How Do We Know the Torah Is from God? Rabbi Singer Answers

Okay, very good. We're going to move into our next caller. Uh, let's get Elena. Elena, you are live on the air. Go ahead and present your question to Rabbi. >> Well, good morning and thank you, Rabbi William and crew at Tanak Talk for everything that you do. I really appreciate it. >> Awesome. >> Um, I'm hearing a lot of Christians asking questions lately and there seems to be one surfacing a lot and when not addressed well, these Christians are becoming agnostic or atheist. I'll tell you their question, then add a related one of my own. How do we know that the words of scripture are inherent is their question. And another way to put it is, how do we know that scripture really came from God and is not man-made? So, here's the one that I'm going to add. Um, in 2 Timothy 3:16, um, where it says where it says that Timothy says that all scripture is God breathe. Well, Timothy for one thing is a man. So what is Timothy's definition of scripture and how do we know Timothy's statement came from God? >> So how do we know that the Torah is from God? And he's talking about second Timothy. The context in second Timothy 3 is that Paul is giving Timothy charters meaning instructions when he says God forgive me that I started off with second Timothy that all scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching and reproof and correction. The author is and I say whoever it is is speaking about the Hebrew Bible. It's not speaking of the Christian Bible because second Timothy is one of the three pastoral epistles. If I didn't add in that most scholars do not think that second Timothy was actually authored by Paul. I would be remiss, but we'll we'll ignore that. We'll just say that Paul is the author of all 13 epistles. And we're going to just set that aside. How do we know that the Torah is the word of Hashem? So there are two points I will answer. I'll answer with two way. As far as the Torah goes, when I say Torah, I mean it generically. As far as Tanakh is concerned, there are two answers to that question. Both of them are very important and they're intertwined. And that is the Jewish people. When Louis the 14th asked Pascal, "Show me a miracle." And he responded replied, "The Jews, the survival of the Jews," he actually was standing on good footing. Because in Tanakh, the perseverance of the Jews, the covenant that God made with Israel in that it's eternal. Not that the Jews would have a very good time, but rather they would be miserable in their exile. See Deuteronomy 28 verses 50- 65. It says the Jews would go through a very difficult exile. But despite all that, Hashem would have mercy on them. Leviticus 26 verse 4014. And Hashem would restore them because of the promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And gerain to our time when the nations of the world despise us and hate us. And what JD Vance said was kind of a a little bit it's not pleasant. I don't think it was the best thing that he could have said that Israel has is alone in the world. So he really was paring another gentile who said that Israel is an a nation that dwells alone. And that's exactly what Bum said. Now there are many people who got upset and said well we have India mean besides Donald Trump we have India we have it's true but we are a nation this we're a nation that dwells alone in the world therefore I would posit to you that if everybody loved the Jews and everybody loved Israel you would then have to question everything because the Torah says that's not going to happen. Tory says the whole world is going to be against you going to destroy you and you are alone in the world the way Abraham was alone in the world. However, I would suggest to the vice president that Abraham also was alone in the world. The rest of the world virtually everyone were idol worshippers and Abraham was alone. And we see that in the book of Isaiah and Hashem called Abraham my friend. So as it turns out theology is not a a democracy where you vote. doesn't work that way. And it's striking that it is the same prophet Bill who is the only prophet in the Torah that explicitly in his fourth oracle foretells the coming of the Messiah. Why was it a non-Jew that fortell the coming of the Messiah? Because the Messiah is coming for not so much the Jews but for the nations of the world, for all the go of the world that they will come to know the God of Israel because whereas the Exodus in contrast really was to deliver a single nation from Egypt. But the Messiah is there to save the non-Jews to save the world. And the Jews are supposed to be a lighted nations. So it it would make sense that it would be a non-Jew who would talk about in blessing Israel. He didn't want to, but he did. In blessing Israel, he would talk about Mashiach. Now, I know some of you are thinking about Genesis 49 where there is an illusion to Messiah. No question. But there is just talking about that the Davidic, the dynasty, he didn't say David because David wasn't born yet. That would come out of Judah would never leave at Sheila. what he's supposed to do. So, so the major source is numbers chapter 24. I want to get back to our topic and that is that the Torah is unique and it says so in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and this is the point about the Torah that it had to have been a divine revelation. And although I think what the vice president said is to some degree true that