Are We Accurately Following All 613 Commandments?
According to the study notes in my MacArthur Study Bible, “Early Rabbis had determined that there were 613 commandments contained in the Pentateuch, one for each letter of the Ten Commandments. Of the 613 commandments, 248 were seen as affirmative and 365 as negative. Those laws were also divided into heavy and light categories, with the heavy laws being more binding than the light ones. The scribes and rabbis, however, had been unable to agree on which were heavy and which were light.”
Beyond that was the problem of the interpretation of the commandments themselves. For example, they knew they weren’t supposed to work on the Sabbath. On that they could all agree. But exactly what that encompassed raised many questions and debates. “Could a man wear a wooden leg on the Sabbath? Was it lawful to eat an egg laid on the Sabbath?” They did come to some conclusions. “Some knots could be tied or untied on the Sabbath, but not others. Vinegar, if swallowed, could be used to relieve a sore throat, but it could not be gargled. No woman was to look in a mirror on the Sabbath lest, seeing a gray hair, she might be tempted to pull it out.” (from A Church That Flies, Tim Woodroof, page 103) It’s enough to drive you crazy. It’s a good thing that God provided a way for us to get rid of all those trivial questions and wranglings by nailing the law to the tree and giving us a law of the spirit—or did he?
As I look around I see a whole new set of laws being debated weekly in our midst. You know what I mean: How should we sing? Is it wrong to use an instrument? Can we use an instrument to sing “church” songs outside of the church building? Can we clap during the songs? Can we raise our hands during the songs? Can we snap our fingers? Can we sing the newer more contemporary songs? Can we sing while partaking of the Lord’s Supper? It is okay to use more than one cup? Is it okay to use church funds to help non Christians, support orphans homes, build a fellowship building? Can a young man who has not been baptized serve communion? Can a young man who has not been baptized lead a prayer? Can women start songs or say a prayer during small group devotionals? Can we pray with our hands lifted up? Can we study, in our Bible classes, from a book which was written by a person who worships with instrumental music? Can we even have Bible classes at all? And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other issues on top of that.
In a high percentage of our Bible Belt towns, several groups proclaiming to be the Church of Christ are divided over these issues. They will not fellowship with one another because they each have come to different conclusions about one or more of these issues. On top of that, a majority of their Sunday preaching topics include a condemnation of some other group that has come to a different conclusion on one of these "all important" matters.
When Jesus was asked about the commandments of God, he spoke with a paradigm shift in mind. Some of our astute brethren have somehow failed to pick up on it—even though he said it several times and in several ways. He said, “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' [40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matt 22).
Did you hear that? “All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.” In case that wasn’t clear enough, he also said,
Matthew 7:12 (NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. And,
Romans 13:8 (NIV) Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. And,
Romans 13:10 (NIV)
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And,
Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." And,
Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
How many ways must Jesus say it before we get it? Jesus could not care less about whether we clap, or raise our hands or wear pant suits or have Bible class or use church money to help anyone in need, as long as we are doing what ever we do out of love for him and for our neighbor. God wants our hearts and if he has our hearts he knows we will sincerely try to please him and respond to the needs that are placed before us.
Maybe if he would have said something as plainly as “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,” we would have gotten it by now. O yeah, he did say that, didn’t he (Gal 5:6)?
It’s time to back off of these trivial pursuits and get down to what’s important—Loving God and loving our neighbors. After all, these two commandments fulfill all of the Law and the Prophets. If we will just do that, the rest will take care of itself. Dennis
BC4A (Comment this)
It is such a point well taken. Thanks, Tim. Dennis (Comment this)
When righteousness is our highest value, then whoever violates my understanding of what is right must come under judgment; I am insecure in my relationship with God, because I will in the course of time violate my own standards of righteousness; the legal interpretations of law are the basis for righteousness. Even when a righteousness-based believer acknowledges that our righteousness comes from Christ, it must be qualified by some righteous method of obtaining the righteousness of Christ.
Love trumps righteousness. Love always wins. Love is God's highest value and from it everything else flows. So it is also his highest command.
Don Morrison (Comment this)
I realize that you are saying that oral or written tradition is no substitute for scripture. I agree wholeheartedly, but I am not sure it is possible to be a good student of history while doing away with the wisdom of our ancestors. Those traditions should rather be put in an appropriate context: subordinate to scripture; and interpreted through the filter of God's love and grace.
Last night, I was teaching from Exodus chapter 21 and 22, where there are a lot of laws. I haven't spent too much time with those laws in the past, since they are not New Testament, but my perspective has been changing some over time. I have decided to stop filtering my view of law through my Church of Christ/Protestant Reformation/Age of Enlightenment heritage, as best I can, and instead try to see it as the Bible represents it.
Anyway, one thing I have been struck with is how ambiguous those laws are. The Hebrew people were Semitic and pre-literate when they received the law; perhaps that is why the law is not more complex and exhaustive. They depended on Moses at the Tent of Meeting and later their courts of law to interpret law for them and decide cases.
Of course over time one or two of their judges would establish a reputation as particularly wise and just in their handling of God's laws. And those men would mentor others to eventually take their place - they would explain their thought processes and their spiritual insights as best they could. Later, these mentor's rulings and their teachings would be cited as precedent for the decisions their disciples would make when they took their place as appointed judges.
As time past, and as their culture developed urban centers they would have written down the records of their court cases - the stories that tell of wise decisions as well as those judged by history to be wrong-headed.
This is oral and written tradition. Oral tradition is the unwritten stories that tell their family and cultural stories in the context of understanding God's law. Written tradition is merely the transcribing of those same stories and others into a more permanent form. These traditions tell how their ancestors lived under God's law. They provide important historical and social commentary on the spiritual life of their heritage. Mishna is what they call their written tradition.
Should our "Christian Mishnas" really be done away with? We need those oral and written histories to teach us about success and failures. If our modern day "traditionalists" were to really study our traditions and the personalities that wrote them for us, they would not be so judgmental or cold in their application of scripture. Being a good student of history means knowing those traditions that brought us to where we are or threatened to hijack us to some other destination. If those "traditionalists" would merely love others as they love themselves, they would not be so judgmental or cold in their treatment of those who disagree with them. And if they would see tradition as it really is, the teachings/interpretations of men, surely they would not want to be so judgmental or cold toward those who have other tradition or perspective.
The problem Jesus deals with is not tradition itself, but that those traditionalists had set aside God's word in favor of a self-serving tradition. (Comment this)
You are correct. Thanks for expounding upon a brief, generalized statement that needed more clarification. Traditions can be good and helpful...it is just the matter of priority that we place upon them and the heart with which we approach them that makes all of the difference. At the same time, it appears that over-ritualized and emphasized tradition valued at the expense of key principles does become a burden, and perhaps a sin, rather than the blessing it may have been intended to be. God's blessings upon you and your ministry.
BC4A (Comment this)