Luke
“… To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
The
Torah provides us with much ruling having to do with man’s inhumane behavior.
Some of the things the Torah talks about would make very gory bedtime stories.
How can such a heavenly document be so besmirched with the filth of human sin?
King David said that the Torah is Light (Psalms
119:105). Light is only useful when it shines in darkness. In essence, the
Torah finds its mission within the spiritual darkness of our human dimension. Paul built on David ’s
proclamation in the Psalms with, But when anything
is exposed by the light (of Torah), it (the sin of ‘anything’) becomes visible (Ephesians 5:13). He also taught his disciple Timothy that, the law (the Torah) is … not laid down for the just but for the lawless
and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for
those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually
immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and
whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine (1Timothy 1:8), and I think that includes all of us! The Torah is a
Light made to reveal to us our sinful condition. As such, it is a help to direct
our paths away from sinful behavior.
In studying God’s Oracles, we must be careful to distinguish between
what the Torah permits and what the Torah advocates. Failure to do so can be
disastrous. Whereas the Torah advocates unbroken marriages, in the knowledge of
the nature of man’s heart it gave leeway for divorce (Matthew 19:8). Whereas it
advocates monogamous marriages, it gave rulings concerning polygamy. It doesn’t
mean that the Torah advocates divorce or polygamy, it only means that the Torah
is relevant to the society in which it was given. The same goes for slavery;
whereas the Torah gives ruling for slaves, it does not advocate slavery. We
must be careful to study it according to its contextual values. Not
understanding this could cause us to feel removed from Its text to a point of irrelevance.
Many of us who would not consider polygamy as a lifestyle, practice it in a
sequential manner, using one spouse, and ‘throwing it away’ for another one. Also
many today who would not consider enslaving humans practice a different form of
slavery through the very commonly accepted practice of usury (lending for
interest) and economic policies that offer less guaranties than those offered
to slaves in the Bible.
The Torah is a Light, and those who consider it obsolete live in
darkness. The Torah reveals the Light of Hashem's nature and character to
contrast it with ours, and those who in a cafeteria-style pick and choose what
they want from it, are found to ‘edit’, or adding or taking away from the Torah
in their hearts, For centuries man has tried to find a better type of government
than the one offered in the Torah, and the messy results are evident. In the
World to Come, the Light of Torah will expose our sinful world for what it is
and we will finally learn to rule and be ruled under the justice and
righteousness of Hashem.
May it come soon Abba Father, this world can’t wait any longer; too many
are crying out for justice.
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