Judaism-Now

The Pagan Influence of Christmas

2010-12-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

In comparing the so-called great monotheistic religions one thing stands out about Judaism; it is the only religion of the three from which every single one of its holidays are Bible-based and are pagan-influenced free.1 This says a lot about all three religions when the question arises concerning the correct and true religion.

The standard Christmas Tree topper (like the ones found at the White House and the German Chancellery every year) is a "star" (usually five-pointed) representing the New Testament "Star of Bethlehem". Therefore, with the standard Christmas Trees among the Christian nations we have an astronomical symbol adoring the highest point of the tree. Now with this in mind let's take a look at what the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah states about the heathens:
"Thus saith YHVH, Learn not the way of the heathen, (goyim in Hebrew) and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. " - Jeremiah 10:2-4

It is here that the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah not only mentions two items that are associated with modern Christianity but actually ties them together as a unit. These two items of the heathen are astronomical signs and tree admiration. Is there any wonder why the Christmas Tree and the Star topper are symbolically tied together as a unit? Have many Christmas trees have you seen "decked" (as in "deck the halls"...) with silver and gold tinsels, icicles. and bulbs? Most stars at the top of the Christmas Trees are gold are silver themselves, and sometimes the very trees themselves are silver or gold.

Looking through the eyes of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, one can only image how that grand prophet of God would indeed blast the pagan Christmas Tree Gentile ritual just as he did during his own day. It is also worth spiritually noting that this Gentile-pagan ritual of gold and silver tree decoration was "revived" in the Gentile land of the future Holocaust - Germany. It makes me wonder how many Germans sang, the following verse from the song entitled "O Tannenbaum" while the Holocaust Jews and many others were freezing and starving in Nazi concentration camps;
"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How laden are your branches
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Your presence here enhances
Your silver star does glisten bright
Reflecting all the candlelight
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How laden are your branches "

As noted in the scripture above, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah calls this whole Gentile tree custom thing "vain". Regarding this vanity issue of the Gentiles, it must be noted that it is just six chapters later from mentioning the "vain"Gentile astronomical-tree custom that this same Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah, describes the End of Days statements of the Gentiles concerning their beliefs and customs as being "vain" as well. "...the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. " - Jeremiah 16:19

So why would the Gentiles take up a custom that the prophet Jeremiah so descriptively denounces? Is such a vain denounced custom "fulfilled" by the Gentile-based New Testament too, along with the forbidden non-kosher foods? Does this not show the scriptural-based difference between the two religions of Jewish Judaism and Gentile Christianity? It makes me hate even more what a Jewish convert to Christianity is asked to do. He is asked to avoid keeping his YHVH-given Law of Moses under the pretense that he is now absolved from keeping it, only to be Gentile-custom influenced with a Jeremiah-denounced Christmas tree even placing one inside his very family home this time of year. That's just spiritually sad!

December 25th.
Christians who have studied any history at all realize that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. So where did this Gentile celebrated date come from, and how did it come to be the most celebrated day of the Gentile calender?2 The comparison pictures above shows a statue of the goddess Isis nursing her god-child Horus dating from around 300 BCE. The other is a fifteenth century medieval painting of the Virgin Mary (or should I say "Goddess Mary" since she is seen as co-redeemer in some Catholic church circles) holding the Christian god-child Jesus, known as the Madonna. Though they are 1700 years apart in age and are separated by the common era itself, notice the striking similarities each one has towards the other. There are even unseen similarities concerning these two similar Madonnas; both child images have the same exact birth date!

In fact, there are many pre-Christian mythological god-men who were born of December 25th such as Krishna, Attis, Osiris, Dionysus, Mithra, and Horus (pictured above ). There's even a inside Jewish and non-Christian joke, saying, "Merry Mithrus" to each other this time of year referring to the Persian god Mithra. My very own coined joke-saying is, "Mithra was the Reason for the Season". Very funny and historically accurate, right?

Mithra not only was born of December 25, but was a mediator between the Persian high god Ahura-Mazda and humanity, was considered to be "the light of the world" and slaughtered the "sacred bull" that would provide life by one consuming its "body and blood" known as the "Mithric sacred meal"3. Aside from have the same traditional birth day, does these attributes of Mithra sound Christian-doctrine familiar? In fact, the similarities between Mithra and Jesus are so great that early Church Father Justin Martyr (103 - 165 CE) complained that Satan (by having foreknowledge) had copied the Christian Eucharist.4

There is a recent controversial video on You Tube that is causing quite a stir. Though it does contain some historical errors, it does present an awesome display of how Christianity is pagan influenced. Here just are some of the facts from the video:

The Twelve Zodiac signs were personified as gods and goddesses.
The word "horizon" comes from the term "Horus has Risen".
The word "hours" also comes from "Horus" that tracts the "sun" throughout the day.
Horus represented light and life of the world (without the sun crops wouldn't grow) while Horus' evil brother named Set represented darkness hence come the term "sunset" or Set verses Horus, as Set would sent Horus into the underworld causing him to "resurrect" from underworld in the morning.
Isis (goddess mother of Horus) was a virgin - though this is debated she is called the "Great Virgin," in a number of pre-Christian Egyptian writings.
Mithra's day of worship was Sunday.
The "Star in the East" was Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) aligns on December 24th. with the three bright stars of Orion's Belt, known in ancient times as "the Three Kings".
"The Three Kings" (Orion's Belt) along with the "Star in the East" (Sirius) point to the "Sun Rise" on December 25th. bringing the birth or resurrection of the Sun god, and it's why the "Three Kings" "follow" the "Star in the East".
The constellation Virgo represents the Virgin Mary. The constellation is known as "Virgo the Virgin". The ancient glyph for Virgo was the altered "M" as in "Mary". Other virgin goddess-mothers also began with the "M" such as Adonis' mother Myyra and Buddha's mother Maya.
Virgo is also referred to as the "House of Bread" and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. Bethlehem (where Jesus was born) translates as "House of Bread". Therefore, the Christian use of Bethlehem is a reference to the constellation Virgo.
See full video > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeTJWp06BxA

The Star and Human Deification:
It also must be noted too that the seven-day visitation of the Great Comet of 44 BCE was understood by the Romans to be the deification of Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BCE) who had recently died. This comet became known to ancient writers as Sidus Iulium ("Julian Star") or Caesaris Astrum ("Caesarian Star"). The Temple of Divus Iulius (Temple of Deified Julius) was built and dedicated by Augustus in 29 BCE which was also called the "Temple of the Comet Star".

A coin commemorating Julius Caesar was also created by Augustus in 19-18 BCE (very close to the time of Jesus' birth) that on its tail-side displayed the image of the comet-star with the words. "Divus Iulius" (Deified Julius). > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar's_Comet

It was during this time of associating stars with human deities that Rome occupied Israel causing Israel to be heavily influenced by Roman religious perceptions. The Romans even had a military complex called "Fort Antonia" adjacent to the Jewish Temple.
So it's not surprising that the first century New Testament writers would be influenced by the Roman-based star-human deity concept when writing: "
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." - Matthew 2:2 (found only in the Book of Matthew and in no other book of the four Gospels)

There is a saying, "Rome didn't convert to Christianity, but Christianity converted to Rome". Perhaps there is a connection between the star image found on the tail-side of the Caesar Roman coin and the star image placed upon top of the Christmas Tree?

Though modern Judaism has a lot of spiritual corrections to make regarding their Torah and Bible-based holidays, they are still holy sanctioned by the one true God of Israel through His Torah of Moses and prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible.

Have you ever noticed that it is only the "religious" Gentile holidays like Christmas (Santa Clause who sees all things) Easter (the Easter Bunny that gives life in the form of a colorful egg) and Halloween (the eve of All Saints Day) that are the most pagan-influenced, where as the secular Gentile holidays such as, New Years Day, Presidents Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, are not pagan influenced at all? This fact alone speaks volumes about the religious Gentile world!

It is through such religious Gentile concepts that the Jews have been persecuted down through the ages unto this very day with the so-called Palestinians. The overall Gentile desire is to "replace" the Jewish nation that holds the most purest of holidays known to mankind, with their Gentile-pagan influenced religion and holidays.

However, the good news (gospel) is that the Gentiles (goyim) will see their grave religious errors (Jeremiah 16:19) then turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance (Zachariah 8:23) and from there follow in the footsteps according to the Jewish holidays (Zachariah 14: 16). With this lovely and Jewish thought in mind I'd like to wish most all of my fellow Gentiles in goyim land - with a wink and a smile - a "very Merry Mithras" and a Happy New Year!

Notes:
1. One exception would be the Jewish holiday of Purim which is Bible-based (see Easter 9:20-21) but has been heavily influenced by the Catholic celebration of "Mardi Gras" or "Carnival season" (both holidays being celebrated during the same time of the year) which started in sixteenth century Christian France. There are movements in Israel to restore this Biblical holiday to a more religious theme and to oust the Catholic pagan influence of it.
2. More businesses are closed on December 25 that any other day of the year. Even the secular businesses that stay open on other holidays such as Labor Day, New Year's Day, and Thanksgiving Day, they are usually closed on Christmas Day.
3. "Twenty-six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus" by Asher Norman - page 195.
4. Ibid

God's Name: The Original

2010-07-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ones belief can be found in the name of their God / god(s). One of the questions I like asking Trinitarian Christians is "what is the single most personal name of your one god?" Yahweh, 1 the God of the Jews, is the oldest and most original Name of the monotheistic concept of God. However, you will never hear His Name in Christian or Islamic worship. Both Christianity and Islam seek to change and avoid this most personal Name of God in an attempt to shape their newer religion on a much older established religion of which they are founded.

