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if you read through the torah you will
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find some verses that appear pretty
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awful
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the death penalty is applied for minor
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offenses
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or things that don't seem worthy of
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death to us
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israelites are allowed to keep slaves
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and women are not on an equal level with
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men
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skeptics often bring up these verses to
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show there are horrible things permitted
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in the bible
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so the word of god contains some pretty
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immoral ideas
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but seeking to defend the bible
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christians often attempt to offer
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explanations
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for why we are misunderstanding these
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passages based on the cultural context
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or what the original hebrew meant but
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then skeptics
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often reply that it is the christians
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who are misunderstanding
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what the passages are saying so
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as a christian i propose a compromise
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let's just say the skeptics are right
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the torah does contain numerous passages
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that contain immoral ideas but also
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god admits the torah was never meant to
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be a perfect moral code
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to begin i want to point out this is
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part two of a series
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so much of what i say here will be
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building on this previous video
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where we point out the torah was not a
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prescriptive law code
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or legislation it was more akin to
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didactic wisdom literature
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and was set up as a suzerain treaty
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but why would god still allow the torah
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to contain verses
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that appear to be okay with slavery or
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treating women as second-class citizens
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well we need to remember the bible
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implies in many places
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that the torah was not a perfect moral
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code from god
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it contained concessions for
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stiff-necked israel and god even admits
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this
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first in matthew 19 the pharisees come
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and attempt to trick jesus
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by asking him a question about the law
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of divorce
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they ask why moses allowed them to give
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a certificate of divorce
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and send their wives away but jesus
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replies
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because of your hardness of heart moses
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allowed you to divorce your wives
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but from the beginning it was not so
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this is a very important point made by
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jesus
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the law of divorce only existed because
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the hearts of the ancient israelites
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were hard
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god only allowed this for the time being
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because israel was not at a point yet
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where they could be given more ethical
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marriage guidelines
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considering scholars no tutorial was to
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be understood holistically
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and not as individual sections this
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implies some of what is in the torah
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was included due to a compromise between
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god and israel
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and this can be seen in other places as
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well
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in 1st samuel 8 the people approach
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samuel and demand that israel be allowed
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to have a king
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instead of being led by god directly
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god warns that this is a bad idea but
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allows it anyway and gives israel a king
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besides god himself remember that the
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torah
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functions as stipulations of a suzerain
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treaty where god was seen as their king
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and ruler
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by allowing an earthly king to mediate
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between him and israel
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god allowed the covenant to be modified
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between israel and himself
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but based on input from israel
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so although god was in charge the
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stipulations of the covenant
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were not entirely from god if he
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approved
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he allowed the people of israel to
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modify the covenant
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even if god preferred another way
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likewise in numbers 27 we see members of
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israel
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offering changes to the torah and
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getting them approved
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the daughters of zelophehad point out
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their father had no male heir
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and do not want the inheritance taken
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away from them
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and given to one of his brothers they
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bring this issue to moses and god allows
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this teaching to go into the torah
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so not everything we see in the torah
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was directly given by god
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he allowed israel to include teachings
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they saw fit with his permission
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additionally god implicitly admits the
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failure of the existing law among the
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israelites
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it was not providing justice for these
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daughters so god suggests the need for
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the rules
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and the wisdom of the torah to be
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updated when justice was not being
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obtained for the people of israel
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this is the most explicit passage when
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it comes to an example of updating the
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torah
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but we can see it in other places for
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example
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richard averbeck draws attention to
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deuteronomy 15
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which updates and revises stipulations
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found in exodus 21
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concerning the treatment of slaves he
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says
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it simply adds a feature to the law that
