Torah Torah Torah

A few years ago, I posted two blogs in regard to "keeping the law."  If you haven't read them, you can go back and read them starting here.

I have continued to study the Word of God from a Hebraic viewpoint.  This means that I come across a lot of people who call themselves Torah Observant.  However, I have found that there is a variety of opinions on what Torah obervance looks like.  Let me share more of what I have learned since the previous posts on the subject.

The word Torah means instruction.  It comes from the root word yara, which means direction; as an arrow being aimed and shot toward its target.  In this sense, the whole counsel of scripture from Genesis to Revelation is the Lord's instruction, or Torah, that leads us to the final goal.  The first place that the word Torah shows up in scripture is in Genesis 26:5, where the Lord says that Abraham kept His laws.  At this point, the Sinai covenant had not yet been given to Moses.

Torah

So am I Torah observant?  Yes!  Torah - The Instruction of God, from Genesis to Revelation.

Understanding the covenants is key.  There are seven covenants between God and man.  It is not just a matter of Old Covenant/New Covenant.  If you want more information on them, I have written on the seven covenants here.  Sorry for the rabbit trails today, but it is worth your time.

We must know what covenant we are under and then discover what is required of us under that covenant.

The fourth of the seven, given to Moses on Mount Sinai, was centered on the tabernacle, and later on the temple.  Of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Sinai covenant, only 207 of them can be observed apart from the temple.  This is why there are Orthodox Jews in Israel that yearn for the temple to be rebuilt - so they can properly keep Torah!

What does that mean for us as New Covenant believers, under the blood of Yeshua?  James 2:10 tells us that if we stumble on even one precept of the law (Sinai covenant), we have broken the whole thing.  Do you see how impossible it is?  

Hebrews 7:12, speaking of Yeshua our High Priest, tells us, For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 

Yeshua fulfilled the entire Sinai Covenant perfectly, for us, putting to death the laws of the flesh once for all.  It is finished, He said as He hung on the tree, taking on the curse for us with His dying breath.  Having fulfilled every precept of the Sinai Covenant, He is now our living Torah.

The Sinai Covenant dealt with the flesh.  The New Covenant deals with the spirit.  The Holy Spirit is our living Torah.

Yeshua gives us a major hint in the gospels.  When He sent out the 12 (a very Jewish number) disciples prior to feeding the 5000, He sent them to a Jewish crowd.  There was no need to give them any dietary warnings - they were kosher.  Then in Luke 10, we see Him sending out 70 (number of completeness) to a very Gentile area, prior to feeding the 4000.  What did He tell them?  Eat such things as are set before you.  There was a good chance that some of these Gentiles were going to give them pork BBQ.  

Yeshua was preparing his disciples to carry the gospel to many cultures - cultures who were never given the Sinai Covenant.  Can you imagine witnessing to someone, and they invite you to dinner, and you have to refuse them because they are serving bacon-wrapped shrimp?  The highest form of fellowship in scripture is to dine with someone.  What an insult that would be, and a stumbling block to the gospel!

Yeshua said that if we loved Him, we would obey His commandments.  What were His new covenant commandments?  Love God, and then love people.  The external precepts (flesh) were completed and the internal precepts (spirit) were magnified.  Romans 8 tells us that love is the fulfillment of the law.  This is our directive in this age of Messiah, until He comes again.

More Musings on the Law (Part 2)

In my last post, I spoke about the new covenant law that we are now under.  There are still a few things swimming around in my head that I would like to put down in writing.

For folks who try to keep the Sinai law today, I would like to ask:  Do you make the three annual pilgramages to Jerusalem that the law requires?  What about all the animal sacrifices that are required under Sinai law?  Do you purify yourselves following childbirth as required by the law, and then offer the appropriate animal sacrifices?  Do you go to a priest when you have any kind of skin rash?  If you do have such a rash, do you yell out "Unclean, unclean!" to anyone who passes by, and do you live separately?  If you ever have mold in your house, do you go through all the purifying rituals and then have a priest come and inspect it?  Do you follow all the requirements regarding bodily discharges?  Do you avoid cutting your hair at the sides or clip your beard?  Have you built parapets around your roof, so that if someone falls from it you won't be guilty of bloodshed?  Have you ever worn clothes that are woven with wool and linen?

