Chapter Two
The Torah Can Do That?
The Purposes of Torah
In chapter one, we defined what kind of document Torah is. It is a threefold document: first, a covenant between God and Israel; second, the national constitution of Israel; and third, the wedding ketubah between God, the Husband, and Israel, His bride. Based on these points, we can see several different purposes for the Torah. Most of these functions are taught in the Brit Hadasha.
Sha'ul of Tarsus (Paul) was more than qualified to teach on the purposes of Torah because of his extensive rabbinic training and thinking. In many of his letters to various congregations of believers, he sets forth the purposes of Torah both negative and positive.
Before we embark on listing some of these purposes from Sha'ul's writings, a word needs to be said regarding how to properly interpret Sha'ul. The reason for this is obvious. He,perhaps more than any theologian, has been sorely misunderstood and maligned by both Jewish scholars and evangelical Christian theologians.
How to Understand Rav Sha'ul
There are at least two very important hermeneutical principles one must keep in mind when seeking to understand Sha'ul. The first principle is the concept of keeping the harmony of the Scriptures intact. In other words, Scripture cannot contradict Scripture. For example, the events in Acts 21 happened after Sha'ul had written both Galatians and Romans.
Acts 21:15
And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.17 And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
22 What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
In Acts 21, Sha'ul is clearly portrayed as a rather staunch follower of the Torah of Moshe, as were the tens of thousands of other Jewish believers in Yeshua! Please note particularly verses 15-26. Someone with the leadership status of Sha'ul of Tarsus would not live one way and then teach others to live a different way. Sha'ul would not have lived according to Torah and then taught other believers that Torah has no place in their lives. This would make Sha'ul a hopelessly contradictory teacher, causing the Scriptures to be contradictory as well.
The second hermeneutic principle is this: context! Both the immediate context as well as the context of the whole book or letter is important. Let us take Sha'ul's letter to the Galatians, for example. It is essential to know that the context for Galatians has to do with people who believed that one must obey the Torah in order to be saved. Because of this heresy, it stands to reason that Sha'ul's letter would contain many rather negative statements concerning such a use of Torah. But such statements should all be interpreted in light of the context of the letter. In Galatians, it was not Sha'ul's primary purpose to teach about how to apply Torah to the life of the believer. His primary purpose was to emphasize that one may not live according to Torah in order to earn, merit, or keep one's justification. The same kind of idea would also apply to Romans.
Unfortunately, many interpreters of Sha'ul's writings have not consistently applied both of these hermeneutical principles. Therefore, Sha'ul is portrayed either as mixed up, contradictory, anti-Jewish, or the instigator of a new religion called "Christianity." He is none of the above! He is merely the kind of Jewish person God intended the sons of Jacob to be all along, faithfully engaged in taking the Good News of the Messiah's atoning death and resurrection to the Gentiles and properly applying the message to them.
Now, with all this in mind, let us begin to outline some of Sha'ul's understanding of the purposes of Torah:
1. Torah is not to be observed in order to gain justification before God.
As stated above, this is the whole point of the letter to the Galatians and one of the major points of the letter to the Romans. Romans 3:20 teaches, "By the works of the Torah [or any legal system, according to the context of Romans 2-3], no flesh will be justified in His sight." People were trying to observe the Torah (as well as other legal systems) in order to be saved. To such people Sha'ul emphatically said, "The Torah is useless!" Why useless? Because Torah is to be the lifestyle for someone who is already justified/redeemed.
2. Torah helps man to recognize his own sinfulness.
There are several statements in this regard throughout Sha'ul's epistles. The rest of Romans 3:20 will suffice to illustrate this. Sha'ul says, "...for through the Torah comes the knowledge of sin." The Greek word translated "knowledge" should be rendered "recognition." Torah does not tell people what sin is, rather, it is through Torah that people can see the sinfulness of their sin! This is mainly a function of the Torah for those who are not yet redeemed.
