The End Of Days
For out of Zion shall go forth Torah and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3
Go Forth – What images come to mind when someone asks you about the end of days? Do you see the great judgment seat of the Lord? Do you see the beast and the woman from Revelation? Or perhaps the seven vials? Do you imagine the rapture, the church removed from the world or legions of angels descending from heaven? All of those apocalyptic images that have been so pervasive in Christian teaching tend to overlook one basic fact concerning the end. Isaiah describes it with the Hebrew verb yatsa’, to go out or come in. The Torah will go out to all the nations of the earth. Did you think of that image? Did you imagine that everyone on earth will become Torah observant at the end of the age? Or does that surprise you?
I had a conversation with a leader from a large Christian organization. I asked him about the organization’s thinking regarding Torah. He explained that while Torah was for the Jews, Gentiles were not called to Torah observance. They were called to the leading of the Spirit under the gospel of grace. He agreed that Torah was not set aside. It just didn’t apply to Gentiles. It was a Jewish thing.
But what am I to do with Isaiah’s statement if Torah is not for me? How am I to understand the proclamation that Torah will become the guide for all living persons at the end of the age if it has application only to Jews? Maybe the answer is that Isaiah was only speaking to the Jews. Maybe Isaiah really didn’t mean that all the nations would come to Zion. Maybe he was confused. What do you think? Did Isaiah get it wrong? Are there really two different ways of living as a follower – one for the Jews and another for the rest of us? When the Torah goes forth from Zion, is it the ethnic version?
For centuries the Church has taught that Torah is Jewish – and Jewish only. Apparently Paul’s exhortation that we Gentiles have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel has no theological importance. Apparently we are free to decide what spiritual guidance we will accept. As the gentleman told me, “It’s an individual matter.” Really? I know it is very popular to treat religious belief as personal and private. The individualism that stands behind this cultural phenomenon is part of the Greek worldview, now thoroughly embedded in our Christian thinking. But it stands in opposition to the biblical view and to the prayer of Yeshua. Do you think he prayed, “That they may be two, equal but separated”? There is one God, one Lord and one Body with one constitution, one government and one Kingdom. Torah is the expression of my opportunity to love Him put into practical everyday actions. It is the gift of His directions about life. When I live Torah, I express His character with my heart and hands. Just as the purpose of marriage is reunion (and proclamation), the purpose of Torah is demonstrated distinctiveness and spiritual magnetism. When Torah goes forth, the whole world will be in alignment with the Greatest Lover of Mankind. So why not live with the end in mind today?
Topical Index: go forth, yatsa’, Torah, end of age, Isaiah 2:3
“So why not live with the end in mind today?”
Interesting ‘Greek’ phrase, Skip! (Sorry, couldn’t resist it! I appreciate what you’re getting at.) Of course, there is no actual ‘end’ in Hebrew thought. By the way, Jews say that there will be a time when there will be no need for mitzvoh (commands/instructions) – i.e. when all the earth is “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk Ch2 v14) Does that mean that Torah will ultimately pass away? No, that would make God a liar; it means that the faithful will be one with God.
I can’t help but associate the evolution theory of the origin of species and replacement theology of much denominational religion similarly.
Psa 14:1 NKJV – To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. THE fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
Mat 7:22 NKJV – “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
Mat 7:23 NKJV – “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
To believe there is no God is foolishness. To believe that YHVH is without judgment according to His established code of righteousness is irrational, and for those who should know better, inexcusable.
“I can’t help but associate the evolution theory of the origin of species and replacement theology of much denominational religion similarly.”
Hi Douglas,
In my view, an argument can be made for evolution theory, eg: we don’t sacrifice babies to fertility gods.
But no argument can be made for replacement theology.
“For centuries the Church has taught that Torah is Jewish.”
In the 19thC, a Reform Jewish Movement concluded that Torah was not only Jewish, but only to be kept within the the nation Israel. Therefore, those living outside that nation were exempt from many of the laws.
Is the real problem the Church? Or is the real problem that people, of whatever religious persuasion, have trouble being told how they should live. See again Ge. 3:5.
“Is the real problem the Church? Or is the real problem that people, of whatever religious persuasion, have trouble being told how they should live. See again Ge. 3:5.”
Hi Ian,
I think you describe two different issues.
