Pedagogue

In a recent discussion with a believer online, I found myself navigating his attempts to prove to me, not only that Torah had been done away with in the coming of Yeshua, but that it was actually wrong for me to believe otherwise. After I showed him how his idea was in direct contrast to Yeshua's own words in Matthew 5:17-19, he countered with the text of Galatians 3:23-26. His primary interest, though, was to hear my understanding of verse 25, specifically. He asked, "What do you think it says?" It confounded him to learn that I thought it said exactly what it actually says.

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian…” or pedagogue, as the Greek renders it. The role of the pedagogue, in the Greek culture of the time, was to protect and prepare the child until he was old enough to sit under the schoolmaster. Rav Shaul uses the concept of the pedagogue to illustrate that Torah was our guardian, our caretaker. It protected us until Messiah Yeshua appeared. It prepared us by showing us what to look for - what to expect. Now that we're old enough, so to speak, we've graduated to the next level. Now that faith in Yeshua has come, now that He has appeared, the laws of the Temple sacrifice, for example, finally make sense to us.

How many of you would expect to take a prep course for a college class, only to find that once the class started, the professor instructed you to forget everything from the prep course - or even taught you contrary to it? Should this ever happen to you, know that you're in the wrong class.

Messiah Yeshua expounded on Torah in hundreds of enlightening ways. What we had come to understand of Torah paved the way to receive His teaching - for He is the Living Torah, the very Word of G-d! We have now come to realize that the entire sacrificial system pointed (and points) to Him. Truly, because of His sacrifice, “It is finished.” Not the instruction of HaShem, but our sentence for breaking it. Our sin, as long as we believe, has been atoned for. Now that we have faith in Yeshua, we no longer need to bring sacrifices for our sin to the Temple. Not to mention, we don’t even have a Temple at the moment - and that may serve as some measure of proof. The sacrifices of the Temple, the regulations of the priesthood, the particulars of unblemished offerings, etc. are the laws that we, as believers, are no longer under. We’re no longer under the pedagogue, the guardian, in that respect, but have now progressed to higher learning. The guardian, in order to continue our education, has handed us over to the schoolmaster. He will take what we know and build upon it - not negate it. We, unlike the rest of humanity, need nothing more to point us toward Messiah. He’s right in front of us! We’re now to sit at His feet and learn from Him. The rest of the world, however, seems to have foregone education altogether, opting instead, to enter the world ignorant and try to figure things out on their own.

Many people, like the one to which I was speaking, would like to pretend that Torah has been erased. It's human nature, after all, to gravitate towards that which requires nothing of us - the path of least resistance. The problem with that is, now that we're in Messiah, we're supposed to be moving away from the things human nature causes us to gravitate towards (Romans 12:2).

The "lawless" view thriving today, both firmly rests upon, and has enabled the tragic history of antisemitism within the Church. With the influx of gentiles into Messianic Judaism over the first few centuries, it was quickly transformed into what became, under Rome, the Empire of  Roman Catholicism. The original Hebraic understanding, structure and framework would be exchanged for pagan ideas and, eventually, a Papal domination of belief and doctrine - even salvation - a true pia fraus. The Reformation that followed was successful in shedding many false ideas within Christianity, but it didn't accomplish near enough - and, as is clearly seen in history, only served to stoke the flames of hatred and ignorance toward Jews and Judaism. This prevailing and errant view in Christianity is less about what "Jesus" accomplished, and more about a legacy of distancing Christians from Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah. That may seem somewhat of a rabbit trail, but understanding our past relations is essential to making sense of the chasm we see today between Judaism and the countless Christian denominations borne of reformed Catholicism.

But, returning to our topic, if it were true that Torah no longer applied, there would be no more sin in the world, and no one would be sinful before G-d (Romans 3:20b). How many of you understand that to be the case? Further, and this is very important to understand, if Messiah Yeshua did away with Torah, with the instruction of HaShem, He is no longer Messiah - or never was to begin with. One couldn't possibly be the Word of G-d and nullify it.

Sorrow & Simplicity

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” ~ Albert Einstein

There really are so many things in life about which to be concerned. Our personal lives and walks with G-d, the ever-growing complexities of current events and global turmoil, the pain and suffering we see every day and the limitless depravity of mankind - all these things, and so many more, constantly compete for our concern. Even the believer that has built their house on the truth of G-d's Word can sometimes encounter seemingly insurmountable obstacles or experience paralyzing despair in the face of life's many challenges.

When we allow encroaching shadows to envelop the light, we can forget where we are and eventually lose our way. In life's darkest times, it helps tremendously to focus our cares on the simple truths that HaShem has placed in our hearts. Our various aspirations and goals, while often rooted in healthy ambition, can overwhelm us in seasons of adversity. Meditating on the simplicity of G-d's love for us has the power to restore hope and peace to our beleaguered souls. When we seek the calibration only G-d provides, His priorities become our own. His peace becomes our strength. In this spiritual winnowing, the Ruach HaKodesh breathes a calm focus into our now quieted and attentive hearts.

