A Life Centered on Torah

Most who study biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek in seminary, like most who study Spanish in high school, do not retain the skills they are exposed to in those classes. It is unfortunate so many who invest time, energy, and money in learning the biblical languages would not continue using them and growing in the understanding of them, but it is particularly lamentable that ministers fail to do so. Knowledge of the biblical languages should be a prerequisite, in most cases, to ordained Christian ministry, and maintenance of them should be an important part of the minister’s work.

Ezra’s example as a scribe who “set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules” (Ezra 7:10) ought to be a model for all who aspire to be teachers in the church (cf. Jas. 3:1). How are we to teach what we do not understand? How are we to understand what we cannot read? How are we to know what is written if the language in which it was first revealed remains a mystery to us?

Psalm 119 powerfully and prayerfully describes the righteous man’s devotion to God as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures. It is not merely God’s person or God’s truth that the psalmist treasures; it is the very words God has spoken. The psalm uses many different terms to describe the written word of Yahweh. God’s Word is communicated in words, and while those words can be translated and their essential meaning communicated in other languages, the servant of God who aspires to teach God’s Word ought to treasure and pursue the very words which God spoke by the Holy Spirit through holy men of old.

Unfortunately, the demands of ministry and the modern, American context of it often leads ministers to focus more time and energy on programs and pleasing people than on pursuing serious study of God’s Word. Some ministers and pastors are content simply to pass the required language classes (or never take them at all) and then move on to more pragmatic pastoral practices; others might desire to sustain a working knowledge of the biblical languages but find themselves unable to do so because of the significant demands placed upon them. Yet Scripture itself indicates the minister’s first priority must be on the faithful handling of the Word of God (cf. 2Tim. 3:14-4:5). Paul exhorts Timothy:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.…  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1Tim. 4:13, 15-16)

Pastoral needs are certainly important, and no minister should be commended for attending to the Word to the neglect of the flock under his care. But every minister ought to recognize the greatest need of his flock is to hear the Word of God in purity and with clarity, and in order for this to be done their shepherd must devote himself to the careful study of it.

Many people today seek a local church where their felt-needs will be met, a church where they will feel welcome, where the worship is a satisfying experience, where their children can enjoy entertaining programs, and where they can feel more encouraged than convicted. No doubt, many are led to Christ in churches just like these, and we can rejoice that the gospel is proclaimed, even if we sometimes regret the context (cf. Php. 1:15-18). But many are liable to attend such churches for most of their lives and end up in Hell because they never knew Christ (Matt. 7:21-23). What people need is not entertainment but enlightenment, not to be satisfied with themselves but to be satisfied with Christ, not to be happy but to be holy. In order for this to be so, we must hear God’s Word. The church needs ministers who can stand up and faithfully proclaim, “Thus says the Lord.” This requires more than reading the Bible in its original languages, but it should not require less. –JME