Clifford Denton addresses common misunderstandings about Torah.

In the last article we considered the subject of halakhah. Now let us consider Torah, on which halakhah is founded. These are Hebrew words, which will need some fresh investigation by many Christians, especially since some confusion has entered our Christian experience because of translation of these key words into other languages.

Our English Bible translations use the word ‘law’ where the Hebrew reads ‘Torah’ in the Old Testament. The New Testament manuscripts came to us in Greek rather than the Hebrew language. The word nomos is used rather than Torah or halakhah, again resulting in the word ‘law’ in English translations. This adds to our difficulty in re-thinking the relationship between Torah and halakhah because of the connotations of the word law in our lives and culture today.

This problem is increased because of the way Judaism has put the concept of halakhah into legalistic terms, further leading to many Christians rejecting serious studies of both Torah and halakhah, seeing law and grace as mutually exclusive.

We must look into the heart of God’s intent, and beyond legalism of either a Jewish or a Christian kind, to discover God’s purpose for all the family of faith. That is why we first of all, in our previous article, established that the Hebraic lifestyle was always intended to be a walk with God – the true interpretation of halakhah.

So now let’s put Torah into right relationship with this walk with God.

We must look beyond both Jewish and Christian legalism, to the heart of God’s intent for Torah and halakhah.

Compiling the Torah

It is instructive to consider the historical development of the Bible. The first five books of the Bible are called the Books of Moses. Before Moses’ time, oral tradition was the means of transmitting what was later to become the written word, recorded by Moses.

Enoch, Noah, Abraham and others learned to listen to God and walk with him. Then, when Israel was to become a nation within their own land, God caused Moses to record what is now the first five books of the Bible. This contains relevant earlier history, an account of the wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land (itself a walk with God) and also the instruction that God gave by which Israel was to live. This included the Ten Commandments and a wide variety of requirements by which God’s chosen people should live as a nation, incorporating also the yearly cycle of Feasts of the Lord and the Sabbath Day.

The record of Moses came to be known as Torah. This word does not mean ‘law’. It means ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’, drawing on the entire content of the first five Books of the Bible. God’s purpose was not to cause law to replace the foundational principle of walking with him in personal and corporate relationship.

Considered as God’s teaching programme, Torah was to be in balance with halakhah. This was the approach to be made in families, where children were to be taught by example and through parental guidance (Deut 6) and for the entire nation, for whom elders were appointed to interpret Torah on the walk of faith (Ex 18).

The Writings and the Prophets

Torah became Israel’s Bible, as it were. Other written records were compiled later, including the history of the nation, the Psalms and the Proverbs, which together were grouped as Ketuvim, the Writings. The Writings came out of a nation that was seeking to live in relation to God and to interpret his teaching as the foundation of that relationship.

When Israel fell away from God, their fall could be assessed by how far they had departed from Torah. The Prophets came along to point Israel back to God through reference to Torah. The third set of written material thus emerged which was called Neveeim, the Hebrew for ‘Prophets’.

The record of Moses came to be known as ‘Torah’, but this does not mean ‘law’.

Thus emerged the priority for the Hebrew Bible. With Torah (the five Books of Moses) at the foundation, Neveeim and Ketuvim were compiled with it, to make what comes to us as TaNaK, or the Tanakh (Old Testament).

Torah: Lost in Translation?

The true meaning and significance of Torah must be untangled from the concepts of English ‘law’ and Greek nomos if we are to re-connect with our Hebraic heritage. The key is in the Hebraic background of teaching, expressed as well as translators could in Greek, English and other languages.

The Greek nomos has shades of meaning that fit this original Hebraic background, but the English ‘law’ can easily be misinterpreted in our day, when it is connected with crime and punishment so readily. Yet, ‘law’ does also imply rules to bring safety and structure to the life of a community, and if we re-connect the concept with education we are not completely divorced from the original intent of the scriptures.

With Torah, interpretation was always necessary. Generation after generation of Israel’s elders and teachers, including rabbis in the Jewish tradition, helped the community of Israel to interpret Torah into a way of life. The call was not to make individual believers dependent on them, but to help them to be dependent on God. It is this link between Torah and halakhah that is so important.

This applies to the Christian world as much as it does to the Jewish world. Indeed, if we re-connect more firmly to the continuity from Old to New Covenant days, both Jews and Christians have the same objective – a walk with God as disciples, learning all that God wants to teach us.

Torah must be untangled from the concepts of English ‘law’ and Greek nomos and re-connected to our Hebraic heritage.

Yeshua Upholds Torah

During his Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua (Jesus) said that he had come to rightly interpret Torah (Matt 5:17). He confronted the religious teachers of the day for their controlling traditions and wrong interpretations (Matt 23). Moses’ seat, referenced in Matthew 23:2, was the seat in the synagogue set aside for a teacher to bring interpretations of the Torah.

Seen through these eyes, we see that much of the ministry of Yeshua was concerned with establishing the true foundations of halakhah through correctly interpreting Torah. He attacked dry ritual and challenged the attitude towards the Feasts and Sabbath (e.g. Mark 2:27-28). He showed that Torah was given by God to strengthen relationships between mankind and God and between men, women and children within Israel’s community (Matt 22:37-40) – the priority being for how we walk out our life in this world whilst also walking with God – halakhah.

Ritual Halakhah

By contrast to the true purpose of Torah, Jewish halakhah has become a form of legal interpretation of 613 dos and don’ts that have been identified in the written Torah.

Many of these commands, taken in a literal sense, are strengthened to give a margin of error so that the actual law will not be broken. This is called a fence around the Torah. However righteous the fence around Torah might seem, it carries with it the potential of robbing a person of their walk with God. Torah is deeper than this and more spiritual in application.

Further, if Torah is separated from the life and sacrificial death of Yeshua it will also lose its true purpose, because only through faith in Yeshua can one achieve the relationship with God that was always the goal of Torah.

Jesus’ ministry was concerned with establishing the true foundations of halakhah through correctly interpreting Torah.

Christians can also be found guilty of falling short of the purpose of what the Bible teaches, as Paul’s letter to the Galatians pointed out. On the one hand there is the possibility of misunderstanding Torah as law in the legal sense and so missing the true purpose of God’s teaching. Many Christians have thereby detached themselves from serious study of the heart intent of Torah foundations, misinterpreting Galatians 3:13. Yeshua (Jesus) took away the curse of Torah (the ‘law’) in that he took the punishment for sin away on the Cross for those who believe. He did not take away Torah itself.

On the other hand, in seeking to restore Torah observance, some Christians have taken a legalistic route, similar to that found in Jewish halakhah.

In Light of the New Covenant

Our challenge, therefore, in re-connecting with the Hebraic background to the Christian faith, is to be serious students of the entire Bible, re-establishing Torah foundations in New Covenant terms, helping one another secure a walk of faith in relationship with one another and with God and not being so legalistic as to spoil that walk, whilst learning together how to let our freedom in Messiah be submitted to the will of the Holy Spirit.

It must be said that the evidence is that it is far easier to slip into legalistic interpretations of Torah, leading to bondage to ritual more than freedom to walk with the Lord – something that takes a lifetime to learn in reality.

Take Psalm 119 as an illustration of where to start. Picture the author carefully constructing his psalm to express his delight in Torah. The psalm has 22 sections, each linked to one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses of a section commences with a word beginning with that letter, aleph, beit, gimmel and so on.

The number eight in Scripture represents new beginnings, possibly new life, so this symbolism is wound into the construction of the psalm. Perhaps there are other symbols too, along with the emphasis on the alphabet.

Our challenge is to re-establish Torah foundations in New Covenant terms, helping one another secure a walk of faith in relationship with God, while not slipping into legalism.

Considering all this, we realise that the psalmist took great care in expressing his love of Torah. Every letter of every word was to express his love of God and recognition of the power of Torah to transform, protect and guide a person.

This same inspiration can be carried over to New Covenant love of God’s teaching. Do we love God’s teaching through his Holy Spirit in such a way that we respond to it with the same heart as the psalmist? How many Christians have seen it that way? Torah was always spiritual and with the gift of the Holy Spirit to write it on our hearts, we are in a privileged position to live a Torah lifestyle - free of bondage, free to learn, discovering how heart manifestations of Torah principles are intended to guide and strengthen our individual and corporate walks with God.

Next time: Some illustrations from Torah

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Feasts of the Lord’ by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal (Thomas Nelson, 1997).