With their God having a name change Christianity and Islam took on different ways from the original in worshiping their God. For example, if your God's most personal Name was indeed Yahweh then you are associated with keeping of the Torah. If your God's most personal name is Jesus Christ or Allah, then Torah worship has been abolished and different methods (i.e. Gentile methods) of worshiping are set into place.

The following is a small list of things that has accommodated the changing of God's Name:

The Headquarters of the Religion - While Judaism's eternal city has and always will be Jerusalem, Israel (The City of David) Christianity's headquarter is in Rome, Italy and Islam's is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The Language of the Holy Books - While Judaism's Bible was originally written in mostly Hebrew (with a little Aramaic) Christianity's scriptures are written in Greek (including their Hebrew scripture portion - 'The Septuagint') and Islam's Koran is written in Arabic.
War in the name of God - While Jews has never sought the annihilation of Christians nor Muslims, Jewish annihilation has been a "main goal" of both Christianity and Islam ever since those religion held influence in world power.

The fact that Christianity and Islam's holy books (the New Testament and the Koran) do not carry the most original and direct Name of the God of Israel on which they are founded is quite amazing given the fact that in just the Torah alone 70 exact times the God of Israel declares "I (am) YHVH". Where is such a direct declaration of God's Name given by God Himself found anywhere within the New Testament or the Koran?

For Christianity, the name "Jesus" replaces the originally declared Name of YHVH.2 Some will argue that Jesus' name contains the name of YHVH thereby proving the Name of YHVH throughout the Christian text. The list of refuting such a claim is as follows:

Jesus' name in Hebrew though starting with the Hebrew letter yod (as does the Name YHVH) is NOT linked to the Hebrew verb "to be" as is the Name of YHVH.
Biblical Hebrew uses a three-letter root system for verbs that are contained in common everyday names (not religiously sanctified names). Therefore, common Hebrew everyday names such as Jeshua (pronounced "ya-ho-shua") found in such texts as Ezra 2:36, and the name Joshua (see KJV and Darby translations of Hebrews 4:8) are linked to God's attribute of deliverance and salvation - making an attribute of God - via the verb contained within the common name being the main focus, and not the reference of the Name of God itself.
The name Isaiah (pronounced "ya-sha-yahu") meaning "Salvation of YAH" could have been no more the declared Name of God spoken in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement by the High Priest than could the name of Jesus (ya-ho-shua).
Men were not named YHVH throughout the ages because that Name is so special it would be like making mortal man the deity of YHVH - making the bearer of that Name a "carrier" of God's Name in vain. While the name of Jesus was very common in first century Israel - Josephus cites 20 other Jesuses within his works - and today Latin countries are full of people named Jesus (hay-zues).
YHVH was the Name chosen and declared by God Himself to be His Name to the nation of Israel in the earth and of Israel's God abiding heaven forever. (Exodus 3:14-15) This concept of the Torah did not leave the mind of the Hebrew prophet Zachariah centuries later when he prophesied of the future: "YHVH will be the King over all the earth, on that day YHVH will be one and His Name one." (Zachariah 14:9)

For Islam, the name Allah replaces the Name of YHVH while claiming to be the same God (see Koran 29:46). Muslims point to Allah being the same God as Elohim, Eloah, or Elah (in Aramaic) in the Hebrew Bible. The list of refuting such a claim is as follows:

Anytime El, Eloah, Elah, or Elohim are used within the Hebrew Bible they are used as an appellation3 or title - never as the most personal Name of the Hebrew God of Israel.
The most personal Name of YHVH is used throughout the Hebrew Bible no less than 6828 times - three times more than the appellations El, Eloah, Elah, or Elohim added together!
The Name YHVH has never been used as a name for a false god(s) in the history of mankind nor is it used for a false god(s) anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. However, on the other hand, all three appellations of El, Eloah, Elah, and Elohim can and have indeed been used throughout history and the Hebrew Bible in references for false deities, god(s), and carved heathenistic idols. Fact: the Canaanite pantheon of gods included the chief god "El" being the father of all gods and husband to the goddess Asherah and biblical references of false god(s) and idols include: Exodus 20:3 (Elohim) II Chronicles 32:15 (Eloah) and Daniel 11:37-38 (Elah - written in Aramaic).
The Hebrew prophets usage of El, Eloah. Elah, and Elohim, as false deities would have at the time directly included the many pagan deities "Ilah" (a term for a single god in Arabic) worshiped at the Arabian Kaaba in Mecca as well as the chief pagan moon deity "Allah" who had a daughter named "Al-lot" (the famine pronunciation version of masculine Allah).
In keeping the Arabian pagan moon deity tradition, Muhammad kept this name of this pagan moon deity "Allah" meaning, "the (pagan) god" of which his very own Arabian father Abdulla4 (meaning 'servant of Allah' - the pagan moon deity) was so named. This was also done early to make it easier for the pagan Arabians (who were totally unfamiliar with the Name YHVH) to convert to a new religion towards a deity reference and name they were already religiously familiar with. We have seen the same workings within Catholicism in adopting December 25th. as Jesus' New Testament birthday when December 25th. was indeed the Roman pagan deity Attis' and Greek pagan deity Dionysus' birthday.
As mentioned above the Hebrew Bible proclaims the most personal Name of the God of Israel YHVH nearly 7,000 times! Seventy (70) times within the Torah and ninety (90) times throughout the writings of the prophets God declares of Himself with the absolute and direct words "I am YHVH" yet not even once did Mohammad (being the false prophet he is) gave credence to this most personal Name of the God of Israel.

Since Islam apologists point to first century Jesus using his Aramaic term "Eloah" when referring to his God, it must be pointing out that at the very exact time when Jesus referred to his God as Eloah in Aramaic the Arabians referred to their chief deity moon-god "Allah" in Arabic. The bottom-line being, Jesus' referral to his God and the original Arabian referral to their god may sound similar but are indeed two totally different gods all together, in which this principle has NOT changed since the birth of Islam!

In Antiquity the gods were very much connected with the land.5 This was the main reason YHVH wanted any and all forms of worship to other gods driven out of the Land of Promise! (see Numbers 33:52-53) Guess what? To the disapproval of the New World Order Quartet, YHVH hasn't changed His mind on this issue. YHVH being connected to the land was why Israel was never blessed outside the land of Israel and it was a punishment-exile to have to lived outside the land of Israel.

The connection between the Name of YHVH, the Torah, the Jewish Hebrew people, and the Land of the Covenant - Israel are forever spiritual linked together! On several occasions within the Hebrew Bible YHVH calls Israel, " My Land" (see Ezekiel 36:5, 38:16, Joel 3:2). Because of this eternal fact, and because of the new concept of the God of Israel among the Gentiles was sought, both Christianity and Islam has dramatically changed the spiritual foundation set by YHVH Himself. Even today, the New World Order Quartet is set against the Jewish State of Israel via the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict has its historical foundation in the prophesied Esau and Ishmael (Christian and Islam) alliance against YHVH:

The Name of YHVH changed to Jesus or Allah.
Chosen (Jewish) People-nation to be the Christians or Muslims.
Subverted the Torah / Hebrew Scriptures for the New Testament or the Koran.
Changed the promised Land of Israel to a Heavenly Jerusalem or a Muslim Waqf.

All of these spiritual changes are the most direct root cause of, but not limited to, the historic Christian Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, Holocaust, and Islamic Jewish-murder and banishment of the Arabian Jewish tribes, Jihad Jewish civilian-targeted terrorism, and the present Quartet do-nothing endorsement of the Hamas-Ahmadinejad alliance!

In the eyes of the world's Gentile-spiritual changers, the Name of YHVH must be abolished spiritually in order to justify their replacement theology of the chosen land of promise and of the chosen Jewish people and their covenant with YHVH their God. As I have stated in past blogs, the purposed of the New World Order Quartet "Palestinian state" is nothing more than a spiritual-sought "replacement-theology state" with Jewish King David's Jerusalem as it spiritual "replacement-theology capital". The world Quartet has picked the most evil people of the world for the "replacement people" to occupy the land of the covenant that is meant to sanctify the name of YHVH!

The good prophecy news is this will never happen for any length of time. It is in the most bleakest hour that the Name of YHVH will come forth for all the Gentile world to see:
"And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am YHVH. So will I make My Holy Name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My Holy Name any more: and the Gentiles shall know that I am YHVH, the Holy One in Israel." - Ezekiel 39:6-7

Notes:
1. The way it is commonly spelled in today's English is not how I believe this Name was pronounced by the ancient Israelites. For the truer pronunciation, I refer to James D. Tabor's book entitled "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" section "Pronouncing the Name of God" pages 18-23. [Click on the image of this book on this site for ordering]

2. Philippians 2:10 - This New Testament verse is referring to the Hebrew text of Isaiah 45:23. However when reading in the original Hebrew the surrounding text to get the context and true meaning of Isaish 45:23, one will notice that just two verses prior (verse 21) and the following two verses after (verses 24-25) the declaration of "The Name" that Isaiah is referring!
3. Concerning in title "Elohim" I always start out asking the Muslim apologist what the English term "appellation" means before addressing the "Name of God" issue.
Wordnet Dictionary states that an appellation as an: "identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified or distinguished from others". To refer to God as God (Elohim in Hebrew) is simply to acknowledge Him as God. It does not and in no way state, refer, or acknowledge His most personal Name no more than calling me a "man" or "human" addresses my personal name of "Joe".
4. Abdullah ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib was Mohammad's father. Mohammad's full name was "Muhammad ibn Abdallah" - meaning "Mohammad son of Abdullah".
5. See Joshua 24:15, Judges 6:10, 2 Samuel 7:23.

