Is the Torah for Today - Part 10

I want to summarize and elaborate a bit before we move on.

The term "Torah" is used in several ways in the Scriptures, as well as in traditional and contemporary usage. The term means "direction" or "teaching" and is commonly translated as "law". While the five books of Moses and the Sinai Covenant in particular are called "Torah", because they contain God's directives it is more correct to say that they contain Torah than they are the Torah.

Judaism actually has a broader view of Torah than that which is found in the books of Moses and the Sinai Covenant. The Orthodox understanding is that Moses was not only given that which he wrote down, but along with it, he also received revelation from God that was passed down orally through the centuries. The oral revelation is called the Mishnah. Since the Mishnah provides help in interpreting what was written down, it too is understood as Torah. While I don't believe that the oral traditions are from God, but rather a justification of rabbinical interpretation of the Scriptures, there is something in the rabbis approach to Torah that is correct. What they assert is that whatever God has revealed is actually Torah.

Torah is something we encounter whenever we encounter God's genuine revelation. Remember Torah is God's direction for our lives. Whether we read "Do not murder", or we read God's response to King David's mismanagement of his life, we encounter Torah.

That why it is not wrong to call the books of Moses, the Sinai Covenant or the whole body of Scripture, Torah. It is all Torah in the sense it is through these writings that we learn God ways. We learn God's ways through direct commandments and by the stories of people, both the bad and good examples.

Where we need to be careful is when we assume that each and every directive is for all people for all time. This is not being sensitive to what God is saying to whom and when.

Under the New Covenant we relate to God's commandments differently than how the people of Israel did under the Sinai Covenant. Under the New Covenant we seek to do God's will as those who are already forgiven. Our standing with God is already established because of what the Messiah has done on our behalf. Our acceptance with God is not based on our performance, but on our relationship with him through Yeshua by faith. Our keeping of his directives is not derived from a striving after godliness, but rather as a response to our being acceptance by him because of what he has done for us.

The New Covenant is different from the Sinai Covenant. It is not based on the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial ceremonies of the Temple. Instead it is based on Yeshua's priesthood. The older covenant was to shadow what the newer one has accomplished. There is no sense in seeking to reestablish the older forms since they no longer exist and they detract from the fullness of what the Messiah has done.

To embrace the Torah of God is to discern how God is directing his people to live under the New Covenant today. To do so we need to emerge ourselves in the whole Bible and be true to how it teaches believers in the Messiah to live.