Kicking off our coverage of recommended resources for Passover season, Paul Luckraft reviews an older classic on the Jewish Feasts.

There are many excellent books to choose from that teach us about the Feasts but this one stands out in so many ways. When a friend first showed me this book it immediately grabbed my attention. I gratefully accepted the offer to borrow it and within a couple of days I had bought a copy for myself. It is brilliantly and beautifully produced, and is not only a great read but a perfect reference book to return to time and again.

The book is written jointly by a Messianic believer (Marvin Rosenthal) and an ordained minister (Kevin Howard) whose insight into Jewish culture and the Hebrew language is the result of his involvement in the Jewish community and his frequent trips to Israel.

The book aims to keep both Jewish and Christian readers in mind, and is greatly enhanced by over 150 full-colour charts and photographs, which is one reason it stands apart from many other books on this topic. For instance, there is a double page spread of a Passover table, with all the items annotated and described. A separate page gives a close-up of a magnificent Seder plate.

Fascinating Material

The opening section of the book acts as an introduction, containing an overview firstly of the Spring Feasts and then of the Fall Feasts, both written by Marvin Rosenthal. The introduction concludes with information about Jewish time, the year and the calendar, written by Kevin Howard who is also the author of the rest of the book.

The book is written jointly by a Messianic believer and an ordained minister.

In the second section each of the seven Feasts of Leviticus 23 is taken in turn and in each case the format is the same – description, fulfilment, application. Here the book scores highly again. As well as learning about the ancient biblical observance we come to understand how each Feast is observed in more modern times and also, most importantly, its fulfilment in Jesus and what it can mean for Christians today.

The final section is taken up with additional observances, something that other books often omit. The four chapters are on Tisha B’Av (the fast of the fifth month), Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication), Purim (Feast of Lots) and the Jubilee Year. Here there is plenty of fascinating material which is likely to provide something new for every reader.

A Book to Enjoy and Treasure!

Overall, the explanations are clear and very full. Each page is a delight. There is plenty of background information of historical and cultural interest as well as all the necessary scriptural details. This is book to enjoy and to treasure.

To cap it off there is an excellent index with hundreds of entries spreading over 14 pages, enabling you to find all you need quickly and easily as well as realising that hidden in the book are things you didn’t know about. The index itself becomes a starting point for exploration!

Each page is a delight.

There is also a five-page index of Scripture references, a single page bibliography and a chart showing the dates of the Jewish feasts until 2020.

Although I also greatly value other books on the feasts this is one I would recommend wholeheartedly, both to newcomers to the topic and to those with existing knowledge and experience of what the feasts can mean to us all.

The Feasts of the Lord (224 pages) is available from ICM Books Direct for £14.49 or on Amazon.

Clifford Denton continues his series on Hebraic living.

Walking with Friends

If we each look back over our lives, we will find that many of our friendships have been strengthened because we went on long walks together. The times when we were walking together, talking, enjoying the same fresh air, the same food and the same experiences are the times we remember as best. These shared experiences were foundations on which friendship was built.

Walking together can be metaphorical as well as a physical reality. Life shared in all its ways with one’s family and friends is also a ‘walk’. It seems that God has made us to enjoy walking life out! If we share an experience, whatever it is, we enjoy it more.

The times when we walk and talk together are often the times we remember as best.

The Hebrew Language Encourages Mobility

The Hebrew language is not complicated. The verb structures train the Hebraic mindset more for action than for academic discourse. They are simple and not designed for philosophical thought (such as is the Greek language, or even the English language).

Simply put, Hebrew verbs describe action - whether completed action, present action or ongoing action. The Hebrew language trains a person to be a doer, strengthening the idea of mobility in life.

Walking with God

Is it any wonder, then, that walking out one’s faith is such a central issue for God’s covenant people? God asks us to trust him and to walk with him on a journey of relationship, during which our faith is built. This is the Hebraic lifestyle, and it is evidenced throughout Scripture.

Enoch “walked with God” for 365 years and one day just disappeared from this world (Gen 5:22-23). We are left to imagine what such a walk might have been like, even before the days of Noah, before Abraham and before Moses. Enoch’s walk was not one of ritual from the Law, which was not yet given.

The lives of all the ‘heroes of faith’ in Hebrews 11 are described in our Bibles in such a way that we can deduce that it was through relationship, not ritual, that their faith grew. Just as with our friends on earth, friendship with God is cultivated through a lifelong walk.

Just as with our friends on earth, friendship with God is cultivated through a lifelong walk.

Abraham trusted God and began his walk in a physical sense when he left Ur. This physical walk took on spiritual dimensions through the experiences of life through which God led him. Down through the ages, others have taken confidence from his example to seek God for their own personal walk.

Torah and Halakhah

The subjects of Torah and halakhah are related. Torah, the teaching of God, is usually seen as the foundation of halakhah, which means walking out. With a Hebraic mindset one should not turn Torah into philosophy, as a Greek mindset is prone to doing through establishing a range of intellectual theologies on what the Bible says. A Hebraic mindset of doing (see Ezra 7:10) seeks to find what pleases God and put it into action.

This was what was in the mind of the author of Psalm 119 when he wrote:

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Torah of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!
They also do no iniquity: they walk in His ways. (Psa 119:1-3)

Walking was established as the way Torah should be made manifest:

You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you… (Deut 5:33)

Micah understood this as the purpose of God for all mankind:

He has shown you, O Man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8)

Jewish rabbis adopted the practice of walking with their disciples as they taught them, outworking a principle whereby parents should teach children:

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deut 6:7)

What a walk with God it was when Yeshua (Jesus) walked along the way with his disciples!

God asks us to trust him and to walk with him on a journey of relationship, during which our faith is built.

Every genuine, healthy walk with God is founded on Torah. Torah and halakhah are inseparable on this walk of growing faith through life. Nevertheless, I suggest that, with Enoch as my example, we should prioritise halakhah before Torah in our purposes. First, we seek to walk with God to attain the friendship that Abraham gained, and along the way we discover what pleases God.

Halakhah in Judaism

Since the time when Moses first appointed elders to interpret the principles of Torah into every aspect of life (Ex 18:17-27), the teachers of Israel have sought to continue this tradition.

However, halakhah has now become a code of binding rules. This was the origin of Yeshua’s criticism concerning many of the rules which were more man-made than God-intended (Matt 23). Rabbis were making their disciples dependent on them and not on a personal relationship with God. By contrast, Yeshua’s interpretation of Torah (such as in the Sermon on the Mount) was full of life and carried authority.

Halakhah in Christianity

The true Hebraic lifestyle is spoiled when halakhah is reduced to a set of rules. This is not only found in Judaism. It can also be found in sections of the Christian Church, though not necessarily under that heading. This must not be allowed. It will disconnect us from our true Hebraic heritage. True halakhah is in continuity from Enoch, through Abraham, Moses and right through to Yeshua and the freedom to learn that the New Covenant gives us.

God has always called his people to walk with him – personally. The role of any Bible teacher is to encourage that walk.

The true Hebraic lifestyle is spoiled when halakhah is reduced to a set of rules.

Our New Covenant freedom comes from having our sins forgiven through the shed blood of Yeshua, so that fellowship with our Father in Heaven in and through his Son can be made real. The Holy Spirit is given to us to strengthen that walk – a walk that takes us through all the seasons of life and maturing faith. Paul summed this up when he said:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit…

That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit…

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…you received adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. (Rom 8)

In restoring the continuity of a biblically Hebraic lifestyle, Christians can re-balance the principle of halakhah – walking with God. It is our privilege and our duty as God’s witnesses in this world.

Do Not Be Robbed

None of us must allow ourselves to be robbed of this walk of faith. It is the most wonderful thing to be invited by Yeshua to enter into this relationship, but many settle for far less. It is not only ritual Judaism that falls short of the true halakhah. Even in Christianity, if one follows a human being, however wonderful their biblical interpretation, more than responding directly to God, then one falls short.

If one turns the teaching of the Bible into theology which, though perhaps water-tight, is academic rather than Spirit-inspired, one falls short. If one values the social aspect of Christian interaction (even through regular and dutiful attendance at Church) above relationship with the Father, one can still fall short. And if one is locked into doctrinal and denominational teaching, defending it zealously, one may still miss out on the relationship to which our Father calls us.

It is the most wonderful thing to be invited by Yeshua to enter into this relationship, but many settle for far less.

Our walk with God will not be entirely alone. It will be a personal response to God, but also in step with family and fellowship around us. We walk in personal relationship with God, but also together.