If there is one thing we know about Rav Shaul, it's that he had a great many things to deal with in life. Harsh persecution nearly everywhere he went, feelings of alienation from many leaders in the Jewish establishment, and the burden of being responsible to grow Messianic Judaism and shepherd congregations throughout the known world, surely weighed heavily on his shoulders. In Romans 9, he spoke of a wish he had. The word "wish" seems somewhat lighthearted to us today, though. It was more of a incredibly deep, heartfelt plea - one borne out of terrific stress, unyielding anguish, and an indescribable love. He appears to have felt somewhat powerless to change this situation - and his mind began to entertain the unthinkable. Somehow, in Shaul's despair, he actually wished that he could be cut off from Yeshua in order to bestow salvation to Israel. He wished that he could, literally, be damned so that they might be saved.

"I am speaking the truth in Mashiach. I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Ruach HaKodesh - that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Mashiach for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of Torah, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is Mashiach Yeshua who is G-d over all, blessed forever. Amen." ~ Romans  9:1-5

The Walk

Romans 8 is one of the most beautifully informative and tragically misunderstood passages in the writings of Rav Shaul. Too often, it seems, many believers tend to equate its idiom of “walking after the Spirit” to be living a self-determined, boundary-less adventure. They're comfortable handling the things of G-d however they like – nestled in some nebulous state of "freedom" – while they often view those “walking after the flesh” as living according to regulations, legalism, and the commandments of G-d. In this errant rendering, Yeshua died to end the standard, rather than lived to provide us one. This misunderstanding can largely be traced to the text of Romans 8, where many have mistaken an exposition on how we cannot, in our flesh, measure up to the holiness of G-d's instruction - or obtain salvation based on our own merit - to mean that we are not to, in the Spirit, pursue the holiness of G-d's instruction - walking righteously before HaShem.

The spiritual life of "make it up as you go along" and "do what (spiritually) feels right" is somehow made superior to the legalistic life of simply adhering to the commandments of G-d – even though, our Master, Maran Yeshua, lived in complete obedience to the instruction of G-d, and further, instructed us numerous times to do the same (Matt 5:19, 19:17 & 23:3, John 14:15, 21 & 15:10). This "no rules" misreading, I believe, is nothing more that a vestigial perspective from the era when gentiles usurped the fledgling Messianic faith, and eventually, seeking to distance it from Judaism, severed theological ties with its basic tenets and Torah appearances. Bolstering the distorted framework that enables this chasm between what we clearly read in the text and what many have been taught, is a time-honored tradition - and one that has been so tenaciously maintained, and for so long, that many are completely unable to perceive its existence, much less, error.

Having come to understand Romans 8 differently, it is apparent to me that the “walking”, the halacha, is non-negotiable. You either walk after the flesh or after the Spirit, but still, you must walk. You must adhere to the commandments of HaShem. The question is, how do we “walk”? How do we keep G-d’s teaching? Do we keep it according to His will, through His Spirit – allowing Him to live out His holy life through us? Or do we tend to walk things out in our own flesh – picking and choosing what we will obey, deem necessary, important, “outdated”, “legalistic” or “done away with”, in direct contrast and disobedience to His Spirit? Further, do we keep Torah to somehow obtain our own salvation or standing before G-d - or do we keep it because our Master did and commanded us to be a light to this darkened world? Yes, everyone walks - some with HaShem, some in the wrong direction, and some in the right direction, but without ever reaching the destination that their loving Father has prepared and intended for them.

"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love." ~ John 15:10

The Forest Lion

"But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat, so small among the clans of Y'hudah, out of you will come forth to me the future ruler of Isra'el, whose origins are far in the past, back in ancient times.  Therefore he will give up Isra'el only until she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his kinsmen will return to the people of Isra'el.  He will stand and feed his flock in the strength of ADONAI, in the majesty of the name of ADONAI his G-d; and they will stay put, as he grows great to the very ends of the earth; ... Then the remnant of Ya'akov, surrounded by many peoples, will be like dew from ADONAI, like showers on the grass, which doesn't wait for a man or expect anything from mortals.  The remnant of Ya'akov among the nations, surrounded by many peoples, will be like a lion among forest animals, like a young lion among flocks of sheep - if it passes through, tramples and tears to pieces, there is no one to rescue them.  Your hand will be raised over your enemies; all your adversaries will be destroyed."

Many refer to this passage from Micah 5 for it's indication of the birthplace of Mashiach, Bethlehem, and rightly so, but there is so much more contained within it. 

Manners and Men

The manner in which we are to walk out our faith with G-d is not for us to decide. When it comes right down to it, we'll always take the path of least resistance, blur the lines, become politically correct, fatally inclusive or, somehow, just mess it all up. Sadly, there are far too many examples of well-meaning denominations that have done this very thing to even mention. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we could easily reflect on how Church history is rife with examples of man's inability to do what he ought - to love our neighbor as ourselves. Because of the tendencies of our very weak flesh, G-d has provided numerous, solid examples of those we are to pattern our lives after (namely Messiah Yeshua, the disciples & the apostles). They lived out their lives in ways we are to emulate - ways that are completely contrary to how the majority of (modern) believers currently live. I want to mention just a few examples in order to make my point. I'll confine my references to the book of Acts - a foundation of modern teaching & practice - and to the life of Shaul (Paul). Though, to be sure, there are many more, sometimes less obvious examples found throughout scripture from which we could learn.