Torah

   When we come across the word “law” in the Bible, most of us probably think of the dry and convoluted part of the Old Testament in which God lays down a code of conduct for His people and threatens punishment to those who disobey. We perceive it as a very detailed list of rules and instructions meant for people who lived long ago and far away. We gloss over it because it is not only boring and hard to read, but also seems to have no application or value to the lives of Christians in the present day. The word “law” is often used as a translation for “Torah.” In Jewish thought and practice, the Torah consists of the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. We know the Written Torah as the first five books of the Bible. The Oral Torah, passed down and memorized from generation to generation, consists of additional instructions that interpret and explain how to fulfill the Written Torah. God revealed both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai after God redeemed the Israelites from Egypt. The Torah holds a special place of honor and distinction because in it God communicates to Moses face to face, as Exodus 33:11 says: “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another.” Moses was the only prophet to whom God spoke directly; all of the other prophets received God’s revelation through dreams and visions. Deuteronomy 34:10 says, “Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses - whom the LORD singled out, face to face.”

   While Torah is often translated “law,” that is not its only definition. Torah can sometimes mean “law,” but as Brad H. Young states in his book Meet the Rabbis, “To understand Torah strictly as law would be like translating the word parent as disciplinarian.” The word Torah is derived from the verb yarah, which means “to shoot at a target with force and accuracy.” The Torah provides teaching and instruction that is focused and directed like an arrow. It is a guide for fulfilling the will of God. The ultimate target of the Torah, however, is the Messiah. Romans 10:4 states, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” The word “end” in this verse is often incorrectly interpreted to mean Christ terminated the law, even though He states in Matthew 5:17, “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.” In Hebrew, to fulfill means to interpret a message accurately and to put the message into practice. To abolish is to interpret incorrectly so that the true meaning of a teaching is obscured and therefore cannot be practiced in daily life. Throughout His ministry, Jesus upheld the Torah and interpreted its teachings for His followers so that they could apply it in their lives. Knowing that the words of the Torah “shoot at a target with force and accuracy,” a clearer translation of Romans 10:4 is, “For the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who trusts.” In other words, the central message of the Torah is that trust, not legalistic observance of rules, leads to righteousness.

   So, what should we as Christians do with the Torah? It is important for us to study it as a revelation of the will and nature of God. It provides a background and context for the teachings and life of the Messiah we profess to believe and follow. The Torah (and the entire Word of God) point to and reveal Christ, as He Himself said in Luke 24:27, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Jessica Adams