YHVH Verses Allah and the Uncorrupted Zionist Scriptures: My Debate with a Muslim

2009-12-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

The following is an abridged version of an lengthy debated I had on You Tube in December, 2009 with an educated Muslim who goes by the name of "Sumawiganda". The debate began with the issue of the Name of the God of Israel - YHVH, and the god of Islam - Allah, and ended with the subject of Zionism, or should I say the hot-topic of Zionism, ended the debate.

Sumawi: Genesis 1:1
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת האר
Bereishit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.
"In Beginning Elohim"

My Response: Exodus 20:3
Lo-yeyeh lchah "elohim" achareem alpani
(You shall have no other god(s) before me.)
"Al-illah" The (crescent moon) god. Elohim?

Sumawi: You contradictyourself!
Elohim = Eloh + im
im = plural respect
Eloh = Alloh = Allah

My Response: "The contradiction is in your will to falsely make an object (in this case an "object of worship") a proper name. "God" "god"or "gods" are not proper names, they are "titles". Is your proper name "man"? No?
It would be like me stating in English, "The name of my God is "God".
"Elohim" in Hebrew can denote the one true God of Israel or it can denote false god(s) as well!
Elohim can indeed mean Allah - as a "false elohim".
Giving "titles" "proper names" is outside the scope of the Hebrew Biblical."

Sumawi: Jesus called his God, Allah! or Elloh. Are you against Jesus and New Testament?

My Response: "Jesus' Aramaic though similar to the pronunciation of "Al-lah" was not directed towards "Al-illah" the (crescent mood) god" of pre-Islam Arabia.
In other words, during the exact time period and even on the very "same day" that Jesus spoke the word "Ellah" in reference to God, the Arabians were saying "Allah" to their moon-god.
The God that Jesus prayed to and the god(s) Arabians prayed to were two different gods of the same time period altogether!
Islam now makes the attempts to portray their past crescent moon-god as YHVH - but they don't have His Name to do that with do they?"

Sumawi: Why did God use name ALLAH in the beginning of the bible, Genesis 1:1 why he didn't use YHWH? Or why "Yahweh" wasn't even the first thing GOD Almighty was addressed with in the Bible! Intriguing question huh ?
Why God almighty didn't introduce YHWH from Adam till Abraham instead He called himself Allah?

My Response: First a minor point: It was "Elohim" not "Allah" in Gen 1:1 - two different pronunciations.
Now here is an intriguing answer to your intriguing question:
Genesis is a record of God's (Elohim) power. - Genesis does not touch on the subject concerning the intimacy between God's spirit and man.
Only His chosen people (priests to the nations) are to receive His most personal Name.
Exodus 3:15 states:
"YHVH - Elohim of your fathers, Elohim of Abraham, Elohim of Isaac, and Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My NAME FOR EVER, and thisis My memorial unto ALL generations."

Sumawi: And so Adam, Noah, Abraham WERE NOT CHOSEN PEOPLE ? This doesn't add up right!

My Response: Exodus 6:2-3
"And Elohim spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am YHVH: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shadai, but by My Name YHVH was I not known to them."
There was a reason!
Deuteronomy 7:6
"For thou art an holy people unto YHVH thy Elohim: YHVH thy Elohim hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."
Exodus 19:6
"And ye [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."

Sumawi: I challenge you to USE your intellect!
If you believe in One God AND AGREE WITH HIS ATTRIBUTES to mention a few :

The Unique, The One without partner (Al Waahid)
The All knowing (Al Alim)
The First, The One whose Existence is without a beginning (Al Awwal)
The Last, The One whose Existence is without an end (Al Akhir)
The Living (Al Hayyu)
The Eternal (As samad)
..and many more.
If you agree with these attributes, then YOUR GOD IS MY GOD - the same God. A name can be anything. Use your intellect!

My Response: Wouldn't "true" intellect tell one to listento what YHVH states about His very own personal name?
Psalms 29:2
"Give unto YHVH the glory due unto His Name; worship YHVH in the beauty of holiness"
Isaiah 42:8
"I am YHVH: that is My Name"
Wow, that's real clear, is it not?
Here is some Biblical intellect for you:
Psalms 96:4
"For all the "elohim" of the nations are idols ("eli-lim" in the Hebrew): but YHVH made the heavens"
Psalms 34:3
"O magnify YHVH with me, and let us exalt "His Name" together."
Fact: The personal name of YHVH is stated nearly 7,000 times in the Hebrew Bible (three times more than any appellation such as El, Eloh, or Elohim) yet this most holy Name is not mentioned "once" in the Koran! It is to this fact, that all you can say is, "use your intellect"?
Get spiritually real!

Sumawi: "What version of Bible areyou using? Please advise."

My Response: "I don't believe in "versions". May YHVH save us fromthe Gentile translators. (And I myself am a Hebrew Bible - reading Gentile).
The Hebrew Bible must be read and understood in the Hebrew - the language YHVH revealed Himself to His prophets, and from where His most personal Name was given!
Ezekiel 39:7 states:
"So will I make My holy Name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My Holy Name any more: and the Gentiles shall know that I am YHVH, the Holy One in Israel."

Sumawi: "How do you pronounceYHVH? Don't lie to me!"

My Response: "We know that the first part is pronounced "yah" because of the Hebrew names within the Bible carry that Name such as Yer-mah-YAH-HU (Jeremiah) Ovad-YAH (Obadiah), Ye-sha-YAH-HU (Isaiah).
We also know that it ends with the shortened "H" sound, along withthe two middle letter "Vav" with an original sounding "W" sound."

"Sumami, I know what your getting at.
Just know that the nations (including weak Israel) can't profane that Name.
The Messianic Age brings in that Name in it's full glory."

Sumawi: "ahahahah ...you are guessing and not sure how to pronounce it.
Well, doesn't add up right ... you are obsessed with YHVH as his personal name butyou are not sure how to call him ????
I think this is end of story ...
If you are true Jesus follower, call the true God just like Jesus called Him, Allah."

My Response: YHVH is not to be pronounced until the true line of David messiah comes, as you noted Jesus "prophet of Islam - to Muslims" didn't even pronounce it, did he?
It's not a question on whether we know how to pronounce it or not, its a matter of holy reverence towards that holy Name.
I have never heard YHVH taken it in vain - the ones who did in the Bible died immediately, but I hear "god" (Allah) being taken in vain all the time!
The real question is, why doesn't Islam have even an reference of that name?

Sumawi: "Okay now you are admit that you DON'T KNOW HOW to pronounce your God's name while you are obsessed with the name. And you said IT IS A MATTER OF HOLY REFERENCE ! A-HA ! This is what I have been talking about the whole discussion: A REFERENCE OF WHO HE IS - YOU ACKNOWLEDGE HIS CHARACTER AND HIS ATTRIBUTE (in arabic = sifah).
You acknowledge he is one, unique=AHAD
You acknowledge he is The Highest Glory=Akbar
You acknowledge he is The Living, never Die, Eternal=SAMAD
and so on and so forth..."

My Response: "I never said I didn't know how to pronounce YHVH, you said that.
YHVH is not to be spoken "while knowing" how to pronounce it in every day usage. Instead we say HaShem meaning "The Name".
The appellations you named doesn't speak what His name means or Is.
When the nations recognize His Name for what it truly means, Israel will be gloried in the site of all nations.
Ezekiel 37:28 states:
"And the gentiles shall know that I "YHVH" do sanctify Israel,when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."

Sumawi: "So you know the true pronunciation of YHWH?
Then you should publish your thesis in biblical communityand to Jewish scholars around the world."
1. "the true pronunciation of YHWH is quite lost."
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language,
David Crystal, pg. 9, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
2. "The true pronunciation of this name, by which God was known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost."
The New Ungers Bible Dictionary, pg. 781,
Ed. Merrill Unger, Moody Press, Chicago, 1988.

My Response: "The sources that you give are gentile sources who have an interest (likethat of Islam) in having that Name lost to promote their gentile non-YHVH religion.
Perhaps you should learn Hebrew and then read Genesis 2:4, Psalms 68:4 and Isaiah 26:4 as well as many other places in the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew."

Sumawi: "I am a Muslim and believe AL HAYY is one of the beautiful name of God.It is there recorded in Quran Hu Wa Ha Yu (HWHY), I believe in Quran entirely and consequently I believe He the Living is one of His beautiful name."

My Response: "Your very posts in debating the pronunciation of YHVH proves your motivation sumawi! The title "Al Hayy" means nothing more to you than trying to prove that YHVH is Allah,
Q. "Why is YHVH used three times as much as Elohim throughout the Hebrew Bible as God's Most personal Name if "Elohim" means "Allah" of Mohammad?

Sumawi: Corruption of the scribes! - Jeremiah 8:8
As proof: Jesus NEVER called his God JHWH. Why? Because Jesus knew the correct name is Allah or Elloh or Eloh or Aloh.
The Old Testament is not reliable, the false scribes had injected YHVH to become prominence. If YHVH is the proper name of God, why did Jesus never called Him YHVH - not EVEN ONCE, my friend?
Another proof: Jesus taught US (you and me) on daily prayer or Lord prayer .. "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name"
Why not Our YHWH, which are in heaven?

My Response: "Was the prophet Jeremiah corrupt was he wrote Jeremiah 8:8?
If not, then what we have from Jeremiah is something true and uncorrupted. Did Jesus (prophet of Islam according to Muslims) say that the Hebrew scriptures were corrupted? According to Jesus the scriptures are not corrupt:
"Search the scriptures; 'FOR IN THEM' ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." - John 5:39
It's ridiculous to suggest that Jesus wanted the Pharisees to search "corrupted scriptures" that he believed testified of him!