Israel does dwell alone, we heard the brilliant insights of the soon to becoming leader soon coming leader of the United Kingdom and he said some very sweet things about Israel. But that's what that's what we would expect. That's that's exactly what the Torah anticipated. How? And it's interesting. The Torah says in Deuteron that you the nations of the world, despite the fact they're not going to be crazy about you, they're going to believe that your Torah is a holy book. And they're going to say, "What a wise nation that has such a law such as this." In the same chapter, same chapter, the Torah tells us that the revelation that the Jewish people experience is unique and it calls upon the reader. Shall please ask in verse 32, ask from all generation has passed as any other nation seen such miracles and wonders as you have and lived. race. You have been shown this so that you may know that I am Lord. The national revelation at Mount Sia is a completely unique claim. And the reason it's a unique claim and that most of the world despite the fact they're not crazy about the Jews believe that the Torah is a holy book, that's a huge thing. The majority of the people who occupy our planet believe that the Torah of the Jews is the word of God. Right? Can't argue with that. Why? They're not they don't like us. They vote against us in the UN General Assembly. They would in the security council. They take us out as well. Whatever. There's a veto there. Will it stay there? I don't know. It's because the unique revelation to the children of Israel and that it was a national revelation means the whole nation was there. That's not the kind of thing that can be invented. Meaning where if I told you that the way I got to the studio today was by helicopter cuz I got stuck in a lot. So I took a helicopter to Jerusalem. I'm sure most of you were inclined to believe me if I sounded persuasive enough and confident enough. It's certainly possible that I flew by helicopter to Jerusalem. I have in fact done that many times where I flew to different parts of the land of Israel by helicopter. It's really quite a stunning experience. I even gave um Ambassador Huckabe a tour of the land of Israel by helicopter. So you would probably be inclined. It really is quite fascinating to fly over this country. But if I told you that you too flew with me by helicopter, so you admittedly know that what I'm saying is not true because I'm including you in on it. I'm saying you were there too. And that's exactly what Deuteronomy chapter 4 is. It's not just four, but five, six, seven. All those chapters are addressing a nation and are saying, "You heard the voice of God. You heard the sounds." It literally says that and it says you've been shown this so that you may know there's no one else besides him. It's literally in this chapter. You can read the Deuteronomy chapter 4 and your mamish do truth on the spot. And the text moreover continues and you read Deuteronomy text over and over again says you should keep the Torah remember these events and as big because you have what you saw and heard you should commit yourself to the Torah. Now if the Torah was invented and not the word of God then no one could be expect to remember anything that didn't happen. So somebody wrote this text at some point. Somebody wrote the book of Deuteronomy. Well, when they wrote it, someone read it for the first time. And whoever reads it for the first time is reading. You remember remember you heard. So everyone, I didn't hear anything. This is a massive problem. Not only that, the Torah says the following. If you have any questions about any of these events, let's say you weren't there at the time. So it tells you the following. It says, Deuteronomy chapter 32. It means ask your father and he'll tell you about it. Your elders and they will relate it to you. Well, what are you talking about? If someone invented these events, the last person you would go to is your father or your elders. Why? Cuz it's a fake. It's a lie. It's a phony. It's a $3 bill. So, if you went to your grandfather and asked him about something that never happened, they'll say, "What are you talking about? No such thing happened. So therefore, all of this is consistent with their national revelation. And all the other religions in the world are predicated on believing some prophet had a revelation and you either believe it or you don't believe it. But the Torah is unique in this was a national revelation and it sets it apart and other religions of the world are predicated on our national revelation. That's why it is the word of Hashem. Moreover, the text tells us it's the same in Deuteronomy chapter 4 in that the text says that you're not going to be liked. You're going to be admired for your wisdom. The Torah says in that chapter, but despite this, the nations will oppress you. you'll go. I mean, there's nothing wrong with thinking that maybe like you you throw the dice the dye enough times, it eventually is going to come up snake eyes twice or three times, but the text is saying something very improbable. The text is saying essentially what happens to other nations that have a long history and therefore contribute to their longevity. Let's give an example. What I want to do is I want to saturate this point. Let's think of a people today that have a long history that's unbroken. It's unidentifiable and they've been around for many many thousands of years and we could really know