The Law of the Lord is Good – Understanding Paul

 

Though it may seem to be a huge endeavor to deal with the difficult issue of understanding the words of Paul/Rav Shaul as it deals with issues related to the Torah, but this endeavor is guided by a simple axiom that I was taught by Dr. Mark Nanos, one of the premier scholars of the writings of Paul, including the books The Mystery of Romans and The Irony of Galatians.

First off in understanding Paul you must realize that he was writing primarily to Gentile churches.

With the first understanding clear then when reading Paul’s writings telling believers that they were not bound to Torah commands like circumcision and Jewish rituals then each of these statements per Nanos add “for non-Jews” to each statement.

In so doing it helps to clarify the point that Paul was telling the non-Jews that he was writing to that they were not bound to the Torah.  This is the same opinion that any mainstream Rabbi will give that non-Jews are not required to observe Torah and more to Paul’s stand should not observe Torah.  The special place of Torah as the Jewish people’s rights and privilege can be seen that potential converts to Judaism are to do one act that violates Shabbat so as to keep them from completely observing Shabbat before they were Jewish.

But for Paul himself as a Jew, A life observing Torah was his responsibility and the only way for him to live, even in his final speech Paul declared himself to be “as in relation to the Torah, a Pharisee”. This showing that even at the end of his life he still considered his life of Torah observance to be living to the standards of his Pharisaic training with the sage Gamaliel.

So then if we understand that Paul in addressing his non-Jewish audiences was saying that the non-Jews are not bound to the Torah’s commands (which is the same thing understood in Judaism today) this should help in understanding his philosophy. Paul as a Jew lived a life of Torah faithfulness, even after becoming a follower of Yeshua.  His harsh words in Galatians being pointed at those non-Jews who came to believe in Yeshua and were told that their new faith was inadequate without becoming Jews or becoming “super-believers” by observing Torah.  Both these views are wrong and were rightly condemned by Paul.

Hopefully this will be of help in understanding Paul/Rav Shaul…

Intentional Messianic Jewish Community – More than Saturday morning.

To obey is better than sacrifice

I want more than 

Sunday and Wednesday nights

‘Cause if you can’t come to me every day

Then don’t bother coming at all

(To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice by Keith Green)

 

As we continue to explore the building of a Messianic Judaism for the future we need to realize that intrinsic to living a true Messianic Judaism is that it is more than just something we do on Saturday mornings but a lifestyle done seven days a week guided by our Torah.

The above words written by Keith Green, of most blessed memory, who was a Jewish follower of Yeshua who left this world before the Messianic Judaism movement began, and therefore framed his Yeshua faith within the Christianity of his day, lays out that a life of following God is not just attending services but living everyday for God. I imagine that if Keith would be living today as a Messianic Jew that I imagine the lyric would be “I want more than saturday mornings…”.  One of my cherished memories was meeting Melody Green, Keith’s widow at a High Holyday service about 10 years ago and she shared that Keith would have loved to participate in Messianic Jewish life if he would have had the opportunity in this world.  He is now living each moment in the radiance of King Messiah.

Though we don’t have Sunday and Wednesday as our days of religious services (common in evangelical Christianity), the lesson we can learn is that there is more to a Messianic Judaism life, more to walking in the way of Torah, than just attending Shabbat services and doing Messianic Judaism for 2-3 hours on Saturday mornings. Messianic Judaism is a life of walking Torah everyday and is more than just being a Sabbatarian, but a Jewish life of walking a Torah life each day.

So how can we consciously build up a daily walking in Torah ways?

The key is community, being that Judaism is to be lived communally. We need to seek to build up chavurot, Erev Shabbat gatherings, home study groups and even seek to build intentional communities of Messianic Jews living together, either in shared housing, in the same apartment building or in houses in the same neighborhood. We need to be in community to fully live out our lives walking Torah in “the other 6 days”.

We have to move beyond the “commuter synagogue” model wherein are “community” is grounded in whatever people are willing to travel 20-50 miles to Saturday services and at 2pm, head back to their separate lives.  If we want Messianic Judaism continuity, we have to have Messianic Judaism community.

May we seek to walk in God’s Torah each day and seek to build living breathing 24/7 Messianic Judaism communities!

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At the Name of Yeshua

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In the above words from Rav Shaul’s letter to Philippi (Philippians 2), we get an astounding reflection on the glorification of Yeshua, our righteous Messiah and that future day when all of Creation will acknowledge that Yeshua is Messiah, Lord and King.

As I was thinking about these verses, I was struck with the awesome scene that these verses foretell.

One day every man, woman and child who has ever lived (billions and billions of people) will bend the knee, bow before and acknowledge that Yeshua is the Lord of All and King of Kings. From the least to the greatest, all of humanity will acknowledge that it is the name of Yeshua that is the Name above all Names.

On a further level reflecting on Rav Shaul’s words in Romans 8:22:

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

The whole of Creation: the trees, plants, animals and “creeping things” all are awaiting that day too. All of Creation has been in a state of separation from the perfection of Eden and await that day when the Messiah comes and then “all things will be made new”.

