The Messianic Era will be a time of great transformation. The prophets describe the world in the Messianic Era as a place of total peace. According to the prophetic vision the entire natural order will undergo a massive transformation, the biggest change to take place will be the eradication of death and suffering.
Some may understand Isaiah’s prophecy that “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat” (Isaiah 11:6) to be a metaphor of Israel dwelling in peace with her otherwise hostile neighbors. Metaphor or not, these prophetic oracles represent the total transformation that the Messianic Era represents.
One of the most curious changes that will take place in the Messianic Era is the emergence of a New Torah. The rabbis teach that in the Messianic Era a New Torah will come from God and that our current Torah will be nothing compared to the New Torah of Messiah.
Just what does this transformed Torah look like? Various opinions are given on this matter. Some say that it will literally be a new Torah that will permit once prohibited things like pork. Others argue that it represents the change in nature and that, while being the same Torah, it will effect us in a different manner. And still others maintain that this “New Torah” will basically be a flipped Torah, meaning that its inner secrets will be its revealed parts and the revealed parts hidden.
The Messiah also spoke about a new commandment:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:43)
This commandment isn’t really new as it has already been given before in the form of “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). What then is new about this commandment and can understanding its newness help us discover what the “New Torah” of the Messianic Era will be?
Obviously, these types of things are a bit fuzzy. So your guess is good as mine, but I’ll go ahead and give it a shot.
We find Yeshua giving this new commandment during his last hours. During this time of his passion he taught his disciples that they were to love each other as he as loved them (John 13:34). John described this love as the willingness to lay down one’s life for your fellow. This is a measure of love that reaches to the most painful level of human existence. Yeshua states the world will know we are disciples of him by our love for each other (John 13:35).
This love that we have for one another in the body of Messiah is an embodiment of his love. This love of Messiah is also what’s behind the new commandment to love one another. It is not a new commandment in form, but in quality and depth. This commandment is infused with the love of Messiah. This is not to say that the other commandments lack Yeshua’s character, it’s just that here, in this commandment, his love is fully realized.
