic Covenant has its Torah, Abrahamic Covenant has its Torah, Mosaic Covenant has its Torah, Davidic Covenant has its Torah and of course, Messianic Covenant / Brit Chadashah has its Torah.Each of the covenants (from Adamic Covenant until Davidic Covenant) is ultimately predicated upon the promise of the Coming Seed (Ben Elohim) - (Son of God) who would remove the kelalah (curse) upon mankind and restore the children of man back to God.
And the Ultimate Covenant is the Messianic Covenant under Ben Elohim, Son of God, Yeshua HaMashiach.As the follower of Yeshua the Messiah, we understand that the Torah is eternal, and the New Testament has not abrogated it. But in its totality, the Torah must be understood and interpreted in the light of what Yeshua the Messiah.
Amen?
In Brit Chadashah, the New Covenant, the various civil, and ceremonial laws of the writings of Moses are made obsolete, but the inner meaning of the moral law's commandments are clearly retained. This is also in accord with various traditions of the Jewish sages, who distilled the 613 laws of the Torah down to the rule of faith ("the just shall live by faith").
The word "Torah" should not, therefore, be exclusively linked to the (conditional) covenant made with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, since the deeper covenantal purpose of God has always been to remove the kelalah (curse) from humanity through the sacrifice of His Son as the "Lamb of God".
So now, how do we as Messiah followers observe the Torah? This question actually is related to the Great Commission that Yeshua gave before He ascended to Heaven.
Mat 28:20 KJV
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Torah Observance As Messiah Followers
The Inner is not the Outer
We have read Mat 5:21:48. This is Yeshua's midrash of Torah.
Note :
Midrash is interpretation.
It should be evident that Yeshua's midrash regarding these commandments is intended to move the focus away from an outward appearance of righteousness (as was affected by certain Jewish leaders of Yeshua's day) toward the inward motivation of the heart.
In this sense is our righteousness to exceed the scrupulous forms of observance as practiced by the scribes and Pharisees. Yeshua is putting the Torah into the inward parts and writing it upon the heart.
Indeed, Yeshua had some fierce words for those Jews who hold to the "traditions of the elders" but who "make void the word of God" for the sake of Jewish traditions.
Mat 15:1 KJV
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2 KJV
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 KJV
But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4 KJV
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5 KJV
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 KJV
And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 KJV
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 KJV
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 KJV
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 23:2-3 is another supposed proof-text that neo-Ebionites will cite to support the view that followers of Jesus should observe the teachings of the rabbinics.
Mat 23:2 KJV
Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
Mat 23:3 KJV
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Mat 23:4 KJV
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Mat 23:5 KJV
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
This character in Complete Jewish Bible is called as "Legalism".
Gal 2:21 CJB
I do not reject God's gracious gift; for if the way in which one attains righteousness is through legalism, then the Messiah's death was pointless.
Gal 2:21 KJV
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Legalism is legalistic observance of the Torah commands which perverting Torah into legalism.
Torah is holy, just and good (Rom 7:12).
Rom 7:12 KJV
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
But when we are doing the Torah just a legalistic observance, then it is a "legalism".
This is what Yeshua, Paul and the disciples of Messiah against it.
I understand that at first glance it seems that Yeshua is saying that His followers are to practice and observe the Jewish traditions as expounded by the scribes and Pharisees.
However, when we closely read the context of every passages we note that these words undoubtedly indicate irony and scorn for outward their shows of righteousness (Mat 23:13-36).
If Yeshua had seriously meant for His followers to practice and observe what the scribes and Pharisees had taught, why would He go on to berate them as hypocrites who "shut up the kingdom of heaven against men", making a "pretense" of their prayers and going out of their way to make one convert who is "twice the child of hell" than themselves?
Would Yeshua have you and I practice and observe these sorts of things? On the contrary, the overall context of this passage indicates that the follower of Yeshua should not become subject to their authority. This interpretation is further made evident by Yeshua's statement that we are to be subject to Him alone as Teacher and are to call no one "rabbi," the traditional appellation of the Jewish leaders of the day (Mat 23:8).
Mat 23:8 KJV
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Covenant and Torah
What is Torah about, anyway?
