A Reply (Apologetics) to the Law, the Temple of G-d, and the Sabbath

 

Are Torah Observant Messianic Jews Legalists?

 

The short answer is that legalism is a system of laws, etc. that is man made, and is believed that by adherence to them,  you will be justified before G-d.  On the other hand, obedience to G-d’s Torah is contrary to legalism, in that a Messianic Torah Observant believer is one that follows YHVH’s standards, and not man made rules that are contrary to G-d’s Torah. Obedience to G-d’s standards (Torah) comes because of the Grace extended to us through the reconciliation of the sinner to YHVH Elohim through Yahshua’s faithfulness and our  trust in His work. Read on for details…

 

Christians against Messianic Jews often misuse Ephesians. These verses are actually part of the charter for Messianic Judaism. They are fundamental both to the nature of Torah (Law-G-d's Instructions). Which still exist and are binding on believers, and the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the Messianic Community (1:22).

 

We need to be reminded that Sha'ul (Paul) is speaking to Gentiles and not Jews.

Quoted: Eph 2:14-16

 

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (KJV)

 

• He addresses the Gentiles ("in your former state," v.11); "when you were dead because of your sins" in five ways:

1. You were without relationship to Messiah, since "messiah" is entirely a Jewish concept. The word "Christ" has such a Gentile ring to Jews that they sometimes forget that the very concept of the Messiah was Jewish. The relationship to the Messiah is mentioned first because it is the direct means by which all the other deficiencies are remedied.

 

1. You were estranged, excluded, alienated from the national life of Israel. The Greek word translated "national life" is poleteia, which gives us the English words like "polity" and "politics." In the Septuagint this word "poleteia" in George Kittel's " Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, does not mean civil rights, constitution, state, but rather the pious order of life which, ordained by the Law of Moshe, is inherited from the fathers. With one exception, it is a religious and moral concept rather than a political concept; it denotes the "walk" determined by the "Mosaic Law." (Volume 6, p. 526). The exception is that "poleteia" means "civil rights" in the figurative sense of the privileged religious position of Israel as the recipient of the promises."

 

Gentiles should not think of their own union with Israel as only a matter of rights and privileges, but rather it implies an obligation to observe a G-dly way of life that has its origins in G-d's relationship with the Jew through 'Torah." (Law-Instructions).

 

When Ruth a Gentile joined Israel she said, "Your people shall be my people, even before she said, "Your G-d shall be my G-d."  Gentile Christians who regard themselves as the rightful possessors of the promises are not submitting to the rightful message of these verses. Gentiles are joined to Israel not the other way around. Sha'ul is saying Israel is the norm, the “center of gravity”, and not the Gentiles. Romans 11:16-26 portrays the Gentiles as wild olive branches grafted into the cultivated olive trees which is Israel, the Jewish peoples, and cautions Gentile Christians about pride.

 

1. Because Gentiles were estranged from the communal life of Israel, Gentiles were "foreigners to the covenants, embodying G-d's promises:" these include the covenant with Abraham (Gal 3-4, Romans 4, the covenant with Moshe and the "New" "refreshed -renewed Covenant with Yahshua, which was given to Israel and not to the Gentiles. Gentiles are foreigners to it except through faith.
2. You (Gentiles) were in this world, without hope

 

1. Fifth, without G-d, for apart from G-d there is only false hope offered by false religions and non-religions. 

 

Conclusion: G-d chose the Jewish people to receive certain promises and called them to exemplify G-d's involvement in human history, and life. Jews were chosen to make the Bible known to the world, through presenting an example of dedication to G-d even though apart from the Messiah, and mostly through Yahshua the Jewish Messiah Himself, and His Jewish followers. The Jews have in measure fulfilled part of that calling. Gentiles who are joined to Israel as Paul explained in Ephesians, that is through the Living and Written Torah have a share in both the promises and the calling.

 

Now to verse 14 of the above Scripture:

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

 

Shalom means more than "peace." Moreover, Yahshua living in both believing Gentiles and Jews is what has made us both one. The m'chitzah (that which divides something in half) (partition) is now broken in half. The same idea is carried in Gal. 3:28 by saying there is neither male nor female nor Jew or Greek (Technical word for Gentile) in Messiah.  If a Gentile has become a true believer, (See my paper on the Definition of a True Believer, found on the Index page) he is joined to Israel and a partaker of the Covenants. A full-fledged citizen. Otherwise not. Sha'ul is saying that this boundary fence is done away in Messiah. No longer is there a court for women and no longer do women have second-class citizenship nor or they separated onto one side in the churches or synagogues. The same is true of Gentile believers. Just as the veil of the Temple was torn in two when the Messiah died (Matthew 27:52), allowing everyone united with the Messiah to enter into the Holy of Holies (a privilege previously reserved for the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) we who are united with Messiah our Cohen Gadol may enter into the Holy of Holies with Him. In this way, Sha'ul is saying that Yahshua has removed the barrier of Believing Gentiles mixing with and being counted with G-d's people. They are no longer held in the Court of the Gentiles but may enter into the Temple proper.        

