Only Shadows? From Creation Gospel Workbook Five, Volume 4, Behaalotkha The seven-branched menorah figures prominently in the Torah portion and haftorah portions. This lamp represents the seven spirits of Adonai as well as the seven assemblies, or moedim, that correspond to each spirit. The foundation underlying all of these is the seven days of Creation, the seven days on which the gospel was spoken, written, and counted into the realms of heaven and earth. Have you ever heard that the Torah offers “only” shadows, but the reality is in Messiah? By this many justify not studying the Torah as Words of Life. Only shadows. This is a faulty proof text as well as a false dilemma. In the presentation of the two concepts, sometimes translators can turn a phrase from the comparison of two complementary ideas to adversarial ones. For instance, if John 1:17 says in some translations that the Torah came through Moses, BUT grace and truth came through Messiah, then the two concepts seem at odds; however, if we more literally translate the two facts, “The Torah came through Moses; grace and truth was fully realized through Messiah,” then the complementary relationship between them is easier to perceive. The Torah came through Moses as a shadow of the grace and truth seen in the incarnate Messiah. The Torah shadowed grace and truth; it was not given as something to divert attention from the reality, but to teach about the reality. In a classroom, one learns the textbook instructions. Once the foundational precepts are mastered, then the class can move to hands-on applications of the words. The two methods of learning are not adversarial, but complementary. The textbook study shadows the reality of the future student’s expert skill in independently installing a new transmission or performing a surgery. If we are to understand the foundational work of Mashiach, the Anointed One, the Righteous Branch, the Lamp of Israel, knowing what the shadows know is the due diligence of discipleship. I’m sure those who require brain surgery are hopeful that the surgeon started learning with the textbook instead of a saw!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 13:50:28 +0000
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