The Sermon on the Mountain Part 1
There’s a saying I like that says, “The Bible was not written to us; it was written for us,” meaning it was written to a people who understood what was being said based on their heritage and culture.
With that in mind, we can’t apply what we know and understand from our culture and place it onto their culture. This is why we have a hard time understanding that Yeshua didn’t make the Torah or Old Testament obsolete, nor did he abolish it. We are ascribing today’s culture and language onto an ancient culture and language that most people who study the Bible don’t understand or speak.
That’s why it’s imperative we study the scriptures ourselves to rightly divide the word of truth. Thank God for study aids to help us!
What are the Scriptures?
Matthew 5 begins with Yeshua going on the mountain to teach the people who had followed him because of the healings and deliverances he had done for them. What he taught was not a new thing. Every word he spoke can be traced back to the Old Testament, which are considered the Scriptures of the days before him, in his day, and the days after his resurrection and departure from earth.
Even during Paul’s time, the Scriptures were all they had. No one had compiled the letters, the gospels, or any of the New Testament scrolls into one book yet. Only the Scriptures were taught in the synagogues and spoken in the Temple.
Paul tells Timothy, “16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Paul tells us the Scriptures are the very breath of God that teaches us to how to live according to God’s ways. It trains us in how God views righteousness. It helps us in correcting ourselves according to God’s ways. It shows us what is the right way to live and the wrong way to live, once again, according to God.
Yeshua Teaches the Crowd
So, this is what Yeshua did. He expounded and explained some of the Scripture (Old Testament) verses to help the people following him understand what was actually meant by those scriptures. These verses were truly understood in the days it was said and/or written, not in Yeshua’s time.
Like today, the people of Israel learned what the Scriptures said based on man’s interpretation and bias. That’s why he told the people to listen to what the teacher said when he was in Moses’ seat because the teacher could only read the Scriptures. He couldn’t expound on it and give his opinions until he left Moses’ seat.
Yeshua Didn’t Abolish the Law
Today, we are going through the same problem people had during Yeshua’s time. They thought he was another messiah who came to abolish and destroy the Torah and the Prophets. Others had come before him and tried to fulfill that role, but they ended up defeated as a messiah and their followers left them. They thought he was the same.
Like those of old, today, a lot of people believe Yeshua did away with the Torah (Law) because they misread Paul, whom even the disciples said was hard to understand. He was highly educated in the Scriptures and the world around him. He spoke several languages. He was a Pharisee and followed Torah strictly, even after Yeshua resurrected.
The Bible was not written to us; it was written for us.
So, instead of trying to understand Paul, let’s follow the plain words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:17-18.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Yeshua himself said he didn’t come to abolish the Torah (Law) or the Prophets’ words. Now honestly, that should be enough. Yet, for some reason people don’t want to believe that. They would rather go against Yeshua and listen to a misunderstanding of Paul so they can deceive themselves into thinking they can be saved and still sin.
The Greek word for abolish is kataluo. It means “to dissolve, disunite, destroy, demolish, render vain, deprive of success, bring to naught.”1
Yeshua said he didn’t come to dissolve, disunite, destroy, or demolish the Torah or the Prophets. He also didn’t come to create a better Torah, thus making the original Torah (given by His Father) obsolete, vain, or useless.
Instead, he said he came to fulfill it.
The Law and the Prophets
The Greek word for law is nomos. It means “anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command, a law or rule producing a state approved of God, of the Mosaic law, and referring, acc. to the context. either to the volume of the law or to its contents.”2
The Hebrew equivalent of nomos is Torah.
“H8451 – תּוֹרָה (torah): Often translated as “law,” referring to the teachings and instructions given by God, particularly the first five books of the Bible.
“In the New Testament, “nomos” primarily refers to the law of God as given to Moses, encompassing the commandments, statutes, and ordinances found in the Torah. It can also refer to law in a more general sense, including human laws or principles. The term is used to describe the entire Old Testament legal system, the moral law, and sometimes the principle of law as opposed to grace.”3
Based on this understanding, you can see Yeshua didn’t come to destroy or make obsolete the Torah. The Torah was given to Israel by God Himself. To abolish it would place him in direct offense to his Father, the God of all.
The prophets wrote about the coming Messiah and now he was there. However, it didn’t mean he immediately made what they were saying obsolete or void. It means he came to fulfill what they all said about him.
Yeshua fulfilled the Torah and the Prophets
The Greek word for fulfill is pleroo. It means “to make full, to fill up; to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally; to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim; to carry through to the end, to accomplish, carry out, (some undertaking); to carry into effect, bring to realization, realize; of sayings, promises, prophecies, to bring to pass, ratify, accomplish; to fulfil, i.e. to cause God’s will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God’s promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment.”4
The Scriptures are the very breath of God that teaches us to how to live according to God’s ways.
As you can see there’s no meaning in the definition of fulfill to mean obsolete or destroy. It means Yeshua came to show us how to live abundantly according to God’s ways. He showed us how to place God first, instead of the world, how to pray to the Father, and how to live according to His rules.
He came to bring about the prophecies written and spoken about him from ancient times. He hasn’t totally completed all that was written about him because heaven and earth still stand. He hasn’t come back to be ruler of the nations under the laws of God yet. This happens during the Messianic era.
Even after his resurrection, Yeshua was still talking about fulfilling the Scriptures. He told them to proclaim the living Messiah to the people starting in Jerusalem.
Luke 24:44-48
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for[a] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
[OT Sources: Psalm 16:10; 22:16-18; Isaiah 53]
The Earth Still Stands
Because the heavens and earth still stand, God’s rules must still be followed by those who belong to Him. It’s our job as a believer in Yeshua to become a disciple of him and act like him. He is an excellent teacher and deserves to be treated as such by us becoming disciplined students.
If this is new to you, start with the 10 sayings in Exodus 20. These sayings are for everyone. They were spoken to the children of Israel by God for all of them to hear. Follow these completely first.
Next move onto other statues, ordinances, and rules. Remember, God and Yeshua never change. The world does, our culture does, our history does, and even our language does. So, study these first in their cultural and historical environment before you apply them to your life.
Talk to Me
Let me know what you think about this in the comments below. Do you believe Yeshua abolished the Torah? Why or why not?
Resources
1 https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/kataluo.html
2 https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/nomos.html
3 https://biblehub.com/greek/3551.htm
4 https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/pleroo.htm
