Why Is The Torah Important?

[Guest shiloh357]

Why Is The Torah Important?

By Shiloh357

In order restore a Torah-positive perspective to modern Christianity is incumbent upon me to first begin by correcting some misconceptions about what true biblical Torah observance is. Too many Christians have been misled to believe that the Torah is irrelevant, that it has set aside by God in favor of the New Testament. Too often we hear people speak as if the Old Testament is a failed system, as if the Torah was somehow flawed or impotent to accomplish its purpose. This stems, in part, from a misunderstanding as to the purpose of God has for the Torah. In this post I will discuss what the Torah is, What is its purpose, and what truly constitutes biblical Torah observance, and some of the Scriptures that have been misunderstood where the Torah is concerned.

1. What Is The Torah?
   
   The word Torah is word that means "teaching" or "instruction." It is often rendered as "law." But that is the least of its roles. It comes from a root word in Hebrew yarah which gives us the word picture of a man throwing a spear at a target. From this root, we see that Torah is instruction on how to hit the mark or target. More specifically how to accurately do those things which are pleasing to God. The Torah teaches us how to please the heart of God.
   
   Often, especially, among the Jewish people, "The Torah" refers to the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar, and Devarim). That is the Torah in its most narrowest sense. We who are believers in Yeshua though, understand that since Torah is really instruction, the WHOLE Word of God is "Torah." We are treat all 66 books of Scripture with the same reverence, the same importance. There is not one word come from the heart of God that is less worthy of our consideration than another. Every book, every chapter, every verse, is for our edification and and education.
   
   You will, I hope, be able to distinguish by my word usage, the times when I am referring to the Torah proper (first five books) and The whole Torah (the whole Bible). I have, in times past, for the sake of convenience, allowed myself to use the term law since it was convenient for those who were reading my words. However, I cannot correctly or accurately articulate the true purpose of the Torah by referring to it as law, since "Torah" and "law" communicate two different concepts.
   
   
   
2. What Are The Purposes Of The Torah and What is True Torah Observance?
   
   In a different thread, I enumerated for main purposes for the Torah, in no particular order:
   1. 
      
   2. The Torah demonstrates Lifestyle (Matt. 5:17-21) Yeshua in the sermon on the mount set about revealing the Torah to his hearers. He did exactly what the ancient Rabbis thought He would do. He began expounding the true meaning of the Torah. He did NOT set about to abrogate it.
      
   3. The Torah leads us to Messiah (Rom. 10:4, Gal. 3:24) Messiah is the telos (goal, main focus) of the Torah. It is also the schoolmaster to point us to Messiah.
      
   4. Torah sets boundaries by teaching what is right or wrong, pleasing or not pleasing to God. (Rom. 7:7) The Torah essentially defines, or brings a knowledge of, sin. It holds up the standard of righteousness. It does not make anyone righteous, but rather shows us what righteousness, love, holiness, etc. looks like. In doing so, it shows us the difference between what is sinful and what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
      
   5. The Torah teaches about redemption and how Yeshua accomplishes our redemption. (Luke 24:44, John 5:39, 46)
      In point one, I said that Torah demonstrates lifestyle. More to the point the Torah teaches us about Biblical love. We know that God is love. Everything He does has love as its chief motive. The Greatest commandment in the Torah according to Yeshua is "Hear O Israel!! The Lord your God, the Lord is one!! And you shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength." (Deut. 64-5). The second greatest commandment is similar. "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19:18) Yeshua went on to say in Matt. 22:40 that all of the other commandments in the Torah hang on these first two commandments.

In other words, the Torah teaches us how to walk in love towards our Heavenly Father and towards those around us. Easier said than done sometimes, isn't it?? Yet that is what the Lord is trying to teach us about. He is trying to teach us to imitate HIM. He has given us the Torah, the instructions on how to have a biblical "love life." That is the lifestyles that Yeshua is talking about. Everything Yeshua did was to demonstrate the love of the Father for each of us, and how to walk in Love before our Father and with others. He was the Torah incarnate, the living Word.

There is nothing about how to attain personal success in the Torah. There is nothing in the Torah about how to get rich. Everything in the Torah is about servant-hood and sacrifice. It is about how to live for others, not merely for self. It is about biblical love. The Hebrew word for "love" is ahavah it is not an emotional kind of love, but an active kind. It is love that is operative in nature, always doing, always serving. True biblical love is a servant. Yeshua demonstrated this love in His earthly ministry. Even when He was weary and fatigued, he still served. Even in His most weary moments, He saw the multitudes and had compassion on them. He could not turn anyone away who sought His help. It wasn't in His nature to turn away from a cry for help. It still isn't. He was the living Torah.

