Clinging To The Words Of The King

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From this we know that whether it is a Godly friend, your Rabbi or Pastor, or whether it is the sages as found in Mishnah and the Talmud, we are not to take their traditions, instructions, and words and hold them with the same authority as our Heavenly Father’s Word, lest we blur the lines of Biblical authority and find ourselves in danger of adding or subtracting from Adonai's words, as found in scripture. Anything stated with authority by our teachers should have basis in the scripture and should serve to accomplish the goals and purposes of Adonai's mitzvot and instructions. If something taught doesn't serve to accomplish the purposes and goals of Adonai's Torah, than it could be said that such a teaching or tradition is either adding or taking away from Adonai's words and mitzvot (commandments). The rabbis, sages, and teachers of Yeshua's day were actually very concerned about this. If they believed a teacher was misinterpreting scripture or adding or taking away from the words of the Torah, even if it was one letter of the Torah, they would cry out accusations such as, "You are destroying the Torah!!" This was taken very seriously because it was and is believed by the sages and rabbis that with the destroying or abolishing of the Torah, so too, the world is destroyed. For example, I will quote at length from Midrash Tanchumah 1:1 where it is taught, "This is what Scripture means when it says: The Lord with wisdom founded the earth (Prov. 3:19). That is, when the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to create this world, He consulted the Torah before embarking upon the work of creation, as it is said, Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine (ibid. 8:14)...each crown stroke on the letters of the Torah contains heaps and heaps of law (Torah). For example, it is written in the Torah: "Profane not My Holy Name" (Lev. 22:2); but if you should change the chet in the word "yechallelu" ("profane") into a heh, the word would read "praise," (than meaning, "Praise not My Holy Name") and you would thereby destroy the world. Conversely, where it is written, "Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord" (Ps. 150:6), if you should alter the heh in the word "tehallel" ("praise") into a chet, the word would read "profane," (than meaning, "Let every thing that has breath profane the Lord"), and you would thereby destroy the world. Similarly, in the verse, "Hear, O Yisra'el, The Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4), if you should change the dalet in the word "echad" ("one") into a resh, the word would then read "acher" ("another"), (than meaning, "Hear, O Yisra'el, The Lord our God, the Lord is another (god)") and you would thereby destroy the world, since it is said: "For you shall not bow to another god" (Exod. 34:14). Midrash Tanchumah goes on to say, "If a slight change in a single letter can produce such drastic consequences, how much more so the alteration of a complete word". It is also stated, "...the world was founded upon the Torah. The Holy One, Blessed be He, gave the Torah to the Yisra'elites so that they might devote themselves to it and to its commandments day and night, as it is said: "But you shall meditate therein day and night" (Josh. 1:8). And it says elsewhere: "But his delight is in the law (Torah) of the Lord, and in his Torah does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water" (Ps. 1:2-3). Furthermore, the world endures because of those who guard the law (Torah), as Hannah stated: "For the pillars of the Earth are the Lord's" (1Sam. 2:8). Who are the pillars of the Earth? They are the guardians of the Torah, for whose sake alone the world was fashioned, as is said: He has fashioned the world because of them (ibid.)".
I believe that it was within some of the context of the previous Jewish teaching, which reflects many of the thoughts and discussion during Yeshua's time, that our Master Yeshua stated the following in Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:17-18, "Don't think that I have come to destroy/abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to destroy/abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened". So, Yeshua not only came to preserve each and every letter of the Torah, indeed even every part of each letter found in the Torah, but by doing so he also came to rightly interpret the scripture and teach its proper meaning, and said that while these words and letters of the Torah were being preserved, the Heavens and the Earth would be preserved and would not be destroyed or would not "pass away". So, this matter of preserving the words of God, and as Devarim (Deut.) 4:2 says, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it..." was much more than just a theological struggle in the eyes of the sages and in the eyes of our Rabbi Yeshua, because in their view...the very world depended on it...Likewise, I believe this is the view that we should hold when it comes to our approach to God's Torah and word. So, what does it mean or what does it look like not to add or subtract from God's word? Does this mean that we cannot teach or practice anything that is not found directly and literally in the text of the Torah? Some, such as the followers of Kariate Judaism today would say "yes". But, the ultimate authority on this subject should be our Master Yeshua. Never mind what the Kariates teach...the question is, what did Yeshua The Messiah teach and practice? We see a sample of how he approached this subject in Mattityahu (Matthew) chapter five as we continue to read on. In 5:27-28 he states, "You have heard that our fathers were told, `Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that a man who even looks at a woman with the purpose of lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart". In this text, to those who believe we should only teach and practice that which we literally find directly in the text of scripture must also conclude that Yeshua The Messiah just added to the text of scripture by saying, "But I tell you that a man who even looks at a woman with the purpose of lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart". Where does the Torah literally say that? Likewise, in Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:31-32 Yeshua says, "It was said, `Whoever divorces his wife must give her a get (divorce document).' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery". Did Yeshua add to scripture by saying, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery"? In addition, in Mattityahu 5:33-37 Yeshua teaches us, "Again, you have heard that our fathers were told, `Do not break your oath,' and `Keep your vows to ADONAI.' But I tell you not to swear at all -- not `by heaven,' because it is God's throne; not `by the earth,' because it is his footstool; and not `by Yerushalayim,' because it is the city of the Great King. And don't swear by your head, because you can't make a single hair white or black. Just let your `Yes' be a simple `Yes,' and your `No' a simple `No'; anything more than this has its origin in evil". Was Yeshua adding to the Torah when he said, "But I tell you not to swear at all..."? By Yeshua's statements and examples he establishes halachah for us when it comes to our understanding of what it means to add or subtract from Adonai's words, lest we violate this
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