“Zeal leads to cleanliness, cleanliness to ritual purity, ritual purity to self-control, self-control to holiness, holiness to humility, humility to fear of sin, fear of sin to saintliness, and saintliness to the Holy Spirit.” (Sot. IX:15) (Quoted from Everyman’s Talmud, “Revelation”, page 121)
I know that people are overwhelmed with book opportunities, but one worth considering is Everyman’s Talmud by A. Cohen. This book is stuffed with passages that find strong parallels in the New Testament. Everyman’s Talmud contains many quotes we often hear in the Jewish roots commentary and is written in a topical manner, which is relatively easy to follow given our Greek style of thinking.
One theme that is clearly evident in the book is the availability of the Holy Spirit to all Jewish believers since the days of Moses. Contrary to what I was taught, contrary to the beliefs I have long held, the Jewish Sages clearly understood that the Holy Spirit was available to all who achieved a high level of righteousness through the process described above. The prophets are evidence to this fact. The men who received the Spirit on the day of Pentecost were righteous men, disciples prepared for over three years at the feet of Yeshua to receive the Spirit. When Cornelius and his family received the Holy Spirit, those with Peter were “astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,” (Acts 10:45). The reason for their astonishment, these Gentiles had not gone through the process required to receive the Holy Spirit, namely “cleanliness, ritual purity, self-control, holiness, humility, and saintliness.”
Although Cornelius was considered to be a godly individual, there is no evidence he followed the ritual purity laws. A strong case can be made that Cornelius was not following the ritual purity laws since he was a Roman centurion and Peter needed to receive a vision before entering Cornelius’ home. The fact that the LORD would give the Holy Spirit to people who had not prepared their lives to receive the Spirit seems contrary to the Holiness of the Creator that demands separation from sin.
We should not be surprised that Jewish people receive the Holy Spirit. What should amaze us is that Gentiles, living unprepared lives, also have the opportunity to receive the Spirit. It makes no sense. How is such a thing possible?
“In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” (Gal 3:14).
As has been pointed out in the past by Bryan, the phrase “through faith,” can more correctly be translated from the Greek as “through the faithfulness of Christ.” It is not by our righteous actions, but by the righteousness of Yeshua that a door is opened to receive the great gift of the Spirit. How do we acknowledge such a great gift as this? We live a life worthy of receiving that gift. Listen to the words of Peter and then compare them to the words from the Talmud above.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness , 7 and in your godliness , brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)
The Talmud (Sot. IX:15) / The New Testament (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Zeal leads to cleanliness / applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence
cleanliness to ritual purity / your moral excellence, knowledge
ritual purity to self-control / in your knowledge, self-control
self-control to holiness / in your self-control, perseverance
holiness to humility / in your perseverance, godliness
humility to fear of sin / in your godliness , brotherly kindness
fear of sin to saintliness / in your brotherly kindness, love
saintliness to the Holy Spirit / For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Although the comparison is not identical, the words of Peter have a strong corollary to the Talmud. Diligence (Zeal) leads to moral excellence (cleanliness), leading to knowledge (ritual purity), leading to self control (self control), leading to perseverance and godliness (holiness), leading to brotherly kindness (humility and fear of sin), leading to love (saintliness), leading to the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (Holy Spirit).
I would even go so far as to say that I understand the passage from the Talmud better than the words of Peter because I see more concrete steps of action I am called to take. I have some understanding of the laws of cleanliness and ritual purity because we have studied them. However, I do not know the specific steps that lead to moral excellence. I understand that holiness is sanctification from the worldly nature, but I am not sure if godliness has the same meaning. Even self control is defined by specific actions in Rabbinic thought.
As Teresa and I try to live a more structured life consistent with the Torah, time and experience are beginning to show us the benefit of such a life. For example, I see that the laws of Sabbath and Kosher teach us greater self control, an attribute greatly lacking in our life and in our society as a whole. Self control is one of the first steps on the road to righteousness that leads to the gift of the Holy Spirit. To the level we achieve self control, we exercise authority over the flesh and open the door to the Spirit.
A recent article in the news speaks to the benefits of self control. Raquel Welch, the iconic image of the 1960’s, apparently turned down the opportunity to trump the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill. When asked why she declined the opportunity, she said that the birth control pill taught generations of people that they did no longer needed to exercise self control.
Unlike the birth control pill, the Torah teaches self control and self-control leads to holiness. Holiness leads to righteousness, righteousness opens the door for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. In His mercy, the LORD did not require us to achieve a level of righteousness to receive the Spirit, He only required us to accept the faithfulness of the one who went before us who is righteous. We are then called to live as righteous people. If we choose to live worldly lives, we can grieve the Spirit by our actions (Eph 4:30), but righteous living can also open the door for a closer relationship and greater indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Scott
Friday, May 21, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Engraving the Torah
Leviticus 26:3
“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commands and do them…” The Hebrew word for statutes is chukim or chok (singular). Chukim are the commandments in the Torah whose meaning is hidden or those that defy logic. Like not mixing linen and wool, and cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. It is not directly apparent how we benefit from these Divine directives.
