Thus saith the LORD of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
This blog's been flagged because it includes content that "other people" on Facebook have reported as abusive. Share B"H
Christian, what are you going to say to G-d of Israel when your god Jesus doesn’t return?
Worshiper of Jesus, Christian/Messianic, what are you going to say when you stand before G-d after the false man-god Jesus whom you worship and to whom you pray doesn’t appear? What are you going to say to your Maker when you knew all along (and I am merely reminding you here now) that worshiping anyone or anything other than Him is a grave sin and betrayal? How will you justify your worship of a mortal creature to whom billions bow their knees? Will you deny that you knew that He has warned you that He was neither a man nor a son of man (Numbers 23:19), that He had no visible form and that He can’t be compared to anything He created? Will you try to defend yourself that you only followed your leaders or will you admit to G-d your sin of idolatry? Will you appeal to the polished literary character from the pages of your New Testament? Will you tell G-d that Jesus paid for your sins by his blood when He explicitly warned that He doesn’t approve of human sacrifices (Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 12:31) and that no man can punished for the sins of another (Ezekiel 18:20)? Will you point to the [Greek] Testament in your defense and claim it to be the “word of G-d”? Will you claim that you have put your faith in Jesus, Paul, apostles, the church scribes, church fathers, pastors and evangelists? Will you attempt to boldly walk into the Holy of Holies as the author of Hebrews exhorts you to do (Hebrews 10:19) and demand to be allowed in since you placed your trust in a “son of man”, despite the fact that G-d has told us in Numbers 23:19 not to do just that? What will come out of your mouth? Do you know?
The Bible already knows what you are going to say. Indeed, it gives us a glimpse of your very words and it tells us in the Jewish scriptures, the writings that you call “the Old Testament”, the words all of the nations will utter before the G-d of Israel in the end of days:
“To you (Hashem) shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!” (Jeremiah 16:19-20)
Today, however, the choice is still yours. Today, you can still either choose to continue worshiping Jesus as you god, to proclaim him as your “lord and savior” or you can choose to discard your idolatry and turn to the living G-d of Israel and Him alone. Make no mistake – you DO have a choice whom you will serve – if a man Jesus whom Christianity has deified to seat him on G-d’s throne is your ba’al (Hebrew word for “lord”), serve him. But if the G-d of Israel is the L-rd, then you know what you need to do. If you choose idolatry over the Living G-d of Israel, do not think that there is safety in the great numbers among the nations that Christianity and other religions can boast. As G-d said:
“Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing. To whom, then, will you compare G-d? What image will you compare him to?” (Isaiah 40:17-18)
A reposting of Uri Yosef’s THE "LAST AND FINAL SACRIFICE" TAKES THE TEN-COUNT after a Christian apologist made
this comment recently. May it be a light to anyone seeking the G-d of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.
“The reason Jews as a
whole haven't embraced Jesus Christ as Messiah is partly because of hard
hearts, and partly because Jesus came to die for our sins. It was foreseen by
God the Father that He would be rejected, per Isaiah 53 - which Jews have NEVER
been able to "explain" - which then paved the way for His
once-for-all sacrifice for sin.”
A KNOCK-OUT PUNCH:THE "LAST AND FINAL SACRIFICE" TAKES THE TEN-COUNT
Professor Uri Yosef
I. INTRODUCTION
Christian missionaries claim that those who do not accept Jesus as their lord and
savior, which includes the Jewish people, are doomed to burn in “hell” because
they cannot have their sins forgiven by God. This claim is rationalized with the
allegation that, in Biblical times, the only way to bring about the remission of sins
was via the blood of a certain animal. This animal had to be brought to the priest
to be slaughtered at the altar in the Sanctuary, first while in the portable
Sanctuary and later in the Temple, as a sacrificial offering. According to this
claim, since there has been no Temple standing in Jerusalem since the year 70
C.E., valid sacrificial offerings can no longer be made and, therefore, the only
way for Jews to have their sins forgiven is through the blood shed by Jesus in his
"sacrificial" death on the cross. In other words, the claim is that the blood of
Jesus, who was allegedly sacrificed by God (the "Father") as a demonstration of
his great love for mankind,
has once and for all removed the stain of “Original
Sin" from those who follow Jesus (the "Son"). This act of love by God allegedly
made Jesus the "last and final sacrifice" forever.