True biblical love is the primary attribute to a Torah-based life. It is the kind of love that is always serving always seeking to be a blessing and benefit to greater society. It is not focused on self awareness but on the awareness of the needs of others. Love is expressed in 8 different ways: Joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control. All of the fruit of the Spirit is wrapped up in the Torah proper, and are illuminated for us in even greater ways in the rest of the Scriptures.

Love cannot be defined without the Torah. To define love without the instructions of the Torah would be like trying to describe "red" to a blind man who has never seen color before. It simply cannot be done. The New Testament in this way, is an extension of the Torah. It adds further illumination to our understanding and practice of God's commandments.

1John 3:4 tells us that the sin is the transgression of the Torah. That brings us to next important point, namely that the Torah defines what sin is. The Torah's mitzvot (commandments) can be divided up into two parts, positive and negative. There are 248 positive commandments (what things we should do) and 365 negative commandment (things we should NOT do). The Torah sets boundaries, and defines what constitutes sin. This is right, this is wrong, this is kosher this is not, etc. The Torah sets the bar for what does, and does not please the Lord.

But it goes further than that. It shows us that no matter how hard we try, we are incapable of meeting the God's standard of absolute righteousness. Even if we were to obey every commandment properly, our observance would be tainted by the sin into which we were born. It is like holding a diamond crested Rolex watch in your hand. It is an amazing gift, but your hands are covered in motor oil, disease tainted blood, animal dung, toxic mold, and mud. It is the same with us. It is not our observance of the commandments that gains God's favor. It is when our obedience to Him is a outworking of our faith in Him through Yeshua our Messiah that God is pleased. This is so, because it is Yeshua who according to Romans 8:3,4 is fulfilling the righteousness of the Torah in us. It is when we accept Him as our savior that our works will be pleasing to God due to Yeshua's living within us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

In the Book of Hebrews we are told that the continuous act of bringing sacrifices would not make the offerers perfect, hence the need to continuously offer the same sacrifices year after year. No matter how hard we try, our efforts to obey God will not bring us closer to Him. Simple observance does not have the power to make us clean or acceptable to God. The Torah was not designed to make us perfect, but rather show us God's standard of righteousness and our helplessness to reach that standard in our own strength.

Thus, the Torah performs its third purpose, and that is to show us the Messiah, and our need for Him. It was meant to drive us to Yeshua and seek redemption and salvation through Him. Romans 10:4 tells us that Messiah was the "end" (telos) of the Torah for righteousness for every one who believes. The Greek word telos means goal. Messiah was the goal of the Torah for righteousness (rightstanding) for those who believe. Telos is like the finish line in a race. The goal of the runners is to cross the finish line. When we have received Yeshua as our savior, that particular goal of the Torah has been accomplished.

Until we have received Yeshua, we are kept as prisoners under the Torah's condemning sentence of death. Death is the curse of the Torah according to Galatians 3. We under this curse, but it was Yeshua who bore the curse on our behalf. He bore in Himself the sentence of death which was upon us, that we would believe on Him might no longer live under it.

This brings us to the final and fourth point of the purpose of the Torah. It is shows us by patterns, types and shadows the plan of redemption found only in our Messiah, Yeshua (may His Name be blessed for ever).

I won't go heavily into detail here, but we can see in the seven annual Festivals the complete plan of redemption from the Garden of Gethsemene to the New Heavens and New Earth. We can see redemption patterned for us in all five of the Sacrifices. Each of the five Sacrifices show us a different picture of Yeshua. The order of service of the Priesthood in the Tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple show us the plan of redemption. The Sabbath is a beautiful picture of not only New Heavens and New Earth, but is a picture of our rest in Messiah. It also demonstrates how that Messiah is the only way to the Father as Yeshua said in John 14:6. The Festivals and appointed times reveal Yeshua as sanctifier, redeemer, and Savior. It is important to note that the entire New Testament is written in the terminology of the Festivals and the sacrifices. When one becomes knowledgeable in these areas, it opens up all kinds of avenues in Bible study that will bless you in ways you have not known before.

So then with the above four points in mind, how does one observe Torah? Torah observance does not amount, so much, to living like a Jew (though there is nothing wrong with that if someone chooses do so). It is not a matter of keeping a particular custom. Torah observance is living like Yeshua/Jesus, the greatest Torah observer in the history of the world. It means that we imitate our Messiah, and in doing so, we are imitating our Heavenly Father. Torah observance begins by walking in biblical love. It means living in love when everything in our nature is screaming at us to do the opposite. I think we all have room for improvement in this area, I know that I do. It means responding in love to those we don't particularly care for in the flesh. Biblical love is not based upon feelings but upon obedience to God's commandments even when we don't want to. That is when love means the most, that is when we show if we are truly a servant of the Lord, or not.

