Book Review: Reading Moses Seeing Jesus
Part of what convinced me of the truth of Christianity was the solid foundation of history surrounding it. In fact, our very own A Clear Lens crew has written extensively on the historicity of the Gospel (here, here and here).
It wasn't long after committing my life to Christ that I started to receive questions regarding Christianity and the Old Testament Laws. Back then, I really didn't have any good answers and it often seems that some fellow Christians have a rough time navigating this same question. What exactly is the Christian's relationship to the Laws in the Old Testament?Our very own Nate Sala wrote a great piece answering the question "Should Christians Obey Old Testament Laws". In "Reading Moses, Seeing Jesus", the question of a believer's relationship to the law is explored and we are given a Jewish believer's perspective on the relationship between believers in Yeshua/Jesus and the Law.
Summary
The book was published last year and written by native-born, Israeli-Jewish believers: Seth Postell, an Academic Dean at One For Israel's Bible College; Eitan Bar, One For Israel's Direction of Media and Evangelism; and Erez Soref President for One for Israel. These authors present the material in a fresh and easy-to-understand way. The book itself isn't terribly long, coming in at only 126 pages. Yet, it is packed from cover-to-cover with great information that will not only help believers get a better understanding of our relationship to the Torah (or, the Law) but it also helps believers become more effective in Jewish evangelism.
Key Points
Postell et al. begin by explaining that the Torah anticipates law-breaking. In fact, as the authors write, "...the Law was never a goal in and of itself, but rather it prescribed a system of worship that was divinely intended to point people to the Messiah." And goes on to state, "...In the conclusion of the Torah, Moses prophesies that Israel will assuredly repeat Adam's story by breaking the Sinai Covenant and being exiled. (Deut. 30:1.)"
The authors take time to lay out a sort of "before and after" picture, walking readers through the narrative to Mount Sinai and their journey from Mount Sinai. They write, "...While Israel behaves in much the same way before and after the Law is given, the consequences of their actions are strikingly different...prior to the giving of the Law, none of the Israelites are put to the death when they sin against God and/or Moses. Many thousands, however, are put to death for the same offenses once they receive the Law."
Ultimately, as the authors state,
"The Law, like a guardian or a tutor, was added because of Israel's transgression in order to protect them from the dangers and consequences of sin and unbelief until the Messiah comes. Now that the Messiah has come and made a new covenant, we (all followers of Yeshua) are no longer under the authority of the tutor."
Recommendation
Anyone interested in the subject (or anyone who wishes to have a better understanding of our relationship to the Torah) should absolutely pick up this book! It's an easy read and written in an engaging way. They clearly show that, ultimately, faith is what God wants from us and that the Torah points beyond itself to the Messiah: Yeshua/Jesus.
