The Magnified Torah:
"I will
magnify the Torah and make it glorious/honorable."
Matt 5:17-18
17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
I accept the above words as being true, and I also accept the "Pauline" teaching that the statutes and ordinances were nailed to the cross. The explanation given to me may require forbearance. I ask, therefore, that you bear with me.
It is a fundamental principle of scriptural interpretation that when passages seem to contradict each other, they are pointing to an unstated truth; and that the greater the conflict of the letter, the greater the truth that is being hidden from the wise so that it can be revealed to babes.
Torah is the measurement of HaMashiyach. The foundational Torah is inseparable from the doctrines of Messiah Yahushúa because he is its chief cornerstone. There is no other foundation, nor will there ever be.
Scholarship informs us, however, that the Torah we have cannot be proven to be identical with the Torah that was given to Moshe. The Masorah notes changes that have been made over time. The Septuagint seems to point to differing versions. Further, the so-called "Hebrew" text with which we are familiar has been transliterated from the Paleo-Hebrew script into the block script of Aramaic Hebrew, and the later Masoretic inventions to distinguish between words having the same spelling but "differing" meanings codifies a reading that is essentially a translation into Aramaic Hebrew, and which could be taken only on faith in the Hebrew scribes, themselves, were it not for the teaching of Matt. 5:17-18.
Y'shua is confirming that the literal Torah of his day and ours is valid, regardless of the concerns of scholarship, and that it remains in effect. That's the first point.
Now, the difficult part.
Torah is the measurement of messiah. The letter of Torah corresponds to the flesh of Y'shua, and the spirit of Torah corresponds to the invisible substance of Yahushúa, the Salvation of Yah.
As the flesh of Y'shua was nailed to the cross, so was the letter of Torah. By the same token, as messiah was raised from the dead, transfigured, and glorified, so was the literal Torah magnified and made glorious. Thus does Paul write of the oldness of the letter and the newness of the spirit, even as he writes of the old man of sin and the new creature in hamashiyach.
The purpose of the literal accounts of Torah is to convict of sin and invoke the penalty of death. The allegorical Torah is the door to the spiritual Torah, even as the man Y'shua is the door to the transfigured Yahushúa, who in turn is Door to Father Yah [you will recall that Y'shua says to those looking directly at him, "if you had seen me (Yahushúa), you had seen the Father, also"]. Of the allegorical and spiritual Torah it is written, "You shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments; which if a man does, he shall live in them; I am YHWH."
With the destruction of the temple, HaShem made it impossible to observe Torah's literal statutes and ordinances. In its literal sense, therefore, neither gentile nor Jew can be truly Torah observant; and we are instructed that to offend in one point of observance is to offend in all. In Torah's allegorical and spiritual dimensions, however, all who abide in the Father by the Son can be Torah observant at this present time (and in every time).
"For I did not speak to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitzraim, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your Elohim, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you: But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward:"
When we heard the command, "Thou shalt not kill," we thought we had the instructions down pat and prepared to live our lives in compliance with the letter: so long as we did not commit homicide, we were blameless in our own eyes. The commentary by Yahushúa on this commandment, however, is very instructive of just how short of the mark we come by this thought process. Note that Yahushúa does not say, "it was written," but rather says that it was "said by them of old time." This implies that the translation recognized by Jewish and Christian traditions somehow falls short of the mark, as what follows is a verbatim quote of what we understand to be written in Torah.
Matt. 5:21-22 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
The letter in Aramaic Hebrew says, "Lo t'ratsach: (You shall not murder.)"
The letter in Ketav Levonah, the Paleo-Hebrew script, says:
"In provoking change (Lamed/l) of concepts (Alef/a), the obliteration (Taw/t) of a state of mind (Resh/r) overturns (Tsade/x) the covenant (Chet/j) {warding off (Tsade/x) repentance (Chet/j) [and devastating (Tsade/x) progress (Chet/j)]}."
The Paleo-Hebrew parsing of the verse adds great depth to the traditional rendering and informs us of the basis of Yahushúa's commentary, while at the same time affirming the validity of the customary translation. To my understanding, the p'shat of the commandment (its literal sense) is not changed; nevertheless, it is transformed--magnified, and made glorious.
To receive instruction and to cut off the instructor by following one's own sense of what is required is equivalent to being a horse that takes its bridle between its teeth so that it can carry the master where it wants to go. This manner of observance is not of faith. As we hear, we chew the cud and await further instruction; and when we act, we remain open to confirmation or criticism. This is the walk of faith: always open, always ready to receive.
May the voice of HaShem be heard and honored in each of us; and may we be strengthened to take care how we hear, also, redeeming the time.
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