[*] Scriptures That Have Been Misused To Abrogate the Torah

It is important to know and understand that Yeshua was not a breaker of the Torah. He did not at anytime violate ONE of God's commandments. Yeshua was the greatest Torah observer of all time. What Yeshua "broke" was the extra-biblical rules that some of the Pharisees mercilessly, and hypocritically imposed upon the people. They were hypocrites because they held the common man to a standard that they did not hold themselves to, while pretending to be pious. Yeshua saw through it all, and called them on it.

Unfortunately, the Church has developed a very unbiblical Stigma about the Torah because certain Scriptures where Yeshua was breaking a Pharisaic rule or arguing over an extra-biblical ritual have been taken to mean that Yeshua was repudiating the Torah itself. This could not be further from the truth. Some of the Pharisees had become the very antithesis of Torah observance. They had reduced "keeping the Torah" to lowest common denominator, and their entire lives had degenerated into cruelty and hypocrisy.

When Yeshua healed the man with the withered hand, and the woman who was bent over, He was accused of violating the Sabbath. Yeshua correctly responded that doing good was not a violation of the Sabbath. Yeshua did the work of His Father on the Sabbath. As Yeshua said, the Sabbath is not a rest from doing good. It is a rest from the mundane, self centered cares we engage in during the other six days. If there was a day that the Pharisees should have out and about seeing after the sick, feeding the poor, and caring for widows and orphans, it should have been the Sabbath, as these are Sabbath-worthy activities. The Sabbath is the one day when doing good should be amplified, augmented. The Pharisees knew this, and yet persisted to accuse Yeshua of being a Sabbath breaker.

In the next portion of this study, I will bring forth Scriptures often used to repudiate Torah observance. I will attempt to explain them and demonstrate why they do not abrogate the Torah, but in fact establish the Torah, when understood in the light of what Torah really is.

Until then, Chaverim!!

[pointer]

Does the crucifixion of Yeshua influence true faith? If so, how?

[LadyGunivere]

Thanks for the info

[Floatingaxe]

Does the crucifixion of Yeshua influence true faith? If so, how?

What does this question mean?

[Guest shiloh357]

What makes the Torah important is that it was the Law that Christ came to fulfill. Christ fulfilled the Law 100% and it was nailed to the cross at His crucifixtion, through the blood of Christ we are redeemed from the Law because the Law condems all mankind. Anyone who tries to adhere to the Law will fail and rightfully so because the Law represents the character of God.

Christ fulfilled the Torah only in the sense that He brought it to its fullest expression. The Torah was not nailed to the cross. It was not the Torah that we needed to be redeemed from, but rather it was our sin. Our redemption makes it possible for the righteousness of the Torah to be fulfilled in us.

The Torah does not condemn mankind. It is our sin in the presence of the Torah that condemns us. The Torah only demonstrates God standards. It does not offer any condemnation of man, but rather reveals the glory of God.

It is my opinion that all christians must do a healthy study of Galatians in order to understand where we stand as Christians with Sin, the Law, Redemption and Salvation.

That is not what the book of Galatians is about. The book of Galatians dealt with the specific heresy which plagued the Galatian congregation. The book of Galatians does not condemn the Torah, or the observance of it. The book of Galatians condemns the judaizing heresy that Gentiles needed to become physical Jews via circumcision in addition to faith in the Messiah. Outside of that, the book Galatians does not condemn observance of the Torah.

Paul himself was a Torah/law observant Jew until his death. It would be hypocritical of him to condemn Torah observance and yet observe the Torah, himself.

[pointer]

What makes the Torah important is that it was the Law that Christ came to fulfill. Christ fulfilled the Law 100% and it was nailed to the cross at His crucifixtion, through the blood of Christ we are redeemed from the Law because the Law condems all mankind. Anyone who tries to adhere to the Law will fail and rightfully so because the Law represents the character of God.

Christ fulfilled the Torah only in the sense that He brought it to its fullest expression.

I don't know what that means. Jesus obeyed the Law perfectly. He did more than keep Mosaic Law, because Moses took account of the hardened hearts of the Israelites and gave concessionary law. In being sinless, Jesus obeyed natural law, which is higher than Mosaic Law, and preceded it. Jesus obeyed the perfect law that Adam did not. It is not Mosaic Law that condemns mankind, but natural law, the law of conscience.

The Torah was not nailed to the cross.

'He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.' Col 2:13-14 NIV

'Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.' Rom 6:13-14 NIV

Abraham was justified before the Law was given, as was Israel (Jacob). They were not under Mosaic Law, but they were under natural law before they were justified. Mosaic Law now applies to no-one, but it may be useful as a guide.