All this is a priority of restoring our Hebraic foundations and something we must all check out afresh, daily.

Next time: Torah - the teaching of God.

Israeli backpacker finds Yeshua in far-off New Zealand.

An Israeli backpacker had to travel to the other side of the world before finding the Jewish Messiah no-one had told him about at home.

Born and raised in a secular kibbutz (and knowing almost nothing about Jesus), Omri Jaakobovich was taken aback when the Dutch-born host of his hostel in Paihia, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, kept referring to him as one of God’s ‘chosen people’.

Like most Israelis, he had been horrified by the relatively recent assassination of then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an Orthodox Jew in the name of God.

So he challenged his host: “What’s so chosen or so much better about us Jews?” adding that for the first time in history a Jew had killed the chosen leader of the Jewish nation.

But he was shocked by her reply: “It’s not the first time that the Jews have killed the chosen leader of the Jewish nation.”

“What are you talking about?” he wondered.

“This is what you did to Yeshua,” was her response.

Realising that Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) was a Jew like himself, Omri’s interest was piqued: “Were they trying to hide something from me?” he pondered. “How come they told me absolutely nothing about him in Israel?”

Having wrestled since he was a child with the question, ‘Why was I born if one day I have to die?’ it now seemed logical to him that, ‘if Yeshua has been raised from the dead, maybe I too can be resurrected.’

The Veil Lifted

A chance meeting with another Israeli backpacker who had a Tanach (what Christians call an Old Testament) among his belongings led Omri to start reading its prophecies.

And seeing Yeshua in every one of them, he became convinced beyond any doubt that Yeshua was indeed the promised Messiah – though at this stage he thought he was the only Jewish believer in Jesus as he didn’t know of any others!

A Christian Omri met then read 2 Corinthians 3:14 to him, which says that only when Jews turn to Christ will the veil (of understanding) be lifted from their eyes.

There was no voice from heaven, he recalls, but he realised right then and there that he needed to start telling his people about it. So he began sharing his faith with every Israeli who came to the hostel. And within just four months, the man who gave him the Bible also came to faith.

HIT’s Impact

Omri subsequently founded a unique travel programme aimed at offering cheap accommodation for young Israeli backpackers and at the same time giving an opportunity for Christians to express their indebtedness to Israel for the Bible, salvation and, above all, their Saviour.

Host Israeli Travellers (HIT) has since provided inexpensive rooms in a friendly home environment to more than 15,000 youngsters touring the world after their demanding stints in the Israeli Defence Forces.

Beginning in New Zealand, which has become a favourite destination for young Israelis, it has now also spread to Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong and the UK.

HIT membership cards are available for a nominal fee and most hosts make only a small charge of up to £5 a night to cover overheads, though many still prefer to offer rooms free.

“One of the most significant developments over the years has been the ever-increasing openness of these young people to spiritual matters,” a spokeswoman said.

And Omri is now encouraging the Church to take up its calling to provoke the Jews to jealousy by sharing the Gospel with them (Rom 11:11, 14; also Rom 10:14).

To learn more, or to sign up, visit www.hitinternational.net.

Did Jesus follow or reject the oral law? David Bivin concludes his assessment of the Jewishness of Jesus.

Last week we began to look at how Jesus not only lived as an observant Jew but was readily recognised as such by his contemporaries; discovering evidence for this in Jesus's upbringing, the acceptance of Jesus as a 'rabbi' by those around him, his relationship with his disciples and his method of teaching and preaching.

Attitude to the Oral Law

Jesus also appears to have adhered to the oral law in his attitude towards such practices as sacrifices, fasting, almsgiving, tithing and blessings. Notice, for example, how he gave tacit approval to the offering of sacrifices in Matthew 5:23-24: “If you are offering your sacrifice at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your sacrifice there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your sacrifice.”

Jesus also commanded the lepers whom he healed to perform the ceremony for their cleansing prescribed in the Bible. This ceremony included the offering of sacrifices as well as ritual immersion. He told the ten lepers to show themselves to the priest and specifically charged another leper, “Show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice Moses commanded” (Matt 8:4).

Fasting

Jesus also took for granted that his disciples would fast when he commanded them to “put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who Is unseen” (Matt 6:17).

Jesus was accused of not living the ascetic life of John the Baptist, which might give one the impression that he did not fast a great deal. However, if he were practising what he preached about the concealment of fasting, those who accused him would not have known whether he did so or not. Certainly, Jesus could not have criticised those who made a show of their fasting if he himself did not fast.

In recounting the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, he criticised the Pharisee, not because he fasted twice a week, but because of his overweening pride.

Jesus appears to have adhered to the oral law in his attitude towards such practices as sacrifices and fasting.

It is also inconceivable that Jesus did not fast on the Day of Atonement each year throughout his life 'to afflict his soul.’ This was interpreted by the rabbis to mean a total fast (abstinence from both food and drink) of approximately 25 hours. Scripture specifies exclusion from the community as the penalty for anyone who did not afflict his soul on that day (Lev 23:29), and states that anyone who did any work on that special occasion would be “destroyed by God” (Lev 23:30).

It should also be noted that after his baptism, at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus fasted for 40 days (Matt 4:2). So Jesus was one who fasted.

Giving and Tithing

In the same section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus criticised the hypocrites who only fasted that they might be seen by men, Jesus also criticised those who made a public display of giving to the poor.

He must have been a generous giver himself. We can assume this because Jesus taught that one should lay up treasure in Heaven rather than on earth, and that if one's eye were 'bad' (that is, if one were stingy), “his whole body will be full of darkness” (Matt 6:19-23). Again, “When you give to the needy” said Jesus (Matt 6:2), not 'if you give to the needy'.

Jesus assumed that his disciples were almsgivers, and one may confidently assume that the Master was as well, even without there being any specific New Testament example of such action.

Any discussion of almsgiving raises the related issue of tithing, and since tithing is as much a biblical commandment as giving to the needy, there should be no question but that Jesus both tithed and gave to the poor.

Jesus assumed that his disciples were almsgivers, and one may confidently assume that the Master was as well.

Some Christians maintain that Jesus criticised the Pharisees for being so pedantic as to tithe even the spices and herbs in their gardens, and consequently they therefore assume that Jesus opposed such tithing (Matt 23:23). This is an error resulting from a faulty reading of the text. It is similar to the misunderstanding some people have that money is the root of all evil. What Scripture states, however, is that it is “the love of money” that is “a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim 6:10).

Jesus did not pronounce his woes upon the scribes and Pharisees for tithing mint, dill and cummin, but rather for keeping only such 'lighter' or less serious commandments, whilst failing to observe the 'heavier' or more important ones.

In the written law, the commandment is that one should tithe only on grain, oil and wine. But the rabbis (at the time of Jesus and just before), ruled that anything used for food had to be tithed.

Jesus, when speaking of this tithing of the herbs in the garden, says that it should not be neglected (Matt 23:23). His statement leaves no doubt about how Jesus felt about tithing, and more importantly, how he felt about the observation of the commandments as they were interpreted by the rabbis.

Saying of Blessings

A few verses previously, in Matthew 23:3, Jesus explicitly instructed his disciples with regard to their attitude towards the scribes and Pharisees concerning the keeping of the oral law: “You must obey them and do everything they tell you.” The sole scriptural basis for the many blessings that an observant Jew still says daily is Deuteronomy 8:10: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.” Literally, the text says, “And you shall eat, and you shall be full, and you shall bless.”

The sages found in this verse justification for saying a blessing before the meal as well as after; and on many other – indeed almost all - occasions. The general rule is that anything that a man enjoys requires a blessing.

There is a blessing to be said before a public reading from the Torah, and another at the completion of the reading; a blessing after immersing oneself in a mikveh and a blessing upon seeing a great scholar.

There is an obligation to bless God for calamity and misfortune, as well as for prosperity and good fortune. For rain and for good news one says, “Blessed is he who is good and who gives good.” For bad news the form is, “Blessed is he who is the true judge.”

Jesus did not criticise the scribes and Pharisees for tithing, but for keeping such 'lighter' commandments whilst failing to observe more important ones.

There is evidence that Jesus adhered to the ruling of the oral law in his use of various blessings. In conformity with the rabbis' interpretation, Jesus not only recited a blessing after meals but also said the blessing before meals. This blessing is:

Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu, melech haolam, ha-motzi lechem meen ha-aretz ('Blessed art Thou O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth').