As is well known, the word itself derives from a root meaning "direction," or "aim," or "instruction." But, are not all these terms relative to something else, something more fundamental as the goal or "end" of such instruction?
Indeed, what would it mean to instruct or direct someone without a destination? Would you attend a class if there was no impartation of knowledge as its justification? Would you read a map that had directions that led to nowhere?
So what, then, is the goal of Torah? Is it not - in the end - to be reconciled to God, to be in vital relationship with Him, in short, to be in loving communion with Him? But how is that to be effected? Is it through "rule-following" behaviors, or is there something else that needs to be provided in order to accomplish this end?
Is not "Torah" essentially man's response to this "something else," and is not this more basic thing God's covenant?
Torah is a function of covenant - as man's responsibility - and therefore Torah has changed in light of God's different covenants.
For example :
The earliest of the patriarchs - from Adam to Noah to Abraham - all observed Torah in the sense that they related to God through covenant. Consider that Noah, Abraham, and even Moses himself offered blood sacrifices to God before additional Torah was given at Sinai (Exodus 5:3).
Exo 5:3 KJV
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
In light of this distinction, we need to restrict the topic and ask the question as to whether we are bound to keep the terms of the covenant made with Israel at Sinai or whether there is indeed a new covenant that has been effected by means of which we may now draw near to God.
In other words, is the life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Yeshua merely a means to a renewed Sinaitic covenant relationship with God, or does it constitute a genuinely new way of being in relationship with Him?
How we answer this question will determine what we mean by "Torah" and our covenantal responsibilities before the LORD.
For myself, I always believe that, as the follower of Yeshua the Messiah, we believe that the Torah is eternal, and the New Testament has not abrogated it. But in its totality, the Torah must be understood and interpreted in the light of what Yeshua the Messiah. Now, what did Yeshua teach us about the new covenant with God?
Did He focus on ritual, obligatory prayer or the traditions of the elders as the means of observing Torah?
No, He said that Torah is observed by our inward response to His sacrificial death and resurrection for us and is demonstrated by loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and by loving our neighbor as ourself. "On these two commandments," He said, "hang all the law and the prophets" (Mat 22:35-40; see also Joh 15:12-14).
In other words, the love of God and others is the goal or purpose of Torah, and, as Paul wrote in Romans 13:10, "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (see also Gal 5:14).
Rom 13:10 KJV
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 KJV
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The Torah of Yeshua (Torat Yeshua) is love.
When we truly love God and our neighbor, we fulfill the intent of the various rules, ordinances, and statutes as found in the writings of Moses. In this sense, then, and based on the new covenant promises we have in Yeshua, we indeed have direction, aim, and instruction for the walk of life. The halakhah of Yeshua is the walk of love, and this love entirely transcends the role of rule-following behaviors as our way to truly commune with God and with our fellow man.
Now, we have a question.
Well then, should we be Torah observant? The answer is : Yes and No.
* Yes!
By the agency of the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) working in our hearts we can serve the LORD and fulfill the true aim (inner intent) of the Torah by means of accepting the gift of the righteousness of God (Rom 8:3-4). We can (and should) study the Torah of Moses and understand its underlying spirit, and we should ask the LORD to write the truth of the Torah upon our hearts according to His promise. We are expected, as followers of Yeshua the Jewish Messiah, to love the moral law and observe righteousness in our daily lives.
* No!
By the agency of human effort (striving to perform mitzvot as interpreted by the Rabbinical authorities - legalism) we will never become acceptable to God, but are condemned under the judgment of the Sinai Covenant and forced to bear the penalty for our sins (see Gal. 3:10; James 2:10).
Gal 3:10 KJV
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Jas 2:10 KJV
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
We cannot merit righteousness before Y-H-V-H by means of the mitzvot; we need mercy and grace and the love of God to be the foundation for all our lives.
The Torat Yeshua is the "law"of love : to love God and one's neighbor; to practice forgiveness and to live graciously in the sustenance of the LORD (Joh 15:12; 1Jo 3:23).
Joh 15:12 KJV
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
1Jn 3:23 KJV
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Blessing in Yeshua's Name
Andre Widodo
© ORI
Shalom,
This article is still related to the previous article Defining The Word "Torah". Please click here for detail : Defining The Word "Torah" .
