Is the Torah TOO hard for us to keep?
- Details
- Category: Torah Perspectives
- Published on Monday, 31 March 2008 18:00
Sometimes the text of Scripture speaks profoundly by itself. Deuteronomy 30:8-14 reads as follows:
8 "And you shall again obey
, and observe all His commandments which I command you today.
9 "Then your Elohim will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;
10 if you obey your Elohim to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to your Elohim with all your heart and soul.
11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
12 "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
13 "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it."
Why does the Torah "seems" TOO hard?
We were and are commanded to NOT add to or take away from the Written Torah. Deuteronomy 4:2 reads: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of your Elohim which I command you."
Deuteronomy 12:32 reads: "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it."
The reason the Torah may seem too hard for you is because you have difficulty discerning what is actually written and what is added tradition and/or oral commandments. Christianity and Judaism have both added to and taken away from the Written Torah. The water is most muddy to those who don't actually read and know the scriptures, therefore a much larger burden is perceived... even when in fact much of the burden doesn't exist. The fault of this lies on the individual and the shepherds who facilitate this cloud of confusion.
Deuteronomy 17:8-13 is proof that there would be difficult matters that would occasionally arise in the population of Israel, and then the Priests and/or Judges would make decisions on those matters, but the context of the rest of Torah clearly indicates those judgments were NOT to become permanent precedent (noting the aforementioned commandments not "to add to"). The Orthodox Rabbinic system takes Deuteronomy 17 to mean they have authority to tell you which shoe you're to put on first in the morning. This my brothers should be an obvious question mark, but somehow the Karaite population remains small. Maybe because the Sheeple like to be told what shoe to put on first?
Living within Torah is liberating. It is freedom. It is actually more difficult living in this world without the safety of the Torah. Persecution is of course difficult and certainly more severe in some parts of the world. Even so, the physical, emotional, and spiritual ramifications of Torahlessness perplexes the human race far more than any persecution issued by a single culture or dictator.
What is NOT Torah
The Writings and the Prophets of the Tanakh are not Torah... although they frequently reinforce and/or give better understanding of what the Torah actually commands. "The Prophets" largely and emphatically emphasis a return of Israel to Torah and the removal of idolatry, or "else". "The Writings" largely and emphatically display Israel and Judah living outside of Torah and the result of their Torahlessness: the fulfillment of the aforementioned "else".
The Jewish Talmudic writings NOR the Christian New Testament are Torah... although they also frequently reinforce and/or give better understanding of what the Torah actually commands. If either of these two bodies of text add to, modify, and/or delete from the Written Torah, then those specific aspects of such texts should be disregarded from practical living and/or first studied more deeply to find how they may or may not contradict the Written Torah of Moshe (Moses).
Torah is NO Small Thing to You - Indeed it is Your Very Life
Deuteronomy 32:47 (NASV) "For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life and by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."
Deuteronomy 32:47 (ESV) "For it is no empty word for you,but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."
Deuteronomy 32:47 (TS98) “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yardĕn to possess.”
Leviticus 18:5 "You shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am "
Deuteronomy 30:20 "...by loving your Elohim, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
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