There are two main aspects to the claim that Jesus was "the last and final
sacrifice". The first concerns the suitability of Jesus and his death as a sacrificial
offering for the remission of sins. The second aspect, which was investigated in
another essay, concerns the need for blood in the atonement process.
This essay examines the suitability of Jesus and the manner in which he died as
a sacrificial offering for the remission of sins.
II. THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE VERSUS THE SPECIFICATIONS IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
The process for testing this claim by Christian missionaries consists of
contrasting the requirements concerning sacrificial offerings, as specified in the
Hebrew Bible, against the accounts in the New Testament that describe the
death of Jesus on the cross as a sacrificial offering. As part of this analysis, it is
important to bear in mind the following two conditions that existed during the life
of Jesus, at the time of his death, and for several decades following his death:
The Second Temple was still standing in Jerusalem
The Hebrew Bible was the Scripture in force
The salient issue to be addressed, and answered, is:
According to the requirements set forth in the Hebrew Bible, was Jesus a valid sacrificial
offering, and was his death by crucifixion an acceptable process, for remission of sins?
The analytical phase of the testing process identifies ten elements for which the
respective accounts in the New Testament are compared with the specifications
provided in the Hebrew Bible, primarily in the Torah.
One
According to the accounts in the New Testament, Jesus was crucified by
Roman soldiers:
John 19:18,23(KJV) – (18) Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either
side one, and Jesus in the midst.
(23) Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made
four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam,
woven from the top throughout. [See also Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33.]
According to the Levitical Law of Sacrifice in the Torah, the animal brought as
a sin sacrifice had to be slaughtered by the person who offered it:
Leviticus 4:27-29 - (27) And if any one person from among the common people sins
unwittingly, by performing one of the commandments of the Lord which may not be
done, and incurs guilt; (28) Or if his sin, which he has committed, is made known to
him, then he shall bring his sacrifice, an unblemished female goat, for his sin which he
has sinned. (29) And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and he
shall slaughter the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
Two
According to the Levitical Law of Sacrifice in the Torah, some of the blood of
the (sin) sacrifice had to be rubbed by the priest with his finger on the horns of
the altar in the Temple, and the rest had to be poured out at the base of the
sacrificial altar. The fat of the sacrifice had to be removed and burnt:
Leviticus 4:30-31 - (30) And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and
put [it] upon the horns of the altar [used] for the burnt offering; and [then] he shall
pour out all of [the rest of] its blood at the base of the altar. (31) And he shall remove
all of its fat, as was removed the fat from the sacrificial peace offerings; and the priest
shall burn it upon the altar for a pleasant fragrance to the Lord; and [thus] shall the
priest make an atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
The New Testament is silent on what was done with the blood of Jesus and
with the fat of his body.
Three
According to the accounts in the New Testament, Jesus was beaten,
whipped, and dragged on the ground before being crucified:
Matthew 26:67(KJV) - Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others
smote him with the palms of their hands, [See also Mark 14:65; Luke 22:63; John 18:22.]
Matthew 27:26,30-31(KJV) – (26)Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he
had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
(30) And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. (31) And
after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own
raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. [See also Mark 15:15-20; John 19:1-3.]
According to the Torah, a sacrificial animal had to be without any physical
defects or blemishes:
Deuteronomy 17:1 - You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that
has in it a blemish or any bad thing, for that is an abomination to the Lord, your God.
Sidebar Note: As a born Jew, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day following
his birth, a ritual that leaves a scar (Genesis 17:10-13; the “sign of the covenant”).
