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Traditions of the Elders
There are three periods in Jewish history we need to consider:
1. Development of Oral Law (516 bc-70 ad)
2. Destruction of the 2nd Temple (70 -135 ad)
3. The Persecution of the Jewish people (135 ad to the present).
In this study we will look at the Development of the Oral Law. When our
people returned from the Babylonian captivity, our leadership was
devoted to prevent such a catastrophe from ever taking place again. The
rabbis reasoned, “it was the holiness of the Law and our disobedience
that resulted in the exile.” Thus the rabbis developed a system of
buffers or “fences” -- “The Oral Law,” -- providing additional rules for
the people to keep which would “preserve the original commandments from
trespass” (Talmud Aboth 1:1).
In the Schulchan Aruch (“the code” of rabbinical Judaism for all ritual
and legal questions) some of the fences regarding the issue of work on
the Sabbath are seen:
“He who spills any liquid in a place where the soil is apt to produce
something is guilty of violating ‘the law against sowing’” (80:28).
“It is forbidden to spit in a place where the wind will scatter the
saliva” (i.e. plowing on the sabbath, 80:30).
“Mud on one’s garment may be scraped off with nail or with a knife if it
be still moist, but if it be completely dry it may not be scraped off,
for it is equivalent to the act of grinding” (80:38).
“It is forbidden to shake off snow or dust from a black garment...”
(80:39).
“It is forbidden to carry a covering as a protection from the sun or
from the rain, which commonly known as an umbrella, because it is
considered as making a tent” (80:82). And there are many, many more like
these, covering each area of personal, public, religious and vocational
life.
As mentioned, the intent of these ‘fences’ was to keep people from
breaking God’s laws and coming under His wrath again. However, the
result of the Oral Law was, and is today, that the people became in
effect ‘insulated’ from the Scriptures. Hence they never really fear
God’s law, but deal primarily with the ‘traditions of the elders.’ The
Jewish people therefore can never truly understand God’s holiness, or
His love, because the same Law of God that expresses His holy standards
and judgment, also expresses His love and promises (Deut.
7:7,8,18:1-22). More importantly, when Messiah came He was judged not by
Scriptural standards, but by the Oral Law and the traditions of men.
Sabbath Breakers
In Matthew 12:1,2, the teachers of the Law
confront Yeshua over His disciples picking the grain and eating it on
the Sabbath. Though the Law of Moses clearly stated that it was legal to
eat from a field or vineyard as you passed by it (Deut. 23:24,25) the
Oral Law made this unlawful. When Yeshua’s disciples picked the heads of
grain, the religious leaders ‘saw’ several transgressions committed:
1. Harvesting - as the disciples picked the grain.
2. Sifting - rubbing grain in their hands to separate the chaff.
3. Winnowing - blowing the chaff away.
4. Grinding- crushing the wheat to eat it.
Was this the interpretation God intended for the Sabbath laws? No, not
any more than opening a ‘lunch bag’ to eat the food inside of
it--opening the bag would have been considered ‘work’ by the rabbis.
This is one example of how the rabbinical community, fearing the
judgment of God upon Israel for ‘disobedience’, could be consumed with
technicalities while displaying a lack of compassion toward a hungry
neighbor. Messiah responded, “Have you not read what David did when he
was hungry, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house
of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to
eat...?” (Matt. 12:3,4), as it is written, “I desire compassion, and not
sacrifice” (Matt. 12:7, cf. Hosea 6:6). Even if the rabbis would not
permit Messiah’s disciples to eat as David and his men had been allowed
to do simply because they were hungry, the rabbis certainly should have
permitted the disciples to eat out of compassion.
Lord of The Sabbath
“For the Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8). As Lord of the Sabbath, Messiah had
unquestionable authority which should have been respected, but wasn’t,
because He was evaluated according to tradition rather than according to
Scripture. He was judged by the traditions of men, which for 2000 years
have kept my people from seeing Yeshua for Who He really is.
In Matthew 15:1-2, we see the rabbis again accusing the disciples of
violating tradition, this time for the tradition of hand-washing:
“Whoever eats bread without previously washing the hands is as though he
had intercourse with a harlot” ...“Whoever makes light of washing the
hands (before and after a meal) will be uprooted from this world” and
“Whoever eats bread without washing the hands is as though he eats
unclean food” (Talmud Sotah 4b).
Sacred Offerings
Does this sound overly severe for failing
to wash one’s hands? Here was another ‘fence’ intended to make sure that
sacred offerings were eaten properly before a Holy God. But in Matthew
15 no sacred meal was involved, therefore it was a non-issue for
Messiah, Who neither justified nor rebuked His disciples. Instead,
Messiah takes the occasion to deal with how the traditions had become a
substitute for Scripture, making people disobedient to the Word of God:
“You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people
draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but
their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matt.15:7-9).
Thus the Teachers of the Law had become “blind guides of the blind” (v.
14), blinded by their traditions to the truth of Scripture, judging the
very Lord of the Word by their own rules! And so it is still today. The
fences remain, and without the Word of God, my people remain unable to
see Him Who is the very Truth for their lives. Next month we’ll continue
our study with the second of Three Events in Jewish History that still
Hinder the Good News. Until then, Shalom.Y |
