This is the 2nd part of the John Ortberg article on ancient Jews and their relationship with The Book.
This Book so defined Israel that they called themselves simply The People of the Book. Other people are known for other things....for their power, for their armies, for their industry. Israel was a People of the Book. To help his or her child learn the Book was every parent's greatest responsibility. To be able to grow up and teach this Book, "to become a rabbi", that was the greatest ambition.
Let me give you an example to show you just how much they loved the Book: When a young man fell in love and wanted to be married to a young woman, in order to ascertain whether or not he was worthy of their daughter, the custom was that her family would give this prospective, wannabe groom a test on his knowledge of the Tenakh just to see if he deserved the bride. The more desirable the girl was considered to be, the more beautiful and intelligent she was, the more wealthy her family was and so on, the higher the score he had to get on the Tenakh. It was the only education system where, if you passed the test, you'd actually lose your Bachelor's Degree! I thought that was kind of funny.
The Israelites showed their reverence for this Book in a thousand different ways. They didn't have a Book with a cover like we do. It was all in scrolls. Genesis was written in a scroll. When the rabbis debated whether or not a book was sacred, "whether it belonged in the canon of sacred scripture", they debated in particular about three books. They debated about Esther, because the word ‘God’ is never mentioned in it; they debated about Ecclesiastes, because it expresses a rather cynical philosophy where there is no God; they debated about The Song of Solomon. If you wonder why they debated about that one, if you’re over eighteen and married, go home and read it!
They didn't ask: 'Should it be counted Scripture?' What they did ask was, ‘Does the scroll on which it is written render the hand unclean?' This is a very picturesque, action-oriented language. Here's what is behind their question. In order to eat, of course, you had to have clean hands. This was very important in Israel's system. When you were reading most scrolls or most writings, you could eat while you were reading. That was OK. Sometimes crumbs would get in the scroll, and then mice or rats might be attracted to it, and they would gnaw it or destroy it. Ordinarily, that would be OK, but not for the Book. If a scroll were considered to be part of the Book, it was a record of the words of God, then you could not eat while you were reading it. That scroll had to be preserved and could not be lost. That scroll was precious. They were People of the Book who loved the Book.
Before there were kings in Israel, Moses told the people: When he, "a potential king", takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are the Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
They loved this Book. They said: If we're going to have a king, he's got to write the Book down and read it each day. Think of how long that would take. They loved it so much that in Jesus' day a historian by the name of Josephus, writing to a Gentile audience, tried to explain the Jews' passion about the Book in this way: Time and again we have given practical proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures. It is an instinct with every Jew, from the day of their birth to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them and, if need be, cheerfully die for them. Time and again the sight has been witnessed of prisoners enduring torture and death rather than utter a single word against them.
Let me give you an example to show you just how much they loved the Book: When a young man fell in love and wanted to be married to a young woman, in order to ascertain whether or not he was worthy of their daughter, the custom was that her family would give this prospective, wannabe groom a test on his knowledge of the Tenakh just to see if he deserved the bride. The more desirable the girl was considered to be, the more beautiful and intelligent she was, the more wealthy her family was and so on, the higher the score he had to get on the Tenakh. It was the only education system where, if you passed the test, you'd actually lose your Bachelor's Degree! I thought that was kind of funny.
The Israelites showed their reverence for this Book in a thousand different ways. They didn't have a Book with a cover like we do. It was all in scrolls. Genesis was written in a scroll. When the rabbis debated whether or not a book was sacred, "whether it belonged in the canon of sacred scripture", they debated in particular about three books. They debated about Esther, because the word ‘God’ is never mentioned in it; they debated about Ecclesiastes, because it expresses a rather cynical philosophy where there is no God; they debated about The Song of Solomon. If you wonder why they debated about that one, if you’re over eighteen and married, go home and read it!
They didn't ask: 'Should it be counted Scripture?' What they did ask was, ‘Does the scroll on which it is written render the hand unclean?' This is a very picturesque, action-oriented language. Here's what is behind their question. In order to eat, of course, you had to have clean hands. This was very important in Israel's system. When you were reading most scrolls or most writings, you could eat while you were reading. That was OK. Sometimes crumbs would get in the scroll, and then mice or rats might be attracted to it, and they would gnaw it or destroy it. Ordinarily, that would be OK, but not for the Book. If a scroll were considered to be part of the Book, it was a record of the words of God, then you could not eat while you were reading it. That scroll had to be preserved and could not be lost. That scroll was precious. They were People of the Book who loved the Book.
Before there were kings in Israel, Moses told the people: When he, "a potential king", takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are the Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
They loved this Book. They said: If we're going to have a king, he's got to write the Book down and read it each day. Think of how long that would take. They loved it so much that in Jesus' day a historian by the name of Josephus, writing to a Gentile audience, tried to explain the Jews' passion about the Book in this way: Time and again we have given practical proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures. It is an instinct with every Jew, from the day of their birth to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them and, if need be, cheerfully die for them. Time and again the sight has been witnessed of prisoners enduring torture and death rather than utter a single word against them.
Lord, may I have just as high a view of The Book as the ancient Jews did. Help me to treasure it. To read it. To live by it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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