The circumcision of Jesus is mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 2:21), yet Paul
refers to circumcision as being tantamount to mutilation (Galatians 5:11-12;
Philippians 3:2).
Four
According to the New Testament, Jesus was "the Lamb of God" whose bones
may not be broken [a reference to the Paschal Lamb of Exodus 12:46 and
Numbers 9:12]:
John 1:29(KJV) – The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John 19:36(KJV) - For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A
bone of him shall not be broken.
According to the Torah, the Paschal Lamb was not offered for the removal of
sins. Rather, it was a festive, or commemorative, offering. Yom Kippur (the
Day of Atonement) would have been a more appropriate time for a sin
offering:
Numbers 29:11 - One young male goat for a sin offering, beside the sin offering of
atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and their drink
offerings. [Yom Kippur – Individual sin offering]
Leviticus 16:15 - He shall then slaughter the he goat of the people's sin offering and
bring its blood inside the dividing curtain, and he shall do with its blood as he did with
the blood of the bull and sprinkle it upon the cover of the ark, and before the cover of
the ark. [Yom Kippur – Communal sin offering]
Five
According to the Torah, the Paschal Lamb had to be slaughtered and its
blood used to place markings on the side-posts and lintels of the entrances to
the dwelling. Moreover, the meat had to be roasted and eaten, and whatever
was not consumed by the time the Israelites were to leave their homes, had
to be burnt and destroyed:
Exodus 12:6-10 - (6) And you shall keep it under watch until the fourteenth day of this
month; and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it at
dusk. (7) And they shall take [some] of its blood, and place it on the two doorposts and
on the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat it. (8) And they shall eat the meat in
that night, roasted over fire, and [with] unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall
eat it. (9) You shall not eat from it raw, nor boiled in water; but roasted over fire, its
head with its legs, and with its inner parts. (10) And you shall not leave any of it until
morning; and that which left over until the morning you shall burn in the fire.
According to the accounts in the New Testament this was not done with
Jesus after his death. In fact, Jesus was buried.
Matthew 27:57-60(KJV) – (57) When the even was come, there came a rich man of
Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: (58) He went to
Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be
delivered. (59) And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen
cloth, (60) And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. [See also Mark 15:42-46;
Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42.]
Six
According to the New Testament, the death of Jesus was a sacrificial offering
that expiated the sins of mankind for all times:
Hebrews 10:10,18(KJV) – (10) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
(18) Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. [See also
Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:12.]
According to the Torah, the Passover (sin) sacrifice, a male-goat, had to be
offered on an individual (per household) basis, not as a communal offering:
Numbers 28:22 - And one young male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for
you.
Seven
According to the New Testament, the death and blood of Jesus took care of
(almost) all sins:
Hebrews 9:22(KJV) – And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission.
According to the Levitical Law of Sacrifice in the Torah, the sacrificial sin
offering brought atonement only for unintentional sins, except as noted in
Leviticus 5:1-6, 20-26[Leviticus 5:1-6, 6:1-7 in Christian Bibles]:
Numbers 15:27-31 - (27) And if a person sins inadvertently, then he shall offer a female
goat in its first year as a sin offering. (28) And the priest shall atone for the erring
person who sinned inadvertently before the Lord in order to make atonement on his
behalf; and it shall be forgiven him. (29) For the native born of the children of Israel
and the stranger who resides among them, one law shall apply to him who sins
inadvertently. (30) And the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is a
native born or a stranger, that person blasphemes the Lord; and that person shall be
cut off from among his people. (31) Because he has scorned the word of the Lord, and
has violated his commandment; that person shall surely be cut off, for his iniquity is
upon him.
Eight
According to the New Testament, the death of Jesus brought about the
remission of sins yet uncommitted, and of sins of those yet to be born:
Hebrews 10:18(KJV) – Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin.
According to the Levitical Law of Sacrifice in the Torah, sacrifices could bring
atonement only for sins committed prior to the offering of the sacrifice. No
sacrifice was provided for the atonement of sins committed after the sacrifice
was offered and, thus, no sacrifice can bring atonement for sins of people
born after it was offered. This includes both טּאתָחַ (haTAT)], a sin offering,
described in Leviticus 4:1-5:13, and שׁםָאָ (aSHAM), a guilt offering,
described in Leviticus 5:14-26. Had there been, among the listed sacrifices,
even one kind of sin or guilt offering that could bring atonement for future
sins, the person who would have offered that particular sacrifice would not
have had to do so again for the rest of his life. Moreover, Yom Kippur (the
Day of Atonement), which is ordained by the Torah as an annual Holy Day
(Leviticus 16:29-34), would have had to be celebrated by the Israelites only
the very first time after the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, had they used one
of those "super" sacrificial offerings that could atone for sins of the future.
The claim by the author of Hebrews, that there are no more sin offerings
required following the death of Jesus, is false for other reasons as well:
The Second Temple stood in Jerusalem for nearly 40 years following the death of
Jesus, during which time literally thousands of animals were offered as sacrifices
of all sorts, including sin and guilt offerings, as prescribed by the Torah.
The Hebrew Bible contains prophecies about the building of the Third Temple in
the messianic era, and of the resumption of the sacrificial system at that time. All
the types of sacrificial offerings described in the Hebrew Bible will be made on the
sacrificial altar [חַ בֵּזְמִ (mizBE'ah)] in the Temple, including both the טּאתָחַ and
שׁםָאָ sacrificial offerings. In other words, the sacrificial system, which has been
in a state of suspension since the year 70 C.E., when the Romans destroyed the
Second Temple, will be completely restored in the messianic era:
Ezekiel 43:21-22 - And you shall take the bull of the sin offering, and he [the priest]
shall burn it at the edge of the Temple, outside the Sanctuary. (22) And on the
second day you shall offer an unblemished he-goat for a sin offering, and they [the
priests] shall purify the altar as they purified it with the bull. [See also: Isaiah 56:7;
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 scripture 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.
By Yisroel C.
Blumenthal
Did The Original Followers of Jesus Vanish Just As Rabb Gamliel Predicted
The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates Gamaliel as a saint, and he is commemorated on August 2
Gamaliel
Teacher
Gamaliel the Elder or Rabban Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early 1st century AD. He was the son of Simeon ben Hillel, and grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. Gamaliel is thought to have died in 52 AC. Wikipedia
"The
doctrine that the earth is neither the center of the universe nor
immovable, but moves even with a daily rotation, is absurd, and both
philosophically and theologically false, and at the least an error of
faith."
--Catholic Church's decision against Galileo
Galilei
Note, these
Church Fathers are the very ones to canonize the letters of Paul into
the New Testament Bible. Peter gives a warning about these
letters in 2Pe 3:16 Indeed, he speaks about these things
in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to
understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to
their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
This
is not an attack on Paul, it only asks reasonable questions to be
viewed in light of Torah and the words of Moshe (Moses) Balaam was a
Prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures who was changed from an enemy to a
friend by an angelic vision on a Road. Paul was an enemy changed to a
friend. Has the Church distorted Paul as justification?
Therefore,
Balaam was the ultimate embodiment of extraordinarily keen mental
powers and perception on the side of impurity, and he was the
counterbalancing mirror image of holy wisdom, as our Sages, of
blessed memory, said on the verse, " 'There never arose a
prophet among the Jews like Moses’ (Deuteronomy 34: 10) – ‘among
the Jews’ there did not arise; but among the [gentile] nations
there did arise a prophet like Moses, and this was Balaam” (Sifri,
34; Zohar II, 21b). [Now, Balaam] produced this lust-poisoned air in
Midian, as it is written, “These were the very women [of Midian]
who were involved in corrupting the Children of Israel by the word of
Balaam” (Numbers 31: 16) – specifically, “his words,” through
the words that were the external manifestation of his mind and
thoughts.
Nosson of Breslov, Rebbe (2009-09-01). Kitzur
Likutey Moharan (Abridged Likutey Moharan) Vol. 1 (Kindle Locations
3443-3448). Breslov Research Institute. Kindle Edition.
How
Jesus’s Reference to Balaam Applies to Paul
If
we dig a little deeper into the eating of idol-meat issue, we find
Jesus mentions Balaam in Revelation 2:14.
Jesus
says the source of this heretical idol meat doctrine is a “teaching
of Balaam.” Jesus says Balaam taught one can eat meat sacrificed to
idols, among other things. Why is Jesus mentioning Balaam, a figure
from the era of Moses? Evidently because Balaam is a figure who
resembles the one who in the New Testament era teaches eating meat
sacrificed to idols is permissible. What do we know about Balaam that
would help us identify who wasthe
Balaam-type figure in the New Testament church?
The
Biblical story of Balaam in the book of Numbers does not revealthe
precise nature of the teachings of Balaam. Jesus alone tells us that
Balaam taught the Israelites they could eat meat sacrificed toidols
and commit fornication. (Rev. 2:14.) Thus, with these additional
facts, let’s make a synopsis of the story of Balaam. Then we can
see whether anyone appears similar in the New Testament era.
Balaam
was a Prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures who was changedfrom
an enemy to a friend by an angelic vision on a Road.
Revelation
2:14: “But I have a few things against thee, because thou
hast
there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balakto
cast
a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed
to idols, and to commit fornication.” (ASV)
Balaam,
after properly serving the Lord for a time, changed back into being
an enemy.
This
inspired prophet is deemed to be an enemy of God because he taught it
was permissible to eat meat sacrificed to idols and tocommit
fornication. This part of the story was omitted in Moses’ account.
Jesus alone reveals this.
Who
else is a prophet of God who was changed from an enemy to afriend
by an angelic-type vision on a Road, but then later taught it was
permissible to eat meat sacrificed to idols? Who likewise taught an
actof
fornication condemned by Jesus (i.e., remarriage after divorce if
certain circumstances were lacking) was perfectly permissible?
Who
likewise is interpreted by most Paulinists as saying fornication is
no longer strictly prohibited and no longer leads to spiritual death
but instead the propriety of fornication is examined solely based on
its expediency?
On
those key points, Balaamidentically
matches Paul.Jesus
is putting a thin veil over the fact He is talking about Paul. Jesus
reveals Hispurpose
by referring to Balaam in Revelation 2:14
.
By
citing the example of Balaam, Jesus reminds us that a true prophet
who is turned from evil to good then could turn back and completely
apostasize. Jesus’ citation to Balaam in this context destroys our
assumptions that Paul could never apostasize. By referencing Balaam,
Jesus is telling us, at the very least, that Paul could turn and
apostasize after his Road to Damascus experience. Paul could be just
like Balaam who did so after his Road to Moab experience.
Is
Revelation 2:14 A Type of Parable?
Did
Jesus mention the "teaching of Balaam" as a parable to
identify Paul?
It
appears Revelation 2:14 is a type of parable. Jesus identifies
the false teaching as the "teaching of Balaam." Yet Balaam
is dead. Someone in the apostolic era is like Balaam. To know whom
Jesus meant, one has to find someone who matches Balaam's
historically-known qualities.
Furthermore,
we have a second reason to believe a parable is intended in
Revelation 2:14. At the end of Revelation chapter 2, Jesus says: "He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches." (Rev. 2:29.) This is Jesus' standard catch-phrase
when He wanted you to know there are symbolic meanings in His words.
Let's
next try to identify who was the Balaam-like figure in the New
Testament apostolic era by studying the life of the original Balaam.
Balaam
Was Changed to A True Prophet By A Vision on A Road
In
the book of Numbers (written by Moses), Balaam begins as a
soothsayer intent on accepting money from Moab's King Balak. He was
offered payment to travel to Moab to curse Israel. As such, he begins
as an enemy of the true God.
