Identity Theft (19 page)

“Shaul, speaking of the Torah in Romans, says: ‘So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good…. We know that the law is spiritual…’ (Rom. 7:12,14).

“These were Jewish believers on fire for God and zealous for the Torah. Now keep in mind, when people today think of the Torah, they often conjure up images of black hats, long black coats, and endless, tedious ritual. Most of modern-day Judaism is not following the Torah per se, but traditions built upon the Torah and a
supposed
secret Oral Law,
¹
which Moses was given on Mount Sinai, in addition to the written Law.

“But goodness, what is more
Torah
than the Ten Commandments? Take a look at them—they are God’s practical instructions for righteous living, far removed from rote tradition! They are in fact responsible for all that is good in Western civilization. Our constitutions, legal codes, and court systems all find their source in the Law of Moses. The only thing remotely close to ritual is the keeping of the Sabbath, and who can argue with the fact that we all need time off for rest, reflection, and rejuvenation?

“And, David, here is something you may have overlooked. While Shaul had written some of his letters to individual congregations by this time, there was as yet no New Testament. All that the new believers had were the Hebrew Scriptures—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.”

“So even the Gentiles of the day were almost solely reliant on the Old Testament?” I asked.

“David—there was nothing else!” Luke asserted. “In fact, when Shaul wrote to Timothy that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed,’ he was referring to the Old Testament! (See 2 Timothy 3:16.)

“To further illustrate this point, take a look at what Jacob and the other leaders were concerned about.” A passage formed as clouds before me.

[The Jewish believers]
have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.
Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law
(Acts 21:21-24).

“Some of the Jewish believers were concerned by rumors that Shaul was teaching a heresy, saying Jews who embraced Yeshua should ‘turn away’ from the Torah. Furthermore, it confirms that Shaul himself was ‘living in obedience to the Law.’ The funny thing is the very idea that caused deep concern among the apostles eventually became Church policy in the Middle Ages. The believers were alarmed that Shaul may have rejected the Torah, but by the Middle Ages, not only were Jews who came to faith
not encouraged
to continue to live as Jews, they were
forbidden
to do so! Acts records that Shaul, Jacob, and the other apostles affirmed that it is wrong to teach Jewish believers to forsake Jewish life and calling, but the Church of the Middle Age made it doctrine!

“Some, even today, teach that Shaul left Judaism. But I can show you, just from what I wrote in Acts, that he continued to follow the Torah.

“In Acts 18:18, Shaul cut his hair because of a vow he had taken. What kind of vow do you think would require you to cut your hair?”

“I am not sure.” I responded, wishing I had been more attentive in Hebrew school.

“In Numbers 6, Moses receives special instructions for a man or a woman who wants to make a vow of dedication to the Lord. It is called a
Nazirite vow
. During the vow, you would not cut your hair, but at the end of the vow, you would shave your head completely, and Shaul did that.

“Another example is in Acts 27. Let’s use Dr. Stern’s translation for this: ‘Since much time had been lost, and continuing the voyage was risky, because it was already past Yom-Kippur…’ (Acts 27:9 CBJ).

“Shaul specifically mentions the Fast, referring to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, here. But why did he not just say, ‘because fall had arrived’? Had Shaul truly disassociated himself from Judaism, as some claim, he would not still have been referencing the Hebrew calendar.

“Further evidence is provided when Shaul is on trial in Acts 23:6. He appeals to the fact that he is
a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee
. Notice he doesn’t say that he was, but that he is, as in, ‘the present tense,’ a Pharisee. People today think the word
Pharisee
means hypocrite, and yet here was one of the most honest, true-to-yourself, theologians in the world saying, ‘I’m a Pharisee!’

“Okay. Let’s get back to Shaul in Jerusalem; I remember it well! Jacob and the other leaders came up with a plan to show clearly that Shaul continued to live as a Jew. So that everyone would know that he ‘was living in obedience to the Law.’ I recorded it in Acts 21. And Shaul, who was nobody’s push-over—and I know that better than anyone—went along with the plan just to prove that it was true, that he, while ‘not under the condemnation of the Law,’ still sought to live according to God’s pattern for Israel—the Law of Moses.

“Take it from one of Shaul’s closest companions for many years, David. He never stopped living as a Jew.”

“Hang on there, Luke. Remember our instructions. Everything must be backed up with Scripture, not commentary. Only then will he be prepared,” Ariel interrupted.

“And what do you think I have been doing for the past half hour?” remarked the doctor. “David, I wish you great success on your journey. I trust that something I said will prove useful.”

And with that, he disappeared from the screen.

Note

1
.   The Oral Law or oral tradition is believed to have accompanied the written Torah which Moses received on Mt. Sinai. The Oral Law was supposedly given in order to know how to live out the written Torah. It is believed that Moses passed this down to Joshua and from Joshua to future generations, all the way until it was codified in the Talmud, beginning around 200 ce. However, there couldn’t have been an Oral Law because in the time of King Josiah, they had lost the written Law and didn’t even know what Passover was, much less an oral tradition. When the book of the Law was recovered, they had to start from scratch. If there had ever been an oral tradition, it had long been gone. Strangely, the Oral Law has now been written down in the Mishna and Talmud. It is probable that the religious Jews in the time of Yeshua did not actually believe that the Oral Law came from Mt. Sinai, as it was merely referred to as
The Traditions of the Elders
. Yeshua Himself rebuked the Pharisees for putting these traditions above the Word of God (see Mark 7:9).

