Addendums after the Torah?
One of the most obvious differences in the Bible are the prophecies and laws of the New Testament versus those of the Hebrew Bible. This is such a huge topic that we’ll come back to it many times. Some of the massive differences between these two sections of Scripture include dietary laws, the nature of God’s eternal priesthood, and how one is to live their daily lives. For example, are we to offer animal sacrifices, or has one already been offered in a single day for all time?[1] However, the differences sometimes are not so pronounced as moderns might make them out. Even in the gospels, we see Jesus himself keeping the law of Moses,[2] as well as early Christians in the book of Acts. We will definitely circle back to this topic later in this book. Let’s now return to the Hebrew Bible and its addendums to the law of Moses.
We’re told that David and Solomon were given prophetic knowledge regarding how the Mosaic law was to be practiced in the newly constructed Temple,[3] the all-important center of YHVH worship that did not even exist for hundreds of years after Moses is said to have given his law. These were very specific laws, such as the lineages of the individuals who would perform certain tasks in the Temple, such as the various instruments that were to be played.[4] Nowhere are these details to be found in the law of Moses, nor were they interpretations of earlier laws. These were brand new laws. Later we will further examine how David’s changes to the law fit in with the idea of the anointed (messiah) quintessential saving law giver, a motif that spans from Moses to Elisha to Jesus.
But David and Solomon were not the only prophets to mention addendums to the Torah. And some later prophecy would even make alterations. For instance, Isaiah 1:13 and Amos 8:5 speak of new moon celebrations, which are not found in the Torah, which only mentions certain sacrifices to perform on the new moon, and only the first day of the seventh month was to be a day of solemn rest in the Torah.[5] Proverbs 6:31 says that a thief should repay sevenfold what he has stolen; but the Torah laws regarding repayment were 5 or 4 fold, for ox and sheep respectively, which were economic capital in those days; the penalty for other items, apparently, was double, if we are going to harmonize the Torah laws.[6] However, the ancients were not as strictly literal with their numbers, and maybe the author of the proverbs simply meant “a bunch” by sevenfold. Let’s consider below some definite changes to the law.
Ezekiel’s New Law?
Ezekiel is an interesting case, because he appears to be giving a new law in the model of Moses, but different from Moses’. This is in stark contrast to the vast majority of Hebrew prophets after Moses, which chiefly concern themselves with exhorting and warning the people to follow Moses’ law, or at least general laws of justice that are consistent with Moses. Just as in the account of Moses, Ezekiel is speaking to an exiled people (6th century BCE) who are being offered a renewed hope in Canaan, but this time many are in Babylon, as well as Egypt. Just as Moses gave the law, so too does Ezekiel. As David gave Solomon a pattern for the temple, so does Ezekiel give a pattern for its reconstruction, though a quite different one.
And there are some odd differences in Ezekiel’s law. In fact, there are so many differences that many early Jewish religious leaders questioned the book’s inspiration.[7] Just comparing the two short sections of Ezekiel 45:21-25 and Numbers 28 and 29 will show some of those major differences regarding three great feast meals and sacrifices. The Pesach (on the 14th of the month Nisan) includes a bull of purification in Ezekiel; the Torah does not. The Matzot (on the 15th to the 21st of Nisan) of Ezekiel includes seven bulls, seven rams, and no lambs; the Torah says two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs, among other differences. And for Sukkot (on the 15th to the 21st of Tishri), Ezekiel requires seven bulls, seven rams, and no lambs, while the Torah says the count of bulls goes from 13 to seven (each day of the feast), two rams, and 14 lambs. Ezekiel and the Torah also contain differences between practice for Shabbat (the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week) and for Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month: For Shabbat, Ezekiel says six lambs and a ram; the Torah says 2 lambs and no rams, and there are differences regarding the grain and oil offering. For Rosh Chodesh, he says one bull, one ram, and six lambs, while the Torah says two lambs, a ram, and seven rams, with more differences in the grain and oil offering.
Apart from the Law of Moses, Ezekiel also gives a rather detailed pattern for the rebuilding of the Temple; recall that the original Temple was built four centuries earlier by Solomon, and destroyed by the Babylonians during the time of Ezekiel (587 BCE). Interestingly, despite the extensive detail given for the construction of Moses’ Tabernacle (pre-Temple) and Ezekiel’s Temple, the detailed pattern that David gave Solomon for the original Temple (built c. 957 BCE) is not well recorded in the Bible. And also interestingly, the second Temple was in fact rebuilt during the time of Ezekiel, but probably not according to the pattern which he gives; even if it was, it would not keep its form, as it would be altered over the years, even before the massive renovations of Herod. In fact, the second Temple, at least initially, was probably[8] not comparable in glory to Solomon’s. Many Jews and Christians (especially millennialists) believe a Third Temple will be built in the future; some millennialists even believe in a fourth Temple,[9] to be built after the model of Ezekiel. In fact, Haggai himself prophesied that there would be a future Temple greater than that of Solomon. And he was prophesying after the start of construction on the second. Interestingly, the glory of the Temple would in fact be many times greater than that of Solomon, mainly under the renovations of Herod just before the birth of Jesus. But that Temple was not built according to Ezekiel’s model either.
The illustrations found in my book in this section are two different artist conceptions of what Ezekiel’s temple might look like if built. Also included is a rendering of approximately what Herod’s Temple would have looked like. The Israel Museum also has a very good model.