If you learn that blessing, you can bless the Lord for each meal the way Jesus did!

Blessing the Food or Blessing God?

It is recorded that at the last Passover meal observed by the Lord and his disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus “took bread and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples” (Matt 26:26). Since in the Greek text there is no direct object following the verbs 'blessed,' 'broke' and 'gave', English translators have usually felt it necessary to supply the word 'it' after each of these verbs.

English readers therefore receive the impression that Jesus not only divided and distributed the bread, but blessed it as well. But this is simply a misunderstanding of the Hebraic and Jewish connotations of the word 'bless'.

Because of this recurring 'blessed, broke and gave the bread' in the gospels, it is a common Christian misunderstanding that Jesus actually blessed the bread. But in a Hebraic setting one does not bless things, one blesses God who provides the things. The blessing that was said in Jesus' time before one ate was praise and thanksgiving to God who so wondrously provides food for his children.

Even in his supernatural, resurrected body, Jesus, when eating with the two disciples in Emmaus (Luke 24:30), did not neglect the required blessing before the meal.

We might note at this point that it is a similar mistake to assume that Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes by blessing them (Matt 6:41). What Jesus did was simply to bless God before the beginning of the meal. The miracle was not a result of the blessing, for food did not multiply on other occasions when Jesus gave thanks for the provision of food.

Even in his supernatural, resurrected body, Jesus did not neglect the required blessing before the meal.

The matter of blessing before eating may be a good example of how the Western Gentile Christian's lack of knowledge of Jewish customs has led to a misunderstanding of precisely what Jesus did. In this case it has led to the development of the Christian practice of 'saying grace before meals' in which we 'bless the food', rather than give thanks to God for it, and which as such, has no foundation either in Jewish culture or in Jesus's own practice and teaching.

It is also an example of how a Jewish book, written for Jews, can create confusion for later, non-Jewish readers. Luke made it clearer for his Greek-speaking readers when he referred to Paul's practice in Acts 27:35: “He took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.”

Did Jesus Wear Tzitziyot and Tefillin?

The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus, like all observant Jews of the 1^st Century, wore tzitziyot, which is the Hebrew word for the tassels or fringes that hung from the four corners of the outer garment or robe of a Jew at that time. This is commanded in Numbers 15:37-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12.

That Jesus wore these tzitziyot is illustrated by the story in Matthew 9:20 of the woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for 12 years and who was healed when she came up to Jesus and touched 'the fringe of his garment.' The Greek word kraspedou, translated as 'hem,' 'border,' or 'edge' in English translations of the New Testament, is the word used for the tzitziyot.

There is no explicit evidence offered in the gospels that Jesus also wore tefillin on his forehead and right arm. Called 'phylacteries' in the Bible (Matt 23:5), these are the two leather boxes which each contain four passages of Scripture inscribed on tiny parchment scrolls. These boxes are bound by leather straps, one on the forehead and one on the arm. The arm box contains a single parchment on which all four passages are written, while the head box is divided into four compartments, each of which contains a parchment with one of the four Scripture passages written on it.

Wearing these phylacteries was the rabbinic way of observing the commandment in Deuteronomy 6:8 to bind the words of the Lord as a sign on their hands (the correct translation is 'arm'), and on their foreheads. It might be argued, of course, that this is metaphorical language and that one is not meant to literally bind all or part of God's word to a person's arm or forehead.

Jesus, like all observant Jews of the time, wore tzitziyot, the tassels that hung from the four corners of the outer garment.

Nevertheless, Jews living in the time of Jesus viewed the wearing of tefillin as a biblical commandment and they were part of ordinary Jewish dress. Putting on the tefillin only at the time of prayer, as is practised by Orthodox Judaism today, is a later custom. In Jesus's time they were worn throughout the day and removed only for work or when entering a place which was ritually unclean. Tefillin dating from the 1^st Century have been found in the caves near Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea, and are almost identical to those worn by Orthodox Jews today.

In Matthew 23:5 Jesus criticised some of the Pharisees because “They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long”. But rather than criticising the wearing of tefillin and tzitziyot, Jesus was condemning the religious hypocrisy that led to an exaggerated size being worn that would be obvious to others.

While Jesus condemned such ostentation, we have no reason to believe that he did not himself wear them. Had Jesus himself not worn phylacteries, as well as having the fringes on his garment, he surely would have been attacked on that count by the religious leaders of the day.

Rediscovering Our Hebraic Roots

In general, one gains the impression from the gospels that Jesus dutifully adhered to the practices of observant Jews of his day and that his attitude towards these practices was guided by the interpretations of the rabbis as expressed in the oral law.

During my research I have come to see that Jesus was a Jewish rabbi or, if we do not want to use the word 'rabbi' (since it was not a title in those days) we can say that he was a Jewish teacher.

Large sections of the Christian Church find this difficult to accept and to understand, and their difficulty illustrates how dim is our recollection of the Jewish origins of our faith, and to what extent we have been assimilated into the pagan culture that surrounds us.

One wonders what kind of dynamic organism the Church might have been throughout the ages had she clung more closely to her Hebraic roots, rather than embracing and becoming amalgamated with the pagan Hellenistic philosophy that persists to a very great extent in the Church up to this present day.

What kind of dynamic organism the Church might have been throughout the ages had she clung more closely to her Hebraic roots!

The Church’s only hope, of course, is to see Jesus, but this time to see him and know him personally as he really is: an observant Jew, a Jewish rabbi, the Jewish Messiah of God and - one might add - God himself, Immanuel.

The Gentile Church must become Hebraic in its thinking and approach to understanding the New Testament and should purge itself of the pagan influences of 19 centuries. May we who are members of Christ's Body but who are not of Jewish parentage rid ourselves of the arrogance of which Paul warned the Roman Christians:

Do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you…Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. (Rom 11:18-20)

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 9 No 5.

Paul Luckraft interviews author Marion Daniel, whose books have been reviewed recently on Prophecy Today.

Marion has written two books to date but this was not the main reason for requesting an interview with her - for she is more than an author. In fact, that is a relatively small part of how God has led her and impacted her life.

She is better known as the founder and leader of a significant ministry, Sozo Ministries International, on which God clearly has his hand, and which will be featured next week on Prophecy Today. But Marion’s personal story is the best place to start.

From Harm to Healing

Marion describes her early background as nominal Anglican. She went to Sunday School and would say she had a moral upbringing, but that at most she was a God-fearer rather than a true Christian believer. However, in the early 1970s she came to salvation and was also baptised in the Spirit, a real life-changing experience.

Later that decade, a car accident impacted her life in a totally different way. Strangely, at first there was no immediate effect from it - no real pain or physical consequences. But ten years later, she began to suffer symptoms in her shoulders and spine that required further investigation. Eventually it was traced back to the accident, and when X-rays revealed that she had spondylosis (a form of spinal degeneration) it was clear that something serious and traumatic had occurred at the time. The diagnosis was stark – she wouldn’t get better.

At this point in her life Marion was attending church regularly, but her main church did not have a focus on divine healing, so she was given no hope there either. However, Marion herself refused to accept that God can’t heal today. With the help of a local Gospel Church, which was more Spirit-led, she began to explore what the Bible had to say on the matter of healing. It was soon obvious – if Jesus is alive, he can still heal! The Cross makes this possible today, and it should be part of Christian reality for all true believers.

If Jesus is alive, he can still heal!

Now that she had been properly instructed on such matters, her faith level was raised and the truth made clear. She was ready to receive personal healing - it was just a matter of when and how. The opportunity came at a meeting in Brighton, led by a visiting preacher from New Zealand called Steve Ryder. After prayer Marion experienced a clear spiritual transformation - something internal, which meant that although healing was not instantaneous, her body soon followed down this path of regeneration to wholeness.

Seeds of a Ministry

Marion now realised that not only could God heal, but that he did! And this was something she wanted to share. Her boss at work was not only sympathetic but encouraging, and became a significant part of what would follow. Not only did she become a prayer partner but once healings started to happen at work she realised that Marion had a larger ministry in this respect, and remarkably agreed to keep her on the payroll while allowing her to give up her usual work in order to pursue her new calling.

Now released for a wider ministry, the 1980s was a time of growth as fresh opportunities arose, slowly at first but with increasing momentum. Marion recalls her time ministering healing in Devon at a holiday village there each spring and autumn. Looking back, she now realises that this was an important training period.

