Please note that the underlined words are links to scriptures. Be sure to click on them for additional context.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4
It is always important to distinguish between the scriptures since there are parts in the scripture that have been written for fulfillment and parts that have been written for our learning. There is not much a believer can do about the things that have been written for fulfillment, since their attainment is solely dependant on the power of God. However, that which has been written for our learning should be brought to the fore, since they are requisite for perfecting the saints.
The distinction between what was meant to be fulfilled and what is meant for learning means that a large corpus of scripture that was written before Christ Jesus manifested in the times of men is transitory — it was a shadow that pointed to the Person of Christ. As Jesus tells the Jews, the scriptures bore witness of Him:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
John 5:39
To testify of something means to have had a first hand account of the thing or action when it occurred. And this is the important point, since we tend to think that the scripture was just written down. The scripture bore witness, and preached the Gospel to the Jewish forefathers in preparation for the manifestation of Jesus.
However, to distinguish between what was written for fulfillment and what was written for learning takes careful study, without which one runs the danger of coming undone by erratically interpreting a scripture. And this is essentially what happened to Moses when he received the scripture on the mountain, he failed to divide the patterns as intended.
The Risk of Shame
To rightly divide the waters is to understand what God decided to conceal from the beginning of creation, and to further deduce that history is a choreographed revelation of that which was concealed above. Recall that after God called forth Light from the darkness, the second thing He did was to create a firmament to divide the waters from the waters. The waters existed before the Light, upon whose face the Spirit of God hovered in darkness.
The waters refer to the Word. If we take the firmament as a division, we can infer that it was a vail that separated that which God concealed above, and thus cannot be readily perceived, from that which is below, which can be readily perceived. The astute reader can see how the firmament is a representation of the Vail that separated the outer court — the waters below — from the Holy of holies — the waters above. However, these were just figures of the true, which is Christ.
The pattern still stands that in any scriptural interpretation, the division of the word demands an understanding of that which was concealed for our benefit and that which has been revealed for our salvation. For those that can bear it, this is the material distinction between a Son given and a Child born.
To miss that distinction is to bring shame upon oneself as the Apostle Paul warns his disciple Timothy:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Men of God study not to achieve theological badges or degrees, but rather to be approved unto God. This approval is not an attainment of righteousness or holiness, it is the understanding that comes from searching out that which was concealed, and attaining the honor that comes from careful study and reception of revelation:
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Proverbs 25:2
We have to be careful not to fall into gnosticism or a searching of deep knowledge. The searching of the scripture is with the intent to see more of the Person of Christ, who was concealed in the waters above, but has been revealed in the times of men for our salvation. Gnostics error by searching for distinctions between the Person of Christ and Jesus, attempting to separate the two by emphasizing the carnality of Jesus or de-emphasizing the divinity of Jesus by downplaying the death of Christ on the Cross — that the person who died was devoid of the Christ since Jesus gave up the ghost. That is not what searching the scriptures refers to in this case. And neither is it searching the scriptures for eternal life, since that is the mistake the Jews made. We seek Christ Jesus, guided by the scripture and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
The Law and Moses
With the understanding of how to divide the Word of truth, we now turn to dividing the Law. The question to answer is:
What is the relationship between God, the Law and Moses?
We often subconsciously assume that the entire Law is connected to God. But that is not correct, especially since it was not the Law that was preached to the Israelites at Sinai, it was the Gospel. But that is something we shall explore in a latter part of the series.
For the sake of discussion, the Law can be roughly divided up into two sections: the sacraments that were given for the aim of pointing to Christ Jesus and the Cross — which is the Gospel — and the legalistic framework that was added onto the sacraments, which morphed into the Law of Moses, like who was meant to minister, when they were meant to minister, who was meant to eat of the sacrifices etc. The former did not evolve — it was not meant to until it’s fulfillment in Christ — the latter did evolve as evidenced when Jesus admonished the Pharisees for adding onto the Law of Moses burdensome constraints that even they were unwilling or unable to bear.
The sacraments in the Law were part of a long tradition that stretched back to Genesis, covenanted between God and Abraham and written down as doctrine in the Law. These did not involve a slew of burdensome regulations and constraints, those were added by Moses and his cohorts, and is what the scripture refers to as the Law of Moses.
For the purpose of this discussion, I am focusing on the latter part of the Law that morphed into the Law of Moses, so the reader should assume that I am not attacking the sacraments or the parts that pointed to Christ.
To tease apart the relationship between God and the Law, we have to revisit how and to whom the Law was given:
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Galatians 3:19
In most discussions about the Law, one thing that is not given enough weight is the fact that it was ordained by angels into the hand of a mediator. We cannot particularly speak as to why that was ordained thus, since we do not have a reliable scriptural reference, but we can compare it with another verse to provide additional context:
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:17
John adds more context to the parties involved in the giving of the Law by stating that it was given by Moses (the implication being that it was not given by God). That is quite a statement, and it stirs controversy due to varying interpretations across christendom. Whatever your persuasion, suffice it to say that the fact that God chose to somewhat distance Himself as the Law was given or ordained — but personally came to deliver Grace — is a poignant action in and of itself.
Accordingly, since the testator embodies the essence of the testament, and Moses, as opposed to God gave the Law, he becomes a Law and by extension a stumbling block to his listener, something that ails the Israelites, and a substantial part of humanity to this day.
Believers should not worry given that we have the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all the truth. Notice again that there is truth that has been revealed, and truth is yet to be revealed. As long as we rely on the Holy Spirit, and read the scriptures with fear and trembling, the working out of our salvation by the washing of the word should be straightforward. It is also for this same reason that the Apostle James warns believers not to rush to be teachers, since the ministry of dividing the word of truth is non trivial, and the odds are really stacked against the teacher.
However, we thank God that this is not requisite for daily living, and neither is it a requirement for salvation. The right division of the word is something that those with the gift of teaching should think about.
Moses’ shame then was thinking that the waters below – the Law – were permanent. Ultimately, he lacked the comfort of scripture, and his message was devoid of hope.
In the next episode, we explore how Moses’ history, especially his lineage marked him out for the cruelty that he later embedded in the precepts of the Law.