But, before you read this article too far, I strongly suggest you to read the previous article, so you can have a good definition what "Torah" really is.
If you have a real definition what "Torah" really is, some people, having discovered the joy of the Jewish roots of their faith, want to take it to the next level by becoming "Torah observant", by which they mean obligated to follow the commandments found in the writings of Moses and interpreted by certain Rabbinical authorities as halakhah, or the "way to walk" the Jewish life.
This is very good, but I must give a warning, because we do not want to be like Ebionites and Maimonides in observing the Torah.
What is Ebionites? What is Maimonides?
Ebionites
The name was from the sect of the Ebionites. The Ebionites actually were a Jewish-Believers sect that insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites, which they interpreted in light of Yeshua's expounding of the Law. They regarded Yeshua as the Messiah but not as Divine, they rejected the teachings of Paul and insisted that the writings of Moses should be strictly observed for the true follower of Yeshua/Jesus.
Today, this teaching is spreading all around, and also in "Sacred Name Movement". This position actually is recognized "neo-Ebionism".
Today's neo-Ebionites will say that since Yeshua and his first followers were "Torah observant," we should be likewise. This is true, but since they do not accept Yeshua as Divine Personality, then it is a false teaching actually.
I must say, the deception is very, very, very thin.
Since they do not accept Yeshua as Divine personality, it means there is no Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) in them, because the Holy Spirit will be inside those people who admit Yeshua is Son of God, Divine personality (Joh 7:39).
Joh 7:38 KJV
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 KJV
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Sometimes, the neo-Ebionites will point out that the only reference in the Tanakh for the New Covenant (Brit Chadashah) is in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where it is clearly stated that God would write his Torah within our inward parts and write in upon our hearts.
Jer 31:31 KJV
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 KJV
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 KJV
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 KJV
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Matthew 5:17-20 is then often cited by the neo-Ebionites as a proof-text that Yeshua explicitly taught His followers to observe the commandments of Moses (the Torah) :
Mat 5:17 KJV
Think not that I am come to destroy the law (Torah), or the prophets (Nevi'im): I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 KJV
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot (Yod) or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 KJV
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 KJV
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes (soferim) and Pharisees (Perushim), ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
But wait a minute....this is important. Do not stop until Mat 5:20, but continue afterward.
Immediately after saying these things, Yeshua goes on to explain what He meant by saying : your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes (soferim) and Pharisees (Perushim).
In the next verses, Yeshua says :
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time... but I say unto you..." (Mat 5:21-48).
Note that in each case, Yeshua takes the outward meaning of the commandment (takes the Mosaic Torah) and moves it inward (as Messianic Torah), to the "inward part" by "writing it upon our hearts":
This is actually what Yeshua wants. Keep the Messianic Torah!
Old (written upon tablets) New (written upon the heart)
No Murder (Exo 20:13; Deu 5:17) No Anger / resentment (Mat 5:21-4)
No Adultery (Exo 20:14; Deu 5:18) No Lust (Mat 5:22-32)
No False Witness (Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20) Simple Honesty (Mat 5:33-7)
Eye for Eye Justice (Exo 21:24) Forgiveness (Mat 5:38-42)
Love friends; hate enemies (Lev 19:18) Love all people (Mat 5:43-48)
Outer Righteousness Inner Righteousness (Mat 6:1-4)
Formulaic prayer Secret Prayer (Mat 6:5-6)
Ostentatious Religiosity Secret Fasting (Mat 6:16-18)
Outwardness Inwardness (Mat 7:12)
That's the mistake of Ebionites that we should not to follow as Messianic Believers in Yeshua. Now, we are going to discuss the Maimonides. What is Maimonides?
Maimonides
Maimonides was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher, one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He is also known by the names Moses Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam .
He was born in Córdoba, Spain, in 1137 or 1138, and died in Egypt on December 12, 1204.
He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. With the contemporary Muslim sage Averroes, he promoted and developed the philosophical tradition of Aristotle, which gave both men prominent and controversial influence in the West, where Aristotelian thought had been lost for centuries. Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas were notable Western readers of Maimonides.
One of the central tenets of Maimonides's philosophy is the impossibilty for truths arrived at by human intellect to contradict those revealed by God. Maimonides held to a strictly apophatic theology in which only negative statements toward a description of God may be considered correct. Thus, one does not say "God is One", but rather, "God is not multiple".
Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics met with opposition during his life, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, his copious work a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship, His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law.But...regarding observing the Torah, the Maimonides, we will be questioning some dogmas of Maimonides.
The immutability of the Torah of Moses (or the covenant given on Sinai) is one of the most basic principles of the Jewish faith. Indeed, the Rambam's ninth principle (Mishneh Torah) is the belief that the lawcode given to Moses on Mount Sinai is entirely unchangeable and never to be superceded by another form of Torah.The Rambam's ninth principle :
Ani ma'amim be'emunah sh'leimah, shezot ha-Torah lo t'hei muchlefet velo t'hei Torah acheret me'eit ha-borei yitbarakh sh'mo ("I believe with complete faith that the Torah will not be changed nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, blessed be His Name").
Even today this faith in the eternality of the Torah is expressed each time the Keriat Torah ceremony is completed at the synagogue, when the Torah scroll is held up and the people recite :
Deu 4:44 KJV
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
When this statement is made, the claim is being made that the scroll being held up before the congregation is entirely identical with the Torah that Moses himself received while upon Mount Sinai thousands of years ago. As such, this response is a sort of "vote of confidence" in the work of the soferim (scribes) and their work in preserving the Torah scrolls throughout the centuries.
Textual Changes by the SoferimHowever, as a matter of historical fact, the original script of the Torah was not the square script (called ketav ashurit) that has been preserved over the centuries by the soferim (scribes), but rather ketav Ivri - an earlier script that resembles ancient Phoenician.
This statement is born out not only by qualified paleo-linguists, but by Jewish authority itself, since the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) itself says :
Mar Zutra or, as some say, Mar 'Ukba said: Originally the Torah was given to Israel in Hebrew characters and in the sacred [Hebrew] language; later, in the times of Ezra, the Torah was given in Ashshurith script and Aramaic language. [Finally], they selected for Israel the Ashshurith script and Hebrew language, leaving the Hebrew characters and Aramaic language for the hedyototh. Who are meant by the 'hedyototh'? — R. Hisda answers: The Cutheans (i.e., Samaritans). And what is meant by Hebrew characters? — R. Hisda said: The libuna'ah script.
The "they" in this statement refers to the men of the Great Assembly, and in particular, Ezra the Scribe who transliterated the ancient Hebrew script into the Aramaic script of his day.
Ezra did this to distance the Jewish people from the Samaritan transplants living in Israel after the return of the Jewish captives in Babylon (the Samaritan Torah still uses the older ketav Ivri and is extant today).
Now the question that is begging to be asked is simply this :
By what authority did Ezra translate the Torah into ketav Ashurit, especially since Moses himself in the Torah stated: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deu 4:2)?
There is no one-to-one correspondence between the two scripts, either in morphology or in phonetics.
So, is it not obvious that the transliteration of Ezra represents a real change in the Torah itself?
Changes to the Torah in Olam Haba
The sages believe in two olams (worlds). A this-world (olam hazeh) and a next-world (olam haba), with a Messianic 'transitional' world somewhere at the intersection (each olam reflects an 'indefinite' duration of time, but not an 'infinite duration').
The question that needs to be considered is whether the Torah, understood here to refer to the various mitzvot found in the writings of Moses, will abide as "everlasting" commandments, or whether the conditions of the world will be so transformed that they will no longer apply.
Some Jewish sages (such as Rebbe Schneerson) have said that in yemot HaMashiach (the days of the Messiah) the Torah will be more strictly obeyed, but in the olam haba - the world to come - "the mitzvot will be nullified," which means that they will no longer be needed, since they will be "as the light of a candle is nullified in the blaze of the noonday sun".
In other words, in heaven itself there will be no litany of mitzvot that will be scrupulously adhered to, since the Substance of that which the commandments aimed will be fully manifest. As Schneerson said, "In the world to come, the mitzvot will be annulled. No longer will the laws of the Torah be the stuff of a divine relationship with an extrinsic reality. Rather, they will be fully and unequivocally realized in a world that is no longer separate from its source, unhindered by "laws" that define a finite and mortal world".
