Now, we are going to go to Matt 23 and look at this chapter in total, and in light of what we have learned about the Pharisees of Beit Shammai. We will also give you other verses to look at that deal with the Pharisee of Beit Shammai, not the Pharisees in general.
Another thing to keep in mind when you see the word “traditions” in these verses, or other places in the Gospels and Epistles, is that it is the Greek word “paradosis”, and in Hebrew it means the “halakah” or “how to walk in the commandments.” Beit Shammai had their own halakah, and Beit Hillel had their own. In fact, each sect of the “Judaisms” of the First Century had their own halakah. So, when Yeshua criticizes their “traditions” he isn’t criticizing all Jewish tradition. He is criticizing the traditions of Beit Shammai in these verses that were not consistent with the Torah.
Now, some may be asking, “Why are we getting into all of this?” It is because anti-semitism has come in through people reading the Gospels, especially the verses we are going to work in. They see how Yeshua responded to the Pharisees, then they make an association with the Rabbis throughout history. They assume that they are the descendants of the Pharisees. So, basically, they are also seen as “hypocrites” and “murderers.” They are seen as “enemies” of Yeshua, so they become their enemies also.
Many in Christianity are not students of the Scriptures. They believe what they are told from the pulpit. But books like “Jesus the Pharisee” by Harvey Falk have examined what Yeshua was really saying. They found in the Jewish writings, like the Talmud, Mishnah, Tosefta and Josephus, that exactly the same things Yeshua said were said about the Pharisees of Beit Shammai, not Pharisees in general. Beit Shammai, as we have pointed out, usurped power in the Sanhedrin by murder in 20 B.C. These murders, probably in the Temple upper chamber of Hananiah Ben Hezekiah Ben Gurion, caused an upheaval in the “Judaisms” of the First Century. The Av Beit Din, Menachem the Essene, resigned, took 160 students with him and went into the wilderness.
Slipping into this void of Av Beit Din was none other than Shammai himself. He was aligned with the Zealots and the Sicarii, and their agenda was to bring war with the Romans. They believed that they could provoke Rome into a war, and then the Messiah would come. They saw themselves as an extension of the Maccabees. They had been taught how the Maccabees rose up against Greece and Hellenism, and if they did the same thing against the final kingdom of Daniel’s vision, Rome, Messiah would come. So, they murdered anyone who had an association with Rome if they could and excluded themselves from having any contact with non-Jews. On the other hand, Beit Hillel was against this view.
So, Beit Shammai, who had religious power, came out with what is called the 18 Edicts on the day the members of Beit Hillel were murdered. These edicts specifically outlawed contact between a Jew and a non-Jew, and they are seen in the lives of the believers, discussed in Acts 15.1 and the Book of Galatians. What we want to do is go through various passages about the Pharisees and examine them in light of what we know. Who were the Pharisees Yeshua is talking to? Were they from Beit Hillel or Beit Shammai? Let’s go to Matt 23 and find out.
In Matt 23.1-3 we immediately have Beit Shammai identified because “they have seated themselves in the seat of Moses, which means they have usurped authority, and they were not put there by the Lord. The “seat of Moses” is a literal seat in the synagogue for teaching the Torah. Sitting was the posture for teaching, based on Exodus 18.13. It is also a term for the Sanhedrin, and we know how Shammai got to be Av Beit Din and how Beit Shammai dominated the Sanhedrin. The 71 judges of the Sanhedrin were equal to Moses, and it was seen as if their rulings came from Moses himself. Then Yeshua says, “All that they tell you, do and observe” and this means as long as it complies with the Torah. If it was a matter of being “cut off” from the assembly, do it even if you disagree. But he goes on to say, “but don’t do according to their deeds” because they were hypocrites, and Yeshua is going to expose them for who they were in the coming verses.