[Guest shiloh357]

Christ fulfilled the Torah only in the sense that He brought it to its fullest expression.

I don't know what that means.

What it means is that Jesus was fullest expression of the Torah. His life and teachings brought to our understanding what Torah observance means.

QUOTE

The Torah was not nailed to the cross.

'He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.' Col 2:13-14 NIV

'Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.' Rom 6:13-14 NIV

Abraham was justified before the Law was given, as was Israel (Jacob). They were not under Mosaic Law, but they were under natural law before they were justified. Mosaic Law now applies to no-one, but it may be useful as a guide.

I will comment on each passage in turn

1. The passage in Colossians is drawn from the Roman practice of crucifixion. When person was crucified, the Romans nailed a list of the man's offenses to the cross to show why such punishment was justified. It was our offenses, our sins that were nailed to the cross. According to God's justice, death was the penalty. Our sin was imputed to Christ and he died for our offenses. The Torah is not the problem. The Torah is perfect, and God did not need to abrogate His own commandments. To assert such, is nonsense.

2. We are not under the law but under grace. What you need to understand is that "under the law" and "under grace" are positional terms that denote our standing with God. A sinner is under the dominion of sin, and is therefore, "under the law." A Christian is, "under grace." If a person dies without Christ, they stand before God "under the law." If a person dies in Christ, they stand before God "under grace." The concept "under the law," as used by Paul has nothing to do with living within the framework of the law, but rather it refers to being unsaved. Sinners are "in Adam," servants of sin," and "under the law." It is three ways of saying the same thing.

3. The issue about Abraham really has nothing to do with this. No one is talking about being justified by the Mosaic Law. That is not even the point of my OP.

[pointer]

QUOTE

The Torah was not nailed to the cross.

'He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.' Col 2:13-14 NIV

'Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.' Rom 6:13-14 NIV

Abraham was justified before the Law was given, as was Israel (Jacob). They were not under Mosaic Law, but they were under natural law before they were justified. Mosaic Law now applies to no-one, but it may be useful as a guide.

It was our offenses, our sins that were nailed to the cross.

That is simple, obvious, flat contradiction of Scripture. 'The written code, with its regulations... he took it away, nailing it to the cross.'

The Mosaic Law has as much genuine relevance now as it did to Abraham, who had not even read it.

The concept "under the law," as used by Paul has nothing to do with living within the framework of the law

Those who live by Mosaic law will die. Those who are born again could never do such a thing, because they live under the 'law' of Christ, which is love, a totally different experience.

[Guest shiloh357]

QUOTE

It was our offenses, our sins that were nailed to the cross.

That is simple, obvious, flat contradiction of Scripture. 'The written code, with its regulations... he took it away, nailing it to the cross.'

You are penciling the "law" into the the Colossians passage. You are essentially making an assumption. The Torah was not nailed to the cross because the Torah is not "against us." It was the charges against us, not the Torah itself that was nailed to the cross. Anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty can see that.

There is an unbiblical stigma that Christians have about the law, and that is the product of tradition and is not communicated by the Bible. Paul was himself a Torah observant Jew. He kept the festivals and twice performed sacrifices and even circumcised Timothy. Paul considered himself a Pharisee even unto the end of his life.

The Torah came from God and is therefore perfect and Holy. Why would something perfect and holy need to be nailed to the cross? Why would "love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and strength" need to be nailed to the cross? How is that commandment "against you?" Care to explain?

The Mosaic Law has as much genuine relevance now as it did to Abraham, who had not even read it

Really? The same Abraham of whom the Scriptures says:

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Genesis 26:4-5)

[Guest shiloh357]

The concept "under the law," as used by Paul has nothing to do with living within the framework of the law

Those who live by Mosaic law will die. Those who are born again could never do such a thing, because they live under the 'law' of Christ, which is love, a totally different experience.

No, those who seek to be justified by the Mosaic law will die. Those who seek eternal life by the Mosaic Law will die. Keeping the Law does not produce death. It is attempting to keep the law as a legalistic attempt to establish a righteousness based upon works that produces death.

The Law of Christ is not at all different than the law of Moses. They are the same. Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the Torah of Moses or the prophetes. He did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them. Even in the English, destroy (abolish) and fulfill are used as opposite terms. The opposite of destroy is to build up.

The Law of Christ in Greek is, "ton nomon tou Christos" and it means the "The Torah as upheld by the Messiah." It does not mean that the Torah of Moses was set aside by a "new" Torah called the "Law of Christ." Paul is simply using an expression and it is a rabbinic expression.

The same phrase "Law of Messiah" is even found in rabbinic literature outside of the Bible which Paul, a Rabbi would have been familiar with. For example, in the Midrash Rabbah, on Ecclesiastes 11:8, this ancient commentary states that