3. Torah helps to bring about God's wrath.
Romans 4:15 says, "For the Torah brings about wrath..." Once again, knowing the context of this verse is extremely important. Sha'ul's teaching in Romans stressed that if one tries to use Torah for the purpose of achieving justification before God, then his attempt will backfire! He will only discover that he cannot obey it perfectly Thus, by failing to obey it, the only thing that awaits him is not justification, but condemnation. Justification has always been and always will be granted as a gift from God, on the basis of one's personal trust in what Yeshua did for him in His atoning death and subsequent resurrection. If a person attempts to earn justification by trying to obey the Torah, then for him the Torah will only serve to condemn. The Torah was not designed for such a purpose.
4. The Torah acts as a protector
In Galatians 3:23ff, Sha'ul speaks of the Torah in the role of a protector This idea requires a bit of an explanation if we are to properly understand it. First, let us see what Sha'ul had in mind in Galatians; then we will expand more fully on the concept. Our explanation may sound rather complicated at times, so please follow closely! We will attempt to conclude this section with a simple summary.
The Pedagogue
Sha'ul was drawing upon a very familiar illustration from the ancient Greco-Roman world of which he was a part. Wellto-do families often hired someone to serve as a protector for their children when they sent them to their teachers. The protector was not the teacher, but merely someone who made sure that the children would reach their teachers.
He uses this kind of language in Galatians 3:22ff to illustrate how the Torah functioned for someone who might be on his way to the Teacher, Messiah. God has those whom He has set apart to inherit eternal life. We do not know who these people are; only He does. If you believe in Yeshua, you are one of them! We do not know when the time will come for Messiah to reveal Himself to these people, just as we did not know when we would come to believe in Yeshua. Only the Father in heaven knows (Galatians 4:2). But He guarantees that all whom He has set apart will, indeed, come to Him! (See John 10:25-30; 17:6-9.) Since there is always a period of time between a person's birth and his acceptance of Messiah, that person's physical life needs to be protected so that he can live long enough to fulfill God's special call for his life.
How does God protect or preserve such people? One way He has chosen to do so, though certainly not the only way, is through the Torah. According to Galatians 3:22ff, the Torah for such people can function as a pedagogue, as the Greek word for "tutor" in verse 24 should be translated. This pedagogue's "duty was to conduct the boy or youth to and from school and to superintend his conduct...he was not a `teacher'."6 (Please note that the definition of the Greek word paidagogos differs from the modern English usage of pedagogue.) Hence, he was something of a bodyguard to help ensure that the student would reach his teacher
In verse 23, Sha'ul explained this protective concept with a slightly different image. There he uses a word which has usually been translated as "kept in custody " The person was kept in custody by the Torah, says Sha'ul. However, by rendering the Greek verb sugkleio in such a manner, translators have unwittingly cast a negative shadow on the Torah, depicting it as something that holds people captive like prisoners. But the word can have a slightly different connotation. Instead of translating it as "keep in custody," we can combine its sense with that of a pedagogue and translate the word to mean "close up, hem in, enclose" in a positive way to depict the idea of protection. Rendering this Greek word in the way we are proposing is an equally accurate way to translate it, according to Arndt and Gingrich.
Thus, Sha'ul is teaching that the Torah can function as a protector of God's children, helping to preserve their lives "until the date set by the Father" (Galatians 4:2) when the Spirit of God would lead them to the Teacher, the Messiah.
All of this seems fairly clear But it still remains for us to explain exactly how the Torah can function as a protector
The "Law" Words
In order to get a grip on this function, we need to return to our original definition of Torah and be slightly more precise. We have already established the fact that the word torah means teaching, or instruction. There are many such torahs in the collection of teaching we also call "the Torah," the first five books of the Bible. But "the Torah" contains more than just torahs or teachings. There are stories, poems, and historical writings (which are also teachings). In addition, there are also other kinds of content very closely related to the word torah.
