Paul's perspective on the law

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

- Matthew 5:17-20

Reading the scriptures can be confusing at times.  In the above verse, Yeshua himself says that he has not come to abolish the law and that those “who break one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.” But we all know from reading the letters Paul wrote that we are saved by grace and therefore we are not under the law.  We can read this in several ways, and I am not here to debate the scriptures, but to give a different perspective.

Judith and I went to a party, not long before we got married, where we met a young Jewish girl who was having a hard time understanding exactly what Messianic Judaism was.  We tried to explain, that since Jesus was Jewish, it only made sense that we live a Jewish lifestyle.  To which she replied, “If you want to believe that Jesus was Jewish, that’s your problem.”  Judith and I were both speechless, but unfortunately, there are actually people out there that don’t know Yeshua was Jewish.  Perhaps this is because Christianity seems so different from Judaism.  Yet, early Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism, so how did the two religions become so different?

Many people read the book of Acts as a history of the early church.  The first non-Jewish believer, Cornelius, doesn’t enter the book until chapter 10, and the Jews weren’t exactly sure what to do with him.  After hearing Peter’s story of how these uncircumcised Gentiles were baptized in the Holy Spirit, the other Apostles and brothers from Judea praise God saying (Acts 11:18), “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

As more Gentiles came to faith, some brothers from Judea were teaching (Acts 15:1), “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”  In verse 5, we see this idea repeated from “some of the brothers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees,” who added that the Gentiles should also be required to obey the law of Moses. The decision was made that they should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God, and not to burden them with anything more than abstaining from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.

We read throughout the rest of the New Covenant how Paul took the Gospel message “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” preaching first in the synagogues and then to others, in many of the provinces of the Roman Empire in the area of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.  It is believed that during Paul’s life, which ended a few years before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (Paul is believed to have been martyred around 67 AD while the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD) Christianity was still considered a sect of Judaism, although, as we read in Acts, many Jewish leaders strongly opposed this movement.  Some historians believe there was a power struggle between Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism and the followers of Yeshua which eventually lead to the formation of these two separate religions [source needed].

After the destruction of the Temple, and the end of the Jewish revolt, the Roman Emperor Vespasian placed a tax on Jews throughout Roman Empire in place of the “tithe” Jews used to pay for the upkeep of the Temple [source needed].  Domitian expanded the tax during his rule to also include anyone who observed Jewish customs [source needed].  Naturally, Christians petitioned the Emperor to recognize Christianity as a separate religion so they would not have to pay the tax [source needed].  Nerva, Domitian’s successor, limited the tax to those who openly practiced Judaism, allowing Christians to avoid the tax by disassociating themselves from Judaism [source needed].

In 303 AD Christians were again persecuted in the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian [source needed]. Christians pushed themselves further from Judaism at the Synod of Elvira in 306 AD when they banned marriages, sexual relations and community contact between Christians and Jews [source needed].  In 313 AD Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan officially recognizing Christianity as a separate religion.  Finally at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the complete separation was made official when the church declared; “we desire dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews.” 

Part 2

While Judith and I were dating, we attended a college and career group.  The teaching one night, perhaps for our benefit, was on the question of differentiating between the “law” and “sin.” A leader of the group explained the law could be separated into different categories; moral law (as in the ten commandments), ceremonial law (as in the sacrifices) and civil law (as in an eye for an eye).  He argued that Yeshua and others who uphold obedience to the law were referring to moral law, while Paul, in arguing against the law, was referring to the ceremonial and perhaps the civil law. Perhaps, but that really ignores who Paul was.

Who was Paul?  In Acts 22: 3, Paul says; “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city.  Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”  Paul was a Pharisee.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, Judges, Pharisees and Rabbinut, during the first century, there were two types of law in Israel, the written Law, or the Mosaic Law, and the Oral Law, which would become the Rabbinic Law.  The Pharisees believed that their interpretation of the Mosaic Law, through the Oral Law which had been handed down to them, was to be held in higher regard than the scriptures themselves, for without the rabbinic interpretation, the meaning of the scriptures is unclear.  As Christians have separated themselves from Judaism over the centuries, they also separated themselves from the rabbinic law as we are told from the scriptures not to be under the law, which coming from a Pharisee would mean, not to be under the law of the Pharisees.

Take a look at what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:19-21: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.”  Here, Paul specifies that he is outside of the law, “not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ."

Popular thinking is that Paul is referring to Jews when he refers to “those under the law.”  But if you read this as a Pharisee living in the first century (as Paul was), you read those under the law as those who live according to the interpretations of the Pharisees.  Remember, the Pharisees were not the only religious leaders at the time, there were also the Sadducees who believed the Law of Moses should be read literally, and does not need the interpretation of the oral law.

It is written in Matthew that Yeshua says “not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”  There are no pen strokes in the oral law, a point which surely wasn’t lost on the Jews listening to Yeshua.

Christians seem to like to call everything that is “Jewish” living “under the law.”  If you keep any type of kosher, keep Shabbat or celebrate Jewish holy days then you are living under the law.  Although Christians can back up decisions not to keep the above commands with other scripture, I would argue that we cannot just throw away everything Jewish by saying it is living under the law.  I would argue that we are taught not to be under the oral law and the rabbinic interpretation.  That when we read the scriptures, keeping kosher, keeping the Shabbat and celebrating the biblical feasts look very different from what Orthodox Judaism makes these commands look like.  Am I telling you that you need to start keeping kosher, keeping the Shabbat and the biblical feasts? Certainly not as the Orthodox Jews do today.  I would like to see what the scriptures say (Old and New Covenant) about these ideas, but we’ll deal with those scriptures another week.

Judges, Pharisees and Rabbinut

“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.”  1 Timothy 1:8 (NIV)

One of the hardest things for me to do, in writing a book explaining differences in Christianity and Judaism is finding the proper balance between reverence and disregard for rabbinical teachings.  For many of us who are not Jewish, it is easy to dismiss what the Rabbinut (the plural for Rabbi in Hebrew is Rabbinim, where Rabbinut is a word that reflects, generally, all of the Rabbinim) teach because it is so foreign to us, and doesn’t seem to make any sense.  To better understand the importance of rabbinical teachings in Judaism, we need to understand the history of Judaism and where these teachings came from.

The Rabbinut claim their authority from the time of Moses, when he appointed judges to help him in Exodus 18, from the advice of his father-in-law Jethro.  Verses 24-26 (NIV) read, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.  He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  They served as judges for the people at all times.  The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.”  We see from Matthew chapter 23:2-3 (NIV) Yeshua recognizes this claim to authority, and perhaps the type of balance I am searching for, in saying, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”  It is important to note here, that Yeshua himself teaches us to listen to the teachers of the law and to do everything they tell us to, regardless of how we feel about them personally.  

Having said this, I need to explain one of my own personal beliefs; one should never use a single verse of the Bible to create personal religious doctrine.  This does not mean that we can ignore what each individual verse of the bible, but that we must understand there are times when a single verse can be misinterpreted or taken out of context, and it is best to base our beliefs on the overall spirit of the text, rather than on a single incident where a verse may contradict what the rest of the word says.   I am sharing this now because I do not want anyone to think I am telling you that Christians must do everything the Rabbinut tell you to do because some things have changed in the last two thousand years since Yeshua made this statement, but I do believe we can glean from the spirit of this verse, that we should at least have some respect for their authority and their teachings.  

Getting back to Judaic history, we will trace how modern Rabbinut became more than just the “judges” as were chosen by Moses back in Exodus.  They did not have to be a priest or a Levite in order to be a judge, but they were chosen from all Israel, just as today you do not have to be born into a particular Jewish family to become a Rabbi, but each Rabbi receives his training based upon his own capabilities.  

After Moses’ death, Joshua became the leader of Israel.  After Joshua, there seemed to be no clear leader of the people.  We read in Judges 2:15-19 (NIV);

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

While the priests and the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the sacrifices, it was the judges, along with the elders, who lead the people in their daily religious and political affairs.

When Samuel was in his old age, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel, but we read in Samuel chapter 8 that his sons were dishonest and perverted justice, causing the elders to ask for a king, like the other nations.  

From the time of King Saul to the exile in Babylon, I do not believe there is any mention of judges or teachers of the law, but this duty (of interpreting the law) seems to have fallen to the prophets during this period.  I will need to study First and Second Samuel, Kings and Chronicles further to confirm this.

After King Solomon’s death the Kingdom splits in two, Israel in the North and Judea in the South.  After several generations of disobedience, God has had enough of Israel and they were conquered by Assyria and they began dispersing the people from Israel or Samaria, creating what people refer to as the “Lost Tribes of Israel.”  A couple of generations later (or 125 years from the final deportation), Judea falls to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews are exiled to Babylon.  The Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the Persian Empire, and after the Jewish people returned to Israel, they built the Second Temple (around 516 B.C.).  The Persian Empire was replaced by the Greek Empire which was in turn replaced by the Roman Empire.  All of you History buffs out there are probably pulling your hair out, at my abbreviated version of History, but work with me.

After the Temple had been rebuilt, there was concern that the Jewish refugees were no longer living according to the laws found in the Torah and a growing importance was placed on the “Mosaic Law,” or “Law of the Torah,” and for those who could interpret how it was to be implemented.  At first, this was largely the duty of the Temple priests, but there were a number of lay teachers, or scribes, who also studied the law.   As time passed, this small number of lay teachers began to increase.  It may be at this time that the title of Rabbi began to appear in Judea.  The title Rabbi most likely came from the exile to Babylon, where “Rab” was the title of the sages who taught in the Babylonian academies.  The title was used as one might use the academic title of “Doctor” today, to indicate a certain amount of education or achievement.

In 167 BC, Antiochus IV invaded Judea and defiled the Temple and forced Jews to abandon their laws and customs.  In 165 BC, Judah Maccabeus lead a revolt which liberated Jerusalem from Antiochus and the Temple was restored.  Judah established a new political and religious monarchy, known as the Hasmonean dynasty, even though he lacked the authority of a Davidic lineage (citation needed – sometimes I feel like I’m writing articles for Wikipedia). 

According to Josephus, a well known Jewish-Roman Historian from the first century, Judaism was divided into four sects of thought, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots.  In the years leading up to Yeshua’s ministry, two of these distinct sects had emerged as the political and religious authorities of the Law, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees, who emerged from the scribes, emphasized the “Oral Law” and claimed prophetic or Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish laws, and the Sadducees, who emphasized the importance of “Mosaic Laws,” represented an aristocratic authority of the Temple Priests.  Many of the ideas and interpretations of the Pharisees, largely attributed to Hillel (but believed to be passed down, uninterrupted from the time of Moses, through the judges, prophets and scribes), would later be written down in the Mishnah by Judah HaNasi (about 150 years after the destruction of the Second Temple), in order that the Oral Law would not be forgotten.  The Mishnah is considered the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism, and coupled with the Gemara, comprise the Talmud.

The Sadducees on the other hand, gave no credence to the Oral Law and felt that everything in the Torah such be taken literally.  In this way, they felt that if one were to cause another to lose an eye, that the punishment to the offender must be the loss of their eye, as according to Exodus 21:24.  The Pharisees, however, claimed that this could be interpreted to mean the offender must pay the victim the value of an eye. 

We must remember and be thankful that, because of the Pharisees, the Scriptures were preserved when the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.  One of Hillel’s disciples, Yochanan Ben Zakai, who foresaw the fall of Jerusalem to Rome, faked his own death and was smuggled out of the city gates, which were guarded by Jewish Zealots, in his own coffin.  He then made his way to the Roman camp, where he met with Vespasian and petitioned him for the city of Jabneh and its sages.  After the war, Yochanan was able to establish Jabneh, and its previously unimportant school, as the new seat of the Sanhedrin, and as previously stated, preserved the Scriptures from being completely destroyed.  

The Pharisees became the Rabbinut, and wrote the Talmud, and passed Jewish traditions down from generation to generation.  They continued the celebrations of the Jewish festivals and preserved Jewish thought and culture.  Because the Pharisees and Rabbis took the time to write down their understanding of and reasons for the Laws we find in the Torah, we are better able to understand their meaning, in our modern culture, than we would if there was no other source of reference to these laws.  We must be mindful to respect the teachings of these Rabbis, but use discretion in their implementation.  We must always keep in mind that the Talmud is not scripture, and should be used only as commentary on the scriptures.

I am sure many of you are cringing at the mention of the Talmud because of its negative depiction of Yeshua, as well as false teachings contained therein.  Perhaps next week we will pick up from this idea and how the divide between Judaism and Christianity grew over the centuries.  

Remember, I am looking for your feedback.  Does everything I have to say make sense?  Is there anything you disagree with?  Tell me what your sources are.  If you don't have a source but just want to state your opinion, that is valid too.  

A New Begining

A short while ago I began writing a book.  For years I have thought about writing a book on what it means to be “Messianic.” Of course, there are books already out there.  There’s Daniel Juster’s Jewish Roots[1], David Stern’s Messianic Jewish Manifesto[2] and Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel[3], but all of these titles were written by Jews, about Messianic Jews.  As David Stern points out in his Messianic Jewish Manifesto, since I wasn’t born to a Jewish mother, nor have I ever converted to Judaism through the Jewish Rabbis, I’m not Jewish.  

So, what am I?  And what are the thousands of other non-Jewish believers who attend Messianic congregations throughout the world.  If we cannot call ourselves “Messianic Jews,” do we call ourselves “Messianic Believers,” even though our fellow congregants call themselves “Messianic Jews,” or are we still just simply Christians?  And even if we are only Christians, aren't our religious roots still in Judaism?  Why don't we still celebrate the Jewish holidays?  Why does Christianity look so different from Judaism? 

I started writing my ideas down in book form.  I wrote chapters on who I am, where the Rabbis came from, thoughts on keeping kosher, the Shabbat, the Jewish Holidays, traditions and how all of these things relate to one another.  You may be asking, "what happened to the book?"  Unfortunately, as I began writing, I got more thoughts and learned more information and had new insights into the subjects I was writing about.  I had to go back and rewrite entire chapters as I found information contradicting my original assumptions, or found a source that I had used to be inaccurate.  The information seemed to take on a life of it's own and became overwhelming.  

With this blog I am attempting to cut the information I've learned into small manageable chucks, which I will post each week.  It is my hope that as the weeks, months and even years pass, I will be able to reorganize all these chunks of information back in to book form, supported by reliable and accurate sources.  Until then, I'd love to hear your comments each week, your opinions and find out if what I have rings true to you or just sounds like a bunch of rubbish.  As we discuss each topic, I'd also love to hear what you have to say from your personal experiences, what you have found out in your own research and I'd love to know what sources of information you use to support your ideas.

Until next week, Shabbat Shalom and Shavuah Tov!

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[1]Daniel Juster, Jewish Roots (Pacific Palisades, California: Davar Publishing Co., 1986)

[2] David H. Stern, Messianic Jewish Manifesto (Baltimore, Jewish New Testament Pulications, 1988)

[3] David H. Stern, Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel (Baltimore, Jewish New Testament Pulications, 1988)