Friday, January 21, 2011

Is Yahweh In The Process Of Revealing His Name To The World Again?



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A Jewish response to a Pastor

 
A Rabbi in Israel answers a Christian pastor who questions him on why Jews do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and son of G-d. The Rabbi answers and explains by giving evidence from the Torah & the Messianic prophecies that were given by G-d to the prophets in ancient times.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Jupiter or Christ? Time is the ally of Deceit




FROM YOU ARE MY WITNESSES (Is. 43:10) THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH RESPONSE TO CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES by Yisroel C. Blumenthal

The authors of the Christian scriptures describe the
development of the early church in the following manner.
Jesus was a Jewish man, who lived in the land of Israel. When
he was about thirty years old, he began to travel throughout the
country. For about three years, Jesus traveled and taught. By
the time Jesus died, he had created a small following. All of
his followers were Jews. Prominent among Jesus’s followers
were his twelve disciples. These disciples formed a
community with its center in Jerusalem. The community of
Jesus’s followers was lead by James, a brother of Jesus. This
community is referred to as the “Jerusalem Church”. In the
years following Jesus’s death, the Jerusalem Church grew in
size. At one point, the authors of Christian scriptures claim
that they numbered several thousand. But the members of this
church were all Jews.

Christianity reached the non-Jewish world through the
person of Paul. Paul traveled the length and breadth of the
Mediterranean, teaching the gentile world about Jesus. Paul
founded many churches throughout the Roman Empire. The
churches which Paul established were predominantly gentile.
The Christian scriptures end their narrative at this point.
They leave the reader at the historical point where there are
two churches; the Jewish church of James, and the gentile
church of Paul.

History tells us that the Jewish church of James did not
survive as a separate entity. By the time Christianity became
the established religion of the Roman Empire, there were
almost no Jewish Christians left. The few Jewish Christians
which still existed, were persecuted as heretics by the gentile
church. All of Christianity as it exists today, was transmitted
through the body of the gentile church. The books of Christian
scripture were products of the gentile church. They may have
included in these books, material which came from the Jewish
Christians. But the gentile church was the editor of this
material. It was the gentile church who determined the
contents of the Christian scriptures, and who transmitted these
texts to the future generations.

In order to be convinced that the gentile church is truly
transmitting the original message of Jesus, one must determine
that Paul’s teachings conformed with the teachings of Jesus.
The gentile church only learned of Jesus through the teachings
of Paul. If Paul’s teachings were not synonymous with the
teachings of Jesus, then the gentile church does not possess the
original message of Jesus.
To determine Paul’s connection to Jesus, we will turn to the
books of Christian scripture. It is clear that the editors of these
books were strongly motivated to present Paul as one who is
faithfully transmitting the original message of Jesus. Yet even
these biased writers, were not able to do so.

The Christian scriptures describe the basis of Paul’s mission
in the following manner. Paul never saw Jesus in real life.
Neither did Paul learn of Jesus’s teachings through the
disciples of Jesus. Paul emphatically states (in the 1st and 2nd
chapters of Galatians) that no living person was involved in
transmitting Jesus’s message to him. Paul only learned of the
teachings of Jesus through a series of visions. In these visions,
Jesus appeared to him and imparted his teachings. Paul’s
entire message was the product of these visions.

The only way we can verify the truth of Paul’s claim, is by
determining the reaction of Jesus’s disciples to Paul’s
message. These men who lived with Jesus and heard him
teach, could compare the teachings that they heard, to the
prophecy of Paul. How did the Jewish following of James
react to Paul’s claim to prophecy?

Paul makes the claim (Galatians 2:9) that the leaders of the
Jerusalem Church acknowledged the fact that he was
appointed (by the dead Jesus) as a messenger to the gentiles.
But Paul was lying. James and the Jerusalem Church never
acknowledged the validity of Paul’s visions. It is the Christian
scriptures themselves who contradict Paul’s claim.

The 15th chapter of the book of Acts, describes how the
leadership of the Jerusalem Church disregarded Paul’s claim
to prophecy. Paul had come to Jerusalem. He had been
preaching to the gentiles that they are not required to practice
the law of Moses. Some members of the Jerusalem Church
disagreed with Paul. They felt that in order for a gentile to join
their following, he should be required to observe the law of
Moses. This question was brought before the leadership of the
Jerusalem Church. The elders of the church discussed the
question, and James handed down his decision. His judgment
was that the gentiles were not obligated to observe the entirety
of the law of Moses as a prerequisite to joining the Christian
community. But he stipulated that the gentiles were obligated
to observe certain dietary laws, and to avoid immorality.