We are referring to the mishpatim, mitzvot, and chukim. The most common way these words have been rendered into English is "judgments," "commandments," and "ordinances," respectively. These words emphasize the legal aspect of the Torah. In a sense, because of these words, the Torah is a "law." But it is not a law to be obeyed in order to secure or earn God's righteousness. Rather, it is a law that functions as a protective barrier. The judgments, commandments, and ordinances, along with the teachings of God, all serve to protect God's people. It is very similar to the idea that we should "put a hedge around the Torah" (Pirke Avot l:l). In this case, the rabbi is talking about other laws, which should be used in order to protect the Torah from being broken. But the principle is the same. God's Torah, through its judgments, commandments, ordinances, and teachings, are all designed to put a hedge around people to protect them.
This hedge of protection operates in two ways. First, for the children on the way to the Teacher Second, for God's holy community of the redeemed. As far as the children on the way to the Teacher are concerned-the same people Sha'ul is referring to in Galatians 3:22ff-the Torah can help preserve or protect their physical lives, keeping them safe until the Father calls them to believe in His Son. It does this by providing a safe environment in which they may live. The mishpatim, mitzvot, chukim, and other teachings of the Torah all help to create a safe community with a protective border around it. The border is the Torah. Anyone who lives within the confines of that border will live a safer and relatively protected life. This does not mean that the person living within the borders of the Torah is automatically safe spiritually, or "saved." But what it does mean is that the Torah community is intended to help preserve his life awaiting the time set by the Father, his moment of salvation?
Take Leviticus 11 and the kosher foods as an example. The Torah states specifically that the purpose for the kosher foods was to set Israel apart from the idolatrous nations to be a holy community. They were not given primarily because eating them will give someone better health than not eating them. However, as a side benefit, most nutritionists would agree that if people would eat the permitted foods in Leviticus 11 and refrain from eating the prohibited foods, then their health would be improved. Thus, even if a non-redeemed person eats kosher food, God can use that to help preserve the quality of his physical life so that he will reach that moment of salvation set by the Father in eternity past. The Torah, then, becomes a protector By the way, the kosher instructions repeated again in Deuteronomy 12 are introduced by using the words mishpatim and chukim, underscoring the fact that these are "laws" serving to help protect.
There is another sense in which the Torah can function for those who do not yet know the Messiah. What does the teacher look like to the person whom the pedagogue is leading? What are the characteristics of the Teacher's life and world?
If a person lives under the benefit of a holy community which follows the Torah, he will, then, receive a more complete description of the Teacher His mind will be preserved from inaccuracies and false images of what the Teacher looks like. He will be given accurate information and revelation of the Teacher, the Messiah.
Furthermore, the person on the way to the Teacher will be given a more accurate description of what life is with the Teacher. He will know what he is missing until that life becomes his, until he ceases from merely being "under the benefits" of the holy community and becomes an integral and intimate member of that holy community by sharing in the life of the Teacher, the Messiah Himself!
Protection for the Redeemed
If the Torah functions to help protect the lives of those who are not yet part of the redeemed community, how much more would it be a safeguard for the holy ones, us who believe. The mishpatim, mitzvot, chukim, and torot function as a protective border for the people of God.
This is illustrated in the diagrams below. For our present purposes, the pictures represent what are generally accepted as the original, God-intended borders of the theocracy of ancient Israel, functioning as a light to the nations around her (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). The pictures also depict the two spiritual realities of the universe: the kingdom of light (God's kingdom) and the kingdom of darkness (Satan's kingdom). A close study of Romans 5:12-21 can reveal the details of these two kingdoms.
The ruling power of the kingdom of light is life. The ruling power of the kingdom of darkness is death. It is important to remember that these two kingdoms exist whether man acknowledges them or not. They are part of the fundamental spiritual realities of the universe! If such an important reality as the kingdom of darkness-the kingdom of death-exists, it is critical for all of us to know where the boundaries of such a kingdom are located, so we may not participate in that kingdom. By the kindness, grace, and mercy of God, He has described to us exactly where those boundaries are between the two opposite and diametrically opposed kingdoms. Those boundaries are identified for us by the Torah, and by its divinely inspired commentary, the Brit Hadasha. (However, for our purposes here, we are stressing the importance of the Torah as a boundary. Remember, Sha'ul has already told us in Galatians 3 that the Torah is the pedagogue.)
