Its important to recognize something that often gets overlooked in both respective Christian and Messianic circles, and that is that the Talmud or Oral traditions are NOT the same as the Law or Commands of God. I see this pop up from time to time and more so recently that "the Jews have been keeping torah for a long time therefore they must be doing it right". A history of the reasons for Jewish migration from the Land should tell people that they haven't always been doing it right. That isn't anti-semitic to say, that is just Historical fact. Solomon had an issue with mixing pagan customs with belief. It it wasn't a concern, then why was it warned against.
For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. 12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. -- Titus 1
Since rebellious talkers and deceivers of the circumcision who teach Jewish myths and commandments of men are to be avoided, Why do so many hold to the Talmud which is the commandments of men that contain Jewish myths?
When we look at passages like this:
Matt 15: Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men...we can clearly see the distinction between God's Law and the Commands/ Traditions of Men.
A major issue in the development of Jewish law concerning vows is the
possible conflict between keeping a vow and keeping the commandments of the
written Torah. Evidence from the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, Philo, and
archaeological information indicates that prior to the first century AD negative
vows that affected others were already being made. Mark 7:9-13 shows that, in
the first century CE, a son could make a vow using the term qorban and prohibit
his parents from receiving support from him. Even though such a vow violated
the fifth commandment, some Jewish teachers upheld such a vow, perhaps
because of the biblical teaching on the inviolability of vows.
When ever I bring up the point from scripture that these written opinions are not to be equated with the Word of God, someone gets offended that I would dare say that... but you know what, The word says it too in the same chapter of Matthew 15 as we were reading before :
Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”The Messiah's rebuke of the teaching and ways of these men did not stop at calling them blind, it went further in Matthew 23
4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 8 But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 34 “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
That is not polite dinner conversation there. That is the sharpest rebuke. The Savior of humanity is saying of these men that are revered and esteemed as wise and righteous teachers that they are blind fools. These men who have houses of disciples are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Luke 6
The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.
Luke 11
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54 plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.
Does this descriptor not fit those that write in the Talmud as follows:
On (Sabbath eve and) the eve of Passover, Jesus the Nazarene was hanged and a herald went forth before him forty days heralding, "Jesus the Nazarene is going forth to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and instigated and seduced Israel to idolatry. Whoever knows anything in defense may come and state it." But since they did not find anything in his defense they hanged him on (Sabbath eve and) the eve of Passover.
Ulla said: "Do you suppose that Jesus the Nazarene was one for whom a defense could be made? He was a mesit (someone who instigated Israel to idolatry), concerning whom the Merciful [God] says: Show him no compassion and do not shield him (Deut. 13:9). With Jesus the Nazarene it was different. For he was close to the government.
This is big stuff. Even in the smaller stuff there is just, well made up things. I recently encountered a discussion about Abraham where he has an encounter with "3 Angels" in Genesis. I personally believe that this is an example of Yeshua appearing in the O.T. but that is a separate topic. This is what the "Rabbi" had to say about this passage
The Torah recounts that three angels appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18:2). Later, only two angels go down to Sodom. What happened to the third angel? And what is the significance of three versus two?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:
Although the Torah does not mention the names of the angels that went to visit Abraham, the Talmud tells us they were Raphael, Michael and Gabriel. (Bava Metzia 86b)
Throughout most of their interaction, the Torah does not refer to them on an individual basis, but rather as a group, as it is written, "[Abraham] stood over THEM beneath the tree and THEY ate. [Afterwards,] THEY said to him..." (Genesis 18:8-9)
There are, however, instances in which the angels act as individuals. For example, only the angel Michael told Sarah that she was going to have a baby (Genesis 18:10). In Sodom, only the angel Raphael told Lot to flee from the city (Genesis 19:17). Similarly, it was only the angel Gabriel that informed Lot that the city was going to be destroyed.
From these verses, we can derive that an angel can only perform one mission: Gabriel's mission was to destroy Sodom; Michael's mission was to inform Sarah that she would give birth in a year's time; Raphael's mission was to heal Abraham and save Lot. (Although Raphael's mission included two tasks, they were considered a single mission since they were both acts that saved people). (Talmud - Bava Metzia 86b, Rashi - Genesis 18:2 and 19:16)
This now helps us understand your question: Why did three angels come to Abraham, but only two go to Lot?
The answer is that since Michael's sole mission was to tell Sarah she would become pregnant, he had no business in Sodom. Therefore, upon leaving Abraham's tent he went back to his post at God's Holy Throne. But Gabriel, who was left with his task of destroying Sodom, and Raphael, who was commanded to save Lot, had not yet finished their tasks, and continued to Sodom. (Rashi - Genesis 19:1 and 9:16)
That would be fascinating if it were not entirely made up. There is absolutely nothing in the text that states that this was Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. It does however say that one of the three is YeHoVaH...
Nothing in the text says anything about Michael or Gabe or Raph. That is a myth. That is a completely made up Jewish Myth being presented as Truth. What does this myth do? It omits the presence of God in this chapter of Abraham's story!!! That is either negligent or nefarious but either way it shouldn't be presented as Truth. Its from this same passage of scripture we can see in Genesis 18:8
He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
Take note, This is Abraham serving the first cheeseburger and a tall glass of Milk to God. Here's the made up Talmud rules
So by adding to scripture they are saying that they have the authority to determine what is or isn't' food. They are asserting that they have the authority to determine what is or isn't clean. They are saying that they have the authority to deem what is Holy and what is not based on their traditions and this is expressly something that the scriptures speak against. What does Paul say about the practice of changing the Word ?
The Talmudic rabbis believed that the biblical text only forbade eating a mixture of milk and meat, but because the biblical regulation is triplicated they imposed three distinct regulations to represent it:
- not cooking meat and milk together (regardless of whether the result was eaten)
- not eating milk and meat together (regardless of whether it was cooked together)
- not benefiting from the mixture in any other way
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!There may be nice fables that sound neat... but they're not scripture. In fact there are lots of FALSE BOOKS out there that should be DISREGARDED . If you have questions on how to keep a command of God, ask around. If you have a pretty good idea that doesn't violate Scripture, go with it until you learn a better way or are convicted. just because sages wrote the book of opinions to create disciples after themselves does not mean that has to be the way it is done.