If Paul was telling us the truth when he claimed that the
leadership of the Jerusalem Church acknowledged him as a
true prophet, then this story makes no sense. Here we have
Paul, who was personally appointed by the dead Jesus as his
emissary to the gentile world. Whatever Paul taught was
personally revealed to him in these prophetic visions. One of
the central teachings of Paul was that the gentile world is not
bound by the law of Moses. Yet when the leaders of the
Jerusalem Church are in doubt as to what Jesus would have
said concerning the gentiles, they discuss the question, and
look to James for guidance. If there was any truth to Paul’s
claim, that these leaders acknowledged the truth of his
prophecy, then they should have simply asked him “what did
Jesus tell you?” The fact that they considered the question, and
the method that they used to resolve the question, clearly tells
us that these men did not believe that Jesus had ever spoken to
Paul. The author of the book of Acts, his bias
notwithstanding, could not hide this simple fact.

The difference between the gentile church founded by Paul,
and the Jerusalem Church founded by Jesus, was not limited to
the question of the authenticity of Paul’s prophecy. These two
institutions espoused two totally different philosophies. The
central teaching of Pauline Christianity is, that faith in the
redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, is the only valid method through
which atonement for sin can be achieved. The entire
philosophy of Paul, revolves around this one teaching.
Evangelical Christianity is founded upon this basic teaching of
Paul. If you were to ask an Evangelical Christian to sum up his
belief system in one sentence, he would respond with this
point. That faith in Jesus is the only redemption from sin. In
fact the entire concept of the messiah-ship of Jesus is basically
limited to this one point. Jesus is the messiah of Evangelical
Christians, only because they believe that his death provided
atonement for sin.
But the Jerusalem Church which was established by Jesus,
and which was guided by his disciples, did not believe in this
teaching of Paul. They did not believe that faith in Jesus could
effectively atone for their sins. This is demonstrated by the
testimony of the Christian scriptures. The 21st chapter in the
book of Acts reports that the normal activities of the members
of the Jerusalem Church included the offering of animals for
the explicit purpose of the expiation of sin. The book of Acts
describes how four members of the Jerusalem Church had
taken a Nazirite vow. This means that they had voluntarily
brought themselves into a situation where they would be
required (by the law of Moses) to bring an animal as a sin
offering. It is clear that these people saw in the temple
offerings a valid method for the expiation of sin. If they
believed as Paul did, that Jesus died for their sins once and for
all, then there would be no point in bringing a sin offering in
the temple. The fact that the Jerusalem Church still
participated in the temple offerings after Jesus had died, tells
us that they did not see in Jesus’s death an all atoning
sacrifice. These people were not Evangelical Christians.

The Christian scriptures provides both the theological and
the historical justification to the accusation that Christianity
has failed in the transmission of its own message. The
Christian scriptures tell us that the disciples of Jesus never
believed the fundamental teaching of Evangelical Christianity.

These people who lived with Jesus and heard him preach did
not believe, that with the death of Jesus, the world is redeemed
of its sins. The Christian scriptures also tell us, at which
historical point the break in the transmission occurred. These
books tell us that Paul, the father of modern Christianity, had
no connection to Jesus. Christianity is an edifice erected upon
the testimony of one man. All of Christianity stands upon
Paul’s word that Jesus appeared to him. The only people that
were qualified to verify Paul’s claim, contradicted him to his
face. This emerges from the pages of the very books which
Christianity regards as true witnesses to its claims.

RABBI CROSS-EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY 
Rabbi Michael Skobac takes you on a fascinating exploration of how a small Messianic movement within Judaism, 2,000 years ago, transformed into a radically non-Jewish world religion. In this lecture, you will learn about the Jewish roots of Christianity, how those roots became obscured over the course of time and what surprising developments may lie ahead.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Aaronic Blessing - Hebrew

Note:
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Y'va-reh-ch'cha Adonai v'yeesh-m'reh-cha, Ya-air Adonai pa-nahv ay-leh-cha vee-choo-neh-ka, Yee-sa Adonai pa-nahv ay-leh-cha v'ya-same l'cha Shalom.

In English
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.


Source: http://allfaith.com/




Watch this sh
ort video explaining the Jewish understanding of Isaiah 53.