God
then appeared to Balaam and told him not to curse Israel. (Numbers
22:5-12.) King Balak then called on Balaam again to come to Moab.
However, God appeared to Balaam and allowed him to go on condition
Balaam did only what HaShem told him to do. (Numbers 22:20.)
Apparently after starting on his trip, Balaam decided to still curse
Israel. On route to Moab, Balaam (on a donkey) and his two companions
are stopped on a road by an unseen angel of HaShem. (Some
commentators think Numbers 22:35 proves this was actually Jesus, an
eternal angel) Then the famous incident takes place where Balaam's
donkey talks back to him. The donkey complains that Balaam is goading
him by smiting him with his staff: "What have I done unto thee,
that thou hast smitten me these three times?" (Numbers 22:28.)
At first Balaam cannot see the angel which is blocking the donkey.
(Numbers 22:25-27.) Balaam is in a sense blinded. However, then God
"opened the eyes of Balaam" and he could see the angel.
(Numbers 22:31-33.)
Balaam
then confesses to the angel that he sinned. (Numbers 22:34.) He
offers to go home. The angel tells Balaam to continue onto Moab, but
repeats the command that Balaam must only bless the Israelites.
(Numbers 22:35.) Then Balaam proceeded to Moab. (Numbers 22:36.)
Next
when Balaam arrived in Moab, he warned King Balak that he could only
do what HaShem allowed him to say. (Numbers 22:36-38.) Balaam's
famous oracles of blessings over Israel then followed. (Numbers
23:1-29.)
While
giving the blessing, God through Moses says Balaam was directly
led by the Spirit of God. Balaam simultaneously turned away from his
prior practice of using omens. Moses writes in Numbers 24:1-2:
(1)
And when Balaam saw that it pleased HaShem to bless Israel, he went
not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his
face toward the wilderness. (2) And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he
saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God
came upon him. [Then Balaam blesses Israel.]
Thus Balaam
had become a true prophet whom Moses reveals was having true
communications from HaShem. Balaam is indwelt by the Spirit of God
and repeats precisely what God wants him to say. God wants us to know
through Moses that Balaam begins as a truly inspired prophet of God
Almighty. The last we see of Balaam in action, he is acting as a good
prophet. His words of blessings end up as part of standard synagogue
services to this very day, known as the Mah Tovu.
How
Balaam Fell: His Idol Meat & Fornication Teaching
Then
something negative happens that Moses only cryptically revealed.
In Numbers 31:16, Moses writes: "Behold, these caused the
children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass
against HaShem in the matter
of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation
of HaShem." Balaam had counseled the Israelites that
they could sin in some unspecified manner. This cryptic statement is
the only explanation why later in Numbers 31:8 that the Israelites,
during their slaying of the Midianites, also kill Balaam.
Rabbinic
tradition tries to fill in the missing information. It attributed to
Balaam the lapse of Israel into the immorality we find in Numbers
25:1-9. [2]
Jesus,
however, gives us an inspired message on what was missing in the
Biblical account. Jesus says Balaam misled the Israelites by
teaching them they can eat meat sacrificed to idols and they can
commit fornication. Jesus is the only inspired source of this
information. Jesus says:
But
I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that
hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a
stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. (Rev. 2:14, ASV.)
The
Rabbinic tradition in Judaism supports what Jesus said, but only in
general terms.
So
Who is Balaam in the New Testament Era?
[2] Morris
Jastrow Jr., "Balaam," Encyclopedia
of Judaism (online
at
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=161&letter=B&search=balaam.)
If we look at Numbers 25:2, we will see the Israelites were invited
to the sacrifices to idols, and ate the idol meat. (Numbers 25:2,
"for they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods;
and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.")
So
Who is Balaam in the New Testament Era?
The
prophet Balaam was a person whose life mirrors apostle Paul's life to
an extraordinary degree. Absent Jesus telling us that Balaam taught
it was permissible to eat meat sacrificed to idols, we would never
have known how virtually identical are the two lives. Yet when Jesus
filled in the missing detail, it made the parallel between
Balaam and Paul become extraordinarily uncanny.
In
particular, Balaam's Road to Moab experience has many
striking parallels to Paul's Road to Damascus experience. In
fact, how it affects both Paul and Balaam is identical. Balaam
is on his road with the wrong intent to curse God's people. This is
true for Paul too, aiming to imprison God's people. (Acts 22:5.)
Balaam is on the road with two companions. Paul likewise has
companions with him. (Acts 22:9.)
Next,
Balaam is given a message by the angel that converts his way to the
true God. Likewise, Paul gets a message from Jesus that converts his
way to the true God. (Acts 22:8.) Both Balaam and Paul follow God for
a time. Both apostasize when they teach it is permissible to eat meat
sacrificed to idols.
There
is another odd parallel between Balaam and Paul. After Balaam strikes
his donkey to make him move, Balaam's donkey asks: "What
have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?"
(Numbers 22:28.) The donkey in effect asks Why are you persecuting
me? Balaam then learns that an angel of God was itself stopping the
donkey from moving. Balaam learns it is hard for the donkey to keep
on kicking (moving ahead) against the goads of God's angel. It is
hard to keep on kicking against divine goads.
Now
compare this to Paul and his vision. Paul is likewise confronted by
Jesus with a similar question: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?" (Acts 22:7.) And most telling, Jesus adds in the "Hebrew"
tongue: "it is hard for thee to kick against the goad."
(Acts 26:14.)
When
Jesus spoke to Paul on the road in the Book of Acts, He was speaking
in a manner that would allow us to invoke the memory of the story of
Balaam. In Acts, Jesus laid the seeds for us to later identify Paul
as the apostolic era Balaam. To repeat, first Jesus asks Paul why
Paul is persecuting Jesus. The donkey asked Balaam the same question.
He asked why was Balaam persecuting him. Second, Jesus said to Paul
that it is hard for Paul to keep moving forward against God's goads.
Likewise, Balaam's donkey was up against the goads of God's angel.
Jesus' words in the vision experience with Paul were well chosen to
invoke a precise parallel to the story of Balaam. Thus, we could
never miss the point in Revelation 2:14. We thereby could identify
the NT Balaam.
What
Does It all Mean?
Paulinists
apparently sense a problem if Balaam's story were ever told in
detail. They always identify Balaam as merely a false teacher or
someone who prophesied for money. But this misses Jesus' point.
Balaam
is precisely the example, unique in Hebrew Scriptures, of an enemy
converted by a vision on a road, turned into a true spokesperson of
God, but who later apostasizes by saying it is permissible to eat
meat sacrificed to idols. Balaam precisely matches Paul in an uncanny
way despite millennia separating them.
Thus,
in Paul's vision experience, God laid the groundwork for a comparison
to events two millennia earlier. What an amazing God we have! Jesus
specifically made sure the encounter with Paul would have all
the earmarks of the Balaam encounter:
It
would be on a road.
There
would be a divine vision.
Jesus
would ask why is Paul persecuting Him.
Jesus
would let Paul know it is hard to go up against the goads of God.
The
experience would turn Paul around to be a true spokesperson of God
for a time.
Finally,
Paul would fall like Balaam did by teaching it was permissible to
eat meat sacrificed to idols.
Of
course, to understand this, you have to have ears to hear. (Rev.
2:29.)
In
other words, God set in motion what happened on the Road to Moab,
just as He did on the Road to Damascus. Paul apparently indeed had
the experience he claims. That's why Jesus could cite the teaching of
Balaam as repeating itself in the apostolic era. Yet, to cement the
similarity, Jesus had to give us a crucial new similarity
between Balaam and Paul. By disclosing Balaam's idol meat teaching,
Jesus in Revelation 2:14 suddenly made appear an extraordinary
parallel between Paul and Balaam that otherwise remained hidden.
Just
as Jesus said Elijah was John the Baptist, "if you are willing
to receive it" (Matt. 11:14), Jesus is saying the teaching of
Balaam that deceives Christians is the teaching of Paul, "if you
are willing to receive it." [4] Paul's
teaching, which he explains in Romans
14:14-23and 1
Corinthians 8:4-13,
is that eating food sacrificed to idols is not wrong. Totally
contrary to Moses. Had Paul apostatized by this point? For his
teaching to the Colossians
is in complete harmony with Moses and Torah. Like Balaam, Paul spoke
true to the Colossians. When did he turn away from HaShem, is Jesus
saying the teaching of Balaam that deceives Christians is the
teaching of Paul, "if you are willing to receive it."
Jesus
commends the church at Ephesus for discerning the lying apostles.
Rev. 2:1,2. Paul
was the apostle to Ephesus. Eph.1:1.?
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.
Note: Historically
the focus on the 'body' of Torah, while ignoring its 'soul' has been
the cause of a lot of problems. Serious Torah study means learning
the mystical dimensions, otherwise it is just simple history, moral
lessons and pleasantries for children. Change one thing and you change everything. Improve one thing and everything improves.) Rebbe Nachman writes: Before returning, a person does not yet have being. It is as if he does not yet exist in the world. Indeed, he would be better off had he not been created (Eruvin 13b). But when he prepares to purify himself and return…he will then exist in the world—i.e., “I am prepared to be.”
ONE WORD, MANY DEEDS "In order to understand God's word, we had to dissect God's deeds into ten components - the Ten Sefirot. In order to be properly applied, God's singular will had to be diversified into 613 different applications, so that every aspect of human life could be illuminated by His lamp. Study may be understood in the verse in Psalms: "God spoke once, but we heard twice."
But, when it comes to prayer, we proclaim daily as one of the fundamentals of faith: "I believe, with a full belief, that only to God Himself is it appropriate to pray" (Ani Maamin Proclamation). Our prayers must be directed to the all-encompassing Almighty, not to parts, pieces, manifestations, or messengers.
The reason why in our study we see differentiation and plurality of the divine within our world is due to our fragmented, finite comprehension. But when we come to pray and we submit ourselves to God, we turn our attention away from the fragmentation and towards God as the absolute, all-encompassing root of creation.
We become aware that at the center-point is One, and only One."
... if a person is completely out of track and is worshipping demi-gods or other humans instead of God, then it is our duty to enlighten him and set him on a right track."
Worshiper of Jesus, Christian/Messianic, what are you going to say when you stand before G-d after the false man-god Jesus whom you worship and to whom you pray doesn’t appear? What are you going to say to your Maker when you knew all along (and I am merely reminding you here now) that worshiping anyone or anything other than Him is a grave sin and betrayal? How will you justify your worship of a mortal creature to whom billions bow their knees? Will you deny that you knew that He has warned you that He was neither a man nor a son of man (Numbers 23:19), that He had no visible form and that He can’t be compared to anything He created? Will you try to defend yourself that you only followed your leaders or will you admit to G-d your sin of idolatry? Will you appeal to the polished literary character from the pages of your New Testament? Will you tell G-d that Jesus paid for your sins by his blood when He explicitly warned that He doesn’t approve of human sacrifices (Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 12:31) and that no man can punished for the sins of another (Ezekiel 18:20)? Will you point to the [Greek] Testament in your defense and claim it to be the “word of G-d”? Will you claim that you have put your faith in Jesus, Paul, apostles, the church scribes, church fathers, pastors and evangelists? Will you attempt to boldly walk into the Holy of Holies as the author of Hebrews exhorts you to do (Hebrews 10:19) and demand to be allowed in since you placed your trust in a “son of man”, despite the fact that G-d has told us in Numbers 23:19 not to do just that? What will come out of your mouth? Do you know?
.jpg)