 

This section is where uninformed Christians make accusation against Messianic Jews that they are trying to erect this wall of partition by emphasizing Torah (G-d's standard of conduct) as the believer's only way of life in Messiah. First, they misunderstand what Paul is saying. Paul is saying "no longer are Gentiles separated from G-d's people, but they may enter into the covenants and be one with them in the Messiah Yahshua. Even if we take the terminology as translated in our English Bibles Jeremiah 31:30-33 specifically states that the "New" (refreshed-renewed covenant – see your concordance) Covenant is made with Israel and not the Gentile church. Therefore, Gentiles have to be joined to Israel and not that Jews are to be joined to the church. To try to make it read this way is an insult to the Jews and to G-d's Word.

 

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (KJV)

 

There are two questions evident here. First, considering Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; is an explanation set forth as to what the "the middle wall that is enmity between Jews and Gentiles as examined in verse 14. The second consideration is Sha'ul placing Torah (commandments - ordinances) in opposition with the "enmity."  From a Gentile Antinomian perspective Sha'ul seems to be saying that Yahshua (1) broke the middle wall which is the enmity between Jews and Gentiles, and (2) abolished the Torah. However, if you read carefully "enmity" goes not with the "middle wall," but with the "Torah."

 

What is the grammatical significance of Sha'ul placing the "Torah in apposition with "the Torah." If he means the torah is identical with the enmity, he necessarily abolished the Torah too, in contradiction to Matthew 5:17 where Yahshua says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The technical rabbinical words employed here by Yahshua means: (1) "destroy" means to incorrectly interpret Torah and "fulfill" means to correctly interpret it. Even so, the word "fulfill" is literally in the Greek "to fill up." This is no way gives grounds for thinking the Torah as having been abolished when three words earlier in the verse has Yahshua saying He did not come to destroy the Law!  This is analogous with the Jewish Messianic concept that the Messiah will interpret Torah correctly for us to follow. No one can seriously describe Torah (G-d's instructions - Torah as enmity) Enmity means:  a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred, ill will. G-d's Torah is none of these and no believer could justly say so. The other view is that Paul separates "the enmity" and "the Torah" (commandments ordinances) by the phrase "in the flesh of him," which means the Torah is not the "enmity", nor did the torah "cause" the "enmity" directly (Romans 7:5-14). See Sha'ul's own refutation of the idea that the Torah causes sin of any kind, and enmity between Jews and Gentiles is certainly sin. Rather this passage shows that although the Torah is itself "holy" (Romans 7:12) it occasions sin (in this case enmity between Jews and Gentiles) by stimulating people's sinful propensities (Rom 5-12-21).  

 

The enmity between Jews and Gentiles has four components:

1. Gentile envy of the special status accorded by G-d to Israel and the Torah
2. Jewish pride at being chosen
3. Gentile resentment of that pride
4. Mutual dislike of each other's customs. This is a common cause of friction between cultures, but Jewish customs are different for a unique reason. They did not merely evolve; rather, they were the Jewish people's response to the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. That is why is appropriate to say that the "enmity" between Jews and Gentiles was "occasioned " by the Torah. The Messiah destroys the enmity by showing Jew and Gentile that they are mutually needy at the foot of the execution stake, but none of this abolishes Torah. G-d states, “He changes not.” Nor does His Torah. In the Jerusalem Bible, the translation is more correctly rendered for this passage. It is translated thusly: destroying in His own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law." This rendering does not destroy or abolish the Law, which agrees with Scripture and Yahshua's own statements.

 

              Two other versions, Moffat and Phillips say that the Messiah destroyed the "hostility" of the feud

              of the Law, not the Law itself. They may have a less than favorable view of the Torah, but they

              refrain from stating that the Law is abolished. 