ISAIAH 53… IN 53 SECONDS

Chosen People Ministries has focused on Isaiah 53 because it believes this passage is one of its most powerful proof-texts. When read out-of-context and mistranslated, Isaiah 53 gives the impression of a prophecy describing the suffering and death of the messiah, specifically Jesus dying for our sins.
This Christian interpretation is absolutely incorrect for several good reasons. Isaiah commonly uses familiar metaphors and often speaks of the people of Israel as a single individual referred to as the Servant of God. Moreover in nine previous  passages, Isaiah identifies the Servant to be  Israel, as we see in Isaiah 41:8  “Israel is my Servant…” and Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses says the Lord, and My Servant whom I have chosen…”
Chapters 52-53 describe the reaction of the nations of the world when they witness the future and ultimate redemption of the Jewish people.
Initially, the nations viewed the Jewish people scornfully and considered them to be rejected by God and deserving of suffering and His divine punishment. Isaiah states that in the future, the nations will be shocked and dumbfounded when they witness God’s unexpected and glorious redemption of the Jewish people.
The nations will then contrast their new realization of Israel’s grandeur with their previous beliefs. Ultimately, they will conclude that the Jews were not rejected by God, but in fact, they suffered from the unjustified and disproportionate persecution inflicted upon them by the nations of the world.
To validate their biased misinterpretation, missionaries intentionally avoid mention of a critical fact. In Isaiah 53:5, they deliberately mistranslate the word “from” as“for”, and thereby claim that the Servant will suffer for the sins of the Jewish people. In fact, the verse says that the nations of the world will actually admit that Israel – the Servant of God – “was wounded from our transgressions, bruised from our iniquities.” In the original Hebrew, the letter “מ – mem” which serves as the prefix to the words “transgressions” and “iniquities” means “from”, not “for.”Therefore, this verse cannot be read as supporting the Christian view that the Servant, namely Jesus, suffers for the sins of the world.
In fact, many Christian commentaries including the New English Bible: Oxford Study EditionThe New Interpreters Study Bible, and The Harper Collins Study Bible agree with the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53. For example, the Oxford Study Edition states, “Israel, the servant of God, has suffered as a humiliated individual.”

SOURCE: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/isaiah53/isaiah-53-in-53-seconds/

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Star Of David In The Eclipse

Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:


Star Of David In The Eclipse
"The Creator set the sun, moon, planets, and stars in their courses as an elaborate time-keeping device that has not varied since creation. By it we understand His appointed times and seasons, which enables us to live in harmony with Him and His creation."
Total Solar Eclipses on the first of Av in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The dusk of the Church Age, and the heralding of the 70th week about to start?

250 Rabbis Sign Letter to Obama: Hands off Jerusalem
"In a reference to the upcoming “nine days” which culminate in Tisha B’Av, the rabbis tell Obama that “during these days, in which the Jewish people mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and marks the disgraceful memory of its destroyers, we are certain that you, Mr. Barack Obama, do not want to enter that disreputable list of those who raise their hand to strike Jerusalem and those who live in it.”"

NASA: Total solar eclipses occur on these dates:

* Aug. 1, 2008 (1st of Av)
* July 22, 2009 (1st of Av)
* July 11, 2010 (1st of Av)

“70th Week of Daniel” and of “Jacob’s Troubles”.

"the eclipse was most prevalent, where it OVERSHADOWED the nations with DARKNESS, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia."

Orthodox and Hassidic Rabbonim Declare "Time of Jacob's Trouble"
http://natzrim.blogspot.com/2010/12/time-of-jacobs-trouble.html

"A Sabbatical Year in the Jewish Calendar. Started September 29, 2008, a new Sabbatical cycle will commence. It will run for seven years and conclude with another Sabbatical Year in 2014/15."
Also, you may know that Daniel’s seventieth week will be a seven-year Sabbatical cycle.
"The First of Av. The beginning of nine days of mourning for Israel. Also the date, in which most of Asia, witnessed the longest recorded Solar Eclipse.


SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES 2014-15

Solar and Lunar Eclipses
by J. R. Church
“As you may know, this year is a Sabbatical Year in the Jewish Calendar. Starting next September 29, 2008, a new Sabbatical cycle will commence. It will run for seven years and conclude with another Sabbatical Year in 2014/15.”
Also, you may know that Daniel’s seventieth week will be a seven-year Sabbatical cycle. Students of biblical prophecy have long compared Daniel’s seventieth week with the Tribulation Period as laid out in the book of Revelation.
Intrigued with the Scriptures that repeat over and over again that our Savior’s Second Coming will be heralded with signs in the heavens, in which the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, Pastor Mark Biltz went on the Internet, to a U.S. Government web site, to see if he could find any solar or lunar eclipses over the next few years that might be significant.

To his surprise, he found four lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses in the Sabbatical Year of 2014 and 2015. Also, he noticed that they all appear on Jewish Holy Days!"

Lunar Eclipses

The four lunar eclipses will occur on:

Passover, April 15, 2014
The Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014
Passover, April 4, 2015 and
The Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015


This is most unusual. It is a rare occurrence for four lunar cycles to happen on successive Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) observances. It will not happen again for hundreds of years. However, Mark found that a series of four lunar eclipses on these particular holy days did occur in the twentieth century -- not once, but twice! The first set occurred in 1949-1950, the year after Israel became a state! The second set happened in 1967-1968, the year Israel liberated Jerusalem! Such a phenomenon is nigh unto impossible, unless it was set up by Divine design. Mark looked back in history and noticed that the last time this set of four lunar eclipses occurred on Passover and Sukkot was in 1493, the year after Columbus sailed the ocean blue and Spain expelled all Jews.

