Part 1: Holiness unto the Lord

On oxen and parapets: applying the Torah's heart principles.

Before Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus he had studied Torah under Rabbi Gamaliel. Thus he already had the foundation on which to interpret Torah from a New Covenant perspective. He does not teach this through his letters so we are left to guess how he approached the subject as he taught in the Christian congregations.

There are a few clues that would lead us to suspect that he handled Torah fluently and deeply through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s Bible was the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures (the ‘Old Testament’). My belief is that we should take Torah just as seriously and learn to let the Holy Spirit interpret at deeper levels, rejecting all idea that ritual and legalistic interpretations are the only ones.

To that end, for this article I am reproducing in full a chapter from the Torah section of my book The Covenant People of God (Tishrei International, 2001). This was written at a time when I was freshly buoyed up by the revelation of new depths in Torah.

Essays on the fulfilment of Torah

No 7: On Oxen and Parapets

In his reference to oxen the Apostle Paul gave new meaning to an old Mitzvah. Have we reached the same maturity of interpretation after 2,000 years of Church history?

When we have understood the role and nature of Torah, meditations upon its principles will lead to the right kinds of questions. In prayerfully considering these questions and waiting upon the Lord for enlightenment we can see, like the Apostle Paul, general principles at the heart of various commandments and we can learn to apply these general principles in new and relevant ways.

The Bible records two occasions when Paul referred to the commandment of Deuteronomy 25:4 which stated that an ox should not be muzzled as it treads the grain (1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18). On both occasions he used the commandment to show that ministers of the Gospel should receive appropriate payment. Jews might say he was applying midrashic method here, to extract a truth from a particular part of Scripture to apply it to a different circumstance. Christians might say that Paul, having seen the law as now having no continuing meaning since the coming of Yeshua (Jesus), was treating the ideas rather loosely and liberally. I would suggest that Paul had found the keys to the principle of the law (Torah) being written on the heart. Indeed, there is a kind of midrashic interpretation of Torah, but led by the Spirit of God rather than through a scientific method of biblical interpretation.

Paul had found the keys to the principle of the law being written on the heart.

It is interesting that there are very few examples in the New Testament to the individual Mitzvot such as the one above. Again, after 2,000 years of Christendom, the general impression is that this is because they are not important now that the Messiah has come. It is rather strange, however, that Paul uses this one rather remote example twice. I would suggest that this should give us a clue as to the way that we should read both the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Testaments. Far from Paul dismissing the ‘Old’, he is applying the teaching in the way that he expects us to apply it. This is simply one example that he uses in passing and which has found its way into the New Testament writings.

Indeed, because there is so little interpretation of the Mitzvot, in terms of the New Covenant, we should realise that we are expected to find interpretations for ourselves. If this were not so we might be inclined to treat the New Testament as a new and complete rulebook, assuming that it has a literal completeness, replacing what went before. Indeed, I would suggest that this is just what many Christians have (unwittingly) done. Instead, we have the final steps of revelation that can now be applied alongside the earlier revelations of Scripture bringing all to fullness, by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Light of Messiah. We should not expect all the answers to be in the pages of the New Testament, but we should find ourselves on a walk of faith with the Holy Spirit interpreting the truth of the whole of Scripture for us.

I would also suggest that this is of extreme importance to those of us in the early stages of the restoration of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Going back to the Old Testament, for some, can be a return to literal application of what is found there, missing the spirit of the teaching and the wider application. This is what leads to dry ritual observance of the Feasts, to the wearing of Tzit-Tzit and, possibly, to putting self-righteously inspired parapets around one’s roof (see below).

Missing the spirit of the Old Testament can lead to its total rejection, or to dry ritual observance.

The heart of all Mitzvot is to love the Lord with all our heart and our neighbour as ourself. This spiritual principle can only be applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit Himself, but once there, all the Mitzvot can rise to a higher and more general plane, as well as being perfect examples in themselves of how to apply the principles in certain circumstances. Thus Paul was able to see that by practising, year by year, the principle of not muzzling an ox when treading the grain, letting it feed freely and generously as it worked, there is a principle that can be manifest on the heart and which can be applied in a variety of circumstances, including payment of ministers of the Gospel. Paul had learned to read the heart intent of these Mitzvot and expects us to do the same.

Another seemingly remote example (this time, however, not quoted in the New Testament) is Deuteronomy 22:8 – when you build a new house, make a parapet (protective fence) around your roof so that you will not bring the guilt of bloodshed on yourself if someone falls from the roof. Is this principle only to be taken literally, to be of no relevance to those of us without flat roofs, or does it speak of a general principle?

This is an excellent example of loving our neighbour and a perfect example from the context of Middle-Eastern houses with flat roofs, where one might spend time with one’s friends: there are circumstances even today where it is what we should do quite literally. However, through meditating on the principle, we find that it speaks fundamentally of care and safety in every area of our interaction with our neighbours. It challenges our heart as to whether we care for the safety of our neighbour, and hence also challenges us as to our maturity in our spiritual life. Parapets, when considered as safety measures, speak of fire extinguishers, first aid boxes, guards on our machinery, and careful safety precautions in all we do. The Torah principle is a profound and perfect prompt to a general principle that can be applied in millions of circumstances, prompted from the heart, but impossible to contain, in its entirety of applications, within the covers of our Bible.

The Torah principle of making a parapet for your roof is a profound and perfect prompt to a general principle of caring for others.

Indeed, we can go further, from the practical to the spiritual. For example, we as parents should put scriptural principles into the lives of our children so that they have spiritual guard-rails in their lives. This was the principle that Ezekiel was to bring to his nation as a watchman (Ezekiel 33) so that he would be free of bloodguilt. This is also what Paul meant when he declared himself to be free of bloodguilt because he had declared the whole counsel of God to the people (Acts 20:18-26). He set up a spiritual parapet for their protection, just as we should in our families and fellowships.

I would add one more point in the light of our search for the Jewish roots of our faith, so that we do not despise too readily what was achieved through the Christian Church over 2,000 years. I can take my example from Britain, my own nation, but it also applies to other nations where the Gospel message took root in the fabric of the nation, including the USA. For over a thousand years, from the time of King Alfred the Great, the laws of Britain have reflected the heart of Torah. Alfred the Great caused the Ten Commandments and other parts of the ‘Law of Moses’ to be written into our law books. This is why, for example, we developed a consciousness for health and safety in our industries.

The heart of the teaching about parapets has been applied in our nations - albeit that we have forgotten when and how. Now, as we seek to recover and make more explicit what Torah is in our Churches, we must not forget our heritage and we can recognise that there has been a Torah impact to our nations, and hope for recovery in these days of growing Torahlessness. Furthermore, we must be among those who add depth to the lives of believers, and not those who lead them to a new form of superficiality.

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Conclusion

Being Hebraic is to love all the teaching of God: to study the entire Bible, founded upon the five books of Moses (the Torah) and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to shed light on it applications in all aspects of life – and to help others to do the same. This is Word and Spirit in balance.

It is also how we can pray, like the psalmist, from the heart:

Oh, how I love your Torah! It is my meditation all the day. You, through your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Ps 119:97-99)

Perhaps we will find ourselves writing such a Psalm!

Next time: Authority to interpret Torah