Posted by MKB on December 17, 2004, at 19:27:56
In reply to Re: Ancient Near Eastern Covenants, posted by rayww on December 17, 2004, at 14:25:41
The Judaism of today is very different from the religion of the patriarchs. With the Babylonian exile about 586 BC and the destruction of the temple, Jews could no longer use the sacrificial system to atone for their sins. So the rabbis developed a set of man-made laws that regulated every aspect of a Jew's life. In short, all of these 600+ laws are called the Talmud. This is where the handwashing tradition comes in, along with things like not carrying a burden on the Sabbath, etc. Jesus condemned the way the rabbis burdened the people with all these laws. He criticized the rabbis for substituting the commandments of men for the commandments of God. He never gave any validity to the Talmud.
It was in God's plan to destroy the sacrificial system (which is still not in existence) to make way for the New Covenant in Jesus, but the Jewish establishment codified their own system of righteousness in the Talmud, which was far removed from the ancient Judaism.
The Jewish leaders and traditions that Jesus condemned had to do with these man-made laws in the Talmud, not with the original sacrificial system described in the Torah.
poster:MKB
thread:429741
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20041120/msgs/431015.html