As we look at the next seven years, we wonder, “What is יהוה telling Israel through the upcoming lunar eclipses?” Is it possible that these are fulfilling biblical prophecies?

Solar Eclipses

In addition to the four lunar eclipses in 2014-15, two solar eclipses will occur on:

Adar 29/Nisan 1, March 20, 2015
The Feast of Trumpets, September 13, 2015


These two dates are quite significant because they are special days in Jewish calendar. For example, it was on Nisan 1, the first anniversary of the Exodus, that Mosheh raised up the tabernacle for the first time and the glory of יהוה descended. Two weeks later, the children of Israel, observed their first Pentecost since the Exodus.

Nisan 1 marks the beginning of the religious festival cycle. Six months later, on Tishri 1, the children of Israel, observe Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets. This day is highly prophetic, because it is said to be the anniversary of the Creation of Adam. It is Adam’s birthday. And, even though it's a Jewish observance, it is prophetically significant as a day for Gentile nations.

It is the day when יהוה will sit down upon His throne of Judgment and take the books in his hand. That is when He will begin the judgment of the world. So, a solar eclipse on Rosh Hashanah could precede the Second Coming of Yeshua in power and great glory, and fulfill the biblical description.

The Solar Eclipse This Year

Coming up this summer, there will be the first of three solar eclipses on the day that introduces the first of Av (August 1, 2008). That’s right, all three solar eclipses will be on the biblical date of Av 1, for the next three years -- 2008, 2009, and 2010. Our Gregorian calendar dates are:

Av 1 - August 1, 2008 - partial eclipse
Av 1 - July 22, 2008 - partial eclipse
Av 1 - July 11, 2010 - partial eclipse


In the Jewish calendar, they are all on the first of Av, the day when Jews lament the destruction of the temples. As the story goes, Mosheh caught the people worshiping the Golden Calf on Tammuz 17. Therefore, the three weeks from Tammuz 17 to Av 9 are called “the dark time” and “between the straits.” It is the most sorrowful time of the year for Jewish people. From Av 1-9, no bathing is allowed; no comforts; no clean clothes; we take our shoes off; sits on an overturned chairs and reads the book of Lamentations.

However, there will come a time when יהוה will reverse the fast days and turn them into feast days. Zechariah said:

“Thus saith the YHWH of hosts; The fast of the fourth month [Tammuz 17], and the fast of the fifth [Av 9], and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace” (Zech. 8:19).

Mark Biltz seems to think that the solar eclipses on Av 1, could change the course of history, because solar eclipses are designed for Gentile nations, whereas lunar eclipses are designed for Israel? Therefore, he thinks that יהוה could begin judging the nations soon? Will there be a war in Israel? It is entirely possible. If so, then the solar eclipse could be announcing judgment upon the world -- a sobering thought!

Bible Predictions
About the Sun and Moon

Now, let’s look at the places in the Bible that speak of the sun being darkened and the moon not giving her light. First of all, Isaiah wrote:

“Behold, the day of the YHWH cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger ... the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isa. 13:9-11).

We are told that this will occur in the “day of the YHWH.” It is the time when יהוה will punish the Gentile nations for their wickedness. We are not talking about ordinary everyday living, but gross wickedness against יהוה and His Chosen People. יהוה calls them arrogant, proud and haughty. He says that they are terrible, evil and wicked. It seems to me that he is referring to the nations that are trying to destroy Israel. Again, Isaiah said:

“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the YHWH of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously” (Isa. 24:23).

Since neither the sun or moon has a conscience, the references to being confounded or ashamed seem to be metaphoric of the condition of man on earth. The darkening of the sun and moon, therefore, are signs of man’s condition. These conditions will prevail at the time of the YHWH’s return to judge the wicked and establish His kingdom. Isaiah was the first prophet to write about solar and lunar eclipses, but Yo’ĕl ’s passages are the most widely quoted. Yo’ĕl wrote:

“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

“And the YHWH shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the YHWH is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Yo’ĕl 2:10,11).

Again, Yo’ĕl said:

“And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the YHWH come” (Yo’ĕl 2:30,31).

Finally, Yo’ĕl said:

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the YHWH is near in the valley of decision.

“The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining” (Yo’ĕl 3:14,15).

Isaiah and Yo’ĕl are the only Old Testament prophets that mentioned solar and lunar apparitions in the day of the YHWH. In each case, however, it is apparent that they are referring to events that precede the messianic kingdom. Yo’ĕl adds earthquakes, blood, fire and pillars of smoke. I think he is describing the battles that attend the Tribulation Period, especially the final Battle of Armageddon.



Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: