This article was originally written about the Ten Commandments. But as we looked into the Jewish ‘Halakha’, or commandments in more detail, it turns out that there are many more than ten of them. As found in the Talmud there are 613 commandments from the Torah. While 248 of these commandments are positive (commands about things that “thou shalt” do); there are also 365 of them that are negative (commands about things that “thou shalt not” do). It should also be noted that of these 613 commandments, as many as 40% of them (about 245 of them) are not able to be performed currently, because they require the “temple” in Jerusalem to be rebuilt, among other factors.
The Ten Commandments that are traditionally recognized by christians (who don't pay attention to the other 603 commandments), are those from the book of Exodus, given through Moses to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai. Surprisingly, when Yeshua was asked specifically by the Pharisees, which of the commandments was “the Greatest Commandment”, Yeshua replied with two specific commandments, neither of which was included in the Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from the Mountain. These two commandments are taken from the remaining 603 commandments in the Torah. If we add these two commandments, to the original Ten Commandments, that would give us: Twelve Commandments!
If we were to ‘re-order’ the resulting Twelve Commandments, they might look like this:
Here, we have chosen to place the additional “Greatest Commandments” in among the existing set of Ten Commandments, where the would naturally lead into the relationships which the original commandments address. The first of the “greatest commandments” found in the book of Deuteronomy, deals with our relationship to the Father. Thus, it is fitting that it comes first. The second of the “greatest commandments” which is found in Leviticus, we have placed sixth, because it opens the section of commandments which deal with our relationship to our neighbors.
But let’s put the commandments aside for a moment (we’ll come back to them) and look at another statement which Yeshua made. When he was beginning the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ Yeshua said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill”. (Matthew 5:17).
Now many people think that this statement explains that Christ will be involved in the judgement day. That on that day, we will be judged as sinful and guilty and therefore deserving of death. Then they go on to say that only, when we acknowledge that we are by nature, sinful and unclean, can we then look to the risen Christ for salvation.
The standards of New Christianity however, require us to re-examine these dogmatic interpretations. Yeshua said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” There is something more to the word ‘law’ here, than meets the english eye; meaning we should look more closely at how Yeshua was using the word, ‘law’. We find the Greek word for law is nomos. Two distinct phrases jump out of this definition; both of which become important in determining what Yeshua was saying. The ‘law’ is defined both as being “of the mosaic law,…the context…and the contents”, and as “the moral instruction given by Christ, especially the precept concerning love”.
In His one statement, Yeshua is using the word ‘law’ under both of these definitions. In His reference to the law, and the prophets, He is claiming the Messiahship which they prophesied, and is stating that they were prophesying about Him. At the same time, He was saying that He would fulfill “it” or ‘the law’. By this second occurance of the word law, (implied when He said “…but to fulfill” ) He was talking about Christ’s precept regarding love. He alone, was uniquely qualified to give us this precept, and He demonstrated it, by His sacrifice on the cross. Thus, with His statement, Yeshua was conveying his message, using both of the definitions of nomos.
It’s true, that two paragraphs before this, we noted that we need to move beyond the dogmatic interpretations of sinfulness and forgiveness. By talking about His sacrifice, you might think that we are contradicting ourselves, but we are not.
We think the traditional teaching of the church can be summed up like this: We have sinned, and are unclean. Yeshua died for our sins on the cross and thus, we are forgiven, if we believe in Him. Doing so, we earn our place in heaven.
One of the keys of New Christianity is to take our focus off of the afterlife, and place it on the here and now. Therefore, we would say that the teaching of the church (if we have summed it up correctly) falls short. The standards of New Christianity would sum up the same facts like this: We have sinned and are unclean, but we’re doing the best we can, so skip the guilt trip and get back to trying to be a better person. Yeshua died for our sins on the cross, and thus we are forgiven, if and when (and at the exact moment, that) we confess these sins. Therefore, we are NOW worthy to move forward on behalf of, and in service to God. Sure, you are welcome to imagine what heaven might be like, but more importantly, you should take action, here and now to demonstrate God’s love to those around you. You aren’t ‘bound’ to do this action because you are sinful; but instead, you are made worthy (“cleansed from all unrighteousness”) to undertake this action of service in righteousness, before God.
This leads us back to the original law itself, the Commandments. The ten Commandments were surely handed down by God through Moses. But if taken only in this group of ten, they act merely as a series of hollow behavioural guidelines, providing the Hebrews with ‘rules of conduct’ to follow in the desert, and offering us (in the present day) no meaning or explanation with which to make sense of them, other than “thou shalt not”. It is only when we add the context of the “the Greatest Commandments” as highlighted by the Yeshua, that the Twelve Commandments take on a sense of clarity and completion.
This is exactly what Christ meant when He said that: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:40). Instead of being just good habits to have, or rules to live by, the Twelve Commandments become a meaningful and compassionate pattern of behaviour, so that as we work to love our neighbors as ourselves, we will know how to back up our worthiness with actions.
Grace and peace to you all,
Paul
