In my last post I stated that Leviticus Chapter 19 defines in general how those people who have been set apart for HOLINESS by God are to live their lives.
Given that the Temple is currently not standing, legitimate arguments do exist about whether or not we are to follow the letter of the 613 laws and regulations set before us in the Torah.
However, what is NOT up for debate is whether or not the principles and patterns of what was HOLY during Moses time still holds today.
I want to share an interesting quote from the person who was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations during the time leading up to and during World War II.
I’m talking about Rabbi Joseph Hertz and this is what he had to say about Leviticus Chapter 19.
“Developing the idea of holiness as order, not confusion, this list (the verses of Leviticus 19) upholds rectitude and straight-dealing as holy, and contradiction and double-dealing as against holiness. Theft, lying, false witness, cheating in weights and measures, all kinds of dissembling such as speaking ill of the deaf (and presumably smiling to their faces), hating your brother in your heart (while speaking kindly to him), these are clearly contradictions between what seems, and what is.”
In simple terms, what is Rabbi Hertz saying here?
To put it bluntly from a Messianic perspective: There is nothing more hypocritical than to claim that Yeshua is living in your heart as Lord and Savior while at the same time denying the need to live a HOLY life as defined by TORAH.
Don’t talk to me about having the Spirit of God dwelling in you if you see no need for obedience to God’s TORAH.
The TORAH of Moses is nothing more or less than the spelling out of what we call “morality”.
Morality is what is GOOD (as seen from God’s perspective), in comparison to what is bad.
Note that Rabbi Hertz properly observes that one of the chief defining characteristics of HOLINESS is ORDER as opposed to chaos and confusion.
Recall when we had a look at the sin of bestiality and the reason it was wrong.
We were told that humans having sex with animals was wrong because it was TEVEL (improper mixing).
Don’t misunderstand me here.
I’m not implying that we should obey these laws exactly as they were acted out in the Middle East over 3000 ago.
Obviously, that’s an impossible proposition.
However, we should do the best we can with what we’ve got.
God, the Creator of the whole universe and all peoples, is the one who defines what is moral or not.
God’s morality has no cultural barriers.
They are eternal, immutable, and cannot be altered by man.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“If you love me, keep my commands.“
-John 14:15
Then I will tell them plainly,
‘I never knew you;
depart from Me,
you workers of lawlessness.‘
-Matthew 7:23
“Here is the patience of the saints:
here are they that keep
the commandments of God,
and the faith of Yeshua.”
-Revelations 14:12
I would agree the principles…absolutely! “To love God with your whole heart and to love your neighbor as yourself – on these hang all the law and the prophets.” We learn about sin, the goodness of G-D, and our need for a Savior through the Torah. Thankfully God saw fit to record for us the Apostles’ dealing with the matter of whether the 613 laws must be obeyed. Acts 15 records their decision – “Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.” Paul clarifies further that we should abstain from food given to idols only if the host tells us where the meat is from (1 Corinthians 10:27-29). We learn from Pauls’ confrontation of Peter in Galations 2:14 that Peter had not been “living like a Jew” when in the presence of Gentiles. Paul is also clear in 1 Corinthians 9:20 that he himself did not always obey the 613 laws as a practicing Jew would. And then we have the example in Galation 2:13 of Paul refusing to circumcise Titus. When Paul circumcised Timothy in Acts 16, Scripture says Paul’s witness to the local Jews was the reason it was done.
I would say any argument that believers in Yeshua must keep all 613 laws is faced with an onslaught of Scripture saying otherwise. Some get around this by claiming Paul’s writings should not be regarded as Scripture, but then they must ignore Peter as well, since 1 Peter 3:16 says Paul’s writings are Scripture.
The reason given in Acts 15 was that “Moses is preached in every city.” Perhaps this was a combination of restoring Gentiles to a command given to all men with Noah (not eating blood), and a witness to both pagans and non-believing Jews in every city? What are your thoughts?
Kay.. the Jewish law Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 9:20 is the rabbinical oral “law” that Yeshua and Paul decried. “Works of the law” was an idiom for the burdensome rules added to the Torah (“Law of YHVH”)..Refer to Avi Ben Mordecai’s exhaustive Commentary on Galatians as one very good source of understanding this crucial distinction..Reading the NT can be confusing without this disti cation in mind..We need to realize that Paul’s letters were written to specific groups in response to specific situations that we cannot always understood in their specific context.