Romans_The Torah: God’s or Man’s?

"The Law", or in the better and more literal translation, "the Torah," is simply instructions from our Creator on how to live the abundant life in ways that are good and beneficial for us. The Torah is literally translated from ancient Hebrew as: "instructions from Elohim."¹ The word "Elohim" is Hebrew for "God".
 
But (as Todd D. Bennett discusses in his book "The Law and Grace") when the English translators replaced the Hebrew² word "Torah" with the word "law," they left us with the impression of something to be feared: police, judges, jail, prison….that's what "the law" signifies to us. What God meant for good to us, we look at as something to be feared. No wonder we Gentile Christians were happy to have so narrowly escaped having to observe the Torah! But what if we were meant to learn how to be obedient to the Torah (aka the law), instead of ignoring it?

Now, admit it. When I wrote "obedient to the Torah (aka the law)" somewhere inside you cringed a little. We Gentile Christians really do NOT want to have to deal with all the commandments in the Torah." It seems far too cumbersome. We have been very grateful all these past centuries to have avoided so many of the Old Testament commandments, while we felt very sorry for the poor Jews who apparently HAD to observe them. In some way, we tend to think as the Roman citizens in Macedonia did who complained about Paul and Silas: "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans." (Acts 16:21) Being Romans was their "escape" clause, they thought. And we Gentiles like to think we have an escape clause as well, so that we won't have to worry about observing the "exceedingly troubling customs" of the Torah.

But as we saw in the last posting, observing the Torah was not burdensome, while observing the traditions of men or traditions of the elders most definitely was. What is important to define at the very beginning is what is God's Torah versus what is man's law? And those descriptive are the ones that should be used respectively: God's Torah or man's law….the law to be feared, God's Torah never to be feared.

Man's law and God's Torah are both defined very clearly by Jesus Himself in Matthew 15:1-9, note the words that I have underlined:

"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, "Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread." But He answered and said unto them, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded saying, 'Honour thy father and mother' and 'He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.' But you say, 'Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightiest profited by me 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. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 'This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

God never commanded His people to wash their hands before they eat bread; it cannot be found anywhere in the Torah. But it had become a "custom" (such as Peter was discussing at the council of Jerusalem perhaps) that was placed on the people by the overly controlling Pharisees and it was a burdensome yoke about the necks of the people…one more intricate detail that if missed could result in terrible penalties…the "law of man" at work!

Some of us have had a parent or even a supervisor who was a micro-manager or control-freak and nit-picked every single thing that was done, resulting in the feeling for that child or employee that they were always walking on eggshells which at any moment would break, resulting in humiliation and punishment. What a way for a child or an employee to have to live…constantly surrounded by tension rather than peace! No wonder children run away from homes like that, and employees suddenly walk out the door never to return! That type of 'discipline' or 'control' never brings about the desired change for good that the parent or boss probably intended to have happen without really understanding how best to make it happen; micro-managing or nit-picking only demoralizes, denigrates, and destroys.
 
Such were the "traditions of the elders." Their 'control measures' destroyed. And in violation of the command not to "add to or take away from the things that are written herein" they created new commandments and called things "sin" that God had NOT called "sin."

The traditions of men destroyed rather than built up because love was left out of the equation. It wasn't about love for the Pharisees, it was only about the LAW, and that law was about man setting HIMSELF up to be JUDGE over other men. That's why Jesus labeled them "hypocrites" who honored the Lord with words only, rather than loving hearts. They weren't interested in honoring God; they were only consumed with being in control of others, a perceived sort of "power" in their own minds; power that belonged only to God, as Paul reminded both Jewish and Gentile believers in the church at Rome in Romans 14:4:

"Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth.  Yes, he shall be holden up for God is able to make him stand."

Those Pharisees who want to be in control are still around today in various denominations, religions, households and workplaces. The problem with "Pharisees" (aka "controllers") is that they have never been able to truly acknowledge their own sin and failure, never able to truly recognize their own desperate need for forgiveness and redemption and grace, never able to acknowledge the mercy that God has shown through His Son Jesus to them who were so undeserving, and so they are completely unable to show mercy or forgiveness or even understanding towards others, even those they 'love', but especially towards those they have no vested interest in or affectionate attachment to. Until they acknowledge their complete and utter need of God to sustain their very lives, they can never surrender to HIm, they can only remain in control....of themselves and everything and everyone around them...until their miserable lives end and misery for others end with their passing.  What sad lives those are! 

Thankfully, for us, God's commands are wrought with such amazing love and for such benefit to us, that they can never be burdensome, they will never demoralize, denigrate or destroy. And when that love that God has for us is witnessed and acknowledged by us (how can it not be when He is so faithful to us who so little deserve it?) surely our hearts will want to obey.

The relationship between the Father and Jesus was the example for us to observe and follow, the perfect father-son or parent-child relationship: the Father instructed, the Son obeyed. But it happened only because love between the two of them was palpable and obvious; without it, there would have been no obedience, there would only have been obligation and tension and failure.

Without love there would have only been THE LAW instead of the Torah; the law, as established by unloving men, i.e., dictators, power-mongers, etc., is something no man would ever have been able to perfectly obey at all times in every way. Jesus specifically and intentionally DISREGARDED or even BROKE the LAW (the traditions of the elders) while being PERFECTLY OBEDIENT to the TORAH.

1 "The Law and Grace" by Todd D. Bennett
2 There was a deliberate distancing of Christianity from all things Jewish in the second century and forward to be discussed fully at a later date.