Contrary to the dogma of Rambam, not all of the Jewish sages agree in the dictation theory of the Torah as an immutable document :
"We absolutely do not admit that which Maimonides laid down, that the entire Torah will not change, for there is no decisive proof for this -- neither from reason and logic nor from the Bible. Verily, the Sages tell us that the Holy One will give a new Torah in the future. If our King should wish to change the Torah, or exchange it for another, whatever the King wishes, whether it be to descend on Mount Sinai or another of the mighty mountains, or even a valley, there to appear a second time before the eyes of all the living, we would be the first to do His will, whatever be His bidding.
R' Abraham Hayim Viterbo (quoted from Marc Shapiro. Littman:2004, in The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)
Changes to the Torah in Olam Hazeh
But even in this age, called olam hazeh, we find evidence that Torah is not as immutable and unchanging as Rambam and the Rabbinic tradition would maintain.
For it is instructive to consider how Moses himself changed Torah during his own lifetime when he first instructed b'nei Israel to eat the Passover in their individual homes (Exo 12) but later commemorated its observance "in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there" (Deu 16:2).
Deu 16:2 KJV
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Later still the Torah was modified to allow meat to be eaten that was not slaughtered at the sanctuary as a sacrificial act (compare Lev 17 and Deu 12:15-16).
This is also seen in the various laws concerning the gathering of the manna were annulled after the Israelites took possession of the land. In short, because historical circumstances had changed, some of the older laws given to the wilderness generation were annulled and newer ones created.
Yeshua also indicated that Moses had changed the meaning of God's Torah in olam hazeh. For instance, consider this verse from Matthew's gospel :
Mat 19:6 KJV
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mat 19:7 KJV
They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
Mat 19:8 KJV
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9 KJV
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Note :
In verse 8, Yeshua was saying : but from the beginning it was not so. These words of Yeshua clearly imply that Moses was permitted to command things that were not originally from the LORD "because of the hardness of men's hearts".
That is, God permitted Moses to institute "laws" regarding divorce (the get) because He knew that the people would act contrary to His perfect will.
Consider also how King David appears to have transcended (changed) the literal words of Torah in light of HaShem's covenant with him - and the subsequent revelation that came to him as HaShem's prophet. For indeed David did add to the words of Moses by devising and planning the Bet Hamikdash - the holy Temple - that would be constructed by his son Solomon in Jerusalem :
1Ch 28:11 KJV
Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
1Ch 28:12 KJV
And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
1Ch 28:13 KJV
Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD.
1Ch 28:14 KJV
He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:
1Ch 28:15 KJV
Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.
1Ch 28:16 KJV
And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver:
1Ch 28:17 KJV
Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:
1Ch 28:18 KJV
And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
1Ch 28:19 KJV
All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
1Ch 28:20 KJV
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
What's going on here?
It is clear that King David was changing the Torah of Moses from the mishkan-centered sanctuary, to a temple-centered sanctuary.
Moreover, he was also changing the duties of the kohanim (priests) and their age requirements (plus adding a new schedule of service for them). Note especially that the text from 1 Chronicles states that these changes to the pattern explicitly commanded to Moses were sanctioned as being the result of a revelation from the LORD Himself.
1Ch 28:19 BHS
הַכֹּל בִּכְתָב מִיַּד יְהוָה עָלַי הִשְׂכִּיל כֹּל מַלְאֲכֹות הַתַּבְנִית
All this that the LORD made me understand by His hand on me, I give you in writing -- the plan of all the works.
Someone might argue that this was not really a change of Torah, but then we will need to rather loosely construe the meaning of the term "change" here, since David's modifications of the sacred pattern that Moses was instructed to follow touched on every aspect of the mishkan and its parts, including the role of the very priesthood and its activities.
In fact, the translation of the Mosaic formulation of the mishkan to the Bet Hamikdash amounted to an enormous change in the life of the Jewish people, and was only justified if King David was truly and divinely authorized to transcend the clear instructions given by the Lord in the Torah of Moses.
Furthermore, according to the rabbis themselves the Torah was somehow changed when the Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 A.D. and the sacrificial system was abandoned.
But, does this not affect the meaning of Torah, especially when you consider that nearly half of the 613 commandments of the written Torah are found in the book of Leviticus, the Torat Kohanim (laws of the priests), and much of the writing found in the Talmud is based upon it?
It is only by means of rabbinical re-interpretation (change) of the Torah that Judaism - as a non-Temple-based system - could continue to exist in the world, despite the teaching of Yohanan ben Zakkai, the Jewish sage of the first century, who is credited with the dogma that animal sacrifices could be replaced with prayer and acts of lovingkindness :
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai once was walking with his disciple Rabbi Joshua near Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Joshua looked at the Temple ruins and said: "Alas for us! The place which atoned for the sins of the people Israel through the ritual of animal sacrifice lies in ruins!" Then Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort: "Be not grieved, my son. There is another way of gaining atonement even though the Temple is destroyed. We must now gain atonement through deeds of lovingkindness." For it is written, "Lovingkindness I desire, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6). Siddur Sim Shalom, (Avot DeRabbi Natan) Jules Harlow, ed. (New York: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
Indeed, this "Judaism without the Temple" by-passed nearly half of the explicit commandments given by God to Moses in the Torah while simultaneously establishing rabbinic Judaism as the interpretive authority of the Torah for Jews throughout the Diaspora. Surely this change in authority indicates a change in the Torah!Changes to the Torah in the Messianic Age
In yemot hamashiach - the days of the Messiah - Messianic Kingdom, many Jewish sages have argued that the Torah will undergo change.
For example, a passage in Vayikra rabah 9:7 states : ''In the Time to Come all sacrifices will be annulled, but that of thanksgiving will not be annulled'' .
This passage is cited by numerous authorities, including Nahmanides in his commentary on Leviticus 23:17. It appears to be a reference to the messianic era and not the time of resurrection, since the proof text cited from Jeremiah 33.11 is a messianic prophecy.
"In Leviticus Rabba, it is stated that all sacrifices and prayers will be abolished in the Messianic days, except for the thanks offerings and thanksgiving prayers, because, as Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel (1437- 1508) explains, in those happy days there will be no Evil Inclination and thus no sin, so that no offerings or prayers to atone for transgressions will be needed. Of course, Leviticus Rabba was written in the fifth century, that is, about four hundred years after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of the sacrificial ritual, which made it relatively easy for the authors to contemplate such a contingency."
Brit Chadashah and Torah
After Yeshua came to ransom Israel from her sins (as Mashiach ben Yosef - the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53), the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people began to suffer their nearly 2,000 year long Galut (exile).
Various exegetical techniques were subsequently employed by the rabbinical tradition to establish a form of Jewish worship that did not require the presence of an earthly Temple, and Torah became a matter of inward observance, with prayer substituted for animal sacrifices, etc.
Messianic Jewish believers instead understood that the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-33) was beginning to be fulfilled, an "already-not-yet" state of affairs that awaits awaits complete eschatological fulfillment when Yeshua returns as Mashiach ben David to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile the inner meaning of the Torah, distilled as the commandment to love God and one another by the indwelling power of the Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), becomes the guiding principle of the life of faith.
The book of Hebrews provides the main New Testament commentary on this "new" covenant, quoting directly from the Jeremiah reference to establish its application through the work of the Mashiach on our behalf (Heb 8:8-12).
Heb 8:8 KJV
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 KJV
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 KJV
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 KJV
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 KJV
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Interestingly the word "new" used is "kainos" in Greek, a word that does not mean "renewed" but rather "unheard of," "entirely new," or "unique."
G2537
καινός
kainos
Thayer Definition :
1) new
1a) as respects form
1a1) recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn
1b) as respects substance
1b1) of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of
Part of Speech: adjective
Now the words of the covenant are one thing, and the covenant itself is another. The new covenant changes the way of obtaining justification and righteousness before the LORD (through faith in the grace of God as demonstrated in the offering of His Son as our kapporah or atonement for sin), but it does not change the inner meaning of the Torah to love the Lord and to love one another (as these examples from the new covenant writings will attest) :
Rom 13:8 KJV
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 KJV
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 KJV
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 KJV
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
1Jn 3:11 KJV
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Mat 7:12 KJV
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Mat 22:35 KJV
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Mat 22:36 KJV
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 KJV
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 KJV
This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 KJV
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 KJV
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Luk 10:25 KJV
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26 KJV
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27 KJV
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28 KJV
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Conclusion
To ask the question whether "Torah" can be changed is obviously a bit more complex. First we need to define what is meant by the word "Torah".
