torah defined in relation to the church

[HelenaZF]

What is "torah"? Wikipedia defines it (and I believe this is also the common understanding) as the Pentateuch, or the first 5 books of the bible.

* Genesis (בראשית, Bereshit: "In the beginning...")

* Exodus (שמות, Shemot: "Names")

* Leviticus (ויקרא, Vayyiqra: "And he called...")

* Numbers (במדבר, Bamidbar: "In the desert...")

* Deuteronomy (דברים, Devarim: "Words", or "Discourses")



However, David Hargis (a messianic rabbi) says this:

 

Torah is the Hebrew word meaning teaching. It's root means to throw or shoot an arrow.  YHVH uses this word Torah in scripture to signify His Teaching to His people. The Teaching which G-d gave Moses (Moshe) is called the Torah of Moses, but this does not mean that Moses authored it, only that he received it from G-d.



When Torah is mentioned it is most often associated with the Torah of Moses, meaning the Torah, or Teaching, which God gave to Israel in the wilderness. However, YHVH uses the word Torah to signify His instructions throughout the Hebrew scriptures, including the Prophets and the Psalms. Since all of His Word is His Teaching, all of it is His Torah.



  1.  Torah is all the written Teaching of YHVH, from Genesis to Revelation, and that alone

  2. Torah is not the oral traditions or commentaries of men, whether Jewish or Christian

  3. Torah is holy, right and good; and useful for everyone who belongs to G-d



[<COLOR color="purple">his further comments on this subject can be read here:</COLOR> <URL url="http://www.messianic.com/articles/torah2.htm">http://www.messianic.com/articles/torah2.htm ]

<QUOTE author="restorah">

We should strive to be like Messiah. To love Him means that we will keep His commandments. What commandments, the very Words that were in the beginning and became flesh as Him that dwelt among us. His Torah is the covenant that built upon the others and was restored, renewed and build upon for David and Yeshua. No, we cannot keep all the commands. There are the ceremonial laws and so forth. But we can keep a vast amount that show us how to walk in the sanctification that Yeshau purchased to inhabit.



Yeshua brings us into sanctification, it is up to us to remain there. Torah is the standard by which we must reside within the cloud. Through Messiah, we are able to do this......Torah should be embraced as both the marriage contract (covenant is a much better word) and a user's manual. It was given with a Hebrew, not Greek, mindset and mandate. We should look at all of scripture and our thoughts and lifestyles from a Hebraic perspective.



[<COLOR color="purple">excerpted from this post: </COLOR><URL url="http://zionfirefriends.com/index.php?showtopic=1623&view=findpost&p=5444829"><LINK_TEXT text="http://zionfirefriends.com/index.php?sh ... &p=5444829">http://zionfirefriends.com/index.php?showt...dpost&p=5444829</LINK_TEXT> ]

So as Christians, how do we define (and respond to) "torah"? What is the difference between a believer who is "torah observant" and one who is not?