Also during this time, she held monthly healing meetings with perhaps a dozen or so people attending. But this was also a season of charismatic renewal within the wider Church and things were soon to take off.

Marion realised that not only could God heal, but that he did! This was something she wanted to share.

Establishing Sozo Ministries

During her next phase of ministry, Marion began hiring places in order to reach more people, but it was soon clear this was to become even bigger - and before long, Sozo Ministries was established. Aided by her parents, her sister and family and her younger brother Alan, Sozo Ministries was set up in 1983 and became a registered charity later that decade.

A school in Romsey was hired for the big healing and deliverance meetings held every three weeks. Another building in Romsey was bought and renamed Sozo House in order to provide offices and smaller meeting rooms.

As part of the overall ministry, Sozo offered conferences and other teaching meetings. Marion’s two books, written in 2008 and 2010, were based on topics taught at these conferences. Turning such material into book form was a new challenge but New Wine Press agreed to publish both and these two slim volumes are now part of the many resources that Sozo provides through its bookstore.

New Vision…

By now the ministry was well-established, but further big changes were to come, both physically and spiritually. In 2013 Sozo moved from Sozo House to a new site, Dunwood Oaks, in Awbridge. This opened up fresh possibilities - not least of which was the chance to develop and extend the building for larger meetings, and to eventually move away from hiring the school in Romsey.

But equally significant was a new vision which would emerge from an unusual and extraordinary deliverance session, that was to change Marion and the rest of her team as much as it did the person being ministered to.

To be continued next week…

Read our reviews of Marion's books here and here.

N.B. Marion Daniel and Sozo Ministries International are in no way affiliated to Bethel Sozo or the International Bethel Sozo Organization.

David Bivin considers Jesus’s background in the first of a two-part study.

It is rather surprising to discover how many Christians are not aware that Jesus is Jewish. In Israel, for example, there are entire communities of people – Christian, non-Jewish people - who do not believe that Jesus is Jewish.

A friend of mine was attending an Ulpan (a Hebrew language school) in Jerusalem. At one point in a conversation with a young Christian woman from Bethlehem who was also learning Hebrew, my friend said: “Well, you know Jesus was Jewish after all,” to which the woman replied, “He wasn't Jewish.” So my friend countered, “Well, go and ask your priest and see what he says.” She did not ask her priest, but went home and asked her parents. Her father said “Yes, she's right. He was Jewish.” But her mother said “No, he wasn't Jewish,” so it turned out to be a tie!

We might be very surprised to learn how many Christians have never really grasped the fact that Jesus was Jewish, not only in Israel but in Europe, Britain and in the United States. Christians still have difficulty in believing that Jesus was Jewish. So perhaps we have to say a few words about Jesus's Jewishness, even if it means stating the obvious.

It is rather surprising to discover how many Christians are not aware that Jesus is Jewish.  

Jesus’s Family

It is not hard to find evidence in the New Testament for Jesus's Jewishness. For example, his genealogy is clearly Jewish. In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, his lineage is traced back to the patriarchs in typical Jewish fashion.

Jesus's family was also completely Jewish. Joseph, the name of his earthly, supposed father, was the second most common name of the period for Jewish men, and his mother's name, Mary, was the most popular name for Jewish women.

Inscriptions dating from the 1^st Century indicate that the name Yeshua, Jesus, was itself the fifth most common Jewish man's name after Simeon, Joseph, Judah and John.

All of his known relatives were Jewish, namely Elizabeth (a relative of Mary's), her husband Zechariah the priest, and their son John the Baptist, as well, of course, as Jesus' own brothers, James, Joseph, Simeon and Judah (Matt 13:55).

Torah-Observant Parents

The gospels document the fact that Jesus and his family were observant Jews. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and, as is still the Jewish custom for male children, at his circumcision ceremony he was formally given his name (Luke 2:21).

His parents also performed two other Jewish ceremonies in Jerusalem during that time. The first of them was the pidyon ha-ben (the redemption of the first born), specified in Numbers 18:15-16 - which Joseph symbolically performed on Jesus' thirty-first day, by giving five silver coins to a priest.

The name Yeshua, Jesus, was the fifth most common Jewish man's name of its day.

The second took place on the forty-first day after Jesus's birth, when Mary performed the ceremony for her purification by bringing two offerings to the temple (Lev 12:8). The offering by Mary of two birds rather than a lamb would indicate that they were not a wealthy family (Luke 2:24).

Jesus’s parents, we are told, went up to Jerusalem every year to observe the Feast of Passover (Luke 2:41). This devotion is exemplary and unusual, because most people living outside Jerusalem (as they did) made a pilgrimage to the Temple only a few times in their lives, and some only once. Making such a pilgrimage was a major expense for people who had to pay for the cost of the journey, for the stay in Jerusalem, and for the sacrifices offered in the Temple during the festival.

Although the biblical commandment of Deuteronomy 16:16 states, “Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose; at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles”, it was not interpreted literally by the rabbis of Jesus's time. Pilgrimage was encouraged by them but not made mandatory.

The fact that Jesus's parents went all the way to Jerusalem every year shows how obedient they were to the Torah of Moses. The evidence in the gospels indicates that Jesus was no less observant than his parents and that he went up regularly to Jerusalem for the Feasts (John 7:10, 12:12). It was while he was in Jerusalem for Passover that he was arrested.

Jesus's parents went all the way to Jerusalem every year, showing their obedience to the Torah of Moses.

Jesus the Rabbi

How did Jesus appear to the people of his time? How differently did they see him from the many other teachers (rabbis) who went around Judea and Galilee with their bands of disciples?
By the time Jesus began his public ministry he had received not only the thorough religious training typical of the average Jewish man of his day, but had probably spent years studying with one of the outstanding rabbis in the Galilee.

We cannot at this point detail that preparation, of which we know a great deal from rabbinic sources, but we know that Jesus, who did not begin his ministry until a rather mature age, appeared on the scene as a respected teacher or rabbi.

To understand the significance of the title 'rabbi', as applied to Jesus, one must first grasp the significance of a rabbi of the 1^st Century and how he functioned in that society.

The term ‘rabbi’ is derived from the Hebrew word rav which in biblical Hebrew means 'great.' Originally it was not used as a title or as a form of address. By Jesus's time, however, it was used to refer to the master of a slave or the master of a disciple, thus 'rabbi' literally meant 'my master' and was a term of respect.

It was not a formal title, but was used to address a teacher and Jesus was recognised as such by his contemporaries, as many passages in the New Testament illustrate: “Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, rabbi,’ he said” (Luke 7:40). And, “A lawyer asked him a question to test him: ‘Rabbi, which Is the greatest commandment in the Torah?’” (Matt 22:35-36). Also, “A rich man asked him, ‘Rabbi, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?’" (Luke 16:16).

We should note the diversity of those who addressed Jesus as 'rabbi': a Torah expert, a rich man, and a Pharisee. Other scriptures illustrate that the Sadducees and ordinary people were part of a broad cross-section of people in Jesus's day who saw him as a rabbi.

Many scriptures illustrate that a broad cross-section of people in Jesus's day saw him as a rabbi.

Teaching Style

From the gospel accounts, Jesus clearly appears as a typical 1^st Century rabbi. He travelled around from place to place in an itinerant ministry, depending for food and shelter upon the hospitality of the people.

He did much of his teaching outdoors, but he also taught in homes and in village synagogues. He even taught in the Temple in Jerusalem, and was accompanied by a band of disciples who followed him around as he travelled.

Perhaps the most convincing proof that Jesus was a practising rabbi was his style of teaching. He used the same methods of instruction that characterised the rabbis of his day, such as the use of parables to convey teaching. The sort of parables that Jesus used were extremely common among the rabbis of 1^st Century Israel and over 4,000 of them have survived in rabbinic literature.

It is significant, perhaps, that among the thousands of parables to be found in rabbinic literature, not one is written in Aramaic; all are in Hebrew. Even when, a few hundred years later (500 to 600 AD), the main texts are written in Aramaic, the parable is always given in Hebrew.

Jesus’s Observation of the Law

There can be no doubt that Jesus observed the written law of Moses in its entirety. The New Testament clearly states that, having been born under the law, he committed no sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus was never charged with breaking any part of the written law, although his disciples were occasionally accused of disobeying aspects of the oral law.

Only one such accusation was brought against Jesus, and this was, of course, that he broke the Sabbath by healing the sick. In fact, Sabbath healings were permitted under official rabbinic ruling, so the only way we can understand this protest is to see it as the response of a narrow-minded ruler of a local synagogue.