From the first article we understand that every Covenant, has its Torah. Noahic Covenant has its Torah, Abrahamic Covenant has its Torah, Mosaic Covenant has its Torah, Davidic Covenant has its Torah and of course, Messianic Covenant / Brit Chadashah has its Torah.Each of the covenants (from Adamic Covenant until Davidic Covenant) is ultimately predicated upon the promise of the Coming Seed (Ben Elohim) - (Son of God) who would remove the kelalah (curse) upon mankind and restore the children of man back to God.
And the Ultimate Covenant is the Messianic Covenant under Ben Elohim, Son of God, Yeshua HaMashiach.As the follower of Yeshua the Messiah, we understand that the Torah is eternal, and the New Testament has not abrogated it. But in its totality, the Torah must be understood and interpreted in the light of what Yeshua the Messiah.
Amen?
In Brit Chadashah, the New Covenant, the various civil, and ceremonial laws of the writings of Moses are made obsolete, but the inner meaning of the moral law's commandments are clearly retained. This is also in accord with various traditions of the Jewish sages, who distilled the 613 laws of the Torah down to the rule of faith ("the just shall live by faith").
The word "Torah" should not, therefore, be exclusively linked to the (conditional) covenant made with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, since the deeper covenantal purpose of God has always been to remove the kelalah (curse) from humanity through the sacrifice of His Son as the "Lamb of God".
So now, how do we as Messiah followers observe the Torah? This question actually is related to the Great Commission that Yeshua gave before He ascended to Heaven.
Mat 28:20 KJV
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Torah Observance As Messiah Followers
The Inner is not the Outer
We have read Mat 5:21:48. This is Yeshua's midrash of Torah.
Note :
Midrash is interpretation.
It should be evident that Yeshua's midrash regarding these commandments is intended to move the focus away from an outward appearance of righteousness (as was affected by certain Jewish leaders of Yeshua's day) toward the inward motivation of the heart.
In this sense is our righteousness to exceed the scrupulous forms of observance as practiced by the scribes and Pharisees. Yeshua is putting the Torah into the inward parts and writing it upon the heart.
Indeed, Yeshua had some fierce words for those Jews who hold to the "traditions of the elders" but who "make void the word of God" for the sake of Jewish traditions.
Mat 15:1 KJV
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2 KJV
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 KJV
But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4 KJV
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5 KJV
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 KJV
And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 KJV
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 KJV
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 KJV
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 23:2-3 is another supposed proof-text that neo-Ebionites will cite to support the view that followers of Jesus should observe the teachings of the rabbinics.
Mat 23:2 KJV
Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
Mat 23:3 KJV
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Mat 23:4 KJV
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Mat 23:5 KJV
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
This character in Complete Jewish Bible is called as "Legalism".
Gal 2:21 CJB
I do not reject God's gracious gift; for if the way in which one attains righteousness is through legalism, then the Messiah's death was pointless.
Gal 2:21 KJV
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Legalism is legalistic observance of the Torah commands which perverting Torah into legalism.
Torah is holy, just and good (Rom 7:12).
Rom 7:12 KJV
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
But when we are doing the Torah just a legalistic observance, then it is a "legalism".
This is what Yeshua, Paul and the disciples of Messiah against it.
I understand that at first glance it seems that Yeshua is saying that His followers are to practice and observe the Jewish traditions as expounded by the scribes and Pharisees.
However, when we closely read the context of every passages we note that these words undoubtedly indicate irony and scorn for outward their shows of righteousness (Mat 23:13-36).
If Yeshua had seriously meant for His followers to practice and observe what the scribes and Pharisees had taught, why would He go on to berate them as hypocrites who "shut up the kingdom of heaven against men", making a "pretense" of their prayers and going out of their way to make one convert who is "twice the child of hell" than themselves?
Would Yeshua have you and I practice and observe these sorts of things? On the contrary, the overall context of this passage indicates that the follower of Yeshua should not become subject to their authority. This interpretation is further made evident by Yeshua's statement that we are to be subject to Him alone as Teacher and are to call no one "rabbi," the traditional appellation of the Jewish leaders of the day (Mat 23:8).