Many explanations have been proffered for the differences between Ezekiel and the Torah. Some believing scholars have suggested that he was describing different sets of sacrifices, which is hard to explain considering the plain meaning of the text. How could they be different feasts if they are named the same and occur at the same time of year? Secular scholars have proposed two priestly schools that produced the texts. We consider evidence for different priestly schools later in this book. But the most compelling explanation to me is that Ezekiel was intentionally changing the law. Due to the tremendous losses of YHVH’s promises (see chapter six), it is not surprising to find a longing for a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31 is quite explicit about it, even going so far as to say that there would be a New Covenant, and it would be different, not Moses’ law written on stone, but a covenant written on the people’s hearts. Isaiah speaks twice of a servant who will be a “covenant” to the remnant and to the people and a light to the nations, ushering in a new era of salvation, and an apportioning of the land (finally!);[10] he speaks of a new covenant in which the Davidic reign will be restored (ch. 55), and a new nation being called. Zechariah, in a poignant metaphor of a prophetic shepherd cleaning out the corrupt shepherds who have broken the covenant, speaks of an annulment of the covenant (11:10). It is easy to see why these prophets were looking forward to a final fulfillment of God’s promises, in which they’d finally have a covenant that would last (E.g., Isaiah 61:8). So what was Ezekiel’s new focus on this future period of a covenant that would not be so broken by sinful Israel?
The Torah focuses on the purpose of sacrifice and obeying the law as a means to ward off God’s curses, and to cultivate his blessings, and all of those listed are in fact earthly blessings and curses: obeying God determines whether your crops, animals, and women will bear; whether there will be plagues and war, or health and peace, etc.[11] Ezekiel, on the other hand, focuses on the purification of sins. Some scholars suggest that Ezekiel’s addition of a goat in both Pesach and Sukkot indicates this shift in focus.[12] In fact, the section in Ezekiel on these feast days (45:17) begins with not only this emphasis on their purgative nature, but also on the prince’s role in it, the Nasi. And it’s not just Christians who would look to such passages to understand the Messiah; the Jews did so long before the Christians. While there may have been a Day of Atonement in the Torah (Leviticus 16), later prophets like Zechariah 3:9 (c. 520 BCE) would speak of a specific, future day of atonement. The Day of Atonement. First century Christian writings would place that day squarely on the death of Jesus, the anointed Nasi, and even use it to explain the greatest shift in biblical law, the removal of Temple and its priesthood and sacrifice (e.g., 1 John 3:5, Hebrews 10:26). But the Christians were actually carrying on an ancient and very Jewish expectation of a new law giver. Ezekiel 16, in a very graphic metaphor of defilement, compares Israel to a promiscuous and adulterous wife who defiles herself, but despite this YWVH will remember his covenant that was broken, and will establish an “everlasting covenant”. The Torah looked forward to a day of their breaking and loss of the covenant, but only the latter prophets would fully flesh out such a bitter loss in their own time, when they themselves would be broken as a nation, and only a remnant of a remnant would remain to preserve their ancient written oracles.[13] See later chapters for an expanded discussion on why the idea of a renewed or new covenant kept showing up in the prophets.
[1] E.g., Hebrews 9:25, 26
[2] I’ll be using the term “law of Moses” as it is commonly used, irrespective of whether this is accurate, or even whether such a man ever existed. We’ll come back to this question later.
[3] 1 Chronicles 28:11-20
[4] 1 Chronicles 15:16-23; 16:4-7; 24:3; also compare 2 Chronicles 8:13 to verses 14-15, and Ezra 3:10; 8:20; Nehemiah 12:24, 45.
[5] Numbers 29:6; Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1. Note that the ancient Hebrew months were lunar, not solar-based like ours. The first day of their month was always a new moon.
[6] Exodus 22:1,7
[7] E.g., see the Mishnah, in Menachot 45a, which claims that Hananiah ben Hezekiah (lived ca. 1st century CE) was successful against the critics of Ezekiel, by spending a great deal of time in study to reconcile Ezekiel with Moses. Note that this is the view of many fundamentalists today: the “apparent contradictions” in the Bible go away after enough study….
[8] It is surprising how many scholarly writings state that the second Temple was less grand than the first without citing any sources. The few sources that are sometimes cited are actually uncertain. Ezra 3 says that the people wept when they saw the second Temple, but is not explicit as to why. The Jewish Encyclopedia (“Temple, The Second”) speculates that the second Temple was less ornate. But there could have been any number of things that led to this weeping, including just the sheer joy of seeing the center of their religious life restored, or the fact that the building had been dragged out and only the foundation had been laid. What should be emphasized is that they saw the foundation of the Temple: it was not even completed at that time. Haggai 2:3 is perhaps most explicit in suggesting that the former glory of the Temple was greater than the second Temple, but again, that might simply have been because it was very much incomplete at that time! Haggai’s main exhortation to the people was to finish construction. One can only imagine the disarray and embarrassment to the builders of a construction site that has been abandoned for a decade or two. What more reason for believers to fret and weep than the glory of their god never seeming to find earthly fulfillment?
[9] If you’re wondering how they get a fourth, they believe a third will be built that will be desecrated by the Antichrist. See “The Third Temple…and, then the Fourth! A Prophecy of John?”, by Gerry Burney; and “The Third Temple Period: Transition from the Third to the Fourth Temple Period”, by Richard Schmidt.
[10] Chapters 42 and 49
[11] E.g., Deuteronomy 11:13-29; 27:11-13; 28:1-13.
[12] The Book of Ezekiel, by Daniel Block.
[13] E.g., Romans 3:2