Many people chide or condemn the Jews for their culpability in Christ's death but have the Jews done anything right? What about their contribution to the knowledge of God that every Christian relies on every day?
Oracles of God
The Bible says in
Romans 3:1-2 [KJV]
,
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God
. The first thing to note is that this was written in the New Testament era after the Jews had completed the job. The second has to do with the meaning of committed. When something is committed to someone it means that was given to them to take care of. Paul is here suggesting that they were successful.
Look here for more on the pattern of life that God has preserved
The Jews preserved God's ways. We find that there are instances where people act as though they know more than the Jews about their own history and religious practices when there is no historical or biblical evidence to support their position, in fact the record indicates the exact opposite. For instance the leading Jewish historians at the time of Christ (Philo and Josephus) corroborate each other on key issues but the religious community chose to disregard their accounts without any contradicting evidence.
If any Feast day is an oracle of God it is more likely that the Jews would have accurate records than any other group at least up until the New Covenant. Historically it also makes more sense to obtain a people's history from them especially if it is written by people living at the time in question. God prophetically put the Jews (especially until the coming of the Messiah) in the position of preserving and teaching God's Laws. Notice:
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. [KJV]
Psalm 108:8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; [KJV]
So when it comes to giving or presenting God's law to people the place to look is the Jews.
Christ reiterated this point in His time on earth.
John 4:22-24 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. [KJV]
He used the existing scriptures to explain about Himself, he did not reject them for being wrong.
Luke 24:27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
As we go through the series we will each have to judge if this statement is true or if in fact they have deviated from this at any point before Christ created the New Testament. The Jews accurately recorded what God said about everything. They accurately recorded when He approved and disapproved of their behaviour so that we can be guided by their experience. Finally He sent Christ who confirmed His word and also the accuracy of their practices during His time because He was never hypocritical but nevertheless completely immersed in their way of life.
We know of three methods that Israel used to obtain the words of God.
1 Samuel 28:6 (KJV) And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
Numbers 12:6-8 (KJV)And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
A dreamer of dreams is not necessarily a prophet.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (KJV)If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,2And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;3Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.4Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.5And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
The most famous dreamer is Daniel and it confirms what happened to Joseph. Being able to dream and being able to interpret the dream are two different things. The butler and the baker and Pharaoh were given dreams and Joseph was given the ability to understand. God gave Daniel the ability to understand but the dreams were given to Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel 1:17 (KJV)]As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Daniel 2:3 (KJV) And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
But the record of all these dreams are passed down to us by the children of Israel. Needless to say that the prophets and the Urim are also exclusively from Israel and that is where we find the record.
2 Samuel 16:23 (KJV) And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
It is evident in the Bible that not everyone had dreams that came from God. By and large they understood that dreams came from having a lot on your mind.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 (KJV) For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
Nevertheless dreams occurred to several people in the Bible. In Genesis 20 Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah after Abraham had said that she was His sister. God was watching over Abraham and warned Abimelech in a dream, not to touch her. Jacob dreamed about a ladder going up to heaven in Genesis 28, then in chapter 31 God also spoke to him about how to get his sheep to multiply over those of Laban and late in the chapter God warned Laban in a dream to be careful how he approached Jacob. In Genesis 37 we had Joseph and his various dreams followed by the butler and the baker in chapter 40 and the Pharaoh of Egypt in chapter 41 which opened the way for Joseph to become second in the land.
God is not finished with giving dreams and visions to people.
Joel 2:28 (KJV) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
What we understand of Christ's life on earth and the coming Kingdom was also given to Israel. Ezekiel in particular recorded a lot on the future kingdom but much more information was given to John in Revelation. Much of what to expect in the future judgment of the Earth is recorded by people like Joel. But again most of our understanding came from the writers of the New Testament and they were all Israelites. The assumption by some that Luke was a gentile is based on no solid evidence. It is quite possible that Luke was not circumcised and that he was of a tribe other than Judah, but his understanding of Jewish things suggests otherwise. There is also the augment that in Acts 21 when the Jews wanted to accuse Paul of bringing gentiles into the temple area they did not accuse him of Luke who was with him frequently but of Trophimus.
visions and dreams
I decided to add this section because of the comment that visions and dreams are not the same. That comment can be connected to this article in various ways. I consider this to be the main point: everybody seems to have dreams but very few have visions. The word of God appears to have come (and perhaps still comes) to all sorts of people by dreams. In contrast only exceptional people seem to have visions. I cannot think of any ordinary person in the Bible that was given a vision but even Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. If we are therefore talking about the ways that God reveals things to everyday people or people in general then we include dreams but not visions. The visions come to ordinary people via prophets.