Your answer proves 2 things:
1. You concede that YHVH is the most prominent Name throughout the Hebrew Bible over Elohim.
2. Your goal via Islam, is to blot out this most Holy and Most Personal Name of your creator and replace with the pre-Islam name of a moon-god!

Jesus - a prophet of Islam according to the Muslims - also stated:
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from The Law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18
This would prove that the "same law" that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:18 was indeed the "same Law" that Jeremiah was talking about in Jeremiah 8:8 was not corrupted as Islam claims.
Note: Only those who don't obey it make the uncorrupted Law seem vain was the meaning of the text!
Did you notice the very text of Jeremiah 8:8-9 carries the very Name of "YVHV" (that according to you, Jesus never spoke) twice! Are we to believe that the Islamic proof-text of this so-called "scripture corruption" was itself corrupted? Give me a break!

Sumawi: I believe whosoever believes in the one true God with his heart, mind and soul they will be saved as in Quran 2:62
"Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians -- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve"
Based on that, YOU ARE SAVED TOO! InsyaAllah.

My Response: Sumawi, please, I know you mean well, but come on,
I know the difference in a Meccan revelation and a Medinan revelation.
The one you gave is "nasikh" - (sura 2:106 / 16:100)
Here, let me give you the "latest version":
"And whoever believes not in Allah AND HIS MESSENGER - then surely We have have prepared burning Fire for the disbeliever" - Sura 48:13
Still think I'm "saved" Sumawi?

Sumawi: As the Quran 48:13 says : YES you are saved! Insya Allah. Quran 48:13 doesn't say "And whoever believes not in Allah AND MUHAMMAD.... right?
See how true the Quran is:
Because you believe in YHVH for me means you believe in the TRUE ONE GOD which we the Muslims call him Allah. I have a Jehovah Witness friend. I told him, "you are a believer in One True God without partner and you are the follower of the God's messenger".

My Response: From Maulana Muhammad Ali English translation:
Quote: "And whoever believes not in Allah AND HIS MESSENGER - then surely We have have prepared burning Fire for the disbeliever" - Sura 48:13
Ayat (verse) 29 of the same sura: (Quote)
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the disbelievers"
Ayat 29 explain very vividly ayat 13 (above).

Sura 98:6
"Those who disbelieve from among the "People of the Book" and idolaters will be in the fire of hell abiding therein..."

Sura 18:102
"Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants to be friends besides Me? Surely, We have prepared hell as an entertainment for the disbelievers"

Ali's footnote of this ayat:
"The Christians are meant here, because theirs is the most prominent example of have taken a servant of Allah, a prophet, for God"

Now compared sura 18:102 with sura 5:54:
"O you who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for friends......surely Allah guides not the unjust people"

Sura 3:85
"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him. and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers"
Sura 98:6
"Those who disbelieve from among the "People of the Book" and idolaters will be in the fire of hell abiding therein. They are the worst of creatures." - sura 98:6

Sumawi: The answer to Surah 3:85
"Islam" means surrender /submission to the true God Alone and his will. Therefore, if you submit yourself to Him alone then you are a Muslim. There are many prophets but only One religion and One message. And Muhammad is the last and the seal of prophet.
The answer to sura 98:6
"Those who disbelieve among the People of the Book" ... do you understand this? Those who disbelieve (NOT ALL) only some of them of the People of the Book. Some of disbelieved from among the Jew and Christians and idolaters. Gotit?

My Response: The sura states: "WHOEVER" believes not in Allah and his messenger. then surely we have prepared burning Fire for the disbelievers."
This "whoever" literally means everyone who don't believe in Muhammad. "Those who disbelieve" meaning, from out of the Jews and Christians and idolaters who had not converted to Islam!
Proof: sura 5:51 "O you who believe take not the Jews and Christians for friends....surely Allah guides not the unjust people." The religion of the people is what is singled out in the Koran.

Sumawi: No...no..no..... you misunderstood! "His Messenger" in Quran 4:80 IS NOT exclusively Muhammad, it is depend on who you or one follows. It could be Moses (such as a Jew) orJesus (such as Christian, not trinitarian Christian).
As proof : Quran 2:62
"Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."
Quran 3:110
"... If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors."
Focus on this:
"AMONG THEM (Jew & Christian) ARE SOME WHO HAVE FAITH (BELIEVER)"

Quran 3:113
"Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration."
Let's Repeat: Quran 2:62 ...
"Christian & Jew whoever believes ..shall no fear..."
Quran 3:110
Christian & Jew ... "among them are some who have faith"
Quran 3:113
Christian & Jew... "Not all of them are alike..."
IN GOD EYES, some of Jew and some Christians ARE TRUE BELIEVER.

My Response: Since the religious Jews are "submitted" (Islam) to the same YHVH of 2:255, and are not seeking another religion in being "submitted" according to 3:85, let's petition the Palestinians in giving Israel their huge religious-Zionist State!
As your post would indicate, monotheistic Judaism Israeli Jews do "submit" and indeed follow Allah, right? It's not like they follow another God outside Islam, right?
Does YHVH of 2:255 want the Palestinians murder fellow "submitted" Jews?
What does the "noor" (bright-light) hadiths say?

The so-called Jewish settlers of the West Bank are not "among those" of The People Book who disbelieve according to 98:6.
Their God is YHVH according to 2:255, and they are "submitted" to YHVH according to 3:85.
They follow "their messenger"Musa (Moses), in accordance to 48:13. They recite Allah's "Taruat" (Torah) messages according to 3:113!
Therefore, JUDEAH AND SAMARIAH (the whole West Bank) needs to be part of the religious-Zionist State of Israel to the glory of Allah!
What do you say Sumawi?

Sumawi: Your question is more about politics and about Zionism - a movement to create a State of Israel - than religious discussion. I can't answer your question here, this is beyond our scope of topics.

My Response: All politics is religious based. Basically, I'm testing your "light interpretation" of 2:255, 3:85, 3:113, 4:80, 48:13, and 98:6 to see if you really do believe that, or if you were using al-takiyah (even subconsciously) and not realizing it.
Zionism is very Biblical:
"For I will take you from among the Gentiles, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land." - Ezekiel. 37:24
So what about those "submitted to Allah"(3:85, 3:113, 4:80, 48:13)? Those Jewish West Bank "submitted" settlers?

Sumawi: If Iraq attack Quwait and occupied the land with oppression and plus flooded the land with Iraqi settlement. Both are Muslim countries yet it is still not justified. If I am Quwaiti, I will defend my country till the end. At the end who is the mastermind?
Again I have tons of answer but I don't want to discuss politics.
Concerning 9/11 - who is the mastermind?
Was it an indisde job? or Al-Qaida ? What is Al-Qaida?
No discussion on politics, I can't answer further.

My Response: You are a moderate pretender. Your misguided mindset towards Israeli Jews proves you really don't believe what you posted concerning 2:255-256, 3:85, 3:113, 4:80, 48:6, 98:6. Your goal was spiritual use of takiyah.
Tell me sumawi, what "LAND" was suras 5:21 and 17:104 talking about, and "For Whom" was "the LAND" for?
Mastermind? Who indeed admitted to being the mastermind? Some Zionist or bin Laden and Zawahiri? Who are the ones calling them the "Magnificent 19"? the Zionists or the Wahabbists?

Getting back to Islam's god Allah and Judaism's YHVH, it dawned on me you really can't see the difference due to Islam's blinding you to the truth.
Islam's influence on you is so great that you are able to believe the 9/11 "white-supremacy" Zionist conspiracy instead of the confessed bin Laden himself that began with his 1998 fatwa!
This demonstrates that you don't have the spiritual ability to even discern between YHVH and the pre-Islamic crescent moon-god named Al-iallh (Allah).

Sumawi: Zionism is wrong ! NOT ALL Jews are Zionist and Judaism IS NOT Zionism!
Bin Laden? Who is he? Whoever made an attack on 9/11 is wrong!
Who is the mastermind? Building #7? The Pentagon? - A bunch of unanswered questions.
I will stop replying to your comments about Zionism, 9/11, etc. because it is beyond scope of discussion. In the beginning the topic was if YHWH=Allah, and yes, they are the same.

My Response: Zionism is an intricate part of the Hebrew Bible!
The return of Exiles from Babylon was what? Zionism.
What is the prophecy in Ezekiel 37:21-28? Zionism!
Zionism is not only Biblical but is part of YHVH!
Judaism is based upon the everlasting covenant which consist of four elements:
1. YHVH 2. The Jewish People 3. The Torah 4. The Land of Israel.
All four elements make up the everlasting covenant and are literally saturated throughout the Hebrew Torah and the writings of the Hebrew Prophets!

Who is Bin Laden? Who is al-ikhwān al-muslimūn (Muslim Brotherhood) that is 70 million strong, that groups such as "Islamic Jihad" "Al-Queda" and "Hamas" that derived from this Al -Banna secret society? Was Hassan al-Banna a Zionist too?
Who was Abdullah Yusuf Azzam the West Bank global jihadist who inspired Bib Laden? A Zionist?
Perhaps we could read Bin Laden's February 23, 1998 Fatwa word for word, and then ask ourselves: Is this man controlled by theZionist?
Sumawi, quite playing the "Zionist Conspiracy game"!

Your Zionist conspiracy mindset ties into your Jewish scripture corruption conspiracy. They run hand in hand, just like Palestinian Jewish temple denial and Holocaust denial run hand in hand! Can't you see that? Have you ever though there might be a "Gentile Conspiracy" against the Jews?

What is the Relationship Between the Messiah and God?

