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God
established the Sanhedrin Gedolah (great court of
71 judges) – the essential source of halacha
(rules by which to walk). The two-fold duty was to
interpret Torah to apply to differing situations in
life, and to make legal adjudications in civil and
criminal disputes and offenses. They were the Supreme
Court. God gave them the Holy Spirit in order for them
do make righteous judgments. [“Rulers of the synagogue”
(Mark 5:22, Acts 13:15) were the lowest court of three
judges, who made halachic rulings at the local
level.]
Numbers
11:16-17 – So Yahweh said to Moses: “Gather to Me
seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be
the elders of the people and officers over them; bring
them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand
there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you
there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and
will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the
burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it
yourself alone.”
About 1500
years later, the Sanhedrin (seat of Moses) had
become corrupt and judges were hypocritical. Some judges
had purchased their positions (seated themselves).
Nevertheless, due to their position of authority under
God, Yeshua taught that the people should walk according
to their halachic rulings.
Matthew
23:1-3 – Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to His
disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have
seated themselves in the seat of Moses; therefore all
that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do
according to their deeds; for they say things and do not
do them.
To try to
perpetuate their own corrupt power, the judges sought to
crucify Yeshua.
John 7:25-26 –
So some of
the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is this not the
man whom they are seeking to kill? Look, He is speaking
publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers
do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?
Yeshua said
that He would take the halachic authority away
from them and give it to others.
Mark 11:27 – 12:9 – And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He
was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and
scribes, and elders came to Him, and began saying to
Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or
who gave You this authority to do these things?" And
Yeshua said to them, "I will ask you one question, and
you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what
authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John
from heaven, or from men? Answer Me." And they began
reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From
heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe
him?' But shall we say, 'From men '?" – they were
afraid of the multitude, for all considered John to have
been a prophet indeed. And answering Yeshua, they said,
"We do not know." And Yeshua said to them, "Neither will
I tell you by what authority I do these things." And He
began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a
vineyard, and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under
the wine press, and built a tower, and rented it out to
vine-growers and went on a journey. And at the harvest
time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to
receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the
vine-growers. And they took him, and beat him, and sent
him away empty-handed. And again he sent them another
slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him
shamefully. And he sent another, and that one they
killed; and so with many others, beating some, and
killing others. He had one more to send, a beloved son;
he sent him last of all to them, saying, 'They will
respect my son.' But those vine-growers said to one
another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and
the inheritance will be ours!' And they took him, and
killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What will
the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy
the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.
Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which
the builders rejected, This became the chief corner
stone? . . .
Yeshua gave
the halachic authority to His twelve apostles.
Matthew 16:18-19 – "And I also say to you that you are Petros
(small rock, or a single rock), and upon this petra
(large rock – Yeshua, or several rocks – 12 apostles) I
will build-up My church; and the doors of death shall
not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven; and whatever you shall bind (men to do) on
earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you
shall loose (men from doing) on earth shall have been
loosed in heaven."
The Greek
word for “loose” is the standard verb “luo” (lu-o). In
this verse, “loosed” is in the pluperfect tense – a past
action that continues. Thus, a full translation could be
as follows: “Whatever you forbid on earth shall be that
which was-already-forbidden,-to-remain-forbidden, by
heaven, and whatever you permit on earth shall be that
which was-already-permitted,-to-remain-permitted, by
heaven.”
The subject
is halacha – how we should walk to fulfill
Torah. Bind and loose were rabbinic terms of the day
which meant forbid and permit. For example, a well man
is bound-to-the-commandment-to-fast / forbidden-to-eat
on Yom haKippurim (the Day of the Atonements); but a
sick person is loosed-to-eat / permitted-to-eat on that
day: that is a halachic judgment based upon the
Torah principle of health taking precedence over
Holy-day ordinances. Likewise, a man is
bound-to-the-commandment-to-rest /
forbidden-to-perform-his-usual-work on the Sabbath; but
he is loosed-to-work / permitted-to-work at freeing his
ox from a ditch on the Sabbath, because of halachic
judgment that the life of the ox takes precedence.
Yeshua was
instructing apostles concerning making halachic
judgments, so that they could instruct disciples on how
to walk – how to properly apply God’s instruction
(Torah) in various unwritten circumstances. These
judgments often involve determining what instructions
take precedence. Such judgments may neither change laws
nor be new laws; they must comply with prior instruction
from heaven – Torah.
The Apostles
may be seen later going to Jerusalem to make a
halachic ruling. James spoke for the group:
Acts 15:19
– “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble
those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles . .
.”
DDD 7-7-2006
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