The second way of connecting it is that in essence there appears to be little difference between a dream and a vision. A dream is actually a type of vision, one that comes to people in their waking hours. Beyond that, how do you differentiate the two when both are private views of something that is not actually occurring? I would therefore say that the three in 1 Samuel 28:6 are still the three available to ordinary people. The Bible replaces the prophet but dreams are still open to all.
Urim and Thummim
The Urim and the Thummim first appear in Exodus 28:30, as part of what was in the breastplate worn by Aaron. In 1 Samuel they are included as a way to get answers from God. By the time of Hezekiah it appears that people sent directly to the prophet and not the High Priest for important answers because Hezekiah sought out Isaiah.
Isaiah 37:1-2 [KJV] And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. [2] And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
By the time that the Jews returned from captivity they seem to have disappeared.
Ezra 2:62-63 [KJV] These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. [63] And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.
That is referring to Jews who wanted to be included in the official count but were refused because there was no Urim and Thummim available.
The final verdict
So Where do we get Oracles? We get them from the Bible and from dreams. It is still possible that you may get some from prophets but there is a warning in Deuteronomy that nobody seems to want to commit to.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 KJV If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 KJV But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
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Confirmation by Christ
When Christ was on earth He confirmed unwritten oracles by His participation and lack of condemnation of them. For example a new moon is technically a black moon. You cannot see it. What has been practised is to look for the first sliver and consider that the new moon. That was the tradition and Christ accepted it. That was part of the oral tradition and not written down anywhere at the time. When in doubt today we can cast our minds back to what Christ did and distil the significance from that. I may not be that Christ commanded it but that He accepted it and therefore there is nothing wrong with it. By his actions it becomes an oracle of God that the thing is accepted. People claim that eating meat is bad but Christ had to eat lamb at Passover. He cooked fish for His disciples and He turned a whole lot of water into wine.
What are oracles
There are various words translated as oracle in the English bible.
Numbers 31:16-17 (KJV) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.[17]Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
The word translated as counsel is the same word translated as oracle in many places
Strongs H1697 bar (daw-baw')
2. (by implication) a matter (as spoken of) or thing
It is translated as oracle in
2 Samuel 16:23 (KJV) And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
As comes out in the definition above, it is largely to be understood as words.
Another word translated as oracle has to do with the place where those words emanate from.
1 Kings 6:5 (KJV) And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:
The meaning here is expressed as
Strongs H1687 dbiyr (deb-eer') (or (shortened) dbir {deb-eer'}).
1. the shrine or innermost part of the sanctuary
Oracle is most commonly used in this sense in the Old Testament but in the New Testament it always has to do with words. There are four places where the word is used
Acts 7:38 (KJV) This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Romans 3:2 (KJV) Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Hebrews 5:12 (KJV) For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
1 Peter 4:11 (KJV) If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
So when we quote Paul in Romans we are talking about the word of God or the words of God. God's words are recorded by the Jews.
So do we blindly follow the Jews?
There is a big difference between preserving the oracles of God and following them. The Jews are where we go to find the oracles of God. They have Moses and the prophets. That matter is clearly stated in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Luke 16:19-31 [KJV] There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Matthew Chapter 23:1-5 [KJV] Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Christ then goes on for over 30 verses to criticise their behaviour concerning true adherence to that law. The fundamental lesson here is that the Jews have preserved Moses and the prophets but they manipulate it for personal objectives. Check out the words for yourself and do not rely on what they do.
