The Stumbling Block
A man does not fully understand the words of the Torah until he has come to grief over them. Babylonian Talmud, Gitten 43a
Come to grief – Rabbi Huna commented with these words when he acknowledged his own error in interpretation concerning a debate over the conditions of betrothal. Rabbi Huna called for a public mediator who said, “This stumbling-block is under thy hand.” The account in the Talmud reveals two rather amazing facts. First, of course, is the idea that the full appreciation of the Torah comes only after one has been tripped by its words (the statement of R. Huna is literally, “has been tripped over them”). If this is true, then Torah cannot be merely a set of ethical principles or moral regulations. It must be a deeply personal encounter with God’s view of life in this world. We have often noted that the Bible is confrontational, not devotional. God’s words demand response. They stand in front of us, implacable, relentless, uncompromising. We either stand upon them or we fall over them. Unfortunately, most of us fall, attempting to circumvent their requirements. As R. Huna notes, until we encounter the words of the Lord as individual ultimatums, we haven’t engaged the enemy – ourselves.
Notice now the other implication. The public mediator in this story reveals that Torah is the stumbling block. Since this rabbinic account would have been known to rabbi Sha’ul, we should pay close attention to the metaphor. Sha’ul picks up this theme from the prophets and applies it to Yeshua. Yeshua is the stumbling block. The Hebrew word mikshol is given a new reference (Romans 11:9, 14:13; 1 Corinthians 1:23). Consider the Talmud’s comment in light of Sha’ul’s application. Sha’ul draws an equivalence between Yeshua and Torah. Yeshua is the living embodiment of Torah. He is the “word made flesh,” as John would later claim. Those who have not been tripped by Him have not encountered the demand of YHWH. Yeshua is the most personal, most demanding, most confrontational manifestation of YHWH’s involvement with men. There is no way around Him; no way to bypass Him. Every man must decide, “What do I do about Yeshua?”
Of course, if the rabbis notice that the Torah is a stumbling block that cannot be fully understood until one falls, and if Yeshua is the living Torah, then it is utter stupidity to suggest that committing myself to Yeshua means the Torah no longer applies to me. Sha’ul’s use of mikshol is just one more example of the fallacy of such a theology. Torah is Yeshua. You can’t have the Son without the Word. But you can certainly trip over either.
Topical Index: Torah, mikshol, stumbling block, Rabbi Huna, Talmud Gitten 43a
To read this section of the Babylonia Talmud, click here. http://www.come-and-hear.com/gittin/gittin_43.html
All of us, without exception, want to ‘do right’. Its hardwired. Even the most hardened sinner is not ‘naturally’ sinning. They are rebelling, which is an acknowledgement of the knowledge that they are not lined up correctly with reality, and they know it. Torah, being the very definition of right, is what we all want to do, if we are honest with ourselves. When we fail to line up with reality correctly, we are ashamed, and want to hide and grieve. Denial is the first stage of grief. I think most people on this planet are stuck in that first stage. The claim that Torah no longer applies to us is classic denial. We don’t want to admit we screwed up.
Denial is a form of insanity. Sin is the action of insanity. We choose to go crazy to avoid admitting we are wrong. Fear is always the dominant condition of insanity. Denial, then, is the source of most of our fear. If you want to stop the panic every morning at three a.m. or the constant low grade stress, turn around and admit you made a mistake. Its that simple. If you get curious at that point about exactly what mistake, I would suggest a Book….
Hi Laurita and others, Amein to what you said! I think of two verses and am thankful for two verses of Scripture that have been points where before God I admit my mistakes and He restores me in His time and manner. They are II Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:12. Torah instructs and corrects. The approach is described in the Hebrews reference. Praise God Almighty for the desire constant in you, and other believers in Yeshua- to be knocked down, not knocked out by God and His Word/Torah.
David R
But Laurita, if most people are eating on that Greek cake Skip talks about, then not waking up at 3 a.m. with a panic attack is just not gonna happen in my mind. I had to let go of a lot of what I was being told by family extend that out to community and culture I’m living in before mybpanic attacks stopped!
You know, Pam, I have been there, too. We need to have validation from our families and communities. We were made that way, and that is not wrong. I think the problem may come in when we neglect, or don’t know how to, grow on up; spiritually speaking. A child needs morality defined for them in the context of those in authority around them. An adult participates directly in that moral forum themselves, and is willing and able to shoulder their part of the resultant responsibility for the application of said morals.
I think we subconsciously may continue to attempt to shift the burden of that responsibility after we grow up off onto others, when instead that horizontal pattern we learned as children needs to be directly applied more vertically. I need to firmly establish my sense of obligation towards heaven first, before I try to fulfill any of it anywhere else. This shift in my understanding was absolutely fundamental to being able to stop my own panic and stress caused by looking to others in the places I should have had my eyes on heaven.
Laurita, Can I say some have been short-circuited, to detract from doing right? Like by some not so well-versed/ researched in the culture, context, nor Hebraic mindset theological teachers? Shalom!
“What do I do about Yeshua?” An excellent question, but more on point, might well be the question: “What have we done with and or to Yeshua and His mission?” What have we turned God’s Messiah into? In today’s reality, do we take Yeshua for the Torah/Word made flesh or is He more of the, you’ll pardon me, ‘the candy man”, the ‘ticket-master’ for salvation. Is He our way ‘out of here’ to some blissful existence in someplace we have come to call ‘heaven’, which is, we know not where. The ‘faith’, since the death of the generation or two that really knew Yeshua, has ‘packaged’ Yeshua for one purpose and for one end. My personal salvation. End of story. Accordingly, Yeshua drew breath for that end and that end only. It’s all about the ‘I’ in me. NT Wright teases that salvation is important, but it’s not the most important thing that God is doing. Now what might that be? Latch onto that answer and you may well discover, that God is up to a whole lot more then my personal salvation. I want to be part of what God is doing in and for the whole Cosmos. And remember, too much ‘sugar’ can be toxic.
I so agree with you, but would add you can’t give away what you haven’t got.. And say we need more Skips’ around. 🙂 I love me some sugar, thoigh!
You can do what I do, and I am a pretty broken person, so I’m not sure the world can handle more than one of me. In fact, virtually everyone who has been seared by Torah can do the stuff that I do. All I do is follow this winding path and write about the way it twists and turns. But thanks for the compliment.
Your welcome, Skip. Oh, I now have it myself. Thank you very much. Don’t mind if I do say so. I am grateful every day!
David. Just a thought Ezekiel prophesied that YHVH states it is a concern that He is on our tongues but far from our kidneys. Skip reminded us numerous times it is not what we believe but rather how we believe – faith walk in Yeshua not faith walk repeating Yeshia. As Isaiah said God holds two things against us… We left Him the living fountain to make water bowls that keep no water…
“…it is utter stupidity to suggest that committing myself to Yeshua means the Torah no longer applies to me”, when he is the living, talking Torah, as we should also be as “word made flesh”, though not yet fully “ripened”/ matured / manifested.
On the contrary, Torah applies even more so in our lives /lifestyles, more crucial, IF so we desire to mature as Sons and Daughters of YHWH to deliver
יָשַׁע yasha , to save , be as saviours, messiahs, and be moshiach /anointed.
(“messiah” comes from the Hebrew word moshiach, which simply means “an anointed one.”)
“You can’t have the Son without the Word.” Not in any way. We are begotten through the Word. Amein.