Let us take this two-kingdom concept one step further That which is not of the kingdom of light and life is death, and therefore "unclean" for us. In other words, it is what we must not "touch" nor "eat of." These phrases are pictorial concepts to teach us not to "partake of" nor "participate in" death, the kingdom of darkness. Such activities can only bring the fruit of death into our lives.
Because the Torah tells us the truth and describes the difference between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean, between life and death, it is, therefore, a protection for us and a written revelation of the grace of God. Every man, woman, or child who chooses not to live within the teachings of God, which produce life, is consigned to a place outside of the blessing and protection that these teachings establish. (Remember Deuteronomy 30:19-20.)
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;
20 to love the LORD thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave unto Him; for that is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
With this viewpoint, we can now begin to understand some of the seemingly more peculiar teachings of Torah, especially the so-called "legal" sections. These "legal" sections have to do with the theocracy of the Kingdom of Light.
At this point we can also tie in the description of the Torah as the national covenant and constitution where the Great King promised to protect His subjects through the covenant (see previous chapter). To protect them from what? To protect them from the kingdom which is outside of His kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. Remember that the chief characteristic of the kingdom of darkness is death, with its legal rights. The legal aspects of the Torah declare the truth that the kingdom of darkness has no jurisdiction inside the boundaries of God's kingdom, the Torah community
The legal terminology of the Torah which, in many circles, gives rise to the belief that the Torah is "law" instead of a revelation of God's grace, can now be more clearly understood. These commandments make no sense unless we view them as living Torah teaching pictures designed both to remind us of the realities of the two kingdoms and to keep us protected from participating in the kingdom of darkness. Remember that such activities can only bring the "fruit" of death into our lives.
Look, now, at the two diagrams.
In Figure 1, we see a picture of the kingdom of light in the shape of the ancient theocracy of Israel. It is bordered by the actual words of the Torah. Outside of those borders is the kingdom of darkness.
In Figure 2, we see that the teachings of the Torah establish "the Place" (Hebrew, "haMakom," המקום ) where believers can partake of and enjoy the blessings that the teachings establish. For the statutes that God laid down for us "are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, and righteous altogether By them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:10-11)
The written Torah cannot and does not impart life. (Galatians 3:21) The Torah community created by obedience to the Torah is, however, the place where life instead of death exists. It is the place of safety and teaching.
To Enjoy the Blessings
There is another sense in which Torah is the protector of the redeemed community It helps the redeemed community to enjoy the benefits of their inheritance. To understand this concept, we need to examine how Sha'ul compares the two covenants in Galatians 3:10-21. The two covenants are the one God made with Abraham in Genesis 12 and the one He made with Moshe in Exodus l9ff, the Torah.
The covenant with Abraham is described as a covenant in which God promises an inheritance to His people which is to be received by faith. Notice the three elements: promise, inheritance, and faith.
The promise of an inheritance was given by the grace of God. The expected covenant response was faith. This is clearly taught in Genesis 15. Here God promises the inheritance that Abraham was to receive by faith.
In regard to the covenant with Moshe (Torah), Sha'ul first says in verse 12 that this is not a faith covenant. In other words, the expected covenant response was not faith, but obedience. Second, it was not a covenant of promise. It did not promise the inheritance, it merely protected the already redeemed people so that they could enjoy and fully participate in the blessings of the inheritance! Moreover, verse 17 specifically says that the covenant with Moshe did not do away with the covenant with Abraham. Instead, they complement each other
Thomas McComiskey comments on this masterful interaction between these two covenants in his book, The Covenants of Promise. On pages 72-73 he writes:
Not only did the law covenant define and amplify the promise, but it served to protect and secure the promise as well...The protective function of the law is also apparent in the various legal stipulations. The health laws and the prohibitions against Canaanite practices served to preserve the nation and to maintain its solidarity...The law also served to define the terms of obedience for those whose faith was in the promise it perpetuated...The law is not the promise; it is a covenant distinct from the promise covenant. It establishes the conditions under which the terms of the promise could be maintained...The law did not give the inheritance; it served to provide the framework necessary for the people to maintain their relationship to it.