2009-11-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

There is a big differences between Christianity's messiah and Judaism's messiah. Islam's version of a messiah / Mahdi - the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam, is so far out into left-field that other than having to deal with the Iranian president and nutcase Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who thinks he was chosen to hasten his Mahdi's return with nuclear war, it can't be taken seriously.

Judaism's concept of the End of Days messiah (meshiach in Hebrew) is strictly Hebrew in origin, including the relationship between the End of Days messiah and the God of Israel.
Christianity's concept of the End of Days messiah is also Hebrew in origin being that its very foundational concept is directly based upon the Hebrew Scriptures. However, Christianity's concept of the relationship between the End of Days messiah and the God of Israel is Hellenistic /Roman in origin rather than Hebraic.

There is a growing movement within the American churches to "discover" the Church's Hebrew roots of Christianity. When I hear of this, I want to say, "You ought to discover the Church's "Hellenistic roots" of Christianity"! Other than Jesus not fulfilling the prophesied accomplishments of the End of Days messiah,1 what splits Christianity from Judaism is the god-man (demigod) concept that originated in ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.2

Christianity's make-up consists of Greek and Roman mythology being blended into the Hebrew scriptures, and the evidence of this can be found in today's Christmas Day (December 25 - Mithraism) the Christmas Tree (see Jeremiah 10:2-4) and Easter Bunny (Oestre' - the goddess of fertility).3 Notice, there is a very deep spiritual reason as to why there are no Gentile pagan-based nor pagan-influenced 'Jewish' holidays within Judaism!

No where within the Hebrew scriptures does it even come close as depicting the End of Days messiah as holding the status of a demigod, or where God personally fathers a son through a mortal woman. These concepts are foreign to the Hebrew prophets, and could only be included into the text by additions and going outside the prophecy context from what the Hebrew prophets intended to convey to the Hebrew people. For example, why does the Hebrew Bible need to warn the Son of God (the Word made flesh)?:
"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men." - 2 Samuel 7:12-14

Notice in the prophesy above that there are three elements concerning the everlasting kingdom of God that is to be ruled by David's seed:

It is seed from David's loins (not God's - see also Psalms 132:11) that God's everlasting kingdom will be based.
The seed of David will have (as David himself had) a "father and son" relationship with God, but not in a Hellenistic-type relationship consisting of human-divinity.
The seed of David is very special to God, but they are not infallible. They can (as did David) suffer from their own sin. Therefore, there is a necessity within the Hebrew Bible concept, for them to be warned even though the prophesy is that their kingdom will be everlasting.

One particular method that the Gentile Christian Bible translators did to help the blending effect between God and the messiah was to avoid translating the very personal name of God throughout the Hebrew Bible while placing great emphasis on the pronunciation of the name of Jesus (see Luke 1:31 / Philippians 2:10). By translating the very name of God (YHVH - pronounced Jehovah in English) as "The Lord" instead of His actual name,4 it becomes easier for Christianity to insert "Jesus" into the position of "The Lord".

There is a huge difference between God's declaration (spoken hundreds of times throughout the Hebrew Bible) "I am the Lord" verses "I am YHVH (Jehovah)". As James Tabor puts it in his book entitled "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" "The later is personal and direct. It immediately calls for a unique and singular understanding of the ONE GOD -identifying the ETERNAL ONE by Name".5 Also, which is more of a "pure" translation of Amos 9:6: "The LORD is His name." which taken literally, doesn't make sense, or "YHVH (Jehovah) is His name"?

Notice how the "Judaism is the correct religion" effect becomes more potent when the Hebrew Bible texts properly includes the very proper name of the God of Israel within prophecy texts:

O YHVH, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto THEE from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is YHVH! - Jeremiah 16:19-21

Behold, the "Day of YHVH" cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. - Zechariah 14:1

I am YHVH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. - Isaiah 42:8

Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to YHVH, to serve HIM, and to love the name of YHVH, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant. - Isaiah 56:6

...they shall call on MY Name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, YHVH is my God. - Zechariah 13:9

What is amazing to me is that the Christian Bible, be it a Greek translation (including the Septuagint) or the standard 1611 King James Version, does not (not even in one single place) carry this very special and personal name of YHVH throughout their entire New Testament! κυριος (pronounced "Kurios" meaning "Lord") is used in its place. It is like they believed that the God of the Hebrew Bible didn't convey His personal-proper name to His Hebrew chosen people, giving them only a reference-title of Himself, even though the text of Exodus 3:15 along with Exodus 6:3 are quite clear in spelling out His distinct and personal Name.6

Given this fact, is becomes easy to see (through a translation compared to an original) the different doctrines of salvation between the Greek Christians and the Hebrew Jews:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of "the Lord" shall be saved" - Romans 10:13
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on "the name of YHVH" (Jehovah) shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as YHVH (Jehovah) hath said, and in the remnant whom shall call." - Joel 2:32 (Joel 3:5 in the Hebrew Bible)

When the Name of God is recognized as being God's Name forever, as God Himself declared (Exodus 3:15) then it becomes much easier to distinguish the relationship between the End of Days Hebrew messiah and YHVH:
"And he (the meshiach) shall stand and feed in the strength of YHVH, in the majesty of the Name of YHVH his God" - Micah 5:4
"And the Spirit of YHVH shall rest upon him (the meshiach) the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of YHVH. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of YHVH." -Isaiah 11:2-3

It is from the Nicean Council of 325c.e. that the doctrine of the Trinity attempts to merge the End of Days messiah into the same substance of God as the "second person of the Godhead" even though the Hebrew "meshiach" - as the scriptures clearly indicates above - is separate from God and will fear his God. Given this Hebrew scripture fact, how then, could it be possible for the second god-person of the Godhead to fear the first god-person of the Godhead - as God, when the second god-person of the Godhead is supposed to be of the same god-substance as the first god-person in the Godhead to begin with? To ask it another way, how can the one true God (in the singular) fear Himself?

The New Testament describes Jesus' divinity as the following:
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:9-11

Notice, that the Hebrew name of God is not mentioned within this and all New Testament context! Notice also, that it implies that Jesus now takes the position of "Lord" - the very title that the KJV replaced the Name YHVH with throughout its translation. This was done in order to glorify Christianity's foundational God while at the same time kept His personal name out of every context throughout the Christian Bible! How anti-Hebrew Bible can the Christian text get? Perhaps, having His proper Name placed within their text would create too many theological problems and therefore the ambiguous no-named title of "God the Father" was used instead?7

The Hebrew scripture from where the Christian text in Philippians quotes from tells a very different story in a very different context:
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I YHVH? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in YHVH have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In YHVH shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Isaiah 45:21-25

From the Hebrew text above I always like to ask contain questions:

Which person of the Godhead used all nine of those personal pronouns in YHVH's declaration?"
Why is it, that Philippians describes a second Godhead-person sharing glory with the first Godhead person, when YHVH wanted to make it very clear by repeating Himself, that there are no other god(s) besides Him who was speaking and using those personal pronouns nine different times?

It also should be stated that unlike the Philippians context of every knee bowing to the second-person of the Godhead, YHVH makes it very clear His glory is not to be shared or given to another god: "I am YHVH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another" - Isaiah 42:8
Also according to the Philippians text, it is the name of Jesus that is exalted and not the Name of YHVH. This is not the case according to the Hebrew scriptures:
" And YHVH shall be king over all the earth: in that day YHVH shall be one, and His name one" - Zechariah 14:9
This means that there will be no other gods worshiped by another name than that of YHVH, and that YHVH will be the only one worshiped with that Name throughout the whole earth! Oh, Christian, can you look directly into this holy Hebrew scripture that you claim as the Word of God, and say with a hardy Amen - SO BE IT?

Since Jesus clearly didn't fulfill the most prominent and vindicating messianic prophesies,1 Christianity does one of two things (sometimes both based on convenience):

Look for a "Son of David" heavenly-angelic form of Jesus to fulfill the messianic prophesies that he didn't accomplish in his human "Son of David" form 2,000 years earlier.
Apply all, or most all messianic prophesies as being fulfilled "spiritually"8 through the virgin-born Jesus, giving birth to Christian Preterism that denies all, or most all, aspects of physical Israel and the everlasting covenant.9

Whether Christianity views the fulfillment of the messianic prophesies through "human-form" as stressed by Christianity's proof text of Zechariah 13:6, or more of an angelic form as seen in Zechariah 14:4, Christians seem to take the physical "seed of David" requirement as just a mere reference rather than a very physical key-element of the "YHVH to physical Israel - everlasting covenant" (Psalms 105:8-11).

The context of Zechariah 13:6 (of which this one verse missionaries use to for Jewish conversion) reveals that the one with wounds between his arms (not in the hands) is indeed a false prophet, and was beaten by his own relatives for being a false prophet at the unfolding of the Messianic Age. (see verses 1-5 of the same chapter)

All Christians view Zechariah 14:4 as Jesus setting his feet upon the Mount of Olives. However, this text does NOT include the mention of the End of Days messiah. It is describing the Spirit of YHVH as referred in Ezekiel 43:1-7 descending just to the east of the Temple Mount - literally returning in the same manner and fashion as His spirit left in Ezekiel 11:23-24. This descending of YHVH Himself (not the human 'seed of David' His messiah) is in correlation with YHVH entering His Temple in Ezekiel 37:26-28. David, YHVH's meshiach, (mentioned in Ezekiel 37:24) is noted separate from YHVH in the Ezekiel 37:2-28 text and is the same "nasi" meaning "prince-president" that is found in the temple description text - Ezekiel: chapters 44-48 (see Ezekiel 44:3 as a start reference).