about them. Right? So let me let's take an example of such a people. Let's talk about the Chinese, the most successful race in the planet. They've been around a very long time. And there are people who spend their whole lives studying their history in different dynasties and different periods. But it's so you'll ask any person why have the Chinese persevered so long. Oh, you'll have many many answers. They were attacked. They didn't build a wall just to play handball. They were attacked and very badly attacked. But ultimately one could say a simple without even I don't have to look up at anything. One would immediately say you have a very large it's a very very very large country in and it's situated really nicely. The United States is also situated very nicely. Israel is not meaning all around us you have southwest Asia and Europe is right there from every but China is really in an ideal place it's a very large huge land mass and it has a lot a lot of people it's huge huge number of people those are contributing features to that would would preserve a nation a people for a very very long time, big numbers, and they're on the same piece of land for a very long time. Those are contributing factors that clearly would nourish a longevity among the people. Now, the Torah says, I want you to know that what you see in other nations that have been around for a while, that will not apply to you. I beg you to read Deuteronomy 4 27. Really, if you ever doubt Hashem, it pays. The author of the Tyra says that I want you to know that these features, I'm paraphrasing here, that what happens to other nations will happen to you. Maybe it'll be so many Jews and on such a piece of land that they're always there. That's that's why they've been around. That's why it's the internal nation. Torah says, "No." And Torah says openly you'll be few in number and you'll be scattered among all the nations that you'll be exiled to. It openly says that the Torah is announcing that those features that would contribute to the longevity of a people will not apply to you. So why are the Jews still here? The Jews are here because that bur the almighty bless his name made a promise to Abraham ratified it with Isaac and asserted it with Jacob. That lease that is made with the voice with the patriarchs is written on a deed that is locked in heaven and it's for all the world to see an eternal nation. And in case you don't know this, it's in Tanakh openly that it's the perseverance of the Jewish people and the restoration of the Jewish people to the land. See the last two pastors of Ezekiel 38 as an example. See the last nine pastors of Ezekiel 39 as an example. Unless anybody say to you, this is talking about the church. It's not Israel anymore. Now I I need to say this because the Christian world except for like premillennial dispensationalists meaning the Catholics, the Orthodox and the Islamic world will all say that the Jews were chosen at some point. This is very critical. I just this one point. The other Abrahamic religions that believe that the Jews were replaced believe that at one time the Jews were chosen and received the covenant from God. The Catholic Church believes that. The Orthodox Church that hates us believes that. But they say the Jews because of their because they sinned in the Christianity, we we not only rejected Jesus, we we had the good idea of killing him. I mean, it says this openly in the Christian Bible openly. And first Thessalonians chapter 2:14-16. Because of this, we lost that. That's what's quote the critical argument that's used by the church and Islam is that the Jews were chosen but we lost that choseness because of our sins of rejecting their beliefs. So this is impossible. Why is it not possible? Because the text where I pointed you states that the Jews in fact went through a period of unbelief and faithlessness. It's very very important. I don't point you to any verse. And they were driven into exile because of their sins and were persecuted in the nations where they were exiled to. See Deuteronomy chapter 28. But nevertheless, I remember the promise that I made to your forefathers. See Leviticus chapter 26 verse 44 as an example. And have mercy and I will restore you back and your sins will not be remembered. I beg you, if you care about the God of Israel, read from Ezekiel 39 21-28 29 and read it in context to make sure I'm telling you the truth. So therefore, the way we know the Torah is from Hashem is number one that it was a national revelation. That's why the Torah says that the Jewish people are people who bear witness. Isaiah 43 10-11, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord. You meaning Israel my witnesses declares the Lord of the my servant I am show you no believe and understand I am God there was no God formed before me nor there was after me why don't God have a with a people who are bear testim what is he talking about this is it the Jewish people are here a remnant that's all look at Isaiah 65 verse8 a cluster of graves but there's still juice in that grapes that's precious that's you could squeeze out. Listen, listen, Kindle, it's time now to full on the floor. Just accept as your only Lord, your only savior. There's nothing else. And it's the the national revelation, the perseverance of the Jewish people that bear testing of the word of Hashem is eternal. Thank you for your question. If you enjoyed this program, please like and subscribe. I share my love.