Hence, according to McComiskey, people were not saved by obeying the Torah. They were saved by trusting in the promises of God. To participate in that eternal inheritance, the covenant response is faith. But the Torah was given to the redeemed community, not to an unsaved community (although there were unsaved people in that redeemed community), so that the community could be maintained and protected. Obedience, therefore, is the required covenant response. Is this not what Galatians 3 is teaching?
Looking at Torah in this kind of context will help us to see its purpose and its limitations more clearly. The following chart will help to summarize what we have been saying about the purpose for the Torah, especially as it is compared to the covenant with Abraham:
|
Covenant with Abraham |
Covenant with Moshe |
|
Nature of the covenant Promise |
Nature of the covenant Blessing, Maintenance, and enjoyment of promises |
|
Covenant response Faith |
Covenant response Obedience |
We need to clarify something here. In ancient Israel, there were, in reality, two different kinds of people living in the same community First and foremost, there were those who were not only physically redeemed from slavery in Egypt, but were also redeemed from slavery to sin. These were the "remnant" which has existed throughout all of Israel's history down to this present age. This group of unspecified number were real believers who trusted in the Lord and His provision of atonement. For them, obedience to the Torah came out of or because of their faith. Their obedience did not give them redemption, nor did it secure their relationship with God. It was simply a natural result of their faith. This is what Ya'akov is talking about in James 2:18.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
The second group, again of unspecified number, were part of the redeemed community because they lived among the others and were required to follow the laws of the community. Although they were physically redeemed from slavery in Egypt, they did not trust in God for their righteousness. They may even have brought the required sacrifices. However, this was not evidence of faith and trust in God, but merely a show of compliance that they performed in order to be allowed to live in the community. Moreover, any other outward compliance with the laws of the holy community was shown for the same reason. These people were not partakers of the covenant with Abraham, nor of the covenant with Moshe. They were merely those who complied with some of the statutes of the Mosaic covenant so that they would be permitted to live within the protection that such compliance would offer
A person cannot drink in the full blessings of the Torah, the covenant with Moshe, unless he first enters into the covenant with Abraham. Faith and faith alone do the latter. The covenant of promise (through Abraham) gave Israel the physical promises. Not only are these physical promises a reality, they are also pictures of the spiritual relationship we have with God. Moreover, they are illustrative of the spiritual promises of inheritance all believers have through faith in Yeshua.
For one who trusts God for the promises, the proper order for faith and obedience is set by the sequence in which the covenants were given. In other words, faith must precede obedience. But the kind of faith that is accepted by God is one that naturally flows into obedience. Obedience never comes before faith, nor is it in addition to faith. It is always the result of true biblical faith. If we were to reword this in terms of the covenants, we would say that the covenant of promise (Abraham) must come before the covenant of obedience (Moshe). If we try to put Moshe first, attempting to secure those promises by obedience, we would go against God's order (This, by the way, is the key to unlocking the difficult midrash that Sha'ul uses in Galatians 4:21-31.) All we could hope for was a measure of physical protection and a great deal of knowledge of spiritual things. But we could not receive justification nor a personal relationship with the Holy One out of any compliant obedience to the Torah; it all had to start with faith. Abraham came before Moshe, but Moshe did not cancel out Abraham! The two complemented each other-as long as they came in the proper order
At this point, let us summarize what we have said about the protective quality of the Torah. There are at least three levels on which the Torah serves as a protector.