In this light I got a picture in my mind of an amoeba (a single cell creature) bending to show it’s acknowledgment of the coming of Yeshua. It is hard to picture, but try to imagine an amoeba bending in half.

The whole Created order awaits that day and all of Creation will acknowledge that Yeshua is Lord and King.

We who know that Messiah has come and are followers of Yeshua can now today give Him the glory that He is due. Our righteous Messiah is with us (though not yet physically with us), but His reality is here today. One day all will acknowledge Him, we can today begin the glorification of our righteous Messiah by living credible Messianic Jewish lives that honor Torah and glorify our Messiah.

We will be there on that day in joy celebrating Him. May we live lives that make Yeshua more clearly seen as the Jewish Messiah by our People.

The Messiah has come, He is Yeshua, may we make Him known more as we build a credible, mature Messianic Judaism!

…come Lord Yeshua (Revelation 22)

Living Torah – Experiencing the Messianic Age Now

 

In John 8:12-20, Yeshua gives us a picture of his identity as the light of the world. Yeshua is speaking with the religious leaders; he leads with his identity as the “light of the world.” Yeshua makes the point clear that by following him that he offers “light” which brings life, unending life. The religious leaders question Yeshua’s authority to make this statement because he was speaking on his own. In response Yeshua makes it clear that his words are not his alone but the words of his Father also. We then read these words in verse 19:

They said to him, “Where is this “father” of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.”

In Yeshua’s response we see an interesting teaching, that to recognize Yeshua, the Son, involves acknowledging God, his Father. In acknowledging Yeshua we are drawn deeper into connection with the Father. What then can we learn from this?

In Isaiah, we read of Israel’s growing weary of God and not honoring him by offering the Torah’s required sacrifices and observances. This neglect of covenant faithfulness leads to estrangement from God and even words of condemnation and curse. In this we see that relation to and more importantly intimacy with God is derived through obedience. The lack of covenant faithfulness demonstrated in this passage led to estrangement between Israel and her God, the flipside is that faithfulness to the covenant draws us closer to God.

In a picture of the Messianic Age given by Ezekiel in chapter 37, we read: “My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations.” As Ezekiel sees the future reign of Messiah, the Davidic king, ruling over Israel as her rightful monarch, inextricably tied to the Messianic Age is that part and parcel of the Messianic Age is a Jewish people committed to the rulings and regulations laid out in the Torah. The eternal, ever presence of Yeshua is also a time of ever present Jewish covenant faithfulness.

If the Messianic Age, our daily hope and longing is characterized by a renewed Jewish people surrounding a returned Messiah and walking in Torah ways, if we live for this glorious day, why don’t we now begin living in the reality of the Messianic Age by drawing near to the LORD’s Torah and being drawn deeper into connection to God the Father and to Yeshua, his Son and our righteous Messiah?

As we draw near to the LORD by walking lives of Torah faithfulness, we go beyond just acts of obedience to acts of deep connection to the God who gave us this Torah. As we draw nearer to the LORD, we are given a new experience of God and Messiah and begin living now in the reality of the Messianic Age today.

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Developing Halacha – Creating Messianic Judaism for the Future

One of the fruits of the discussions among Messianic rabbis over the issue of Messianic Jewish conversion is seeking to answer the question:

If we are converting non-Jews, what are we converting them to?

The answer to this question is: to Judaism, has led to further questions over the issue of what standards of practice these converts will be called to live and what Messianic Judaism’s halacha will be.

This is an exciting fruit of the Messianic Jewish conversion development process that there is actual discussion and development of a Messianic Jewish halacha and this is an important part of the further maturation of our movement as a Judaism.

This is a vital step in our development to be the Judaism for Yeshua in the 21st century and beyond!

The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (http://www.ourrabbis.org) has made the huge step of working out the bounds of Messianic Judaism life via their Standards of Observance which is a document detailing the development of communal Torah values for Messianic Judaism.

You can read more on the development of Messianic Jewish Halacha and download a copy of the Standards at:

http://ourrabbis.org/main/halakhah-mainmenu-26/introduction-mainmenu-27/sources-mainmenu-28

Torah-free repentance: The problem with Jews for Jesus and other Missions to the Jews

Jews for Jesus affirms Jewish believers who, for the sake of honoring our heritage and developing a Jewish testimony, choose to give up some of what grace allows to conform to dietary standards and various other Jewish practices. As long as such practices are not presented as incumbent upon others in the body of Messiah, Jewish or Gentile, we hope to be an encouragement to those who desire to uphold their Jewish identity in this way.

(from Fall 2003 Havurah, a publication of Jews for Jesus)

In the above sidebar to an article in the Fall 2003 Havurah newsletter addresses the view of Jews for Jesus (and I would say is representative of other Jewish missions groups) on the issue of Messianic Jews observing Torah commands like kashrut, Shabbat and others.  It is a huge statement that lays out their view that the observing of Torah and Jewish practices are seen as acts that one is “allowed” to do and by observing Torah and Jewish practices the Jewish believer is giving up of God’s “grace” that in their understanding no longer requires observance of Torah by Yeshua believing Jews.

