D Thomas Lancaster is a respected writer and teacher on the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. This book is written for both Jewish and Gentile disciples of Jesus.
The title is based upon the prophetic restoration of God’s ancient people but its theme is Torah and how this relates to disciples of Jesus. Indeed, the final chapter is punnily entitled ‘Res-Torah-ation’, in which Lancaster reasserts his belief that God’s restoration is twofold – the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland and, at the same time, the return of Torah to the disciples of Yeshua.
This fourth edition was produced for the tenth anniversary of what has proved to be an extremely popular best-seller. It also provided an opportunity for the author to revisit the original material, upgrade the writing and add three more chapters and an appendix.
Torah and the Covenants
After an opening chapter that is largely autobiographical (‘My Journey to Torah’) Lancaster explains how the Church went on a journey away from Torah as part of the abandonment of its Jewish roots - hence the need for a restoration.
The chapter entitled ‘What is the Torah?’ is important for those who have no prior knowledge of the true meaning of the word. Above all he is careful to explain that although Torah is covenantal it is “not quite correct to equate the Torah and the ‘old covenant’ because the Torah is part of the new covenant, too” (p41). A later chapter (‘Torah and the New Testament’) expands on this point.
Further chapters tackle aspects of the Torah topically such as the Sabbath and the Feasts. Lancaster also debates how Christians have usually divided the Torah into three, questioning whether this is valid.
Typically, our theologians “dice the Torah into moral law, civil law and ceremonial law” (p167), a process which has allowed us to ditch certain parts of Torah. Lancaster asserts that this three-fold explanation of how to handle Torah is seriously flawed. He argues “There is only one Torah. The Torah makes no distinction between different categories of laws” (p167).
This fourth edition was produced for the tenth anniversary of what has proved to be an extremely popular best-seller.
He makes his point by showing how the command to love your neighbour is found in the middle of what are often categorised as ceremonial laws of holiness: “If you throw those out, you throw out what Yeshua refers to as one of the two most important commandments” (p168).
Lancaster does not shirk from tackling many of the more complex aspects of Torah. He has chapters on the difficult laws of Torah and the oral Torah as well as the challenging question of Paul’s relation to Torah. Inevitably these can only be brief treatments of what are massive topics.
Scholarly but Accessible
Even if much of what he says is familiar to those who study the Jewish roots of Christianity on a regular basis, there are still gems of insight which are not likely to be found elsewhere. There are also some helpful quotations from Messianic rabbis.
Lancaster’s firm conviction is that “The bedrock on which the Bible stands is the revelation at Mount Sinai” (p63). Whether you agree with all his conclusions or not, this book is a stimulating read on how God is returning the Torah of Moses to the disciples of Jesus (to quote his subtitle). We can be grateful to have such a scholarly but accessible volume which provides an enjoyable and inspiring excursion into an important part of biblical theology.
‘Restoration’ (224pp) is available from Amazon in both paperback and hardback forms. Find out more about the book at FFOZ.
