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If you have read any part of this website, then you have probably figured out that the beliefs of Messianic Jews differ somewhat from Christians. For instance, Messianics believe that Matthew 5:17-18 says exactly what God intended: that Yeshua's death on the cross did NOT rescind God's original teaching and instruction (Torah) and, consequently, we are NOT to ignore the "Old Covenant". If God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, why would He contradict Himself by getting rid of His original teachings - which, by the way, include the Ten Commandments? (Man has done a very good job of ignoring the Ten Commandments, and the result has been a world that's become more decadent and confused than ever!)
So why do we believe that Yeshua did NOT "do away with the law" (Torah)? Because we realize that, while the COVENANT changed as God promised in Jeremiah 31:31, (1) His Torah has not. "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89)." (2) God's provisions have not changed; (3) the penalty for disobedience has not changed; and (4) God's promises have not changed.
So, what HAS changed?
- Yeshua, as the word of God incarnate, is now the standard bearer. Moses is no longer the steward, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that 'THE' prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account."
- The Torah is administered (not replaced) under a new covenant. A covenant whereby the Torah is written on our hearts via the Spirit of God, and not on clay tablets alone. This fulfills the prophecy of Jeremiah 31: "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."
- The priesthood has changed. Instead of an Aaronic high priest, the high priest is one after the order of Melchizedek. That is, Yeshua. This fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 110, where King David writes: "The Lord says to my Lord (God is speaking to someone King David calls Lord): 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' The Lord will extend your (the one King David says God is speaking to) mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.'"
- The sacrificial system has changed. Under the original covenant, animal sacrifices were offered. Under the new covenant, Messiah Himself is the sacrifice. This fulfills the foreshadowing of Psalm 40, relating to animal sacrifice: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, 'Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.'
Taken together, the new covenant still requires a sacrifice, a high priest to mediate on our behalf, an altar, and a sanctuary. The roles, however, are now filled by Yeshua, as He is all these things. (For further information on this subject, please see "Israel: Don't Say "I Didn't Know!")
Messianic believer Alan Buske has provided a more indepth response to the often-debated question about whether or not Yeshua "did away with" the Torah:
Matthew 5:17-18 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill. For verily I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
I personally have always felt that that simply meant Yeshua did not come to do away with Torah or God's original commandments because God never changes, and so His Word remains forever. God is perfect and never mis-speaks.
There was a rabbinic saying that when Jews where discussing Torah and giving their interpretations of the various laws, that if one of them thought the other was misinterpreting it, he would say "You are destroying the law!" But if he agreed, he would say "You are fulfilling the law." What Messiah was apparently saying was that He did not come to destroy (misinterpret) the law but to fulfill (interpret correctly). Some understand it to mean that Yeshua did not come to destroy the law, which is obvious by the last statement in Matthew 5:18 (since the world is still here ) but He came to fulfill it in the way it was meant to be fulfilled - not only in the physical but also in the true spiritual intent of the law as can be seen in His discussions with the Pharisees who kept the physical requirements, even though their hearts were far from God's spiritual intent.
The above sort of reminds me of our Bill of Rights and our Founding Fathers. Yes, there were plenty of scoundrels in those days and not all, but most of them, were Godly men. They didn't write thousands of laws to govern every aspect of our lives because, as Benjamin Franklin said, what they gave us would only last if we were a moral people (Christian nation). As man turns from God he needs harsher laws - and more of them - to keep man in check, which is what is happening today in our Supreme Court and all the other courts in our country. We have gone "rabbinic "or "legalistic" in our own country. What we need is to return to the "Original Intent" of the law (The Bill of Rights and the Constitution). We need to become a God-fearing nation again and stop "...every man doing what is right in his own eyes." (Judges). What Messiah was trying to do in His ministry, besides telling people that the Kingdom of God was coming, was to teach/show by example the Original Intent of the Ten Commandments or the Torah (from Genesis to Deuteronomy). Remember how often Messiah quoted from Genesis? He was always trying to get people to see the beginning or original intent. But man must have the love of God in him and love his neighbor as himself by having the Spirit of God in him. Without it, man cannot understand the Original Intent of God's Law.
Did Yeshua do away with any laws? Hebrews 7:12 says, "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." The Temple system ran on the priesthood and the sacrificial system; it wasn't "done away with" in that it was changed, as now Messiah was the final sacrifice and He is also our Priest in the heavenlies. Was God telling us with the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D that we need to look for something better? Yeshua told the woman at the well that the time was coming when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth and no longer in Jerusalem exclusively, but that would also change when Messiah returns as it says in Zechariah 14:16-17, when once again Jerusalem will be the focus of the world, and as it says in Isaiah 2:2-3 "....for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
...And I'll just bet that it will be the Original Intent of the Law. Motivated by the Holy Spirit (ruach ha kodesh) which will be poured out on all mankind as they begin to acknowledge their Messiah as Savior. Amen!!!
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