A tough nut to crack.1771
A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK
Ref. 1771
BIBLE READING: Matthew 11:12
David Bivin, in his book, "The Difficult Words of Jesus" 1, relates his experience as a teenager when he began to read the Bible. "My greatest difficulty was trying to understand the words of Jesus, such as, `From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force' (Matt 11:12). Picture a teenager trying to make sense out of Luke 12:49-50 or Luke 23:21 ... I would question my pastor or teachers or visiting seminary professors as to the meaning of such passages and would invariably receive the common response, `Just keep reading, son, the Bible will interpret itself'.
"The truth is that one can keep reading the Bible ... and the Bible will not tell him the meaning of these difficult Hebrew passages. They can be understood only when translated back into Hebrews. What my pastors and teachers should have admonished was, `Son, learn Hebrew!' ...
These men ... cannot be blamed for the lack of an answer. No one had ever suggested to them that the most important tool for understanding the Bible - both Old and New Testaments - is Hebrew, and Hebrew is the key to the understanding of the words of Jesus.
"By the time I went to Israel at the age of 24 to study at the Hebrew University ... I was reading the Bible more than ever before, but I was unconsciously neglecting the Gospels; yet here were the real words and teachings of Jesus." He adds, "It should be emphasised that the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is, in its entirety, highly Hebraic. In spite of the fact that portions of the New Testament were communicated in Greek, the background is thoroughly Hebrew".
The Problem of Matthew 11:12
Numerous commentaries have discussed this passage; the stumbling block for the majority is the violence which seems to be advocated in connection with the Kingdom of God - that does not correlate with the rest of the teaching of Yeshua! The key to understanding this passage was discovered by Professor David Flusser of Hebrew University, in an old rabbinic interpretation (midrash) of Micah 2:12-13.
"I will gather all of you Jacob, I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will put them all together like sheep in a fold, like flock inside its pen. It will be noisy and crowded with people. The breach-maker (poretz) goes through before them then they break out. Passing through the gate, they leave by it. Their king passes through before them, [YHWH] at their head."
"These verses are full of rich imagery. It is the picture of a shepherd penning up his sheep for the night. He quickly builds a fold by throwing up a makeshift rock fence against the side of a hill. The next morning, to let the sheep out, he makes a hole or breach by tossing some of the stones aside. He steps through his `gate' with the sheep following close behind. They have been penned up all night ... several trying to get through at once ... further breaching the little gate in their eagerness to get to the green pasture. Finally they burst out into the open spaces, rushing headlong after the shepherd.
"[Yeshua] was not only hinting at Micah 2:13 but also at a well-known rabbinic interpretation of it. `The Kingdom of Heaven,' he says, `is breaking forth [not `suffering violence'], and every person in it is breaking forth [literally, `those who are breaking out break out in it, or by means of it, not `the violent take it by force']. (Compare Lk 16:16, the parallel to Matthew 11:12).
The kingdom is bursting forth into the world and individuals within the kingdom are finding liberty and freedom. "Though [Yeshua] does not refer directly to his own role as the shepherd leading the sheep out, no listener could possibly misunderstand his stunning assertion - I AM [YHWH].2
Elhanan ben Avraham commented thus on the passage in Matthew: "`In the days of Yochanan haMatbil (John the Baptist) until now'" - his reference almost certainly is to the `breaking forth' in the prophecy of Micah; those with their full hearts desire to follow their king (Mashiach) who would break open the way before them. (`I am the way ...' Yochanan 14:6). When he puts forth all his own - his sheep know his voice. `I am the gate ... find pasture' Yochanan 10:4-9).
Searching the Rabbinic Writings
Risto Santala has undertaken an exhaustive search through the rabbinic writings to find references to the Messiah ("The Messiah in the Old Testament in the Light of Rabbinic Writings"). He asserts that the search for the "Old Testament roots of our faith (through the old Jewish literature) is somewhat reminiscent of diving for pearls in the depths of the ocean ... the Messianic mystery has, as it were, created its own secret code, which must be cracked before it will be understood. One of the toughest nuts is Gen 28-39 on the son of Judah and Tamar, `So this is how you have broken out (poretz) and he was named Peretz'".3
Peretz and the Messianic Connection
Santala has discovered that Ben Peretz (son of Peretz) is actually one of the best-known cryptic Messianic epithets. In Matthew's genealogy, the name sometimes appears as "Phares" (Matt 1:3).
