Shabbat - July 6, 2001

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·        Let's pray….

·        You can find the Ten Commandments in two places, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

·        We'll look at Exodus 20.  You may want to turn there…. 

What are the Ten Commandments?

• Actually, the Jewish name for them is 'aseret hadevarim, Hebrew for “The Ten Words.”
• In fact Exodus 20:1 begins, “And God spoke all these words,” hadevarim.
• The first of The Ten Words, according to Jewish tradition, is “I am the LORD your God.”

• Is this a commandment?  No, but it is a very important declaration –- the first of the Words!
• The order is different in Christian traditions, which treat “I am the LORD your God” as a preamble, since it is not a commandment.
  • Catholics, Lutherans& Anglicans combine “You shall have no other gods before me” and "You shall not make for yourself an idol”
    • Perhaps because polytheism and idolatry seem to be related
    • Or perhaps to call attention away from the use of images in churches.
  • Greek Orthodox and most Protestants separate these two.
  • As a result, when Rembrandt, from Protestant Holland, painted the Decalogue, commandment #6 is “You shall not murder.”

• But when deChampaigne from Catholic France painted them, the sixth commandment  is “You shall not commit adultery.”

• To get 10, Catholics et al. separate divide the coveting prohibitions in two: “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife” is the Ninth Commandment, and “You shall not covet your neighbor's house...or anything that belongs to your neighbor” is Tenth.
• Did you know all this before?  Now you know!
• No matter how you slice it, there are ten!

According to some Christians, the 10 Commandments are irrelevant, because the Law of Moses has been canceled by Christ.

• This may seem astonishing to you— I hope so! — but there are some impressive proof texts to support the claim:
• Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
every one that believes.”
• Gal 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.”
• Eph 2:15 says, Christ “abolished in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.”
• Col 2:15 says that Christ “forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
• Heb 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant ‘new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

• On the basis of these impressive proof texts, Christians may conclude that the entire Law of Moses has been canceled, nailed to the cross, made obsolete by the new covenant in His blood.
• Believe me, I found it on the web!

• Now, Christians are under “the Law of Christ,” as it says in Galatians
6:2, “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
• It just so happens that the new Law of Christ, revealed in the New Testament, repeats most of the 10 Commandments in various places.
• Most, except for one: observing the Sabbath is missing. Therefore we may conclude that the commandment of Sabbath has been “completely abolished in Christ.”

Oy gevolt!

What I have just summarized is a doctrine of antinomianism, Greek for against (anti) law (nomos)

·     The Church has struggled with variants of antinomianism since the early centuries, Really ever since it started struggling with an anti-Jewish bias.

·      Subtle antinomianism creeps in with anti-Jewish bias in many Christian translations and interpretations—I really did quote all those proof texts from either the KJV or the NIV!

·      Reader beware!  Antinomianism won't wash with Messiah Yeshua or even Rav Shaul.

·      We must compare Scripture with Scripture, and discover that there are better translations and interpretations of the proof texts that do not lead to antinomian conclusions.

What did Yeshua say concerning Torah and the Ten Commandments?

·      See Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount.

·      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.”

o     Very good, his Jewish listeners must have thought, he is a Torah teacher!

• 20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

o     How on earth, Yeshua's listeners must have wondered, could anyone ever surpass the righteousness of the P'rushim, who devoted themselves to observing every detail of the Torah, or the scribes, who studied the Torah as an expert authority?

·      It was impossible on earth, but not in heaven. Then he says, after many very hard sayings, “Love your enemies!?” in verse 48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

·      Impossible—yes! On earth, but not in heaven. 

From Yeshua's Sermon, we must conclude two things:

1.    Not a yud, the smallest letter of the Hebrew aleph bet, will ever disappear from Torah, because the Word of the Lord endures forever! 

2.    It's not Torah that needs to change, it's us.

Yeshua's sermon makes it abundantly clear that human effort cannot fulfill or satisfy the righteous requirements of Torah, because the Torah requires righteousness of the heart.

·        Mere external observance will never satisfy the righteousness of God's commandments.

o      I used to think, I'm a good person, I never killed anyone.

o      I never stole anything … really valuable.  At least I never got caught!

o     The religious man might keep a lot of rules much more carefully than anyone else, but all his righteousness is self-righteousness if his heart does not truly belong to G-d.

o     The religious man might make a great show of his alms-giving or prayers or fasting,

But he already has his reward.  Avinu, our Father, would rather we gave or prayed or fasted in secret, because we love him.

·      What God wants is righteousness down to the core of our being, our hearts.

·      As Torah says, in Deut 30:6, “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”

o     Circumcision of the flesh is an external, physical sign, a reminder of the covenant.

o     Circumcision of the heart is an internal, spiritual condition.

o     A mohel circumcises a Jewish boy, but who can circumcise his heart?  Only God!

·        That's why I say, it's not Torah that needs to change, it's us!

o      He circumcises your hearts, and write his Torah on our hearts, when you are born anew in the Spirit.  Have you been born anew in the Spirit of God?

Rest assured, Rav Shaul didn't preach another gospel from Yeshua.

·      Some say, “Jesus lived His entire life under the Old Testament Law of Moses! Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law of Moses, and then He canceledSome saythe Law by nailing it to the cross.”

·      After all, Paul said Jesus canceled the written code … nailing it to the cross!”

·      Again, I read it on the web!  (I've also seen this argument in print!) 

But this same Rav Shaul also says a few other things about Torah:

·      Romans 7:12, “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”

·      1 Tim 1:8, “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.”

·      Rom 3:31, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”

·      In Acts 25:8, “Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong     against the law of the Jews.”

Now, unless we believe that Rav Shaul was contradicting himself or even flat out lying (God forbid!), we can't conclude that he was antinomian, simply against the law.

What about those proof texts?  Well, let's take another look at them, quickly.

·      With a little care, reading from a Messianic Jewish perspective, I think  we can demolish the arguments of those who would demolish the Torah!

•   Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law.”
  • Better translation: “Messiah is the goal of the Torah.” 
  • The Greek word telos is better translated as ‘goal'. Torah points
  to Messiah. Amen?
•   Gal 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.”
  • Is Paul saying that Torah itself is a curse? 
  • Not at all! God forbid!  Rather, Messiah redeemed us from the
  curse in Torah.
  • We found an example right in the Ten Commandments, for those who worship idols, “the LORD is a jealous God, punishing the children  for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
  • But bear in mind that the next verse mentions a very nice blessing, “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
  • Again and again, Torah warns of a curse for disobedience and a blessing for obedience.
  • The curse comes to all who disobey—which as Yeshua has already shown is everyone who tries to obey by mere human effort.        
• Eph 2:15 says, Christ “abolished in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.”
  • Try again.  Most translation skip a key word in the Greek, translated “enmity.”
  • “Messiah abolished in his body the enmity occasioned by the law…”       
  • I.e., Messiah did not abolish the law, but the enmity or hostility between Jew and Gentile.
  • Torah did not cause this hostility, but additional man-made rules  did.      
  • To protect the sanctuary, an extra wall was raised, creating the  court of the Gentiles, preventing Gentiles from getting any closer. Messiah came to abolish this barrier that men made, motivated by concern for the holiness of the place ordained by Torah.     
• Col 2:15 “Christ canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
  • Here's David Stern's translation: “Messiah wiped away the bill of charges against us.  Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us, but he removed it, by nailing it to the execution stake.”                
  • Think about it: did Messiah nail the Ten Commandments to the cross? What good would that do anyone? Or did he nail the bill of charges written up to condemn us? Much better, if you asked me! Thanks be to God, in Messiah Yeshua our Lord!
• Heb 8:13 says … say, why don't you try to figure this one out yourselves?       
  • Hint: take a look at the context, the preceding and following verses and try to figure out exactly what was made obsolete.

Rom 7:14 says, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.”