 

Because Sha'ul was a learned Jew, a Pharisee, schooled in rabbinic thought, Gentiles fail to interpret him correctly. Peter says it this way regarding Paul's epistles:

 

2 Pet 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

 

Sha'ul is the most misunderstood Apostle and most Christians interpret him wrongly because of their lack of understanding of the Jewishness of His writings. Also, because there was push to deJudaize the "Church" and expel all Jews and translations have followed an agenda of disfavoring Torah observance, and one of anti-Semitism that is current even today and because of the difficulty of a Gentile following Paul’s rabbinic thought much of what he wrote has been badly misinterpreted and mistranslated.  Sha'ul is wrongly esteemed by a vast majority of Christians to a higher degree than Yahshua, and Sha'ul's writings are held in higher regard by Christians than the words of Yahshua Himself. We hear Paul being quoted far more frequently than Yahshua. One reason is that Yahshua never spoke of disregarding Torah. He called for obedience to G-d's Laws or Torah. After all how could He have done otherwise, He was the manifested Torah.

 

As to What Yahshua did on the Sabbath (Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown) He did the Will of His father. He attended Synagogue and attended the Festivals (7) times a year, and (3) times a year in the Temple as required by Torah. Synagogues were places of study. They were not established in the likeness of churches that would be familiar to Gentiles. The Temple will be reestablished in the Millennium and sacrifices will be instituted again. (Mal 3:4)  Then shall the offerings (sacrifices) of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.) Chapter 3 is prophecy for the end of days after the Messiah’s return and He shall "suddenly" come to His Temple. Doesn't sound like the Torah even or even the Temple cult is dead does it? G-d's festival of Tabernacles will be kept and sacrifices offered and failure to attend His festival will cause starvation. 

 

As to the moneychangers, it was their dishonesty that caused Yahshua to evict them. They changed money for Jews from all over the world into Temple currency, but in the process, they cheated them. This exchanged money was used to buy sacrifices to be used for atonement for those who came from outside of Israel for the three annual feasts as opposed to those in Israel who were basically farmers that brought their own sacrifices from their farms. It was an idea that had been corrupted as we can see today in churches, etc.. "Prosperity Preaching" for one. Give me $10.00 and G-d will give you a $100.00.

 

Healing on the Sabbath has never been forbidden by Judaism then or now. In fact, not to give assistance to someone in trouble, ill or in danger was a sin. We can see the same mentality in churches today. Some focus on smoking, others drinking, etc. as that which is not tolerated at all. substituting their own standards instead of G-d’s and that’s legalism. The situation here was if the illness was not life threatening then why not wait until Sunday to heal. It was rabbinical Halacha, a decision of the Jerusalem rabbis. Yahshua pointed out to them that it was not wrong to do well on Shabbat. Much of the disputes between Yahshua and the leaders of the Jerusalem religious order focused on halachic decision that differed from those in Galilee. Not on G-d's Torah. For instance, His disciples eating in the fields. It was permitted to eat on Shabbat of course, but the dispute here centered in how they ate. Galilee rabbis differed in how the corn was to be eaten by rubbing and not by eating directly from the cob. This was all rabbinical traditions and not Torah that they fought over.  In Mark where many Christians believe Yahshua's polemic is about unpermitted food, it is not, but is about ritual hand washing another rabbinical halachic decision that Yahshua corrected by employing a rabbinic argument called v'kal khomer "greater to the lesser."  Neither healing nor eating on Shabbat was forbidden. Traveling on Shabbat was also permitted, but the rabbis instituted a limit of about 1/2 mile as a Sabbath day's journey. If you know Jerusalem or Israel, a half-mile journey would be the norm. This was a hedge placed around G-d's Torah to keep people from traveling to say Gainesville to see a football game instead of going to synagogue to study Torah as G-d commanded us to occupy ourselves with Torah on the Sabbath.

 

As to the Priests, you probably should mean the Sanhedrin, the ruling body under the dictatorship of Rome. The priests at the time were not those qualified by G-d’s Torah or were they of the Priestly line, but were lackey's who had paid for their position to the Romans. The Catholic Church did this later as well. They were hardly Jews or religious. Many were not born Jews, but were from the provinces who purportedly converted to Judaism in order to hold office. The King himself was not a Jew. The Sanhedrin was the judicial body that decided cases of law. The Romans saw Yahshua as a threat to the order of things and the Jews were notorious for rioting and rebellion against Rome and they and the Leadership entered into a conspiracy to execute Yahshua because He was a political threat, not because he entered into rabbinical argument with the rabbis. Everyone did that. The Sadducees opposed the Pharisees, the Essenes opposed both, etc. et al.