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is in keeping with the theology of
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deuteronomy
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yes there is revision here but not
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subversion
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so the evidence suggests the
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stipulations of the torah could be
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revised
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and expanded upon when justice was not
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being achieved
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so from these passages we get the
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implication the torah
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was not a perfect moral law given by god
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it was put together as a compromise
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with a stubborn people it could be
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modified in ways that god did not
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initially want
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or could be modified for just reasons
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and some of the passages
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come from requests by israelites
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now because israel was a high context
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society it is not always stated
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if god approved of each passage or if he
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was allowing something to be included
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to compromise with israel but these
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three passages i highlighted
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imply the torah as a whole contained
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concessions for israel
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included things god didn't want and was
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put together with input from israel
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which essentially means the biblical
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texts admit the torah was never meant to
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establish god's ideal moral system
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the torah was a temporary guardian meant
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to provide wisdom from god
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on how to properly live and represent
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god to the cultural world
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of the ancient near east it was supposed
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to teach israel
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to trust and depend on the lord what it
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would look like to be a holy people
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within their cultural background
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and some things that would be pleasing
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to a holy god
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it was not laying down a universal moral
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code humanity was not ready for such a
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revelation yet
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nor could we even work our way to
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righteousness so god established the
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torah to be our guardian for the time
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and to point to a need for something
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greater to come
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some might try to cite psalm 19 7 which
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in the english reads
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the law of the lord is perfect
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well first off we need to be careful
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with interpreting psalms literally
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as they typically contain a high amount
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of metaphors and hyperbole
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second the word we translate as perfect
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doesn't really carry the same
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connotations
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as the english word perfect this is the
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same word used to describe noah
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yet the bible doesn't teach that noah
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was without sin
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or had the literal sense of the english
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word perfection
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john golden gay translates this verse as
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the lord's teaching
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has integrity in other words it promotes
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a good life
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alan ross comments on this verse and
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notes that basically what it is saying
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is
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the law is sound consistent unimpaired
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and genuine
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in other words the law of the lord has
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divine integrity
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and its effect on people is that it
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restores life
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so the verse is essentially teaching the
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torah is something good and has
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integrity
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but it doesn't really carry the same
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meaning as utter perfection
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again the psalms tend to use hyperbole
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in poetic language
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not necessarily teach literal facts
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notice we're not saying that because the
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torah was not a perfect moral code
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that it was necessarily bad we are
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simply noting that torah
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was not meant to be universal moral
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legislation and it was cultural wisdom
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for that time and place in other words
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it was perfect for where the people were
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spiritually in that time and place
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within that culture but not meant to be
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moral wisdom or rules for all people or
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all cultures
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now the question might arise as to why
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god couldn't just make israel better
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by giving them an ideal moral code right
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away
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well probably for the same reason we
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wouldn't expect a sociopath
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to be able to run an orphanage unless we
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somehow removed his free will
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people and societies need time to
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progress towards a more virtuous way of
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thinking
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if you expect too much at first from a
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depraved mind
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you're actually more likely to hinder
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them instead of helping them progress to
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a better place
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the implication in the bible is the
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cultures of the ancient near east
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had become so corrupt that comprehending
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an ideal moral code
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would have been practically impossible
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israel was selected to be a light to
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these nations
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to hopefully help in bringing them a
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step closer to god
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israel herself also is not ready to
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fully represent the ideal life god
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desired
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however god could offer a culturally
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situated system
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to be the first stepping stone in
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bringing humanity back towards him
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this would be analogous to a parent
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working with their young child
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you may want your kid to eat all their
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vegetables and watch less tv
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but as a parent you might understand
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kids just aren't mature enough for this
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yet
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so we compromise let them have something
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they like
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in exchange for their cooperation in
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eating something good for them
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attempting to force too many strict
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roles in high expectations
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will only result in utter misery and
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little to no results
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in fact often when parents are too
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strict and demanding
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it can often make their kids worse off
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instead of helping them
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likewise israel and most of the planet
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was simply not ready for a perfect moral
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law from god
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so god used the torah as a stepping
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stone in revealing himself to humanity
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without removing significant human
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freedom
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so we don't need to defend the torah as
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if god intended
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for it to be an ideal moral system john
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walton puts it like this
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torah is not given as an ideal system
00:10:19
[Music]
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it is a culturally situated system
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what would bring enhancement to the
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reputation of yahweh
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among the nations of the ancient near
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east
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that explains why we do not find in the
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torah
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any discussion of you know is it a good
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thing to have slaves
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those aren't issues on the table in the
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ancient world
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and torah is not going to deal with them
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it's not presenting an ideal
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system it's telling them how to live in
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the system that exists in their day
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there's no discussion about whether
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democracy might be a more humane
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government than monarchy we talked about
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this some yesterday
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there's no discussion whether patriarchy
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and male
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domination is is a sensible thing that's
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how it was in the ancient world
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god wasn't trying to
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create a new social system for them
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he was trying to tell them how to live
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without reproach
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in the systems that existed
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so we don't have to worry about the slam
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against christianity and against the
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bible
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oh a god who condones slavery a god who
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condones
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you know the the submission of women
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the god who does this or that he's
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working in a culture
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not in an ideal world
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we also need to point out the new
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testament also doesn't treat the torah
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as an ideal system
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christians are not commanded to keep the
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torah as if it was prescriptive law
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some might attempt to cite matthew 5 17
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where jesus said he didn't come to
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abolish the law
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but to fulfill it but j daniel hayes
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reminds us
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the antithesis is not between abolish
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and observe
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but between abolish and fulfill the word
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to fulfill
00:12:20
occurs numerous times in matthew and it
00:12:22
normally means
00:12:23
to bring to its intended meaning jesus
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was not stating that the law
00:12:28
is eternally binding on new testament
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believers
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jesus was constantly trying to explain
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how the pharisees had misunderstood the
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purpose of the torah
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it was not meant to be prescriptive law
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or the rules for god's ideal system
00:12:43
it was meant to demonstrate how sinful
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humanity was
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and to point to the need for something
00:12:48
greater to come as jesus said in john 5
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39
00:12:52
you search the scriptures because you
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think that in them you have eternal life
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and it is they that bear witness about
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me
00:13:00
in the sermon on the mount jesus points
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out righteousness
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goes beyond just keeping certain laws
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but having your heart in the right place
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jesus demonstrates how just following
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the prescriptions of the torah
00:13:12
fall from the righteousness that god
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actually demands
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so for christians the torah was meant to
00:13:18
be fulfilled in something greater
00:13:20
not be an ideal moral system
00:13:24
jesus even says in matthew 5 that
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nothing will pass from the torah
00:13:28
until all is accomplished or fulfilled
00:13:31
implying that once it was fulfilled
00:13:33
it would pass away and that is what we
00:13:35
see in scripture
00:13:36
in john 19 john records to jesus knowing
00:13:39
that all was now finished
00:13:41
said to fulfill the scriptures i thirst
00:13:44
then jesus said it is finished then
00:13:47
hebrews 7 8
00:13:48
teaches that jesus has set up a better
00:13:50
covenant and then the authors point out
00:13:52
and speaking of a new covenant he makes
00:13:54
the first one obsolete
00:13:56
and what is becoming obsolete and
00:13:58
growing old is ready to vanish away
00:14:02
so the torah is not prescriptive law for
00:14:04
christians
00:14:05
paul and jesus point out what christians
00:14:07
are commanded to do is to believe in
00:14:09
jesus
00:14:10
love god and love others the new
00:14:12
testament teaches that torah
00:14:14
serve the purpose of preparing humanity
00:14:16
for this covenant under christ
00:14:18
it does not teach the torah was god's
00:14:20
ideal moral system
00:14:22
but merely a stepping stone pointing to
00:14:24
something better to come
00:14:25
and demonstrating the depravity humanity
00:14:27
had fallen into
00:14:30
paul even says the purpose of the torah
00:14:32
was to increase sin
00:14:34
as nt wright explains the point was to
00:14:36
teach us that we needed to be safe from
00:14:38
our sins
00:14:39
through the grace of god the torah
00:14:41
demonstrated humanity
00:14:43
not be holy through our actions and
00:14:44
thoughts and in trying to properly live
00:14:46
the life
00:14:47
tour laid out we would fail and sin even
00:14:49
more
00:14:51
god provided a covenant which was a
00:14:52
compromise and israel could not even
00:14:54
properly live by it
00:14:57
instead the torah demonstrated how
00:14:59
sinful humanity was
00:15:00
and how incapable we are living in a way
00:15:02
that would have pleased god
00:15:04
so the torah served its purpose in
00:15:06
showing that israel could not live in
00:15:08
accordance with it
00:15:09
in the need for a better covenant based
00:15:11
on grace to take its place
00:15:14
the torah was merely our guardian laying
00:15:17
the groundwork for something better
00:15:18
not an ideal system that got established
00:15:22
so we don't need to pretend everything
00:15:24
in the toro is necessarily morally good
00:15:27
the biblical texts do not state this and
00:15:29
teach that it was culturally situated
00:15:31
and would be fulfilled one day so when
00:15:33
confronted by verses in the torah that
00:15:35
seem unethical
00:15:36
there is no need to try to rationalize
00:15:38
them to make them sound better
00:15:40
instead simply point out what the torah
00:15:42
was and that god never intended
00:15:44
for it to be an ideal moral code
00:16:06
you
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