There is disagreement in Judaism concerning what is included in the Torah.
Some segments of Judaism hold that only Moses' Law is Torah.
Others hold that all of the five books of Moses is Torah.
Others hold that the whole of Old Testament Scripture is Torah.
Still others hold that oral traditions are also Torah, and there is disagreement regarding which oral traditions are authoritative.
So we can't really rely on modern Judaism to tell us exactly what is Torah.
So what does the Bible say is Torah? What is the Bible referring to when it uses the word Torah?
The word does not occur in the English translation of the Bible. It's not an English word. It's a Hebrew word.
Some segments of Judaism hold that only Moses' Law is Torah.
Others hold that all of the five books of Moses is Torah.
Others hold that the whole of Old Testament Scripture is Torah.
Still others hold that oral traditions are also Torah, and there is disagreement regarding which oral traditions are authoritative.
So we can't really rely on modern Judaism to tell us exactly what is Torah.
So what does the Bible say is Torah? What is the Bible referring to when it uses the word Torah?
The word does not occur in the English translation of the Bible. It's not an English word. It's a Hebrew word.
Where the word Torah appears in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), the word doesn't always refer exclusively to Moses' Law but sometimes also refers to the wider canon of Old Testament Scripture.
The word law, where it appears in the English Bible in the King James Version of the New Testament, doesn't always refer exclusively to Moses' Law either but sometimes also refers to the wider canon of Old Testament Scriptures.
So in Biblical times, the entire Old Testament Scripture was accepted as law - as Torah. Moses' Law was part of it.
This means that the entire Old Testament Scripture had authority to illustrate the intention that God had for Moses' Law.
Every portion of Old Testament Scripture - things before the giving of Moses' Law, things in Moses' Law, and things written after Moses' Law by the Prophets - each bear witness to Christ.
Each period and each portion of Scripture bears witness to a time when God's work in the earth would centre around Christ rather than around Moses' Law.
The word law, where it appears in the English Bible in the King James Version of the New Testament, doesn't always refer exclusively to Moses' Law either but sometimes also refers to the wider canon of Old Testament Scriptures.
So in Biblical times, the entire Old Testament Scripture was accepted as law - as Torah. Moses' Law was part of it.
This means that the entire Old Testament Scripture had authority to illustrate the intention that God had for Moses' Law.
Every portion of Old Testament Scripture - things before the giving of Moses' Law, things in Moses' Law, and things written after Moses' Law by the Prophets - each bear witness to Christ.
Each period and each portion of Scripture bears witness to a time when God's work in the earth would centre around Christ rather than around Moses' Law.
It therefore honours the Torah to embrace the New Covenant.
To still embrace Moses' Law is to say the Torah has failed to come true.
Only if a New Covenant now exists can it be said that the Torah endures as a reliable witness.
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