Q. In Rom 7.1-6 doesn’t Paul say that the Law has been done away with when we believe in Jesus?

A. The answer to the question in the question. How can one say that now that I believe in Yeshua I don’t have to keep the commandments! Didn’t Yeshua say the opposite. So if Paul kept the commandments (and he did) then Paul is saying something else here. Here is what I believe he is saying. He assumes his listeners have a knowledge of the Torah (Law) because it is the framework that this passage is understood. The basic scripture for understanding what Paul is saying will be Deut 24.1-4. Paul is going to use the Jewish concept of marriage to teach the spiritual concept that we are free from the condemnation of the Law through our old nature/sin. So, we have characters assigned to this metaphor for this principle to be understood. The woman is a picture of the us, who at one time was “married” to the old nature/sin and it’s impulses. We “obeyed” our “husband” like a good little wife and was subject to “him” (the old nature/sin-Rom 7.1 =“bound”).The problem was he was “killing” us in the ultimate case of spousal abuse. The Torah is like a marriage counselor/manual and has advised us (the woman/wife)of what the problem was and what to do about it. So, in v 4 Paul says that we were made to die to that part of the Torah that condemned us through our old nature/sin (the 1st husband) so that we can be joined (or married)to another husband (the 2nd) who is Yeshua. We are released (divorced=Rom 7.6) from the 1st husband (that part of the Law that condemned us). We can never go back to the 1st husband (condemnation) once we have been divorced from him (Deut 24.1-4). So, the Torah is like a marriage counselor who leads us through this marital crisis. We must leave or die, it’s just that simple. People get angry with the “marriage counselor” (Torah/Law/commandments) for giving good, holy, righteous advice (v12-13) on how to deal with the 1st husband and don’t want to listen. Some will say “I have the Holy Spirit so I am set free from the Law” ,misunderstanding v6. But, the Holy Spirit uses the “marriage counselor/manual “of the written Word of God (Torah) , not away from it. Anyone who says that the Holy Spirit has lead them away from keeping the commandments is deceived at best. Paul goes on in Chapter 7 to describe the struggle within a believer now that she (believer) has “remarried” another (v14-25). The 1st husband (flesh) continues to make demands on his former spouse (us) and sometimes we listen to it do what he (the 1st husband says) which is called sin. But we need to remember that we are “divorced” from him and he (the 1st husband) does not have any rights over us anymore. For example, the 1st husband will say “you don’t have to keep the Sabbath, keep biblical festivals, you can eat pork and catfish, you are free from the Law just like you were when we were married”. But, you have a new husband now (Yeshua) and He says “if you love Me keep the commandments” and it is by this we know we have eternal life (1Jn 2.1-5). One who contends with the marriage counselor (Torah) about obeying the advice given and says” I don’t want to listen to your counsel” probably does not really want a divorce from the 1st husband in the first place, or thinks he is divorced and really isn’t. The Torah as a counselor says that the believer’s (wife) marriage to the 1st husband (sin/condemnation) is over and that she must listen to her 2nd husband now. The wife (believer) listens to her husband’s voice (the Torah/marriage counselor) by faith through the Holy Spirit in our hearts (or inner promptings). In Romans 8.1 Paul says “Now (in light of all I have just said in chapter 7) there is no condemnation (what we are set free from in the Law, not the Law itself) for those who are in Christ Jesus (or married to the 2nd husband)”. We are set free from the servitude and marriage to the sin nature (our 1st husband) which condemned us. As you can see this has nothing to do with the false theology out there that says you don’t have to keep the biblical commandments but it deals with who you are married to.

Q. What does it mean in Zech 14.21 that there will no longer be Canaanites in the house of the Lord?

A. To get the answer to that let’s back up to v 20. It says “on that day” and that is an expression meaning “when Messiah comes.” It goes on to say the vessels of the Temple in Jerusalem will be “holy’ or sanctified, set apart to the Lord. This tells us that when the Messiah comes there will be a Temple and sacrifices (see Ezekiel chapters 40-48) and everything there will be ritually clean. In v 21 some versions mention “Canaanite” and others “merchants” or “traffickers” which is the meaning of Canaanite. So, you could read it this way that “in that day, when Messiah comes, there will be no merchants or traffickers for money in the house of the Lord.” This is also a prophecy concerning Yeshua. When He cleansed the Temple of the moneychangers, the traffickers and the merchants it was a direct reference back to this verse. He was saying to the people that the Messiah had come and traffickers and merchants were not allowed in the house of God.

Q. In 1 Samuel 17.40 David picks up five smooth stones to kill Goliath. Does that have any significance?

A. All the stories in the Bible have significance. There is tremendous meaning to what David is doing. In Deut. 32 Moses records a song and this is very eschatological, but we won’t get into all the prophecies there at this time but there is an interesting fact that has a bearing on the question. Moses describes God as a “Rock” and it is mentioned five times. The rock was a significant theme in the life of Moses because it was how he treated the ‘Rock” that had a role in whether he entered the promised land or not (Deut 32.51). He also wrote the five books of the Torah which is the foundation or cornerstone to all other Scripture. David is going to face Goliath in the name of the Lord so he picks up five rocks, one for every time the Rock is mentioned in Deut 32 and the five books of Torah. The Scriptures say that the rocks were “smooth” because the stream (living water) had fashioned them indicating that God had made them not man. David knew something about aerodynamics, or in this case how the “rock” moves through the air (the Ruach).He only needed the first one and of course Goliath is killed. David’s men kill four other “giants” related to Goliath in 2 Sam 21.22. In 2 Sam 22 David records a song very similar to Deut 32 and mentions God as a “Rock” five times again, so he recognized the significance. Now, this them of the rock will play out throughout Scripture and is clearly a reference to the Lord and Yeshua. In Dan 2 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a giant (v 31) statue and Daniel gives the interpretation. A “rock” or stone uncut by human hands (smoothed by God) comes and strikes the” giant” again and destroys it (2.35,45), a direct allusion back to what David did. In Zechariah 12.3 Jerusalem is described as a “burdensome stone” that will lacerate, injure any nation that comes against it. The concept of the “rock” or stone is a major one in Scripture. We see Jacob resting on and anointing a stone on Mt. Moriah in Genesis 28, “the stone that the builders rejected is the cornerstone” in the Psalms, the confession by Peter (stone/rock) that Yeshua is the Messiah is the “rock” (cornerstone) on which Yeshua will build His eschatological congregation and He is of course the “rock” that was with congregation (Israel) in the wilderness and the concept goes on and on. So, David’s five stones have a very significant eschatological meaning.

Q. In Matthew 19.23-24 it talks about a camel going through the eye of a needle. I heard this was a gate in Jerusalem. Is this true?

A. There is no historical evidence that the “eye of a needle” is a gate in the ancient city of Jerusalem and that was what Yeshua was referring to. But, repetition of this idea has given it “dogmatic” status in some circles. As the story goes in Scripture, Yeshua tells a man to give up his riches and follow him. The man becomes grieved because he was rich and decides not to follow Yeshua, prompting Yeshua to say that it is “hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven “and that it is” easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Now there are several things going on here. This verse is very similar an old Jewish proverb. There is a midrash ( which is a teaching or an interpretation)on the Song of Songs which says” “The Holy One said open for Me a door a big as a needle’s eye and I will open for you a door which may enter tents and camels.” This saying was showing God’s willingness and ability to accomplish His work in a person. Some have even suggested that the word “camel” in the Greek should read “rope” because they are almost exactly the same in Greek, with only one letter difference. But, either way the message is the same. He said it is hard ( but not impossible) for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because it’s the work of the Lord. Now remember He is not necessarily talking about salvation alone when He talks about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom is God’s rule in your life and it is hard for a rich man to totally give himself to what the Lord may want him to do because he is distracted by too many things. Remember the parable of the sower and the seed In Matthew 13.18-23. In v 22 he talks about the one who hears the word but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. This is the idea Yeshua is getting at in this proverbial saying about camels and the eye of a needle and it is very unlikely that he was referring to a particular gate in the walled city of Jerusalem.