• Do you see it?  Torah is spiritual, but I am unspiritual.
• Torah is holy, righteous and good; I am sold as a slave to sin.
• Torah doesn't need to be abolished, nor could it be, the word of the Lord endures forever!
• But there is something about me that needs to be abolished, crucified with Messiah.

The tenth commandment, no matter how you count, says “Do not covet.”

• This is a profoundly spiritual commandment, isn't it?
• Could the cops come and arrest you for coveting?  How could anyone prove it? 
• Only God knows the secret desires of the heart.
• Yeshua taught about the secret places of the heart in the sermon on the Mount, pointing out that rage against one's brother is the spirit of murder, and lust in the heart is as good as committing adultery in the sight of God.  It's all in the tenth commandment!
• Shaul realizes this, in Romans 7:7-8, “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.'  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.”
• Desperately, he cries out at the end of Romans 7, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

• Because mere human effort can never fulfill the righteous requirements of Torah, every person is under a curse, spelled out in Torah (and also the New Covenant).

• But thanks be to God, Messiah has removed the curse against us, when we put our trust in Him.
• Then God graciously gives us his Holy Spirit, so that the righteous requirements of Torah might be fulfilled in us!  (See Romans 8:2-3.)

• That's what Shavuot was all about! 
• On the first Shavuot, God revealed his righteous Torah at Sinai.
• But the Torah could not make us righteous by itself, because our flesh would not cooperate!
• So on another Shavuot, God poured out his Ruach Hakodesh, so that the Torah might be written on our hearts.
• What was impossible is now near to us who have been born anew in the Spirit of Messiah.
• If I obey the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Torah, then I fulfill Torah's righteous requirements.
• As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
• “The law of Christ” is the spirit of the law of Moses.

Now, isn't it about time we take a look at those Ten Commandments? 

§      Turn to Exodus 20, if you're not there already!

§      I hope I've given you a spiritual way of looking at them!

§      The same commandments which curse, “punishing the children … of those who hate him” also bless, “showing love … to those who love me.”

There are blessings sprinkled throughout The Ten Words or Commandments:

• Showing love to thousands in verse 6, blessing the Shabbat in 11, and making a promise in12.

Let's see if we can find them, a blessing in each of the commandments, for those who love him?

1.    “I am the LORD your God.”  The blessing of God himself, who promises to be our God!

2.    “You shall have no other gods before me.”  The blessing of intimacy with God, in His presence, seeking his face, touching his grace.

3.    “You shall not misuse the Name of the LORD your God.”  He has revealed his wonderful name to us!

4.    “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”  It is ironic and sad that anyone would imagine that God would abolish Shabbat, which God intended from the beginning as a blessing!  “Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” 

 §  Who can count up the blessings of Shabbat, our rest in him,  reminding us of the perfection of His creation, before there was sin?  Indeed, Sabbath also reminds us, according to the Deuteronomy 5:15, of our redemption from slavery.

 §  It speaks also of the hope of olam habah, the world to come, our eternal Sabbath-rest in Him.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”  Well, the blessing is right there, isn't?  Do you see the principle? The blessing of family and love that goes dor v'dor, generation to generation.

6. “You shall not murder.”  The blessing of human life.
7. “No adultery.”  The blessing of faithfulness in marriage.
8. “You shall not steal.” The blessing of provision, trusting God to meet our needs.
9. “You shall not bear false witness.”  The blessings of honesty, integrity and justice.
10. “You shall not covet.” The blessing of contentment in any circumstances and the blessing of trust between men.

Imagine what a wonderful world we would live in if everyone kept the 10 commandments!

§      That world is the Kingdom of God!

§      This week, on Memorial Day, which is the traditional Jewish Shavuot, through next Sunday which is the Christian Pentecost, I urge you to meditate on the blessings of each of the 10 commandments and how they are spiritual – holy, righteous and good!

§      Maybe you could meditate on one each day for 10 days?  Would that be good?

§      Let the Holy Spirit show you how He can fulfill the righteous requirements of these commandments, if you live according to His will.

§      Will you do that?

Let's pray about it.