Teaching Team
Unrolling the Scroll
Let us cleave to God’s blessing, and think about how to lay hold of it. Let us unroll the things which have taken place from the beginning. (1 Clement 31:1)
Who would not want God's blessing in their lives? Clement of Rome, one of the disciples of Simon Peter, advised the believers in Corinth to consider how they might lay hold of God’s blessing. His letter to the Corinthians is not a part of the Bible, but it provides and important glimpse of the first century believers. Clement told them, “Let us unroll the things which have taken place from the beginning” (1 Clement 31:1). What does he mean when he says “unroll the things”? He was referring to the scroll of the Torah. In the days of Clement, books were not bound. They were rolled in scrolls. In the synagogue, the Torah is still read from a scroll, just as it was in Clement’s day.
When we unroll a Torah scroll, the first thing we read is the stories that “have taken place from the beginning.” The first book in the Torah scroll is Genesis. Its Hebrew name is B’reisheet which means “In the Beginning.” Clement tells us to unroll the scroll of the Torah and consider the things that have taken place since the book of In the Beginning.
Therefore Peter’s disciple Clement advises us to study the Torah in order to take hold of God’s blessing for our lives. He goes on to mention the stories of the patriarchs: our forefathers in faith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their stories are all found in the scroll of the Torah:
Let us cleave to God’s blessing, and think about how to lay hold of it. Let us unroll the things which have taken place from the beginning. Why was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he brought about righteousness and truth through faith? Isaac, with complete confidence, as if he knew what would happen, gladly offered himself as a sacrifice. Jacob, because of his brother [Esau], humbly went out from his own land and came to Laban and worked for him; and there he was given the scepter of the twelve tribes of Israel. (1 Clement 31:1–4)
All of the forefathers “were blessed in everything, from everything and with everything.” Clement taught that we all have the potential to walk in the same blessing as our spiritual forefathers if we will learn from the example of their lives. That is why he advises us to “unroll” the scroll and study the Torah. Finally, Clement encourages us to look intently into the Torah’s words, understand them well, and meditate upon them frequently:
You understand, beloved, you understand the Sacred Scriptures very well, and you have looked intently into the oracles of God. Bring these things to your remembrance. (1 Clement 53:1)
FFOZ releases Unrolling the Scroll, a completely rewritten version of Torah Club Volume One this fall.
D. Thomas Lancaster
Elul 6, 5767
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Visitor Feedback:
This is awesome Daniel...
There is a combination of understandings that I have been trying to put my finger on, but could not until now. (somehow, a combination of Judaism and Christianity that has a real depth of truth)
The excitement, in anticipation of TC1, must be intense...
michael kemp | August 20, 2007 8:12 PM