In this short paragraph the organization, Jews for Jesus demonstrates that they see the Torah as no longer applicable to the life of Messianic Jews and also that obeying the Torah and observing Jewish practices is not doing an act of obedience to the God who gave the Torah but as an acceptable activity that one can do as “evangelistic shtick” for the sake of witness or some kind of heritage attachment.

This is not an expression of Messianic Judaism and despite Jews for Jesus’ many attempts to try to paint themselves within the Messianic Jewish world the above statement clearly puts them outside the realm of being a part of the worldview of Messianic Judaism and outside a life within Jewish space and at odds with the Messiah that they seek to proclaim.
Beside the sociological problem of the statement is the huge issue of Jews for Jesus (a prominent Evangelical Christian affiliated organization) saying that Jewish believers in Yeshua can obey God if they want to, but obeying God’s Torah should not be seen as incumbent!

Stop and think about this, they are seeking to draw Jewish people to believe in the Jewish Messiah, yet they do not take the Messiah’s own example of the importance of living Torah and therefore they are offering the Jewish community a “Torah free” and “Judaism free” Messiah.

Torah observance is an act of obeying God, it is not just an acceptable “abandoning of grace” for heritage connection or witness. Though it is true that obeying Torah and living Jewish life is a way of connection to Jewish heritage and a witness of God to the world, the obeying of Torah is to be primarily an act of obeying God’s commands and His Torah.

The call of missionaries like Jews for Jesus is for Jews to put their faith in Yeshua as Messiah and repent of their sins.  But what is Jewish sin, other than living outside the bounds of Torah?  What is the sign of true repentance but to turn from violating God’s Torah and seeking to live within it’s boundaries.  A call to Yeshua faith and repentance that does not lead toward a life of walking on the path of Torah is not a true call to repentance and can be an example of what Paul called “another Yeshua and another good news”, but this Yeshua is not the true Yeshua and this good news is at best inadequate and at worst leading people to live in rebellion to God with the stamp of approval from Jews for Jesus and other missions groups.

The shape of Jewish repentance is bound up in seeking to live Torah, a Torah-free life of a Messianic Jew is not a God honoring life.  If we are going to call Jewish people to accept Yeshua as Messiah our message must include that following God for all Jews (especially Messianic Jews) is a life tied to Torah.  If the great Messianic hope is Yom Shekulo Shabbat, a time of unending Shabbat, a time of all creation living in the light of Messiah and ordered by his Torah, should we not now who call Yeshua our Messiah begin now to live our lives ordered by the very Torah that the world to come will be lived?

So then for living God honoring lives and the building of a mature Messianic Judaism we need to obey Torah daily because that is what God commands and it is the Torah that is God’s way of living for all Jews (especially Messianic Jews!).

Experiencing the Messianic Age Now

In this week’s besora reading from John 8:12-20, Yeshua gives us a picture of his identity as the light of the world. Yeshua is speaking with the religious leaders; he leads with his identity as the “light of the world.” Yeshua makes the point clear that by following him that he offers “light” which brings life, unending life. The religious leaders question Yeshua’s authority to make this statement because he was speaking on his own. In response Yeshua makes it clear that his words are not his alone but the words of his Father also. We then read these words in verse 19:

They said to him, “Where is this “father” of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.”

In Yeshua’s response we see an interesting teaching, that to recognize Yeshua, the Son, involves acknowledging God, his Father. In acknowledging Yeshua we are drawn deeper into connection with the Father. What then can we learn from this?

First, from this week’s haftara reading from Isaiah, we read of Israel’s growing weary of God and not honoring him by offering the Torah’s required sacrifices and observances. This neglect of covenant faithfulness leads to estrangement from God and even words of condemnation and curse. In this we see that relation to and more importantly intimacy with God is derived through obedience. The lack of covenant faithfulness demonstrated in this passage led to estrangement between Israel and her God, the flipside is that faithfulness to the covenant draws us closer to God.

In a picture of the Messianic Age given by Ezekiel in chapter 37, we read: “My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations.” As Ezekiel sees the future reign of Messiah, the Davidic king, ruling over Israel as her rightful monarch, inextricably tied to the Messianic Age is that part and parcel of the Messianic Age is a Jewish people committed to the rulings and regulations laid out in the Torah. The eternal, ever presence of Yeshua is also a time of ever present Jewish covenant faithfulness.

If the Messianic Age, our daily hope and longing is characterized by a renewed Jewish people surrounding a returned Messiah and walking in Torah ways, if we live for this glorious day, why don’t we now begin living in the reality of the Messianic Age by drawing near to the LORD’s Torah and being drawn deeper into connection to God the Father and to Yeshua, his Son and our righteous Messiah?

As we draw near to the LORD by walking lives of Torah faithfulness, we go beyond just acts of obedience to acts of deep connection to the God who gave us this Torah. As we draw nearer to the LORD, we are given a new experience of God and Messiah and begin living now in the reality of the Messianic Age today.

http://www.towardblog.com