Torah observance is much more than just Shabbat, the festivals, and kosher. A great number of ethical and moral issues/commandments become significantly conscious to the Torah reader. Likewise, a person has to encounter a world going not only back some 3,300 years to the time of the Exodus, but multiplied millennia to the Creation of the cosmos itself. The questions and the controversies that the first five books of the Bible present to us, not just as students of God’s Word, but specifically as Messianic Believers—are quite significant. Many people do not know what to do when the social norms of the ancient period are different than those of today, and are often at a loss when reading the Torah. Not infrequently, such issues are just avoided or outright ignored in Messianic Torah study.
Ancient Near East
If today’s Messianic students commit to reading the Torah from the perspective of Ancient Israel first—what will be a few of the difficult matters to overcome?
What it means for the end-time Believers to sing the Song of Moses is actually somewhat complicated. By no means is it a popular praise song sung in today’s Messianic world! “Singing” the Song of Moses means that we are to embody the mission and purpose as seen in the Song of Moses. In order to do this, we must identify what the Song of Moses actually is, interpret it properly against its ancient context, and then consider some of the specific things that are involved with the prophesied restoration of God’s people. We may not actually be “singing” this song today in our approach to Biblical faith.
John McKee discusses some of the difficult factors that have contributed to Hebrew having an over-exalted status in many sectors of the broad Messianic community. How will this need to change, given some of the complexities of the future?
J.K. McKee of Messianic Apologetics discusses some of the reactions that he has witnessed to the recent discovery of an ancient basket in Israel, dated at 10,000 years old.
Biblical scholars over the past century (both Christian and Jewish) have long recognized some kind of connection between the Flood of Genesis 6-8 and the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh Epics, the two pieces of ANE mythology most widely considered.
One of the most important Tanach narratives that deserves the attention of today’s Believers—particularly as it is employed later in the Apostolic Scriptures or New Testament— is the Flood of Genesis 6-8. We all know the story too well—as only Noah, his family, and two of every animal were spared. But what many do not know is that there are other Ancient Near Eastern accounts which portray a significant flood, somehow inflicting damage on the world—that may or may not parallel what we see in Genesis. What we are to do with these accounts, the role that they play in relationship to Genesis 6-8, and what they mean have baffled many interpreters. Some believe that the ANE myths appeared first, and were later adapted by the Ancient Hebrews in the compilation of the Torah. Others believe that the ANE myths are distorted forms of the true Biblical account. And others, not surprisingly, are confused and do not know what to believe, avoiding the subject altogether.
I have encountered statements to the effect that the Sabbath was not actually something prescribed by God for Ancient Israel, but instead something that Ancient Israel adapted from Ancient Near Eastern paganism. Can you help with this?!
What do you think the biggest challenges are regarding today’s Messianic Believers and the Torah?