"…circumcised on the eight day, of the people of Yisrael, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the Torah, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church: as for legalistic righteousness faultless." (Philippians 3:2-6)
"For we know that the law [the Torah] is spiritual…" (Romans 7:14)
"… I delight in the Torah of Elohim…" (Romans 7:22)
This same scripture in King James English reads: "… I delight in the law of God…"
Before he knew Jesus, Paul was a meticulous keeper of the Torah (what we Gentiles have known, up to now, in the somewhat negative descriptive of the "law", but which I will make every attempt in future to refer to by its more accurate and edifying name of the Torah, unless the word "law" is needed to clarify my meaning for the benefit of those of stuck in modern-day Christian-ese.) Paul (named Saul in the beginning) was so zealous of the Torah, such a guardian/protector of the inspirational words of Elohim, that he actively persecuted anyone who he believed was "lawless" or blaspheming the Torah which, in his mind, would be blaspheming God since the Torah was the heart of God expressed in words; this is similar to Phinehas who was also zealous for God's word: "Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy." (Numbers 25:11)
If we recall that the church at the time of Saul (later to be called Paul) was made up of only Jewish converts, not Gentiles, then we understand Saul's contempt of fellow Jews whom he believed (before the Lord set him straight on the Damascus Road) had turned heretic by proclaiming Jesus to be Messiah, a person whom Paul believed to be "lawless" as Jesus did not adhere to the traditions of the elders, something Saul would have done as did all fellow Jews at that time or be penalized for it (possibly even murdered for it as Jesus was), such was the power of the religious authorities at that time.
It was shortly after the stoning of Stephen, a deacon of the church at Jerusalem, "a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 6:5), that Saul increased his efforts concerning these followers "of this way" (Acts 9:2), possibly because of the false accusations those of his own group, the Pharisees, had accused Stephen of:
1) "we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses [the Torah], and against God" (Acts 6:11);
2) "For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [the temple] and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us [the Torah]" (Acts 6:14).
It is important for us to remember that these were FALSE accusations, meaning Stephen was NOT teaching against the Torah. How could he have been, when all the disciples were observing the Torah? Why would he have NOT been observing the Torah, and even more so, why would he have been teaching others NOT to observe the Torah? Of course, he was not doing what they accused him of. But chances are that Saul also believed what was being falsely stated against these followers of Jesus.
After he met Jesus, Paul was still meticulous in his keeping of the Torah, because now he understood the Spirit of the Torah as well. Just as Jesus was completely Torah-observant, and the disciples were completely Torah-observant, Paul also remained completely Torah-observant and intended for new Gentile converts to learn the Torah that had been given to Moses by God as evidenced by Acts 15:20-21.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul tells Timothy something that modern-day Christians quote frequently, but deny frequently in their very actions:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
At the time that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, there was no New Testament. When Paul said "all scripture," he was referring then to the Torah and the Prophets, or what we know as the Old Testament, for that is all the scripture that there was. The Torah is the first five books of the Bible (inspired by God and written down by Moses) and contains all the commandments that were handed down to Moses from God. You will note that I said ALL the commandments.
It is interesting that we Christians can somewhat easily quote the "Ten Commandments." We would say that it is important to obey those ten commandments; but why are only those ten important and not the rest of His commands to us? Who determined that it was only those ten that were necessary? And who determined that it was really only the two "greatest" commandments that were necessary? How can one part of God's commandments to us be important, but not all? Isn't that like one part of the Scriptures being important, but not all? Do you see the conflict there?
Paul says ALL scripture is important. All scripture is profitable for, among other things, "instruction in righteousness." Has "grace" replaced our need for "instruction in righteousness"? Can we see that there have been some inconsistencies in our modern theological practices? Can we see that we modern-day Christians like to pick and choose what we want to observe, having our focus mostly in the New Testament, rather than to observe ALL of God's word to us?
Here is another interesting point:
Remember the woman with an issue of blood (Luke 8:43-44)? She reached out to touch the border of Jesus' garment and was healed completely and instantly. And in Matthew 14:35-36, we see that the men of Gennesaret asked only to be allowed to touch the hem of Jesus' garment…and when they did they were made perfectly whole. In both cases, the Greek word kraspedon is used which more accurately translated means fringe or tassel, in place of hem or border.
All Jews at that time, including Jesus and his disciples, wore a prayer shawl or phylactery that had fringe at the ends. The fringe was called "tzitzit." The length of the tzitzit indicated the wearer's study of the Scripture…the more study and knowledge, the longer the fringe or tzitzit.
In his book, "The Law and Grace," Todd D. Bennett says, "We see in these passages not only a beautiful fulfillment of prophecy, but also an example of the Torah observance of Yahushua (Jesus) which has been obscured due to translation inconsistencies and ignorance on the part of translators. By grabbing hold of the tzitzit –which represent the commandments, the terms of the Covenant – people were shown that healing and blessings come through the Torah which is what Messiah came to teach and fulfill."
Is Mr. Bennett correct? Can it be that the healings that happened by simply touching the fringe or tzitzit of Jesus' garments was God's way of signifying yet again the importance of obedience to His Word as contained in the Torah and the Prophets, aka the Old Testament, or Scripture as it was known at that time? I think it might be so. After all, things never happen by chance when God is involved.
Is it possible that we today are lacking that early church power because we are no longer observing God's instructions to us? Is it possible that God will work His glory and power through us ("complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work") proportionately to the amount of our obedience to His commandments to us ("instruction for righteousness")? Is that why Jesus, Paul and the disciples worked such miracles?
I am not talking about salvation here, or working towards salvation. I am talking about God's "grace" working through us after we have repented and acknowledged our need of Jesus. I am talking about "grace" that is not cheap, but costs us something and reveals the great glory of God through us, just as it did through Jesus and the disciples and Paul…glory revealed through them because they were meticulously obedient to God's Word….no matter how inconvenient or costly to their flesh.
I am talking about the need for a paradigm shift in our current thinking…one that acknowledges the Torah completely, rather than hastily "judging" those who choose to observe the Torah as being "legalistic."
We have only scratched the surface; there is much more to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment