The Problem with Being a “Torah Observant Christian”

Many Christians embrace the idea of complying with the Torah, calling themselves “Torah Observant.”

In this regard, I note that prominent Jewish leaders have compiled a list of the Torah obligations – 613 to be exact (although there are actually more that are excluded without explanation).

Here is a website regarding the list: https://www.the613commandments.com/The-List-of-the-613-Commandments.html; here is another website that categorizes commandments in the list: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-613-mitzvot-commandments .

Problems with Application of the List of Torah Commandments to Gentiles

While the list is useful for analysis, there are substantial problems with the list of commandments as these leaders have compiled and presented them, and there are also substantial problems with the concept of the application of such laws to Gentiles as well as with compliance therewith—particularly by Gentiles; here are some of the problems:

1. There is no temple. God commands that a temple be built in Exodus 25:8. Jewish rabbis and scholars provide excuses for the lack of a temple, saying “We don’t know where it goes,” “We don’t know the exact measurements,” etc.  These are manmade excuses because God didn’t say, in Exodus 25:8 “… unless you cannot find the right location or if you don’t know the exact measurements.”  

2. The absence of a temple presents a real problem, because according to the list of 613 commandments, approximately 130 are related to the temple, priests and sacrifices.  Thus, without the temple, over 130 Torah commandments are not being followed.  This means that over 20% of the Torah isn’t being observed by anyone on earth! 

3. Approximately 13 of the laws are regarding slaves, and slavery has been abolished in the U.S., as well as in many other nations.  Thus, these laws are moot. 

4. Approximately 7 of the laws relate to employment of employees. In the U.S. (as well as in other nations), there are extensive employment laws issued by the federal government, state governments, and even local governments.  You must comply with these laws or be subject to fines.  Actually, many but not all of the Torah laws are followed in principle in the U.S.; however, if you employ people, you would under the Torah be expected, for example, to pay a poor person daily for his or her wages. (Deut. 24:15) 

5. Approximately 13 of the laws are regarding debtors and creditors.  Of course, here again, the U.S. and all of the states have laws that address these issues, so compliance could be curious.  Notwithstanding the differences, the Torah requirements are higher; for example, if you give loans to poor and destitute Jewish people (do you?), the loan must be without interest (Exodus 22:25).  The same appears to apply regarding poor people of your nation (but it still may only apply to poor Jews) (Leviticus 25:37).  In addition, you are to sustain them—allowing them to live with you (Leviticus 25:35). 

6. There are laws of inheritance that may conflict with state law; however, in the U.S., you may be able to make your will conform to Torah requirements (Numbers 27:6-11).  Yet, when God gave the law of inheritance He said to Moses, “you shall speak to the sons of Israel …” (Numbers 27:8), so, as explained more fully below, application of this Law outside of Israel is dubious. 

7. There are approximately 40 laws regarding judges, courts, evidence, cases, penalties—many of which directly conflict with the laws of our state and federal government.  For example, how do the “Torah Observant Christians” implement Deuteronomy 16:18: “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.”  Even if the “Torah Observant Christians” are grafted in, it’s difficult to know what “tribe” they are from. 

8. There are approximately 20 laws that relate to kings from Israel and wars.  These laws have no application to nations other than Israel.  Interestingly, for example, God specifically directed, regarding the king, that “he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away …” (Deuteronomy 17:17). The implication, of course, is that polygamy is acceptable under the Torah—provided that the king in particular should limit his number of wives.  Solomon, of course, violated this command. 

9. The Jewish scholars and rabbis have watered down many of the requirements—to soften their application today.  For example, they cite Deuteronomy 13:9 for the following proposition: “Do not cease hating an idolater.”  However, here’s what Deuteronomy 13:6-9 actually says: “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not consent to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.”  Thus, the Mitzvot is watered down to make it palatable for today’s society.  

