So in Judaism disregarding
or rejecting the oral law is like getting an instruction manual, cutting it in
half and throwing one half away. You simply wouldn't be able to understand
how everything should work.
The written Torah (the
first five books of the Bible) is part of the most well distributed text in
history and available to everyone, but the oral Torah was transmitted from
teacher to student generation after generation from the time of Moses. It
wasn't until the danger of losing the oral law became a distinct possibility,
that the oral instructions were written down.
In, the first century,
however, there was no Mishna to open up. The oral instructions were known in the
Jewish community, but unknown outside of it.
In Romans 3:1 Paul
asks the Question:
What advantage then
has the Jew?
He then answers:
Much in every way:
chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Paul recognizes the
importance of the Oral Law, which God gave exclusively to the Jewish people.
The early
believers viewed God’s word and His laws as an authority of goodness and
truth. It is through the
keeping of God’s laws that we find true freedom.
I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it is true.
When God lead
the children of Israel out “of bondage,” what did He do? He gave them
His laws. His laws
(instructions) are our source of freedom. Imagine a society without laws.
In a society in which everyone does whatever they want to do, will