Ask Your Preacher - Archives
Dodecagenarian
Thursday, October 27, 2016The Bible in Genesis 6:3 says that no man will live past 120. There have been a couple of people that have lived past 120 in recent history. How can you explain this?Sincerely,
Full Of Life
Dear Full Of Life,
Gen 6:3 isn’t a statement concerning the maximum age for all people; it was how long God would wait until flooding the earth. Genesis 6 is the beginning of the account of Noah’s flood. God said that He would only put up with the wickedness of mankind for another 120 years because all their thoughts and ways were evil (Gen 6:5-7). During that 120-year period, God tasked Noah with building an ark for the safety of his family and the collection of all the animal kinds (Gen 6:13-21). That verse is a flood verse, not a proclamation of the age limit for humans.
Tradition, Tradition!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016I'm admittedly not as familiar with the Old Testament as the New Testament, but my question is this: are the traditions and/or laws that govern the Jewish faith today all found in the Old Testament? Does it discuss wearing yarmulkes, other dress and hairstyles considered "orthodox", or the other symbols such as the mezuzah, etc.? Are all the "kosher" laws about not mixing meat and dairy found there, or have there been modifications made as we've seen with denominations that claim to be New Testament Christians but have made up some of their own rules?Sincerely,
Mazeltov
Dear Mazeltov,
Modern Judaism is a mixture of oral tradition and Old Testament law. The Old Testament law that is found in your Bible is partially observed in modern Judaism, but not entirely (for example: animal sacrifices are no longer performed, the priesthood doesn’t exist, and there is no temple-worship practiced). However, the larger part of modern Judaism comes from oral tradition handed down by rabbis (‘rabbi’ means ‘teacher’ in Hebrew). Most of this tradition is found in a book called the ‘Talmud’. The Talmud is a compilation of rabbinical traditions that was put together about 200 AD. Most of the teachings you mentioned (the yarmulke, kosher laws, mezuzah tubes, etc.) are from the Talmud… not the Bible. Modern Judaism does not come close to resembling the religion of Moses’ day.