10. Speaking of Deuteronomy 13:9, note that the Jewish Virtual Library described the “idolater” as a “missionary”—which includes Christians. This is why Stephen was stoned.  Technically, in Israel, the rabbis should stone you like Stephen if you talk about Jesus.  So if you are a “Torah Observant Christian,” you may not want to associate with truly “Torah Observant” orthodox Jews in Israel. 

11. Also speaking of Deuteronomy 13:9, are you prepared to comply with this law and kill your brother, step-brother, your son, your daughter, your wife or your cherished friend should they violate this law?  Why not?  It is Torah.  If you desire to be “Torah Observant Christians,” it is imperative that you kill those of your friends and family members who worship any other god.  Yes, you will be arrested, imprisoned and perhaps executed, but God didn’t afford any exceptions here for the truly “Torah Observant Christians.” 

12. Many of the laws seem to apply only to Jews.  For example, Deuteronomy 10:19 says “So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”  Were you a stranger in the land of Egypt if you were a Gentile?  No.  Of course, we have many NT principles to follow that address loving people.  So do we follow it because it’s Torah (even though it appears to apply only to Jews), or do we follow the NT principles? 

Similarly, Exodus 23:20-33 talks about the nation of Israel driving out particular groups of people from their land.  Technically, today, this may likely include people who identify as Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Turks. Are the “Torah Observant Christians” taking action to drive these people out of Israel?  Does this law apply to the US and other nations too, or just Israel?  Does it apply to the lands owned or occupied by the “Torah Observant Christians”? 

Similarly, when Moses admonished the nation of Israel regarding all of the commandments, he said: “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully follow in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth” (Deuteronomy 12:1).  Presumably, the land so described is the land of Israel (as God described it—not as it may exist today).  For the “Torah Observant Christian” who says, but this includes the land where we live, I say, “keep reading”; for the succeeding verses state as follows: “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. And you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall eliminate their name from that place. You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God.  But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there.  You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.  There you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deuteronomy 12:2-7).  In further clarification, Deuteronomy 12:10 states, “When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your god is giving you as an inheritance ….” Thus, this Law is clearly addressing a particular people group in a particular geographic location.

Similarly, regarding many of the celebrations, Leviticus 23 is prefaced with God saying to Moses: “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:” [and then God delineates the Sabbath, the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread].  Further, regarding the Sabbath, which the “Torah Observant Christians” particularly embrace, it is interesting to note the context of the Sabbath commandment.  First in Exodus 20:2, we see the following Words of God: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”  Gentiles were not brought out of the land of Egypt—only Israel.  When Moses repeated the commandments to Israel in Deuteronomy 5, he added the following words to the Sabbath day commandment: “And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).  Thus, it seems that the Sabbath day commandment is uniquely designed for Israel. 

Of course, many of the “Torah Observant Christians” point out the amazing text from Paul that indicates the Gentiles are “grafted in” to the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17-24)—with the attendant notion that we must, therefore, follow the rules applicable to Israel.  Ironically, this same group questions whether Paul’s writings constitute Scripture (based on a curious interpretation of 2 Peter 3:16), so this leaves the “Torah Observant Christians” in a quandary. 

13. The comprehensive list of Torah commandments omits, without explanation, a number of commandments.  One of the most critical is found in Exodus 20 and immediately follows the 10 Commandments: “You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your chisel on it, you will profane it” (Exodus 20:24-25).  Thus, separate and apart from the command to build a temple is a direct command to build an altar. If an altar is present, the sacrifices can be resumed, and a host of the Torah can be observed. 

The Jerusalem Council

Many of the considerations noted above were no doubt in the minds and discussions of the church leaders who met at the Council of Jerusalem as they recognized the amazing fact that God was extending His grace to Gentiles.  Surely, Jesus instructed had his disciples, “Go … and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19) and “you shall be My witnesses … as far as the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). So they understood the Gospel would go to them.  The Council of Jerusalem met, though, to address a key consideration—to what extent does the Law of Moses apply to the Gentiles.  Present at the Council were the apostles (with Peter being expressly mentioned, as well as James, who is also called “James the Less,” who is also referred to as the “brother” of Jesus [Galatians 1:19], and traditionally considered to be the cousin of Jesus, who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem and who may also be the author of the Book of James—note that James the son of Zebedee had been executed by Herod—see Acts 12:2; also from Galatians 2:9 we know that the Apostle John was also present), Paul, Barnabas, Silas, the church elders, and people from the church of Jerusalem.  The conclusion of the Council was to have a letter issued to the Gentiles (Acts 15:23) in various churches; the letter states as follows: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell” (Acts 15:28-29).  

Many of the “Torah Observant Christians” suggest that the Jerusalem Council letter was the “starting point” for the Gentiles.  Of course, this is absolutely ludicrous, considering that the letter never said such and nothing thereafter suggested otherwise either.  In fact, the contrary is true.  In Acts 21, Paul revisits the James and the elders in Jerusalem.  They expressed concern to Paul that many of the Jewish believers who were zealous for the Law heard rumors that Paul was “teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses” (Acts 21:21).  Thus, the rumors of concern were not that Paul was teaching everyone that there is no need to comply with Moses—just that he was teaching Jews to abandon Moses.  They told Paul this, because they were concerned that Paul would be apprehended and killed by the zealous Jews, and they devised a plan to demonstrate publicly that Paul was observing the Law (which backfired).  Amazingly, though they wanted Paul to demonstrate publicly that he kept the Law, they stated to Paul, “But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality” (Acts 21:25).  Thus, again the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem reaffirmed the letter issued by the Council at Jerusalem and added nothing further to it—despite the fact that they were expressing concerns regarding compliance by Jews with the Law. 

Further Explanation from Paul's Epistles

Paul's letters at times directly addressed the issue of the application of the Law of Moses to Gentiles.  For instance, in Galatians, Paul wrote to address the concern that people were telling the churches in Galatia that there was a need to observe the Law.  Paul advocated that the Law provided no application for those saved by grace through faith:

• "... a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified" (Galatians 2:16).
• "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).
• "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3).
• “Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Therefore, recognize that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer” (Galatians 3:6-9).
• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14).
• “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:23-25).
• “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?  You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain” (Galatians 4:9-11).
• “Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:2-4).

Of course, the other epistles also address these issues with similar statements. The point of Paul's statements is simply that there is no need to follow the Law of Moses when we have been saved by grace through faith and have God's Spirit in us.

The Commandments of Jesus

For those that simply need a list of commandments to follow, I note that in addition to the Jerusalem Council letter, Gentiles have plenty of other commandments to observe.  The basis for the following by Gentiles of these commands can be found in the Great Commission; Jesus instructed His disciples to teach new disciples to observe the commandments that He gave to them.  Galen Currah provides a compilation of the commandments of Jesus: https://pittsboropres.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/300_commands_of_jesus.pdf.  Reviewing the list, Gentile Christians should see that if they are only “Jesus Observant,” they will be the greatest lights the world has ever seen.

Certain Moral Laws of God

Of course, too, the moral laws have universal application.  For instance, in Leviticus 18 God explains that all nations (i.e., people) defile themselves if they violate specific moral directives, and God proceeds to list those.  Accordingly, Leviticus 18 (which is substantially encompassed by the "immorality" described in the Jerusalem Council letter) provides a summary of certain key moral commands.  Other passages similarly address the moral law of God, and unless they are specifically for Jews, they apply to all nations of people at all times.

Conclusion

In sum, as explained by Scripture, the Torah applies to Jews and not to Gentiles.  The most fundamental portions of the Torah are encompassed within the commandments of Jesus.  But Gentile Christians should focus not on the Torah, but on the Jerusalem Council letter, the epistles (which are largely written to Gentile believers) and the commandments of Jesus for the standards by which they should conduct themselves.