Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Marianne,

> Our Torah has been
> revered for so many generations, I believe, not just because it 
> contains the Law
> of Moses.  I think it goes beyond even that and that Jews even forgot why the
> Torah is so holy and just assumed it must be on account of the Law.  But,
> little by little, it is my belief that it will be shown that the 
> Torah contains the
> secrets of the history of the human race, all lost over many dark ages--but
> now being recovered one step at a time by ever-evolving science.

> So the Torah contains the truth of
> the history of Man and the Jewish people specifically--as it turns 
> out.  Does it
> help us with the present?  Only if following the commandments to the letter
> of the Law makes one happy.  Does it contain knowledge of the future?  No.

HH: So the Torah's really good with the past but not so reliable 
about the future? What about the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32? A 
lot of it certainly came true, and there's still more to be 
completed. A good amount of intra-Tanakh fulfillment of prophecy 
exists, such as the predictions of Jerusalem's coming judgment by 
Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah. Christians revere the ability of the 
Tanakh to foretell the future. The Torah claims that God knows the 
future.

HH: By the way, I would say that even the Tanakh suggests that it is 
faith in God and living a life according to Him that makes one happy, 
not fulfilling the Law to the letter:

Psa. 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy 
sight shall no man living be justified.

Believers depended on God's mercy and His power to justify. David 
wrote Psalm 143, but also:

Psa. 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard