the first section is called the torah (which in hebrew means 'instruction, teaching'). unfortunately, it has been commonly called 'law' (although we should not read our modern understanding of 'law' into the word for 'torah'). torah means more than mere rules and regulations. they are instructions for life, or teachings given to enable god's people to live their lives to the fullest. how sad christians sometimes have the idea that the ot law is 'bad' or 'restrictive' (becaue of the notion of 'thou shall not do this' and 'thou shalt not do that'). the torah as given to the jews, who are by race god's chosen people, was something that was to be a delight in their eyes. to keep the torah was to find life and meaning to life.
there are 613 commandments in the torah. while it is true christians today are not expected to keep all the 613 commandments in order to be 'blameless' in god's sight, jesus reminded us that all the laws can be reduced to 2 - you shall love the lord your god, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself. in essence, christians still 'keep' the torah albeit in a different way from the jews. while the jews still see observance of the torah as the way to salvation, christians see the torah as part of god's total instructions for his people. with the coming of the nt, we no longer observe and keep the ceremonial and ritual laws as these have been fulfilled by jesus' death on the cross. yet the moral laws, e.g. the 10 commandments, are still abiding for us.
so, what do we do today with the torah? well, we can still read it profitably because they represent the national and religious history of the jews. as christians, we have adopted the jewish scriptures as part of ours. hence, by faith, although we are all gentiles, the torah becomes our scripture too. the torah is the right place to begin to understand our christian roots as well as the jewish roots. here, you find the beginnings of the universe, the beginnings of the human race, the origin of sin, the calling of abraham to be the father of a nation, and the beginnings of the nation of israel.
there are 613 commandments in the torah. while it is true christians today are not expected to keep all the 613 commandments in order to be 'blameless' in god's sight, jesus reminded us that all the laws can be reduced to 2 - you shall love the lord your god, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself. in essence, christians still 'keep' the torah albeit in a different way from the jews. while the jews still see observance of the torah as the way to salvation, christians see the torah as part of god's total instructions for his people. with the coming of the nt, we no longer observe and keep the ceremonial and ritual laws as these have been fulfilled by jesus' death on the cross. yet the moral laws, e.g. the 10 commandments, are still abiding for us.
so, what do we do today with the torah? well, we can still read it profitably because they represent the national and religious history of the jews. as christians, we have adopted the jewish scriptures as part of ours. hence, by faith, although we are all gentiles, the torah becomes our scripture too. the torah is the right place to begin to understand our christian roots as well as the jewish roots. here, you find the beginnings of the universe, the beginnings of the human race, the origin of sin, the calling of abraham to be the father of a nation, and the beginnings of the nation of israel.
Comments