But, there is another meaning for chok, one that is very meaningful. Chok also means to engrave. To engrave on your heart. Isn’t that beautiful? The concept of having the Torah engraved on your heart hints to the Shema, serving God with all your heart.
Ezek 36:25-28
25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 "And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
This passage in Ezekiel reminds me that I have a heart that has been harden by sin and the effects of the world. I need to be made pure and have the surface of my heart made clean and ready to receive the engraving.
But doesn’t the Scriptures say the word will be written on our hearts not engraved?
There are differences between engraving and writing. Engraving involves strenuous labor, it is hard work. The effort that it takes to write cannot be compared to the effort necessary to engrave. Writing is much easier and takes less time. When writing, the surface and the ink remain two separate entities. They are distinguishable from one another. When engraving, the writing and the surface are a single entity, inseparable from one another.
I think back to the movie The Ten Commandments. There is Moses up on the mountain, holding the two tablets and this “finger of fire” is engraving the stone tablets with the Ten Words.
Ex 31:18 And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God .
And that’s what is happening, El Elyon, God Most High, is engraving Himself on our hearts with His Finger. He is not writing on our hearts with ink but with the fire of His Spirit. It will not be two separate things, but will be one and the same.
Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
This prophesy has not been completely fulfilled. The day has not come when we no longer must teach our neighbor nor has the day come when all men know the Lord. But through Yeshua Messiah, we have a foretaste of this new covenant, a foretaste of the Messianic Age and the World to Come. Through Yeshua, the Living Torah, we have begun the arduous task of having Him engraved on our hearts.
But it’s not easy, we must go against our flesh to mold our character to reflect Him not ourselves. Through our relationship with Messiah, we will not be like paper and ink, two separate entities; we will be a single whole with the Torah. We must abide in Him, for apart from Him, this strenuous task cannot be complete.
Ezek 36:26-28 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God
Lev 26:3-4 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
Lev 26:11-12 'Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
With what book do you think Jewish children begin their study of Torah? Genesis right? Well no, actually they begin with Leviticus. Why? You may ask. Why start there and not with creation or Noah or Moses, why Leviticus? They begin with Leviticus in order to learn to walk in God’s and to keep His commandments. And when we learn this, He will dwell with us; He will be our God and we will be His people.
So when we keep a commandment that is not logical, or one in which we can see no benefit or one that goes against our flesh, we are allowing one more letter to be engraved by the Finger of God.
2 Corinthians 3 …written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commands and do them…” The Hebrew word for statutes is chukim or chok (singular). Chukim are the commandments in the Torah whose meaning is hidden or those that defy logic. Like not mixing linen and wool, and cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. It is not directly apparent how we benefit from these Divine directives.
But, there is another meaning for chok, one that is very meaningful. Chok also means to engrave. To engrave on your heart. Isn’t that beautiful? The concept of having the Torah engraved on your heart hints to the Shema, serving God with all your heart.
Ezek 36:25-28
25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 "And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
This passage in Ezekiel reminds me that I have a heart that has been harden by sin and the effects of the world. I need to be made pure and have the surface of my heart made clean and ready to receive the engraving.
But doesn’t the Scriptures say the word will be written on our hearts not engraved?
There are differences between engraving and writing. Engraving involves strenuous labor, it is hard work. The effort that it takes to write cannot be compared to the effort necessary to engrave. Writing is much easier and takes less time. When writing, the surface and the ink remain two separate entities. They are distinguishable from one another. When engraving, the writing and the surface are a single entity, inseparable from one another.
I think back to the movie The Ten Commandments. There is Moses up on the mountain, holding the two tablets and this “finger of fire” is engraving the stone tablets with the Ten Words.
Ex 31:18 And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God .
And that’s what is happening, El Elyon, God Most High, is engraving Himself on our hearts with His Finger. He is not writing on our hearts with ink but with the fire of His Spirit. It will not be two separate things, but will be one and the same.
Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
This prophesy has not been completely fulfilled. The day has not come when we no longer must teach our neighbor nor has the day come when all men know the Lord. But through Yeshua Messiah, we have a foretaste of this new covenant, a foretaste of the Messianic Age and the World to Come. Through Yeshua, the Living Torah, we have begun the arduous task of having Him engraved on our hearts.
But it’s not easy, we must go against our flesh to mold our character to reflect Him not ourselves. Through our relationship with Messiah, we will not be like paper and ink, two separate entities; we will be a single whole with the Torah. We must abide in Him, for apart from Him, this strenuous task cannot be complete.
Ezek 36:26-28 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God
Lev 26:3-4 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
Lev 26:11-12 'Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
With what book do you think Jewish children begin their study of Torah? Genesis right? Well no, actually they begin with Leviticus. Why? You may ask. Why start there and not with creation or Noah or Moses, why Leviticus? They begin with Leviticus in order to learn to walk in God’s and to keep His commandments. And when we learn this, He will dwell with us; He will be our God and we will be His people.
So when we keep a commandment that is not logical, or one in which we can see no benefit or one that goes against our flesh, we are allowing one more letter to be engraved by the Finger of God.
2 Corinthians 3 …written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
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