There can be no doubt that Jesus observed the written law of Moses in its entirety.

Perhaps at this point we need to understand that in Jesus' day the Pharisees (with whom Jesus had more in common in belief and teaching than the Sadducees) believed in two 'versions' of the law.

First, they believed in the written law (the Torah, the five books of Moses), but they also believed in a second law (called the oral law), which they said had also been given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai and handed down through the generations by word of mouth. So perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is to what extent Jesus observed the practices of the oral law.

On Baptism

There may seem, at first glance, to be a shortage of hard evidence in the New Testament concerning Jesus' religious observance. But one must remember that the New Testament was written by Jews, for Jews. The normal Jewish religious practices were so well-known to the writers and to the readers that it would have been considered superfluous, perhaps ridiculous, to explain in detail how particular commandments were carried out.

That is why, for example, we have such a dearth of information in the scriptures about the practice of Jewish baptism. This was not conducted as we Christians do it today, but as the Jews still do it.

The earliest representation of Christian baptism in the catacombs in Rome shows John the Baptist standing fully clothed on the bank extending an arm to Jesus, who is undressed, coming up out of the water. John is helping him up the bank. So the one who was baptised or 'immersed' was not dipped under the water by some officiating minister, but rather walked down into the water alone, gave his testimony and dipped himself, just as it is still done today in every Jewish mikveh (ritual immersion bath).

The person officiating was there only to give his or her stamp of kashrut (official approval), to make certain that the hair of ladies, for instance, was completely immersed.

On Using God’s Name

Another example of Jesus's obedience to Scripture is his adherence to the rabbinic prohibition against using the unutterable name of God. The original understanding of the third commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Ex 20:7), was probably that one should be careful not to break one's vows when one has sworn in God's name. However, the rabbis eventually came to interpret this commandment to include using the Lord's name frivolously or lightly. To avoid the risk of employing the divine name irreverently, the rabbis ruled that one should not utter it at all.

Jesus seemingly adhered to the rabbinic prohibition against using the unutterable name of God.

The divine name, written as the yod hay vav hay (YHVH) and called the ‘tetragrammaton’, could be pronounced only in the Temple, in the daily priestly blessing, and in the confession of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. When reading or reciting Scripture, one was not to pronounce the unutterable name but rather had to substitute with Adonai (Lord). In time, this substitute name of Adonai itself came to have such a sacred aura that it was used only in Scripture reading and prayer.

When it was necessary to refer to God in everyday speech, one sought other substitutes or euphemisms such as ha-Makom (the Place); ha-Kadosh (the Holy); ha-Gavohah (the High); ha-Lashon (the Tongue); ha-Gevurah (the Power); Shamayim (Heaven); ha-Shem (the Name). Even the less distinctive Elohim (God), which could refer to the God of Israel or to false gods, was avoided in conversation.

So serious was the prohibition against pronouncing the tetragrammaton that the rabbis included among those that have no share in the world to come, “He who pronounces the divine name as it is spelled.” The avoidance of the tetragrammaton began quite early, although there was no hesitation in pronouncing the sacred name in the Old Testament period. In the time of David, everyone went around saying YHVH (however they pronounced it), but already by the 3^rd Century BC, Adonai was being substituted for the yod hay vav hay (YHVH).

Jesus frequently used euphemisms for God, and his audiences would have been shocked if he had not. The most common word for God used by Jesus was 'Heaven'. This occurs, for example, in the phrase 'Kingdom of Heaven', the term Jesus used to describe his community of disciples, or his movement.

Jesus frequently used euphemisms for God, and his audiences would have been shocked if he had not.

To those in the Temple who questioned his authority, Jesus asked: “John's baptism - was it from heaven, or from men?” (Luke 20:4). In other words, was John's baptism of God or of men? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus had the prodigal say to his father, “I have sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:21). As for making oaths, Jesus commanded his disciples not to swear at all, not even using substitutes for God's name such as Shamayim (Heaven).

One other euphemism for God's name used by Jesus was ha-Gevurah (the Power). When interrogated by the High Priest, Jesus was asked for an admission that he was the Messiah. His answer was a classic example of rabbinic sophistication: “From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” (Luke 22:69). This proclamation hints at two different Messianic passages, Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

To be continued in Part II, next week.

As another Dead Sea Scrolls cave is discovered this week, we ponder whether Jesus or John the Baptist might have had connections with the Qumran Community.

Did John the Baptist or Jesus have any connection with the Qumran Community? This is a question that has interested biblical scholars for generations.

There are no direct references in the New Testament to the religious community that lived among the rocks and caves overlooking the Dead Sea. But there are many possible links that are still being explored as more is being discovered from the Dead Sea Scrolls that are still being translated.

The Qumran Community

The Qumran Community was composed of a particular group of Jewish people who most probably were part of the Essene Sect, of which both Josephus the Jewish historian and Philo of Alexandria wrote. It is interesting, however, that the name ‘Essene’ has not appeared in the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been discovered and published to date.

The Essenes were a strictly Torah-observant group who had broken with the Temple worship in Jerusalem because they believed that the priesthood of that day was corrupt and had betrayed both God and the people. As a result, they had become a separatist group who had withdrawn into the desert in order to “prepare in the desert the way of the Lord”.

There they sought to serve God by entering into what they called the ‘new covenant’ relationship, and they awaited the coming of a prophet and the ‘Messiah of Aaron and Israel’ who would ‘expiate their iniquity’. There is no doubt that the prophet they hoped for was the One promised to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18; but there is some difficulty in knowing whether they were looking for one Messiah or two.

It is evident that there was both a priestly and a kingly understanding in their Messianic hope. However, clearly they did not ascribe a unique saving role to their Messiah such as is given to Jesus in the New Testament.

The Qumran Community were probably an Essene sect, a strictly Torah-observant group of Jews who sought true devotion to God.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Qumran Community left behind a considerable number of documents. Discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves or holes in seven different locations around Qumran (on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea), these consist of 818 documents - many of them fragmentary - of which only some 40% have been officially published to date.

Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered - now part of the West Bank. See Photo Credits.These documents include scrolls and fragments of books or passages from the Old Testament covering every book of the Hebrew canon (except Esther), commentaries on biblical writings – the most important of which are undoubtedly those covering their theological beliefs – and details concerning their lifestyle and community rules.

Prof Marvin Wilson, who has done much to introduce Gentile believers to the Jewish roots of their faith, has noted that the majority of the biblical texts found cover the three books of Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah, illustrating that these were the most popular and generally well-known Old Testament books around the time of Jesus. He has linked this to the fact that not only are these the three books from which Jesus most often quoted, but that the majority of Old Testament quotations appearing in the New Testament are also taken from these books.

Connection with John the Baptist?

Whether or not John the Baptist had any connection with the Qumran community is unknown, and cannot be proved either way. Prof Joseph A Fitzmyer has conjectured that, in the light of Josephus’ statement in his Jewish War that the Essenes were known to take other men’s children while yet pliable and docile and mould them according to their ways, John might have been brought up in the Community following the death of his elderly parents. We know from Luke 1:7 that Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly at the time of John’s birth, so it is quite possible that he was orphaned at an early age.

That is, of course, speculation. But we do know from the Synoptic Gospels that John came out of the desert of Judea and preached his message in the area of the Jordan River only a few miles north of Qumran.

Luke 3:2 tells us that the word of God came to John in the desert and all four Gospel writers make the point that he saw himself as fulfilling Isaiah 40:3 in that he was the “voice of one calling in the desert: ‘prepare the way for the Lord’.” The fact that this was the same Scripture which the Qumran community used to define their role may be significant.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include commentaries on biblical writings and details concerning the Qumran Community’s lifestyle.

John’s Message: Repentance, Refining and Judgment

John came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). This was a new message, for although the rite of baptism was used as a means of publicly confirming Gentile proselytes into Judaism, it was not specifically linked with sin, repentance, or forgiveness.

For the Qumran community, however, the practice of baptism and ritual washing was extremely important. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, entering into ‘the covenant’ was linked to ‘entering into the water’. They saw this as being linked to purification from sin but, unlike John, they did not appear to see it as doing away with sin in the sense of forgiveness. It is, however, quite conceivable that, in giving John his unique message of the ‘baptism of repentance’, the Lord was building on an understanding that John had first learned from the Qumran Community.