Furthermore, concerning the idea of an Oral Law, we find in Exodus 24:3-4 that, “When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, ‘Everything the Lord has said we will do.’ Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said….” This passage says that God shared all His laws and Moses wrote them down. There was no secret Oral Law. The children of Israel were told to obey all that was written (see Deut. 30:10; 31:9,24,26; Josh. 1:8). For deeper study on this subject see Michael L. Brown,
Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Traditional Jewish Objections
, Volume 5 (San Francisco: Purple Pomegranate, 2010).

“Wait! Rules? Prepared? Journey? What are you all referring to?”

“Soon, David, soon.” Ariel reached for my hand and we were flying back to the classroom.

Seated at my desk with Ariel standing in front of the massive tablet, he began to sum up this last visit with Luke. “So, you see, not only was there a massive revival in Jerusalem with signs, wonders, and miracles, but these Jews continued to live as Jews. If you had walked up to Yochanan (John), Jacob, Kefa or any other of the leaders of the Jerusalem revival and said, ‘Praise God! How does it feel to be free of the Torah and Judaism and to now be a Christian?’ they would have stared at you blankly. They wouldn’t have known what you were talking about. All they understood was that they, as Jews, had met their long-awaited Messiah. What could be more Jewish than that? What they may have asked, is, ‘What is a Christian?’ as they referred to themselves simply as
believers
in those early days. The term
Christian
to describe believers in the Christ, which is merely Greek for Messiah, was first coined by unbelievers many years later, in Antioch, a Greek-speaking city.

“After the Shavuot outpouring, do we see Kefa and John going to a church building to pray? No, of course we don’t. Look at your tablet.”

I read, “One afternoon at three o’clock, the hour of
minchah
prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple…” (Acts 3:1 CBJ).

“They were praying the afternoon
minchah
Jewish prayers,” I offered. “Just like I do sometimes at our local synagogue. This is mind-blowing! I never pictured the followers of Jesus praying from the Siddur, the Jewish prayer book.”

“Well, the Siddur came later, but make no mistake, they were going to the Temple to pray the afternoon
minchah
prayers. The New Covenant doesn’t actually use the word
minchah
in the Greek, but the phrase
the time of prayer,
which for a Jew would have been at three in the afternoon. Clearly they continued in this tradition after coming to faith in Yeshua.

“David, Luke showed you all those passages about Shaul going first to the synagogue whenever he would enter a new city. Do you think he walked in and said, ‘Hey, my name’s Paul, used to be Saul. Can I share a little bit this morning during the service about a new religion we have started called
Christianity
?’”

“Based on what I learned today, that would be highly unlikely,” I admitted, smiling at the very thought.

“Precisely; the Rabbi Shaul’s objective was to tell his people that their long-awaited Messiah, the Messiah of whom the prophets of Israel spoke, had come—and that through Him they could have eternal life.

“However David, if you really want to know whether Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah, you don’t even need the testimony of Shaul, Kefa, or the prophets. In truth, all you have to do is look to the Jewish leaders of Yeshua’s day—the Sanhedrin.”

“I don’t understand. It was members of the Sanhedrin who handed Yeshua over to the Romans. How could they and why would they prove that Yeshua is the Messiah?”

“Well, they didn’t do it on purpose! Watch.”

As the tablet flickered and came to life, a scene began to play before me.

I could see a gathering where the high priest, his entourage, and all the Sanhedrin were present. These were the elders of Israel. Then a stunned jailer ran in, shouting, “They’re gone! They’re gone! Those rebel-rousers have escaped! The jail door was locked and the guards were there, but when we opened it up, they were all gone!”

A buzz traveled throughout the room as the high priest and the captain of the Temple guard tried to figure out what was happening. They were visibly shaken.

Then someone else ran into the room and announced, “The men you put in jail are back in the Temple courts teaching the people!”

Several of the Temple guards went immediately with the captain to investigate. Sure enough, there were Kefa, John, and the others, boldly proclaiming that Yeshua was the Messiah. The captain appeared worried. He could see that the people loved the apostles and what they had to say. If he arrested them by force, the people might revolt. But Kefa and the others simply turned to him and said, “Relax, force won’t be necessary. We will come with you.”

Once again they were brought before the Sanhedrin. The high priest stood and began to question them in an angry, smug and intimidating tone. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name…yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (Acts 5:28).

Kefa spoke for the other apostles as he boldly proclaimed, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised [Yeshua] from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross” (Acts 5:29-30 NLT).

I was reminded again that while the Jewish masses—who came from all over the country to hear Yeshua—loved Him, it was the religious leaders, out of jealousy, who had asked the Romans to execute Him.

“Then God elevated Him to the place of honor at His right hand, as Prince and Savior,” Kefa continued with holy boldness. “He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey Him” (see Acts 5:31-32 NLT).