Mat 23:8 KJV
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Covenant and Torah
What is Torah about, anyway?
As is well known, the word itself derives from a root meaning "direction," or "aim," or "instruction." But, are not all these terms relative to something else, something more fundamental as the goal or "end" of such instruction?
Indeed, what would it mean to instruct or direct someone without a destination? Would you attend a class if there was no impartation of knowledge as its justification? Would you read a map that had directions that led to nowhere?
So what, then, is the goal of Torah? Is it not - in the end - to be reconciled to God, to be in vital relationship with Him, in short, to be in loving communion with Him? But how is that to be effected? Is it through "rule-following" behaviors, or is there something else that needs to be provided in order to accomplish this end?
Is not "Torah" essentially man's response to this "something else," and is not this more basic thing God's covenant?
Torah is a function of covenant - as man's responsibility - and therefore Torah has changed in light of God's different covenants.
For example :
The earliest of the patriarchs - from Adam to Noah to Abraham - all observed Torah in the sense that they related to God through covenant. Consider that Noah, Abraham, and even Moses himself offered blood sacrifices to God before additional Torah was given at Sinai (Exodus 5:3).
Exo 5:3 KJV
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
In light of this distinction, we need to restrict the topic and ask the question as to whether we are bound to keep the terms of the covenant made with Israel at Sinai or whether there is indeed a new covenant that has been effected by means of which we may now draw near to God.
In other words, is the life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Yeshua merely a means to a renewed Sinaitic covenant relationship with God, or does it constitute a genuinely new way of being in relationship with Him?
How we answer this question will determine what we mean by "Torah" and our covenantal responsibilities before the LORD.
For myself, I always believe that, as the follower of Yeshua the Messiah, we believe that the Torah is eternal, and the New Testament has not abrogated it. But in its totality, the Torah must be understood and interpreted in the light of what Yeshua the Messiah. Now, what did Yeshua teach us about the new covenant with God?
Did He focus on ritual, obligatory prayer or the traditions of the elders as the means of observing Torah?
No, He said that Torah is observed by our inward response to His sacrificial death and resurrection for us and is demonstrated by loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and by loving our neighbor as ourself. "On these two commandments," He said, "hang all the law and the prophets" (Mat 22:35-40; see also Joh 15:12-14).
In other words, the love of God and others is the goal or purpose of Torah, and, as Paul wrote in Romans 13:10, "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (see also Gal 5:14).
Rom 13:10 KJV
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 KJV
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The Torah of Yeshua (Torat Yeshua) is love.
When we truly love God and our neighbor, we fulfill the intent of the various rules, ordinances, and statutes as found in the writings of Moses. In this sense, then, and based on the new covenant promises we have in Yeshua, we indeed have direction, aim, and instruction for the walk of life. The halakhah of Yeshua is the walk of love, and this love entirely transcends the role of rule-following behaviors as our way to truly commune with God and with our fellow man.
Now, we have a question.
Well then, should we be Torah observant? The answer is : Yes and No.
* Yes!
By the agency of the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) working in our hearts we can serve the LORD and fulfill the true aim (inner intent) of the Torah by means of accepting the gift of the righteousness of God (Rom 8:3-4). We can (and should) study the Torah of Moses and understand its underlying spirit, and we should ask the LORD to write the truth of the Torah upon our hearts according to His promise. We are expected, as followers of Yeshua the Jewish Messiah, to love the moral law and observe righteousness in our daily lives.
* No!
By the agency of human effort (striving to perform mitzvot as interpreted by the Rabbinical authorities - legalism) we will never become acceptable to God, but are condemned under the judgment of the Sinai Covenant and forced to bear the penalty for our sins (see Gal. 3:10; James 2:10).
Gal 3:10 KJV
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Jas 2:10 KJV
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
We cannot merit righteousness before Y-H-V-H by means of the mitzvot; we need mercy and grace and the love of God to be the foundation for all our lives.
The Torat Yeshua is the "law"of love : to love God and one's neighbor; to practice forgiveness and to live graciously in the sustenance of the LORD (Joh 15:12; 1Jo 3:23).
Joh 15:12 KJV
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
1Jn 3:23 KJV
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Blessing in Yeshua's Name
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