Congregation Shema Yisrael

“Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened”. -Matthew 5:17-18 (CJB)

These few simple sentences (at least they seem simple) uttered by Yeshua (Jesus) have caused more than a little confusion among the faithful. Traditionally, when Yeshua says that he has come to “complete” or to “fulfill” the Torah (Law), it’s thought that he has come to “end” it. On the other hand, in the same breath he says that not even the smallest stroke of one Hebrew letter in the Torah will pass away, until heaven and earth themselves pass away. Last time I looked, earth was still here and faith tells me so is heaven. Now what do we do?

Yeshua’s words seem to contradict much of Paul’s later writings including Romans 10:4 (“…the goal of Torah is Messiah”) and what seems to be the whole point of Galatians. If the “goal” of Torah is Messiah Yeshua, and Yeshua has come, most believers assume the Torah has been done away with.

I don’t want to go into an extensive teaching about what is and isn’t applicable from the Torah to the lives of Jewish and Gentile believers today. That’s the whole point of both the “Torah 101″ class I teach, and the much more extensive What are the 613 Commandments class. There are also fair wiser scholars than I who have written extensively on this topic, so I don’t want to “reinvent the wheel”, as such. I do however, want to share some thoughts I had while reading some of the pages from Bivin and Blizzard’s book, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus, which I previously reviewed on this blog.

The premise of the Bivin and Blizzard book is that Yeshua’s teachings are only “difficult” if we remove them from their Hebraic linguistic and idiomatic context. Once we translate the English back into Hebrew, the context of the Jewish language and Rabbinic idiom result in clearer and more meaningful teachings for we disciples from our Master. From the authors’ point of view, the one thing that should be clear from the passages in Matthew right from the start, is that the Torah is here for the long haul.

With that said, what does all this “fulfill” stuff mean? The answer took me to the realization that many of my attitudes and beliefs about the Apostolic scriptures come from this book. I originally read it ten years ago and, having continued to study and eventually teach, I had carried that information forward while forgetting its source (which is why it’s a good idea to revisit your foundational texts from time to time).

Yeshua says he has not come to “destroy” the Torah but to “fulfill” it. The terms “destroy” and “fulfill” are idiomatic Rabbinical terms and don’t mean, in their original context, what they seem to mean in English. For instance, in a debate between two Rabbinic sages, when one sage believes the other is misinterpreting a portion of Torah, he states, “You are destroying the Torah”. A correct interpretation conversely, would be “fulfilling (or completing) the Torah”. With that in mind, a more accurate translation of Yeshua’s words is, “Don’t think that I have come to misinterpret the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to misinterpret but to correctly interpret“. Yeshua’s 1st Century Jewish audience, who had grown up hearing Rabbis use such language, would automatically comprehend his meaning and intent.

A great deal of misinterpretation of Torah, and thus misunderstanding about prayer, righteousness, and worship existed in 1st Century Israel (much like in the church today), and one of Yeshua’s missions was to provide the “lost sheep of Israel” with the correct understanding from the source. Someone recently told me they understood that Yeshua provided a superior interpretation of scripture, and that it had never been so clearly perceived and explained prior to his coming. I tend to disagree, since it would mean that every generation of faithful Jewish men and women from the giving of Torah at Sinai thousands of years before were operating, if not in the dark, then at least with insufficient light (and consider Psalm 119:105). Why would God not provide His redeemed people (the Children of Israel) with a correct or complete understanding of His Word from the very beginning?

Bevin and Blizzard bring up a point I hadn’t considered before (or don’t remember considering). Rather than saying Yeshua gave a better Torah interpretation, they believe the word “complete” might have another meaning beyond “to correctly interpret”. Taken together with Romans 10:4, Yeshua could be considered to give a more “complete” interpretation that includes the meaning of the incarnate Messiah (our living Torah) relative to the written Torah. Consider the following:

“You shall follow my Torah and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my Torah; if a person does them, he shall live by them. I am the LORD”. -Leviticus 18:4-5

“For Messiah is the goal of the Torah for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the Torah; that the person who does the commandments shall live by them”. -Romans 10:4-5

Sounds like Paul is quoting from the passage in Leviticus 18 in his letter to the Romans, and he’s not changing its original meaning (“…live by them”). He is giving a different interpretation however; an interpretation that illustrates both the written and “living” Torah. It seems likely he’s giving the same interpretation that Yeshua gave; that the Messiah is the embodiment or goal (often poorly translated as “end”) of the Torah. This doesn’t mean the coming of the Messiah is the termination of the Torah (which would contradict Yeshua’s own words), but rather the Messiah is the perfect living example of how to lead a life of complete Torah righteousness. He is the goal; the perfect example of how a person is supposed to live out the statutes given at Sinai so very long ago.

With all this said, and keeping in mind the Torah continues to be in force until the passing away of heaven and earth, we now have to accept the “challenge” of understanding Yeshua’s and Paul’s words in a new light; the light of Torah. This is often the light that leads many believers to consider studying the Bible from a Hebraic and Messianic perspective. It’s this light that has lead everyone I worship with on Shabbat to our congregation.

“Your Torah is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. -Psalm 119:105

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12

The Torah is also called a Tree of Life for those who take hold of it (referencing Proverbs 3:18). In synagogues around the world, after the Torah service every Shabbat, when the Torah scroll is being replaced in the ark, Etz Chaim or “It’s a Tree of Life” is sung in Hebrew. Here is the English version in part:

“It is a tree of life for those who grasp it,
and its supporters are praiseworthy.
It’s ways are ways of pleasantness and peace…”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. -John 15:5

The Torah’s ways are “pleasantness and peace” just as are the ways of our “Prince of Peace”; Sar Shalom, Yeshua HaMachiach; Jesus the Christ. Let us grasp on to Torah and to Messiah tightly.