Today’s Orthodox Jews are Talmudic Jews in contrast to
Biblical Jews. This means that they esteem the Talmud - a vast collection of
ancient rabbinic writings compiled around 550 AD - above all other writings,
even Scripture.
The Talmudic writings represent a departure from the Hebrew
Scriptures in many ways. It has also superseded the Scriptures, according to its
own statements. For example:
·
"Those who devote themselves to reading the
Bible exercise a certain virtue, but not very much; those who study the
Mischnah exercise virtue for which they will receive a reward; those, however,
who take upon themselves to study the Gemarah exercise the highest
virtue." (Babha Metsia, fol. 33a)
·
"The Sacred Scriptures is like water, the
Mischnah wine, and the Gemarah aromatic wine. (Sopherim XV, 7, fol. 13b)
·
"He who transgresses the words of the
scribes sins more gravely than the transgressors of the words of the law."
(Sanhedrin X, 3, f.88b)
Not only does this constitute adding to the Law, something
that God had forbidden (Deut. 4:2; 12:32), it also involved replacing the Law -
something that Moses had warned repeatedly against. Isaiah had denounced Israel
for teaching commandments of men in place of those of God:
·
Isaiah 29:13-14 And the Lord said: “Because this
people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their
hearts are far from me, and their [faithfulness] fear of me is a commandment
taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this
people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
Regarding “commandment taught by men,” the Talmud teaches
many things counter to what is found in the Scriptures. For example, it teaches
the superiority of the Jew, something that Moses had repeatedly warned against
believing:
·
Deuteronomy 9:4, 6 “Do not say in your heart,
after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my
righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it
is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out
before you… Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good
land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”
Moses also warned our people to not take credit for their
successes:
·
Deuteronomy 8:17-19 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power
and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it
is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that
he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go
after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today
that you shall surely perish.
Sadly, our people have gone after a very different god – a Talmudic
invention. Instead of being the light to the world, we have covered it with the
darkness of the Talmud. And the dreadful promised consequences have continually
followed. Moses warned that we would be hated by the world. This prophecy has
become a persistent fact of history, always accompanied by the disobedience of
our people in turning from Scripture.
Jesus attempted to turn Israel back to their G-d. However,
He observed that there was no way that they would hear Him since they even
refused to believe Moses (John 5:44-47).
Meanwhile, the greatness and restoration of the Jewish
nation has always accompanied a return to our G-d. (Adherence to the Talmud has
only brought despair and dispersion.) God built Israel into a great nation
because of the faithfulness of King David. This greatness continued through
much of Solomon’s reign. It was restored, in great measure, under the faithful
reigns of the great kings of Judah - Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. All
of these kings had revived Israel by returning to the very Words of God and not
to the traditions of the elders or to their learned rabbis.
Even the modern rebirth of Israel had nothing to do with the
Talmud. Instead, the Talmud has been a blight upon our people. Yet our G-d
promises that He will open the eyes of disobedient Israel:
·
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the
house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for
mercy, so that, when they look on me [Jesus], on him whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly
over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
What does our G-d require of us? Return:
·
Jeremiah 3:12-13 “Return, faithless Israel,”
declares the Lord. “I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful,
declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God.”
How are we to return to God? By returning to His Word as the
ancient Kings of Judah had done. For example, King Josiah was notified by Hilkiah
the priest that he had found “the Book of the Law of the LORD given through
Moses” (2 Chronicles 34:14). Evidently, it had been missing for so long that no
one noticed its absence until it was found.
The godly King Josiah immediately understand the importance
of this Book and directed the priest:
·
“Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those
who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has
been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us,
because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all
that is written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:21)
How did the Lord respond? Did He agree with Josiah’s
sentiments?
·
Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring
disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are
written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have
forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me
to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured
out on this place and will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent
you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the
God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was
tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this
place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have
torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.
(2 Chronicles 34:24-27)
According to the Lord, when Josiah had humbled himself
before the Lord it was the same thing as honoring the seriousness of His Words, the very thing that the
rabbis fail to do.
According to the prophecies of Jeremiah, the Prophet Daniel
knew that the time of Israel’s return to their promised land was approaching
along with another chance to prove their faithfulness to God’s Words, His
covenant. He, therefore in love, confessed the sins of Israel before the Lord:
·
We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly
and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not
listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings,
our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O
Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men
of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are
near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven
them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. (Daniel
9:5-7)
We too must never sugar-coat sin by disregarding God’s Words
or by placing our traditions on equal footing with Scripture, as the Pharisees
of Jesus’s day continued to do. However, Jesus denounced them, quoting Isaiah:
·
“…So for the sake of your tradition you have
made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you,
when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of
men.’” (Matthew 15:6-9)
I grieve that little has changed today among Talmudic
Orthodox Jews. May God here our prayers!
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