James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."

Do you see how impossible it is?  Yeshua HAD to fulfill all of them, so that when he created One New Man out of Jew and Gentile, all could live together in the body of Messiah - the Kingdom of God - living by the Spirit instead of the law.

Romans 3:21-23 says "But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus the Messiah to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Ephesians 3:6 says, "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Messiah Jesus"

Galatians 3:28 says "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Jesus."

Let me be clear on one thing:  Jews are not required to become Gentiles in order to come to faith in their own Messiah!  They should never be required to give up the feasts they celebrate (since they all point to the Messiah anyway), or be forced to celebrate the pagan-rooted holidays of Christmas or Easter or to eat ham.  Remember, Jewish believers in Messiah also have the privilege of being led by the Spirit.  Besides, who are among those that they are going to witness to?  Most likely family members and other Jewish people.

When witnessing to different groups of people, we would be wise to follow the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:  "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Messiah's law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

(Part 3, written three years later, can be found here)

Here a law, there a law, everywhere a law law... (Part 1)

Ever since I became interested in the Jewish roots to our faith, I have come across many different ideas on the keeping of the law, or "Torah observance."  Some are "Moses" folks; those who believe the 613 commands of Mt. Sinai given to Moses are still in effect today, end of story.  Then there is the church, in which I have often heard, "nope, we are under grace, end of story."  It made me scratch my head for a long time.  But I think I get it now, so I will try to explain it to the best of my ability.

First of all, covenants.  God deals with man through covenants.  Some are forever, and some are temporary.  God made a covenant with Adam that his seed would crush the head of the serpent.  God also made a covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood.  Abraham was promised many descendants and the land of Israel.  These are all permanent, irrevocable, non-conditional covenants.

When the children of Israel escaped from Egypt, God made a covenant with them at Sinai which required action on their part - a conditional covenant. They were given a large set of laws to obey, including the TEN BIG ONES written on stone tablets.The covenant made at Sinai with Moses was conditional on Israel's obedience to the law (which was impossible).  It was needed to demonstrate just how unable each one of us is to keep it. (It was added because of transgression, see Galatians 3:19).  But check out Jeremiah 31:31-32:

 “The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the LORD.

No human being was ever able to perfectly keep the commands of the Torah.  Except the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), who came and kept the Sinai law perfectly.  In doing so, He became our substitute.  2 Corinthians 5:15 says, "God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Great!  So we are not under the law, right?  Wrong!  We are under NEW COVENANT law!  This law is summed up in two things:  Love God and love people.  The externals of the Sinai law were eliminated, but the internals of the heart were magnified!  For example, even by looking at a woman with lust, you have commited adultery with her.  If you hate your brother, you have committed murder.  An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth becomes turn your other cheek (Matthew 5:38...)  See what I mean?  Yeshua was preparing people for the change in covenants.

Just a little side note here.  The church, who often says that we are under grace and not law, still likes to hang their hat on the tithing part.  What would you say if I said you are not required to tithe anymore?  Stop cheering, I heard that!  Because if it is true that the internals are magnified, you'd better be prepared to give a lot more than ten percent, according to the leading of the Spirit.  The early church members sold EVERYTHING and gave liberally to others who were in need.

Anyway, I digress.  When the LETTER of the law was fulfilled by the Messiah, the covenant changed so that we are now under the SPIRIT of the law.  What does this mean?  It means that when we become a believer, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who is our counselor. Keeping the New Covenant law is only possible through an intimate relationship with Yeshua the Messiah, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.  He is the one Who will guide you. 

If you are prompted by the Holy Spirit to give up bacon or not work on Saturday, then by all means, you'd better obey His leading.  BUT, you are not to judge someone who is receiving a different leading on such matters.  Colossians 2:16-17 says:  "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Messiah".

We have freedom through the Messiah!  I love how Galations puts it:
"For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.  His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar...    Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise... Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman."


For part 2, click here