In the well-known passage in Matthew 3, John prefaces the appearance of Jesus by telling his hearers that whereas he baptised in water, the One who will come after him will baptise with Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt 3:11). Again, there is a passage in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls which says that “God will purge by his truth all the deeds of human beings, refining by fire for himself some of mankind”. It continues by saying that the purpose of the refining is “to cleanse them with the Holy Spirit from all wicked practices, and to sprinkle them with the Spirit of Truth like purifying water”.

John undoubtedly linked fire with judgment, as is clear from Matthew 3:12, but he differed from the Qumran Community statements in that he applied the refining work to Jesus.

The Essenes emphasised refining and judgment - John the Baptist built on this, applying this work to Jesus.

Perhaps too, the strong element of judgment in John’s message was fuelled by the Qumran teaching that the Community members were the ‘true Israel’, ‘the sons of light’, ‘the Israel that walks in the way of perfection’ – and that those who were not part of their number belonged to the company of the ‘sons of darkness’ whose only future was “an abundance of affliction…because of the furious wrath of the God of vengeance”.

John’s message, as stated in Matthew 3 and Luke 3, where he spoke of the coming wrath, “the axe is already at the root of the trees” and the burning up of the chaff with unquenchable fire shows that he linked God’s judgment with the coming of Jesus.

Contact with the Outside World

As with the Qumran Community, John evinced a strong dislike for the Jerusalem priesthood. He referred to both the Priests and the Pharisees as “a brood of vipers”. In many ways, it could seem strange for one whose parents were of the tribe of Levi, although both “upright in the sight of God” (Luke 1:6), to be so publicly outspoken about the representatives of Israel’s religion. But if John’s righteous indignation partly arose from the influence of Qumran, it would be better understood.

From the Qumran writings published to date, none of Jesus’ teaching bears much direct relationship to their thinking, although he would obviously have known all about them. Prof. David Flusser of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has suggested that, in his parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16, Jesus is seeking to contrast how he expects his disciples to behave to the ways of the Essenes. The ‘sons of light’ would have no involvement of any kind with those whom they considered outsiders.

The Upper Room

Additionally, there are those who believe that the “large upper room, all furnished” of Luke 22:12, was part of an Essene guesthouse in Jerusalem. They were known to have small communities in various towns and cities (Damascus was one) and they did have a base in Jerusalem where there was a ‘gate of the Essenes’ and where they offered hospitality to those outside their sect.

The man carrying the jar of water in Luke 22:10 was doing work normally done by a woman in those days and therefore was possibly an Essene since, according to both Josephus and Philo, they were an all-male celibate society.

It is possible that the upper room used for the Last Supper was part of an Essene guesthouse in Jerusalem.

Reference is also made to “a large guest room” (Luke 22:12) which conceivably points to a guesthouse of some size which may well have belonged to the Essenes. That it was an Essene guesthouse would also fit in with the assertion that Jesus celebrated his last Passover the day before the recognised Feast Day that year (see John 13:1 and 18:28). This is because the Essenes were known to have followed an ancient solar calendar – references to which may be found in Ezekiel 45:18-20 - which fixed all the feasts on the same day each year. The rest of Judaism followed a lunar calendar which moves the feast days around from year to year.

The Essenes found serious fault with this practice, which they believed was not in keeping with God’s original instruction and was another reason why they broke away from the Temple worship in Jerusalem. For Jesus to have wished to celebrate the Passover on the day with which they were in agreement would have made them happy to lend him their guest room for that purpose.

Part of Our Heritage

One of the main Essene practices was ‘community living’, the basis of this being a ‘community of goods’ – having everything in common, as at Qumran. They were unique in this practice in Israel at that time, so it is of great significance that in the early Church, the first Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah should immediately after Pentecost organise themselves along the same lines (Acts 2:44-45).

There is no doubt that this group of people who withdrew to the desert to worship and follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, did so with devout and sincere hearts. Whether they could be rightly classed as being of the ‘remnant of Israel’ – those who, like Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Simeon and Anna were looking for “the consolation of Israel” (e.g. Luke 2:25) - is perhaps open to question. Nevertheless, they are part of that rich Jewish heritage from which our faith has sprung and to which we owe so much.

Helen Belton concludes our series on the letters to the churches of Revelation 2-3.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

(Revelation 3:14-22)

The seventh and final letter to the churches in Revelation 3 is to Laodicea, a city known for its wool industry, situated 11 miles west of Colossae and with a large Jewish community. It was in an area prone to earthquakes – but its prosperity was such that when an earthquake struck in 60 AD, the population were able to refuse financial help from Rome for the rebuild.¹

Blazing Forth Light

As with the previous letters, it is addressed to the “angel of the church”, perhaps suggesting that each church is represented in heaven by an angel. There are seven angels and seven churches. Seven is the divine number indicating completeness: “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev 1:20).

The lampstand imagery is derived from the seven-branched golden lampstand that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem, in Hebrew the menorah. Its light was a symbol of God’s Spirit shining in a dark world. The symbol of the seven churches as lampstands (menorot pl.) suggests that now the Temple is gone they are the ones meant to blaze forth God’s light into the darkness of their pagan surroundings to bring God glory: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

In Scripture, seven is the divine number indicating completeness.

True, Faithful and Over All

In verse 14, the Lord Jesus is referred to as the “Amen”, which may echo Isaiah 65:16 where “the God of truth” is literally ‘the God of Amen’ (Heb. belohe amen).² The Hebrew word ‘Amen’ means to confirm or verify. The divine origin of the message is therefore being emphasised and we are also being reminded that the Lord Jesus speaks with the authority of ‘the God of Amen’ - the Lord God himself.

Jesus also has two further titles: the “faithful and true witness” and “the ruler of God’s creation”. In Scripture, a threefold emphasis can indicate completion and finality.³ So the threefold assertion of his truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority. His truth and faithfulness as God’s witness also contrast with the Laodicean church’s tepid witness to the faith.

The third title, “the ruler of God’s creation”, also takes us to Isaiah 65, verse 17 this time: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”⁴ Jesus is the ruler of this new creation, whose astounding revelation overshadows all that has gone before.

The threefold assertion of Jesus’ truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority.

Pure Rebuke

Western theatre, Laodicea. See Photo Credits.

This letter differs from the letters to the other churches because the Laodiceans receive no praise, only rebuke. It is not as though they had been neglected in instruction. They would have known the letter to their nearby sister church in Colossae which we know from this verse in Colossians: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Col 4:16) (the 'letter from Laodicea' has been lost, but some speculate that it is the same as the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians).

However, they are being reminded that Jesus is “ruler of God’s creation” as though it was a teaching they had neglected, despite the letter to the Colossians’ emphasis on Jesus’ overarching authority over creation and over the Church:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col 1:15-18)

It seems that the Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority. They thought they were wealthy and lacking nothing; however, they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (v17). Their smug complacency was entirely misplaced because any riches they had were received from the One who is the Ruler and Source of all Creation, as Colossians teaches.

However, it is also possible they had absorbed Gnostic teaching, which was prevalent in Colossae, that denigrated Jesus’ role as Creator of the material world.⁵ ‘Arche’, the Greek word for ‘ruler’ in verse 14 means not only ‘ruler’ but also ‘beginning’ or ‘cause’, confirming that Jesus is the one through whom “all things were created” (Col 1:15), a teaching rejected in Gnosticism.⁶

The Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority.

Charged with Being Lukewarm

Jesus warns the Laodiceans that he knew their deeds, which were neither hot nor cold (v15). Note that their faith is not mentioned - only what they have done. Evangelicals tend to focus on the John 6:29 sense of works: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” However, James’ Hebraic emphasis on actions teaches that our faith only lives through our works: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

Were the Laodiceans’ deeds evil or simply ‘lukewarm’, going through the motions? Did they perform a meagre or carefully measured amount of good deeds, perhaps giving a careful amount of their wealth away, but ultimately remaining ungenerous and certainly not self-sacrificial? We do not know, but we can speculate.

In the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control. In Proverbs 15:18, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict”, but Proverbs 17:27b, “…whoever has understanding is even-tempered” (literally is cool or has a cool spirit). Heat is associated with lack of self-control and coolness with self-control. It has been suggested that this imagery may have been inspired by the water supply in Laodicea, which was lukewarm in contrast to the hot springs of Hierapolis and the cooling waters of Colossae.⁷

In the Wisdom literature of the Bible, heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control.