In Matt 23.4 he says, “they tie up heavy loads and lay them on men’s shoulders” and this refers to the halakah passed in the Sanhedrin, like the 18 Edicts, etc. He said they were “unwilling to move them” or reconsider them. They remained in place, and Beit Shammai was very strict. Remember, Beit Shammai dominated the Sanhedrin at this time. These “burdens” were called “the burdens of Shammai.”
Now, the opinion of most believers today is the Pharisees and their descendants, the Rabbis, bind heavy burdens on the people. We have heard many statements by Christians like, “Thank goodness I was saved by grace and don’t have to keep those commandments.” A messianic leader was heard to say, “I didn’t keep the Torah before I believed in Yeshua, and I am certainly not going to keep it now!” So, we have a bad picture in our minds through bad, and even terrible, teaching about the Torah and the Rabbis.
If you went into a church and said “Law” you would hear people say “stop” and “We are saved by grace.” They believe the Torah, or Law, has nothing to do with them and they are “separate” from it. Now, if you go into an orthodox synagogue and say “Torah” and you will see joy. James 1.25 says, “But he who looks at the Perfect Law, the Law of Liberty (Torah) and abides (lives) by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer (obeys it), this man shall be blessed in what he does.” Other verses that carry the same idea about the Torah are John 8.22; Psa 119.45; 1 John 5.3; 2 Cor 3.17; Rom 2.13; Jam 2.20; Luke 11.2-8; Luke 6.46-47; Jam 2.12. Yeshua always told the people to keep the commandments. Paul and all the writers of the Gospels and Epistles told the people to keep the commandments.
Matt 23.5-6 says, “They (Beit Shammai) love the places of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogue.” This refers to how Beit Shammai would “push themselves” and their agenda on people. On the other hand, the attitude of Beit Hillel was to “take a back seat” even in confrontations. Luke 14.7-11 gives the mindset and motivation of Beit Hillel. Beit Shammai would broaden their tefillin (phylacteries), which were the little box on the forehead and strap around the left arm. They would lengthen their tzitzit on their garments. He is not criticizing them for having tefillin and tzitzit (tassels on the corners of the garment), but he is criticizing them for doing it to be seen.
Yeshua was gentle, tender, true and righteous. But, he could be as stern as steel and terribly tough on phony people. He was also giving and magnanimous in his spirit of forgiveness for fallen people. Here, he is attacking the motivations of Beit Shammai. In Num 15.39 we have the commandment for the tzitzit. The tzitzit were for “you” (not everyone else) to look at (be aware of), which was not the motivation of Beit Shammai here.
Matt 23.7-12 talks about how people should not be “lovers of titles.” There is nothing wrong with being called a rabbi, father or leader, but we should not be a lover of titles that signify authority, or power, over others in matters of faith and obedience.
In Matt 23.13 we have the term “woe to you” and we will find out that this is a common Jewish expression when you want to “cry out” against someone. It is very common in Jewish writings. This verse goes on to say that “you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Beit Shammai closed the door to non-Jews from entering the Olam Haba through the 18 Edicts, but Beit Hillel did not.
Matt 23.14 says they “devour widow’s houses” and this means they took advantage of them for gain. It goes on to say, “even while for a pretense you make long prayers” meaning they made them believe they were above the love of money. Matt 23.15 says, “you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte.” This refers to a non-Jew who must be circumcized and become Jewish to be saved, according to the teachings of Beit Shammai. You will see this in Acts 15.1-2, and it was the basis for the Book of Galatians, and Paul was against this. Yeshua goes on to say, however, that “when he becomes one (Jewish), you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” and this means once they become Jewish, they learn the doctrines of Beit Shammai.
In Part 6, we will pick up here and go over what we have learned so far, and then continue on with this chapter. We need to go over this again because it is so very important in our understanding of the Gospels and Epistles. It has not been taught and we think it should be taught, so we are going to use every opportunity to bring this understanding out so that the Scriptures can be understood in the way the Lord intended.
Leave a Reply