The Oracles of God. Please consider this interesting question which I received some time ago via

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1 God s church has occasionally been criticized as appearing to some observers to be a confusing mixture of New Covenant Christianity and Old Covenant Judaism. Like me, you have probably known one or two fellow church members who have, over the years, become so engrossed by things Jewish that they have almost come to be pseudo-jews. Are they right in so doing? Are the Jews really to be emulated? What do they know and understand that we do not? Are they in some respects closer to God than true Christians are? Please consider this interesting question which I received some time ago via Why doesn t the Church of God do as Yeshua {Jesus} instructed and look to the orthodox Jews (scribes and Pharisees) for instruction on the holy days? There is so much confusion in the churches of God, and has been throughout its history, over appointed times. The appointed time of Pentecost after the counting of the omer comes to mind. In this article, I would like to tell you how I answered this lady s interesting question; plus a few other related questions. Should God s church look to the orthodox Jews of today or to the scribes and Pharisees of yesteryear for their instructions regarding the keeping and timing of God s Holy Days? Or for anything else? Did Jesus command us to do so? Which Scripture States This? First of all, I thanked the lady for her note and her question. Then I asked her a question in return. I asked her which scripture or scriptures was she referring to, in which Jesus supposedly instructed us to look to the scribes and Pharisees for their instruction on the keeping of the Holy Days. A few weeks went by and I still did not receive a reply; but this did not surprise me. We often receive questions from people saying that they have heard that that the Bible says this or that, then find on closer inspection, that it does not say any such thing.

2 Matthew 23:1-3 However, I did continue with my reply to the lady. Granting her the benefit of doubt, I suggested to her that perhaps she might have been referring to Jesus words in Matthew 23:1-3: Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not you after their works: for they say, and do not. (Matthew 23:1-3) In subsequent scriptures, Jesus exposes the gross hypocrisy of the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. As Jesus clearly tells us right here, they talked the talk; but they did not walk the walk! Like some ministers today yes, even in some of the branches of God s true church these high ranking Jews may have read accurately from the Holy Scriptures from the Torah and/or the Tanakh; but they did not put what they said verbally into practice practically! They did not practice what they preached! Jesus tells us two things here, quite clearly. Firstly that, rather than emulating the works of the scribes and the Pharisees, we must conform to their words; but, of course, only as they conform to His words the Word s words! The apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6; 26:5; Philippians 3:5), understood and taught this very same concept: Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. (I Corinthians 11:1) Yes, we may follow Paul s words; but only as far as they agree with the words of our Saviour. The New King James Version renders this verse as follows: Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. We are to be followers of and imitators of Christ and His apostles who followed His lead; not of the scribes and Pharisees! Page 2 of 6

3 Secondly, Jesus implies that by following the words of the Pharisees, but not their deeds, we will be doing much better that they did! In an earlier verse, He solidifies this implication by telling us that the righteousness of His brothers and sisters must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees: For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20) Is this a salvation issue? Yes, it most certainly is! The One who knows these details better than any other says that, if our righteousness does not exceed theirs, we will have no chance of entering into God s Kingdom. We in God s church are to look primarily to His written Word for our instructions. Yes, after this first priority we may examine true history, science, and reliable world news sources; but we are not told to look the Jews whether orthodox or unorthodox and certainly not to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of Jesus human lifetime. Why not? Because, God s Word clearly warns us that, in so many of their beliefs and teachings, rather than looking to the inviolably true written Word of God, they were guided by the Tradition of the Elders, the Talmud, the Mishnah. But what are the Talmud and the Mishnah? Are they not Holy Scripture on a par with the Torah and the Tanakh? No, they are not! The Torah or Pentateuch is a collective term for the first five books of the Holy Bible, inspired by God and written, we believe, by Moses. The Tanakh or Masoretic Text refers to the whole inspired Hebrew Bible (which, of course, includes the five books of the Torah). Most Christians refer to the Tanakh, somewhat inaccurately, as the Old Testament. There are disagreements amongst certain Jewish sects and scholars as to the valid inclusion of certain of its books. The Talmud and the Mishnah, however, are not inspired scripture. They are codifications of the Traditions of the Elders human opinions. The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history. The Mishnah is the first major written redaction (edited version) of the Jewish oral traditions. The discussion, recording and editing of these humanly devised ideas was part of the scribes job and this was likely what brought them under Jesus ire. Page 3 of 6

4 But what about these verses?... What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. (Romans 3:1-2) Here Paul states that the oracles of God were committed to entrusted to the Jews. But just what are the oracles of God? Charles Whitaker covers this question in excellent detail in this article: But briefly, the four New Testament appearances of the word oracles were all translated from the Greek noun logion, which is a collective term referring to the entire revelation of God to His people. God s oracles include His inspired Holy Scriptures. At the time of the four mentions of this word in the writings of Luke, Peter and Paul (as well as the author of Hebrews if it was not Paul), this term referred only to the Tanakh the Old Testament scriptures. Here, for your interest, are the other three of the four New Testament appearances of this word: This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us. (Acts 7:38) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12) If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (I Peter 4:11) Page 4 of 6

5 But again, to what extent are true Christians bound to adhere to the detailed ideas of Jews most of whom do not even recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah and whom Jesus sharply criticized for placing their own humanly-devised traditions above God s holy Word and His commandments?: Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour your father and your mother ; and, He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God Then he need not honour his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. (Matthew 15:1-6) Despite what Paul wrote in Romans 3:2, the Old Testament scriptures do not belong to the Jews. When he wrote, To them were committed the oracles of God, Paul means only that the Jews are responsible for the accurate transmission of those oracles throughout history; not that they apply only to Jews or that Jews exclusively possess them in some way. One example of the Jews commitment for God s oracles is their responsibility to preserve His sacred calendar i.e. the months and the days so that His Holy Days may be accurately calculated. In this they appear to have done quite well. However, when it comes to the actual determination of when God s Holy Days should be kept, their record rather poor. For example, the Jews observe the Passover on Abib 15 when God repeatedly commanded that it must be kept on Abib 14. Also, they keep some Holy Days on two days when only one was commanded by God. It is interesting that, during Jesus human lifetime, it was the Sadducees not the Pharisees who ruled the temple and the religious life of the people. As we have seen, the Pharisees accent was on the oral law, the Traditions of the Elders including the Talmud and the Mishnah. Although according to Jesus words, the Sadducees were still far from perfect and deserving of just criticism, they did at least rely on the written scriptures more so than did their Pharisee brethren. Page 5 of 6

6 These details become significant in our studies of the correct determination of the timing of the Holy Days, especially of the Wave Sheaf Offering day and the Feast of Pentecost. To this very day, the Jews doctrines continue to be bogged down in questionable tradition some ancient, some more modern. They follow their own traditions rather than the true, holy, written Word of God. Jesus and His apostles clearly taught us that we must break free from erroneous, unfounded traditions; that we must hold on to His oracles His holy, written Word; that we must hold on to true faith once delivered; that the holy scriptures cannot be broken; and that not one iota will pass from His Holy Word and law until the day when all will be fulfilled. And although we might be getting close, that day has not yet dawned. John Plunkett Building Bridges, Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada February 25, 2011 Page 6 of 6