1. The Church was part of the ideological State apparatus, which used the Bible to achieve its goals.
It would seem to me that this reengineering of the Torah had to be done by non-Jewish intellectuals in conjunction with Jews, because it was in Hebrew and difficult to understand.
2. I don’t think people mind being told what to do, if what they are told is percieved to be in their best interests.
“reengineering of the Torah” ??
How was this done? Examples?
Hi Ian,
That’s a good question.
I wasn’t very clear even in my own mind after I made the statement.
Technically speaking, I’m not sure how the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin evolved.
But when I think of the Torah I think of “teaching” or “instruction”, or “law” for the Jews.
It is a practical, “rational,” guide for living in this world in alignment with the God of the Jews.
If that was “phase 1,” then in phase 2 we have a religion that looks very different to me.
We can find phase 2, in its most beautiful form, in The Divine Comedy of Dante.
In the The Divine Comedy, we find a tripartite structure of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.
The purpose of life in this new worldview is to get into Heaven and not to end up in Hell.
In Catholicism, the Old Testament is still very important; for example, Moses is key.
You cannot get into Heaven without obeying his 10 commandments and there is just one God.
In short, I guess I was assuming a whole lot of reengineering had to occur.
To start out with the Torah and end of with Catholicism.
And then we have Protestantism, where the focus is on faith, not Law.
Replacement is probably a better term, but it is a new concept to me.
Thanks for the reply. The landscape is muddied, since all groups appear to have inconsistencies somewhere. You might find this article of interest.
http://bit.ly/ceeyxf
I ask again what exactly is the Torah?
Rex George
Hi Rex,
For questions like these, you can go to Google, type “Torah Wiki” an click on Google Search:
The term Torah (Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, “teaching” or “instruction”, or “law”), also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: Πεντάτευχος from πεντα- penta- [five] and τεῦχος teuchos [tool, vessel, book]),
[1] refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism’s founding legal and ethical religious texts.
[2][3] A “Sefer Torah” (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, “book of Torah”) or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment in a formal, traditional manner by a specially trained scribe under strict requirements
I believe that the study of the Bible is not complete without the Hebrew (Torah) perspective. In studying for example, Isaiah 60:1, for the first time I took note of the fact that the “light” is in actuality a reference to the “New Jereusalem” (Ieroso/luma or Hierousalem which is has its origins in the Hebrew.
In verse 3 it says: “…and the Gentiles shall come to thy light (light of the Torah? or Sages?), and kings to the brightnes of thy rising.
I can’t say I am a student of the Hebrew but for many years I obtain deep insights by “portions” at http://www.torah.org (Project Genesis). I believe that to truly taste of the richness of the Bible, a Hebrew perspective is necessary.
This is why I enjoy reading Prof. Skip Moen’s daily word.
Gus
If in fact the Gentile believer is supposed to live under Torah today How then do you explain Galatians 3:24-29 or all of Galatians 3 for that matter for the believer in Christ? It seems to me that this says obey Torah until The Savior comes. Interesting.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26 ¶For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
oops
My comment regarding Isaiah 2:3 should be here 🙂
Michael says:
October 8, 2010 at 11:44 am
Everlasting Peace
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
All the nations will stream to it,
peoples without number will come to it,
and they will say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
to the temple of the God of Jacob
so that he may teach us concerning his ways
and that we may walk in his paths;
since the law will go out from Zion
And the oracle of Yahweh from Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 2:3
Could the passage above be the source of the so-called “utopian vision” of most “dialectical” thinkers in the 20th century?
I think so.
In any case I used Isaiah to make that point when I taught it at UCSD.
Back in the late seventies, I really enjoyed connecting Isaiah 2:3 with the so-called “utopian vision” and the music of Bob Marley.
Bob Marley’s first hit outside Jamaica, “No Woman No Cry,” seemed like pure Spirit to me.
And not long before the end of days, the days in which I had a full time job, I recall a curious coincidence regarding Bob Marley.
I had mentioned a scary scene in the movie Stardust to a coworker and she replied that it was not as scary as “I am Legend.”
It seemed like an odd response, but when I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands, I watched the movie, I am Legend.
The character played by Will Smith is all alone in the world; it is in fact the End of Days.
Although it is a nightmarish view of the world, Will Smith finds comfort in two things.
Walking his dog and listening to the music of Bob Marley.
Excellent Skip!!! Next Year in Jerusalem!