Being lukewarm suggests they were ineffectual and unproductive; their ‘deeds’ were futile, useless. The lukewarm metaphor carries an echo of Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

The Laodicean believers were on shaky ground, but thought they were safe. The remedy was to purify themselves, verse 18: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.” They were to pursue purity and holiness so they could obtain the true riches that are only available through Jesus.

The refiner imagery echoes Malachi 3:3 where it is the Lord God himself who refines, reminding us that Jesus is inextricably identified with the Lord God, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.”

The Laodiceans were to put on purity (white clothes) and seek healing for their spiritual sight (salve) so they could truly understand the revelation of Jesus.

The Laodiceans were to put on purity and seek healing for their spiritual sight.

‘Lord, is it I?’

Many have identified the Laodicean church with today’s Western Church – rich and self-satisfied. It has also been suggested that the seven letters correspond to seven church ages, with the Laodiceans typifying the current and last age. However, as David Pawson points out, the seven churches of Revelation are types of the Church in all ages, rather than a progression. He counsels against attempting to categorise various churches, but to look to our own church and to check our own hearts: “As we read these seven letters, let us ask: ‘Lord, is it I?’”⁸

The Laodiceans were counselled “to be earnest and repent” (v19). We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today. We, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent. We are stuffed full of tepid, convenient, gospel-lite messages and yet starved of the full fiery counsel of God’s Word. Pastors and leaders are plate-spinning, running to stand still, preaching about reaching out with the Gospel on Sundays, their flock in turn talking about reaching out with the Gospel in their mid-week small groups, yet very few actually doing any meaningful outreach.

Many are churchgoers rather than disciples - tourists and passengers cheering from the side-lines rather than dedicated Gospel workers. Our lifestyles are remarkably similar to our non-Christian neighbours and many of us dip in and out of the Christian life and worship, only serving the Lord when convenient. Most Christians have never led a non-believer to faith, let alone discipled someone, yet this is the one task Jesus asked us to do.

We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today - we, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent.

Jesus is at the Door

Ultimately, would Jesus feel at home in our churches? Is Jesus a stranger tapping on the door, hoping we will hear his gentle but insistent knocking (Rev 3:20)? We talk about him all the time, but do we know him and are we doing what he asked us to do?

In the material world, we have insurance for every danger we may encounter. Perhaps ‘faith’ for many of us is just eternity insurance. Mistakenly, we think our mental assent to some doctrines is the same as biblical faith. We are pathetically poor in terms of true riches - like the Laodicean church. We are starving but unaware of our plight.

However, if we will heed the warning we have this glorious promise: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev 3:20).

“So be earnest and repent” (v19).

References

1 Aune, DE, 1997. Revelation 1-5, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol 52, p249.

2 Osborne, GR, 2002. Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the NT. Grand Rapids, Michigan, p203.

3 Patterson, RD. The Use of Three in the Bible, 26 February 2008.

4 Osborne, p204.

5 Osborne, p205.

6 Aune, p256.

7 Aune, p257.

8 Pawson, D, 2008. A Commentary on the Book of Revelation. Anchor, Ashford, pp45-46.

Philadelphian believers were weak but faithful.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Although Philadelphia was the least distinguished of all the cities visited by John and reported in Revelation 3, the name is now better known as that of a leading city in the USA.

Philadelphia in the USA played a significant role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence there in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787.

It served as the temporary capital of the United States (1790–1800) while the Federal City, Washington, was under construction in the District of Columbia. Its foundation had strong Quaker origins, having been built on land granted by Charles II in repayment of a debt to William Penn. Friendly negotiations with the Indian tribes living there gave rise to the name, which is Greek for brotherly love (from philos, ‘love’ or ‘friendship’, and adelphos, ‘brother’), which links it with its less spectacular biblical counterpart.

The ancient Philadelphia was established in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon (197-160 BC) and was named in the love of his brother, who would be his successor, Attalus II (159-138 BC).

‘Philadelphia’ is Greek for brotherly love, from ‘philos’ (love or friendship) and ‘adelphos’ (brother).

Background: Philadelphia Then and Now

Ancient Philadelphia is now called Alesihir in modern-day Turkey. It was never to attain greatness in worldly terms as it was off the normal trade routes, although it was on a pass to the Eastern cities of Asia Minor. Thus it was often seen as an outpost of the Empire of the time - being dubbed a ‘missionary city’ with “open doors that would never be shut”.

At the time of the writing of the letters in Revelation there would have been around 500 Christian churches or fellowships in the whole area – but the Gospel had not spread far beyond Philadelphia so there was still great potential there.

The city was in the centre of an earthquake region and had suffered many quakes, including the great ones of AD 17 and AD 23 after which it was re-built with a grant from Rome. The main buildings were built to survive and the City Hall, with the remains of four of its great pillars, had become a centre of Christianity by the 4^th Century – in fact it still is intact; the city is a strong centre of Orthodox Christianity and remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.

When we have been to this city on a tour of the ‘Seven Churches’, visitors could see the four massive pillars that remain on this site and experience the friendly nature of the current inhabitants. Children crowd around the tourist coaches eager to display their newly learned English from school, to share details of their lives and their desire to become penfriends. Even today there is an ‘open door’!

The Message!

The words from Jesus’ message to the Philadelphians can have great meaning for us today.

Some historians have tried to liken the seven different messages to the Revelation churches to seven eras in the Church’s overall development. They have equated the letter to Philadelphia with the great European missionary movements of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, as they saw it as having a special message for those in this era who were fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

The message, though, can have continuing significance today to ensure that the Church continues to have this Commission at the centre of its outreach.

Philadelphia, now modern Alesihir, was never to attain greatness in worldly terms – but was and remains a strong centre of Christianity.

The opening salutation in the letter differs from the others – as it does not come using words from John’s opening chapter of Revelation with its powerful description of God. It comes instead from 1 John 5:20 where Jesus is described as the One who is true and who also has the ‘key of David’ (Isa 22:22). Keys are symbolic in opening up hidden secrets in our understanding - whether they are mysteries of God (Job 11:7), or mysteries that have been entrusted to us as servants of Christ (1 Cor 4:1), or mysteries requiring further revelation, as in the deep truths of the Kingdom taught by Jesus.

This message, along with the message to Smyrna, are the only two in which there are no rebukes and there does not seem to be anything that is not pleasing to God. But there are warnings: this small community would not be immune from the time of persecution coming on Christians throughout the Roman Empire. But members of this little fellowship were not to be fearful as they would be kept through these days – they would not be spared the trials and times of suffering and persecution, but would be given the strength to hold firm – no-one would be able to take the crown of life away from them.

Weak but Faithful

There are many other gems and words of encouragement in this letter that can help us in today’s world. Unusually, the words “I know your deeds” are followed by a list of commendable factors but which also includes the recognition that “you have little strength”. In fact, an understanding of our dependence on God’s strength and not on our own, could be an essential part of any strategy for real growth to take place.

The message is not promising untroubled times: obviously, just as the Philadelphians experienced unexpected (and unwarranted?) persecution from those who were nearest to them in beliefs (the Jews), so we too can expect opposition – but if we stay firm and endure patiently, our future is assured.

Though this little fellowship would not be spared trials and times of suffering, they would be given the strength to hold firm.

We are to hold on to the faith that we have, so that we will become pillars that survive the test of time and will be a support to others. We are told that “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem…and I will also write on them my new name” (Rev 3:13). We will indeed become ‘Ambassadors’ for Christ!

Even those who have been against us will in the last days recognise the truth of God’s word. “They will acknowledge that I have loved you” – they will see God’s love for themselves.
The message to the ‘overcomers’ in each of the letters is significant. The Messiah is coming soon; if we hold onto our faith we will not lose the crown waiting for us and we will be established so firmly that we will be like pillars in the Kingdom of God.

Timeless Truths

The message to the church in Philadelphia is timeless. God has not changed. He is as powerful today as he was in the 1st Century AD and the mission he gave to his Church then is unchanged today. As we noted in our guidebook Ephesus to Laodicea, written with our prayer partners some 12 years ago: “It is still the Great Commission to take his Word to the world, to turn darkness into light, to release the captives, to set the prisoner free and to release his love into a war-torn world that believes it is only the might of human arms can solve the problems of our humanity" (p93).

The message to each one of us continues to be that God empowers the weak, and he takes the things that seem foolish in the eyes of the world and uses them to work out his purposes.

Even though we may be weak, may we be faithful – and live up to the Philadelphian slogan ‘Open All Hours - we are never closed’.

Click here to read the rest of the articles in this series.