In the "Seal of the Midrashim", Rabbi Tanchuma Bar Abba speaks frequently of the Messianic connection with Peretz. "He is the final saviour, the Messiah-King ... there are sinners who through their falling have sustained great loss, and those who have benefitted from their misdemeanours. Thus Judah profited, because from him came forth Peretz and Hezron from whom are descended David and the Messiah-King, he who will save Israel. Behold the great difficulties the Holy One indeed gave until he was to raise up the Messiah-King from Judah, he of whom it is written, `And the spirit of [YHWH] will be upon him'."5
The "Midrash Ruth" associates the seed concept (cf Gal 3:16) with the Messiah when speaking of the Kinsman-Redeemer in Ruth 4:18. The midrash highlights Peretz, "another seed from another place".
Midrash Rabbah6 - "He (Messiah) will destroy death forever"
The new phase which began with Peretz is described, "This is the history of Peretz and it has a profound significance ... When the Holy One created his world there was as yet no Angel of Death ... but when Adam and Eve fell into sin, all generations were corrupted.
"When Peretz arose, history began to be fulfilled through him, because from him Messiah would arise, and in his days the Holy One would cause death to be swallowed up, as it is written, `He will destroy death forever' (Isaiah 25:8)."
Yehudah (Judah) and Tamar (Gen 38)
A mysterious story indeed. This chapter breaks away from the story of Yehudah's brother Yoseph, in whose fate Yehudah played a key role. According to the midrash, Bereshit Rabbah 85:10, Tamar (Heb = upright, palm tree), was a daughter of Shem (Heb = name), who lived for 600 years and died in 1853 BCE (Yehudah was born in 1755)7, and after the flood "he begat sons and daughters". It is possible that Tamar could have been a granddaughter or great granddaughter of Shem. Our observation of Yehudah is that he married a Canaanite woman and therefore his sons from this marriage were not chosen to carry the line of Messiah; the line then reverted to Yehudah himself. In the later family history, we note that David called his daughter Tamar, and her brother, Absalom, also named his daughter Tamar, "who was very beautiful".
The Stone the Builders Rejected
Santala asserts that the Talmud interprets Isaiah 8:14 as signifying the Messiah, son of David and describes the same "breaking through", which is connected with the Peretz illustration. "He will be a sanctuary, a rock of offence and stone of stumbling to both the houses of Israel, a snare and a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem."8 Yeshua himself became "the stone which the builders rejected" (Acts 4:11; Ps 118:22).
The Role of Elijah and John the Immerser
Yeshua declared that "from the days of Yochanan (John the Immerser) the Kingdom has been `breaking out'" and has therefore been in existence since the time of Yochanan. In Micah 2:13, the breach-maker and the king are the same person but in the rabbinic interpretation discovered by Prof Flusser, the breach-maker is interpreted as being Elijah and the king as Messiah.
RaDaQ (rabbi David Qimchi) declares that the one who breaks open the way is Elijah and their king is the Branch, the Son of David.
The "Metsudat David" explains the prophecy of Micah as meaning: "Elijah will come before the time of salvation in order to turn the hearts of Israel to their heavenly Father in order to be a herald of salvation to them ... but by their king is meant the Messiah-King and [YHWH] will come before them all because at that time he will also give back his Holy Spirit to Zion.
The prophet Elijah will once more "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to the fathers (Mal 4:6).
The Hedge around the Law
This is one of the functions of Messiah and the Rabbis speak a great deal about "the hedge of the Law". RaMBaN (rabbi Moses ben Nachman, 13th cent CE) describes the birth of Peretz: "He was encircled by a hedge, and he was enclosed with it, that is why it is said, `So this is how you have broken from the hedge and come out from within it'. Peretz was the firstborn through the power of the Most High, `I will give him a firstborn son.' This was written about the holy one who is to come from David the king of Israel."
Conclusion
His ways are indeed not our ways; for many the Messianic epithet of Ben Peretz may be difficult. As we persevere in our study, however, we will find yet more hidden Messianic traditions and references. "It is amazing to see that in the writings of the most widely recognised Jewish exegetes there are thoughts associated with the name of Peretz which can help us to understand the plan of salvation and some of Paul's more difficult teachings. Not infrequently, however, these pearls are buried deep in the ocean of tradition, concealed within a protective shell." (Santala)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus - David Bivin and Roy Blizzard, Center for Judaic Christian Studies, Destiny Image Publishers, Shippensburg PA.
2. Ibid.
3. Mashiach ben Yoseph - Elhanan ben Avraham, Jerusalem (booklet available from Shalom Study Centre).
4. The Messiah in the Old Testament in the Light of Rabbinic Writings - Risto Santala 1992, Keren Ahvah Meshichit, Jerusalem.
5. Midrash Tantuma Bereshith va Yeshev on Isaiah 61:1-3.
6. Shemoth Rabbah.
7. New Chronological Harmony of History and the Bible - Alvin F Showalter 1988 (dates).
8. Sanhedrin 38a.
9. Mikgoth Gedoloth on Micah 2:13.