In order to stay with the true Hebrew prophecy text as it was given to the Hebrew people, a Christian must first be willing to give up their Gentile-influenced New Testament preconceived idea that the End of Days messiah is YHVH Himself in the form of virgin born Sonship. According to the Hebrew Bible, YHVH is not the messiah, and the messiah (physical offspring of David) is Not YHVH.

NOTES:
1. The End of Days Hebrew messiah will fulfill the following prophecies:
A. In-Gathering of the House of Israel exiles - Jeremiah 16:15 / Ezekiel 37:24-25
During Jesus' time, there was a Jewish diaspora - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
B. Building of the third and final temple - Ezekiel 37:26-28 / Ezekiel chapters 40-48 / Isaiah 33:20 / Amos 9:11. During Jesus' time, the Jewish temple was torn down - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
C. Universal knowledge of the God of Israel - Isaiah 11:9 / Jeremiah 31:33 / Zechariah 14:9. During Jesus' time, a very small percentage of the world's population knew anything about him, or about the Torah and God of Israel - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
D. World Peace - Isaiah 2:4 / Isaiah 11:6-8
During Jesus' time, the Jewish nation was being subjugated by Rome which led to the greatest Jewish tragedies in 70CE and 132 CE. - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
E. Resurrection of the Dead - Isaiah 26:19 / Daniel 12:2 / Ezekiel 37:12-13
Though the New Testament claims that some graves of the saints were opened (Matthew 27:52-53) the Hebrew prophecy is that "all" the graves are to be opened, and not just "all" the saints, but "all" the wicked as well, unto everlasting shame and abhorrence - Daniel 12:2
F. From the Tribe of Judah - Number 1:18-44 / Numbers 34:14 / Leviticus 23:10
Bible based "tribal affiliation" came directly from the father, not the mother. In order for Jesus to even be considered a Dividical king-messiah, he would have to be a "seed" from the Judean tribe - not a virgin born demigod, who of such origin, would be bypassing the Biblical requirement and prophecy of Genesis 49:10.

2. A. "The "sky gods," patriarchal male figures who resided on mountaintops such as Olympus, often came down to Earth to take human wives. "Virgin births" were common-a union of the "Father god" with a human maiden." - Answers.com > http://www.answers.com/topic/greek-gods-and-goddessess

B. The mythical story of the foundation of Rome (7 1/2 centuries before Jesus) starts with the god of Mars fathering the human female (Vestal) Virgin Rhea Silvia with two human males Romulus and Remus.

C. "The Ancient Egyptians believed that their Pharaoh was the god Horus, son of Re, the sun god. When a pharaoh died he was believed to be united with the sun and then a new Horus ruled on earth." > http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/pharaoh.htm

D. Alexander the Great, though having an earthly father named Phillip, believed as did his own mother to be fathered by a god, and called himself the "son of god"!

3. Web-sites regarding Christmas Day, Christmas tree, and that egg-laying Easter Bunny:
A. http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_sel.htm
B. http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm
C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre

4. The name YHVH (Jehovah) has no grammatical connection nor translational link to the Hebrew meaning of the word Lord (Adon). YHVH is a compound name taken from the Hebrew root-verb "hayah" meaning "to be" connecting and linking His proper revealed name (His eternal being) to the past, present, and future.

5. "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" by James D. Tabor - page 17 > http://genesis2000.org/

6. "And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YHVH (Jehovah) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: THIS IS MY NAME FOREVER, and this is my memorial unto all generations." - Exodus 3:15
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddi, but by my name YHVH (Jehovah) was I not known to them." - Exodus 6:3

7. The Early Church baptized in the "personal" name of "Jesus" that according to traditional Christian doctrine, more-less replaced the Name of YHVH. See Acts 2:38 / Acts 8:12,16 / Acts 19:5.
Today's modern Trintarians baptize using the "office-titles" name - (singular) of Father - Son - Holy Ghost. See Matthew 28:19

8. One example: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" -Amos 9:11
Compared to the "New Testament" text:
"Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:" - Acts 15: 14-16

Of course, such an interpretation of spiritual "fulfillment" negates the entire Ezekiel vision of the very physical third and final temple as depicted in chapters 40-48 and Ezekiel 37:27-28. It also negates the very words of the prophecy that the book of Acts referred to. In Amos 9:11 YHVH states, ''I will build it (the tabernacle) as in the days of old". A "spiritual" tabernacle that the book of Acts referred to, could certainly "not" be described "as it was in the days of old"! Notice, it was these "exact words" from the book of Amos 9:11 that the Acts 15:14-16 quote leaves out! I wonder why?

9. Christian Perterism and other forms of Christian "replacement theology" attempts to change every fundamental basis and concept of the Hebrew scriptures, in the name of "fulfillment". Their changes include the following:

The one true God of Israel YHVH (Isaiah 45:21) - changing His proper and personal Name to the non-Hebrew title "The Lord" via Christian translations, then changing His very nature of oneness (Deuteronomy 6:4) to a three god-person Trinity (1 John 5:7).
The Physical and covenant land of Israel (Ezekiel 37:25 / Joel 3:2 ) - changing it to an angelic-heavenly land (Galatians 4:25-26 / Revelations 21:2,10)
Israel, YHVH's chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6) - changing them to a "new" (Gentile) Israel (Romans 2:28-29 / Galatians 6:16).

Notice, all three changes, change the whole spiritual DNA system and foundational base of the Hebrew scriptures in order to reflect and fit the Gentile concept of Gentile God(s) the Gentile spiritual dwelling, and the Gentiles as a specially selected people. Christianity is certainly a religion fitted and designed "for" it biggest base - the Gentiles!

Is God a Man?

2009-09-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent." - Numbers 23:19
"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. " - I Samuel 15:29

Christian Missionaries use the advent of the three angel-messengers (malachim in Hebrew) that appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18 as a "proof text" that God can and does appear as a "man" thereby pointing to Jesus the man as a god-man / demigod. Missionaries are very quick to point out that these "men" eat and drank like normal men which is nothing more than an attempt to portray these angels as a Jesus-type who eat and drank as well.

With this Genesis 18 mindset the standard missionary argument goes something like this:
1. Christian don't worship God as a man, but the one unseen God who came in the form of man (Word made flesh - St. John 1:14).
2. God / Jesus appeared to Abraham in the form of man just like He did with the man Jesus.
3. Jesus never lied (as God don't) thereby nullifying to "Jewish attempt" of applying Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29 against Christianity.

While it is true that the one man-angel that stayed with and communicated with Abraham using God's words, was in effect God appearing and talking with Abraham in the form of a man, that is not Judaism's objection with the Christian proof text of Genesis 18. Judaism realizes that whether it's a man-angel, whirlwind, burning bush, or donkey, God can use any form He wants to express a message. However, His message source is NEVER His true identifying form. God is simply not limited to earthly forms - "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built" - I Kings 8:27

There are a three of things that should be addressed in understanding the events of Genesis 18.
1. All three messengers first came to Abraham - all three had a primary message to Abraham alone. Genesis 18: 5, 8 states "they said" meaning the conversation to Abraham was from all three - not just a certain one of them spoke to Abraham.
2. All three messengers - not just one - "eat" with Abraham (verse 8). I have to make a point of this because of the Christian emphasis on this part of the text that tries to make the angels more human like thereby tying to tie these angel(s) in with human Jesus.
3. There angels came with two messages. One angel was to announce that Sarah would have a child by Abraham, and two angels were sent for the destruction of Sodom and the rescue of Lot and his family.

The trinitarians who try tying their doctrine into the text using the three messenger angels as depicting the God of Israel does themselves a great disfavor. They show the heart of the trinitarian movement which is the worship of three god "persons" thereby the worship of three gods. Being that the angels that appeared to Abraham were indeed separate from each other, only adds to the realization that the Trinity is indeed a worship of three separate gods in personhood when they attempt connecting Genesis 18 with a the Trinity doctrine.

When Judaism uses Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29 as a proof text against Christianity, it's not talking about a message coming from God that came in a form of man's image. Not only angels but the very prophets who carried the word of God have the appearance of a man. However, can any Christian or otherwise state that any of the three "men" that appeared to Abraham were human beings or in a true sense merely "men"? I would think not. Therefore, when the Bible tells us that God is not a man, its specific message is that the essence of God is not that of "humankind". It's message is that from humankind lies can be produced, but from God who remains outside of humankind lies cannot be produced. This is also why idols that were made with human hands were so offensive to God - men would worship a human creation as a god as if it was indeed God! (See Isaiah 44:8-18)

With this in mind can we say Jesus who was born of human woman was of humankind? If Jesus was indeed a "created" person (i.e. the entire human aspect of Jesus) then he can, for all tense and purposes, become a human idol. Thus, we have "the crucifix" with the human Jesus on it hanging all over the Catholicism world and human pictures of Jesus hanging all over protestant Christianity world. The essence of Christianity is that in order for one to be saved, one "must" go through and enter the "human door" of Jesus. That is, the first baseline foundation of the Christian belief system is centered on the belief that God came to earth as a human-man. Every further belief of the one unseen God of Israel in Christianity evolves around this baseline concept.

As a human Jesus states: " I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." - St. John 10:9
Paul states that the Law of Moses is dead thorough the human body of Jesus: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ" - Romans 7:4
The Holy Christian Communion's main focus evolves around the human body of Jesus: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ" - I Corinthians 10:16

I don't mean to say that every Christian is nothing more than a idol worshiper (although the majority of world Christianity indeed are). There are some (I call them the Christian Zionist-remnant) who worship the true of Israel though through gentile blindness or ignorance - yes it is the gentile Christians who are the blind ones when it comes to Hebrew Bible truths. [see Isaiah 25:7] I am saying however, that according to Hebrew Bible the purest form in worshiping and communicating with the God of Israel - Jehovah - is not through human sacrifices, vicarious atonement, polytheism that is called monotheistic, wise-men astrology, or anything that has its foundation or doorway-entrance into humanhood!

Jesus spoke many times of himself as "son of man"1 meaning being apart of humanhood - the "revelation" of "the Son of God" was to come after his humanhood after the "son of man" ministry was completed. However, it was the "son of man" concept that the Hebrews scriptures warns us about - even going to the extent of saying that no salvation can come out of a "son of man" venue: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. {help: or, salvation} " -Psalms 146:3
Again, the Hebrew scriptures are not stating that a human can't be anointed to speak God's words - even the words of salvation (as with the Hebrew prophet Isaiah whose name means salvation) but it is against connecting God with humanhood as we see in New Testament text doing in John 1:1 connecting with John 1:14.

The usual Christian response to Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29 is that, "Jesus never lied - so it couldn't been talking about him". Even though the main subject of the text is concerning "humanhood" - "lying" being the sub-subject, there is New Testament issues to be taken up with the Christians over textual falsehoods coming from the words of Jesus.
" Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." - Matthew 16:28
This Matthew 16:28 text is inline with an earlier one: "But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another; for truly I say to you, In no way shall you have finished the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes" - Matthew 10:23
Jesus proclaimed that there were people standing there hearing him speak that would not die a physical death until after they had seen him "coming" in his kingdom. So the question I ask Christians is, when did this "coming" occur during the first century that allowed some of the people that heard Jesus speak of his coming indeed seen that "coming" he was talking about? Unless you are perterist, you will find this very hard to answer. If you are perterist, you'll have a hard time explaining "this coming" itself.

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." - Matthew 24:34
Jesus had just finished listing the horrible events that were to befall the earth including the words "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." It's from this scripture that the "great tribulation" doctrine in Christianity is based. However in truth seeking, can we say that the first century (the generation of Jesus' time) saw such a great tribulation that there has not been anything like it seen with such magnitude on the earth since the generation of Jesus' time? Notice, everything mentioned in Matthew 24 Jesus declared it to be fulfilled during the generation in which he was earthly living!

It must be noted that the writers of the Gospels (who wrote the gospels after Paul's letters) had already seen the destruction of the temple that had stood for hundreds of years, and from that point of view it would seem like destruction like no other. As far as the temple destruction it had been a time of tribulation like no other. Also Paul was of the impression that world redemption was just around the corner during his time: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand" - Romans 13:12
And even the writer of the book of Revelations has Jesus stating: " I come quickly" - Revelations 3:11 / 22:7,12,20

It is clear the New Testament writers didn't expect Christianity the last more than 2000 years.
So when Christians state that Jesus never lied (or given false statements) in regards to Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29 a call for a response regarding these New Testament texts should be requested of them. This is all in addition to the fact that if Jesus is not the true messiah (Mashiach ben David) that is to come at the "End of Days" for the redemption of Israel, then the whole Christian concept is based upon a false foundation. Thus, the scriptures Jeremiah 16:19 and Zachariah 8:23 would included all gentiles involved with Christianity as well as those of Islam.

Notes:
1. Just from the book of Matthew alone the phrase "son of man" is stated by Jesus several times in reference to himself:
Matthew 8:20 / 9:6 / 10:23 / 11:19 / 12:8, 32, 40, / 13:37, 41, / 16:13, 16:27-28 / 17:9, 12, 22 / 18:11 / 19:28 / 20:18,28 / 24:30, 37, 39, 44 / 25:13, 31, / 26:2, 24, 45, 64,

Predestination and Eternal Security

2009-09-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Though my religion of faith is Judaism this blog reflects my own spiritual journey and study and may not reflect "traditional Judaism" in all statements throughout this blog.

As with Albert Einstein's "theory of relativity" predestination and eternal security are relative depending which side a the spectrum (time - Genesis 1:1 or eternity - Isaiah 57:15) one views from. While eternal security and predestination are compatible with each other in the eternal realm they are not compatible with time. With time comes "the choice" that is between good and evil. That choice then brings forth the eternal element of each person.

Where people get into trouble is by placing eternal security / the eternal acknowledgment of every person and eternal predestination inside of - and thereby effected by time - when it has nothing to do with time. Where time ends eternity begins. It is only in the eternal state of being (i.e. God) that no soul never has been or ever can be lost. There is no need of redemption in that state of God's mind. The salvation and redemption of God that we see in the Bible only brings us into that spiritual habitation. Therefore, there is in a sense two expressions of eternal security. The first being of the eternal mind of God that is beyond all elements of past, present, and future. The second being one that is indeed effected by time and choice.

The Hebrew scriptures are very clear on what man should be spiritually aware of concerning his eternal security in time:
"If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." Ezekiel 18:21-22
"When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." - Ezekiel 18:24

When I hear Fundamental Independent Baptist preachers actually make the statement that as long as one has accepted the Christian messiah he / she can actually live everyday of their lives for the devil and still be "saved" I can't help but think of the above biblical standard for salvation and how the God of Israel states "For I am the LORD, I change not" - Malachi. 3:6.

These same Baptist preachers will no doubt be one of the first ones to claim that the Jews who prescribe to the above biblical principle of eternal security have been "spiritually blinded"! But from my spiritual perception their doctrine has blinded them of the original standard truth insomuch that their souls are in danger of dying in their "devil-teaching" sin, where the above biblical standard that they have rejected will be applied to their very souls! In a sense, by placing God's eternal security where nothing is lost into the element of time, they are in effect making their sin an eternal part of God as well - now that's deep spiritual blindness!

Judaism's eternal security is in the Torah itself for it is a marriage contract between God and His Bride Israel - Isaiah 62:4-5. A man who is true in his heart towards his communion with God has eternal security just as a man who is true in his heart when making wedding vows to his bride has "marriage security" - a new term I just coined. God wants a whole and perfect heart: "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day." - I Kings 8:61
"Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart." - Psalms 119:2

For those who don't think that a prefect heart and perfect will are possible (which shows spiritual blindness towards the Jewish scriptures) I give you the following scriptures to ponder:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." - Ecclesiastes 12:13
" I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." Psalms 101:2
"I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law." -Psalms 119:55
"And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father." - I Kings 15:11
"And he (Jehoshaphat) walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD" - I kings 22:43

It is when one has that biblical "perfect will" of the heart and "complete desire" in his mind towards God that one has obtained perfect "security" in salvation with God. One's security is only as strong as one's love and will towards God. Any other doctrine is not biblical and is simply a false (eternal) security concept. Just as a relationship is based upon the lest heart compassion between two people (i.e. a love / like relationship becomes nothing more than a "like relationship" - not a mutual "love" relationship) it is the heart of man that will determine the relationship he and God will have.

Notice the eternal security principle in the following scripture: "Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts" - Zechariah 1:3 The principle here being, if one then turns away from God, then he also turns away from the eternal security he had with God. Only whole-heart repentance will return unto him eternal security, that being eternal security "in time". Every man will sin (Hebrew "chat" meaning "to miss the target") as I Kings 8:46 informs us, but the righteous will repeat - adjust, repair, and overcome - their sin (maintaining a perfect heart 'goal' towards God) while the ungodly will embrace their sins (because their love for sin is greater than their love for God) and be overcome by sin.

There is a predestination with the Jewish scriptures, however it has become an almost dirty word due to Calvinism's historical five-point (hyper) 'TULIP'1 abuse. The Calvinism doctrine mixes time and eternity in proclaiming that everything including the souls of man (and even babies that die as babies) are predetermined to salvation and damnation even though the Jewish scriptures state otherwise: "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." - Ezekiel 18: 31-32 (see also Deuteronomy 30:19)

Some Calvinist doctrines have it in their minds that warning of God's wrath to come upon the wicked soul is a waste of time since all souls are already predetermined and nothing can be changed anyway. This doctrine goes right against all that the Hebrew prophets taught and how they expressed their message:
"When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand." - Ezekiel 3:18

The nation of Israel is indeed predestination with an eternal predestination. Without fail God has promised literally to Himself (II Samuel 7:24) that Israel will be His chosen people forever. However, that eternal promise doesn't give every Jew of Israel a free pass to salvation. Only those who keep the commandments with a perfect heart can they be apart of Israel-redeemed.

It is God's word of promise for an eternal purpose is what is predestined. An individual's choice must become one with that eternal purpose in order to obtain that eternal life. But with eternal life come eternal perseverance. As with nature it is the sperm that perseveres unto the egg that obtains life, while all the others die - See Proverbs 18:10

I do believe all people has a certain spiritual genetic makeup as Jeremiah was called to be a spiritual prophet, even unto the nations before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5). However, every soul that comes into life has a duty to overcome sin by embracing God with a pure heart - see Genesis 4:7. The eternal element that causes some to love God with a deeper love more than others - as with the story of Cain and Abel - cannot be related in time. I do believe it relates back to the serpent (spiritual) seed mentioned in Genesis 3:15. However, God's eternal election can only be truly seen in the realm of eternal life where there is no beginning and no end, and where nothing is ever lost.

Notes:
1. TULIP: an abbreviation standing for:
Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin - but can some how muster up enough of spiritual gumption to accept Jesus as his personal savior)
Unconditional Election (no inward calling or conviction needed)
Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)
Irresistible Grace (one can't resist God saving him)
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)

Is Human Blood Kosher for Sin Atonement?

2009-05-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

One of the three main reasons for my conversion to Judaism was over the human sacrifice of Christianity in [light] of the Jewish scriptures (the other two being vicarious-atonement and astrology veneration). Simply put, the Jewish scriptures utterly detest the worship of Jehovah God of Israel through the form of human sacrifice.

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"...for every abomination to YHVH, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods." - Deuteronomy 12:31 (see also Leviticus 18:21 / Leviticus 20:2-4)

"But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by My name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." - Jeremiah 32:34-35
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Human sacrifice which was a common practice of worship among the Canaanites, caused the Jewish temple (a place for atonement) to be defiled. In order to convey just how bad the worship of other gods can be Deuteronomy states: "even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods". According to the prophet Jeremiah, YHVH wants Israel to know that human sacrifice is the furthermost concept from His method of thought - notice the words in red from the book of Jeremiah above.
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The question then becomes why would YHVH-God of Israel who hates human sacrifices send Himself as one, for Himself to be accepted as an vicarious atonement? Notice the prophet Ezekiel's exact wording that would reflect upon vicarious atonement: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." - Ezekiel 18:20
This Hebrew scripture from the prophet Ezekiel is in direct conflict with the later New Testament teaching: "(Jesus) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree..." -I Peter 2:24
Why would the God of Israel forbid the Jews for nearly two millenniums not to human sacrifice and punish them severely when they did, then turn right around and demand that Israel worship Himself as the very thing (a human sacrifice) that he was so against?

It seems that Christianity had a Gentile-based subconscious goal of retaining a form of pagan worship of human sacrifices while trying to connect with the God of Israel. In order to accomplish this they would make the animal sacrifices that was pleasing to God, only a type and a shadow (Hebrews 10:1) even though the Jewish scriptures never indicate in the slightest hint or suggestion that Israel's sacrificial system was only a type of a "human sacrifice" to come. In fact, according to the prophecy of the Hebrew scriptures, it is even after Meshiach (messiah) ben David has come that the animal sacrificial system is fully restored to the Jewish people. This prophesied return of the animal sacrificial system comes back on the world scene "after" the Jewish exiles (the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel) have been fully gathered from the corners of the earth back to their ancient homeland in Israel! See Ezekiel 37:24-28 and Ezekiel chapters 40-48.

In the Christian view Jesus' human sacrifice is a death-penalty sacrifice for all types of sin. However, there never was a death-penalty sacrifice within the Jewish scripture, just the death penalty period. There was no type or shadow animal requirement that the sinner could sacrifice under the death-penalty that he / she might be resolved from such sin. So the question then becomes, how is Jesus' human sacrifice a death-penalty antitype when there was no death-penalty type or shadow animal sacrifice to begin with that would allow him to become the antitype?

Christianity's "type and shadow" doctrine doesn't work with the Jewish scriptures when one considers that the blood sacrifice was only required for unintentional sins ( Leviticus 4:27-29 / Numbers15:27-28) and even then if one wishes to get down to the fine specifics of types and shadows, not every one could bring a "male lamb" as a sacrifice. A priest who sinned (by accident) was to bring a young bull - not a lamb (Lev. 4:3) the sin of the nation required a young bull - not a lamb ( Lev. 4:13) a ruler who sinned was required to bring a goat - not a lamb (Lev. 22-24) an average person in the community who sinned (by accident) was required to bring a "female" goat or a "female" lamb - not a "male" lamb (Lev. 4:27-28, 32) as the book of Saint John paints Jesus. So if we run the type and shadow doctrine to its full potential, the Christian human sacrifice (the antitype) was have to be a "spiritual bull" sacrifice, a spiritual goat sacrifice, and a spiritual she-lamb / she-goat, of whom could only forgive unintentional sins and not every type of sin.

The Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) once-a-year offering that Paul refers to in Hebrews 9:7 applied only to Israel as a community and not to the entire Gentile world. How then is Jesus' sacrifice the antitype to such a Israel-only sacrificial-type system (see St. John 1:29) especially when Paul negates Moses' command concerning this ritual to Israel: " And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year." - Leviticus 16:34.

As it turns out, even this holy Yom Kippur sacrifice didn't take away death-penalty sins. If it could have David who murdered Uriah the Hittite by proxy wouldn't have wrote of his blood-guilt the following: "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God... for thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. - Psalms 51:14, 16-17. Under the Christian blood-sacrifice view David could have just waited until the next Yom Kippur offering to become guilt / sin-free. Killing a man because you got his wife pregant? No sweat, just keep it under the wraps until the next holiest day of the year, then your home free? - I think not. The sacrificial system was not a "out of jail free-card".

Since the Yom Kippur sacrifice was for Israel only are we to understand that according to the Christian view, all the souls of the Gentile world would have continued to be (since the very first Yom Kippur sacrifice) eternally damned if indeed the Jewish nation would have accepted their Christian messiah? Perhaps then, instead of the Church persecuting the Jewish nations for nearly two thousand years as "Christ-killers" they should have been bowing down in thankfulness to the Jews for getting their fellow-Gentile Romans to kill (sacrificed) Jesus?
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Speaking of which, the Yom Kippur sacrifice was to be carried out by using animal blood sprinkled by the Jewish High Priest of Aaron's clan, on the only provided place - the temple's altar inside the city of Jerusalem. In contrast, the Christian atonement was carried out using human blood, shed by Gentile Roman soldiers, outside the city being nowhere near the only provided place -the temple's altar.1 With this in mind, it's easier to spiritually understand why the Christian atonement consisting of human sacrifice carried out by Gentile Romans, outside the Jewish spiritual headquarter, was predisposed to be the foundation of a Gentile religion called Christianity. Paul, being the foundation writer of the New Testament, changing his Jewish name of Saul to Gentile Paul only added to the inevitable.
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Following the teaching of Gentile-named Paul (see Hebrews 9:22) the Christian proof-text of Leviticus 17:11 is used to falsely determine that blood was absolutely required for atonement. However, the context of Leviticus 17:10-12 is not at all addressing the issue of "atonement for sin". To suggest such becomes a pretext to hide the "real context" and message being conveyed of this section of Hebrew scripture! Leviticus 17:10-12 is addressing the "prohibition of blood consumption" - period. There is a doctrinal revealing-reason why Christian apologists will NEVER quote verses 10 and 12 with Leviticus 17:11.2 To do so would yank the carpet out from under their proof-text. The context of all three verses would be too revealing, therefore the context is purposely hidden by quoting only verse 11 by itself.
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The text of Leviticus 17:10-12 is stating the following:
"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood [subject of context] I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood [subject of context] and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul [not the bones or the meat of the animal that the priest can eat but the blood that no man can consume because the blood is for an atonement]. Therefore [this word "therefore" - "Kee" in the Hebrew, connects the previous two verses with the following statement staying inline with the context] I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood [subject of context], neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood [subject of entire context]."

Note: What Leviticus 17:10-12 is NOT saying in contrast to Hebrew 9:22 is, that "blood" is absolutely required before atonement for the soul can be made. If this was what was being conveyed, it would be a direct contradiction to Leviticus 5:11 and David who could not sacrifice for his sin (see Psalms 51:16) in his murdering of Uriah and he would be without any atonement for mercy.
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Taking into consideration the Torah's explicit and strict prohibition of blood consumption, doesn't Jesus' words, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you" sound a little anti-Torah? especially since blood consumption was forbidden long before the Law of Moses was given to the Jewish nation (see Genesis 9:4) not to mention the fact that human consumption of human blood was very much an antiquity pagan practice. Yet the New Testament records no one questioning as to why YHVH of the Torah who was so anti-consumption of blood in giving Moses His laws, would be just the opposite - being very pro-blood consumption - in using spiritual analogies?

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There are plenty of situations where non-blood atonement was made in the pre-Jesus Hebrew Bible. When Paul states in Hebrews 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood" can be taken that not all things in the Law of Moses are purged by blood especially when it comes to atonement for the souls.

Leviticus 5:11 "But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering." This was a non-blood sacrifice that allowed the very poor to offer a sin-offering. Note, if it was blood that was absolutely required for sin and God is no respecter of persons, how then did the very poor get off without typing Jesus with a blood sacrifice of sin? I have yet to get a clear-cut answer from a Christian apologist.
Numbers 31:50 "We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD." Gold is not blood, yet gold was used in this one incident for the Israeli army to make an atonement for their souls. This is along the same line as the charity-atonement. "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." - Proverbs 21:3
Numbers 16:46 "And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun." Here incense (not blood) on the altar was used for what the Bible calls an "atonement".
II Samuel 12:13 "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." As Psalms 51:16-17 indicates David did not have to blood-sacrifice in order to get his sins removed, in fact a "Song of David" states in the psalms "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us ." (Psalms 103:12)
I Kings 8:44-50 Solomon's temple prayer-prophecy that was purposely placed in holy script, allowed the Jews in exile (far away from the temple place of blood atonement) to pray towards Jerusalem and the temple when repenting of sins that God would forgive, "all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against"God.
Jonah 3:5-10 The people of Nineveh repeated at the words of Jonah and the Bible goes as far as telling us of their reactions of repentance. They covered themselves in sackcloth and sat in ashes and the king even proclaimed a fast. But in all of their expression of repentance guess what was missing in their very deep and sincere outward expression of repentance? - BLOOD! The Bible tells us that God saw their (non-blood) works of repentance and turned his anger from them. The question then becomes, "why would a blood-demanding God turn His anger from them without them blood sacrificing? Notice how this scripture in Jonah correlates in principle with I Kings 8:44-50 above.
Daniel 9:3-19 The Prophet Daniel confessed Israel's sins while in Babylon and asked God to forgive their sins without ever offering any blood sacrifices to God.
The Prophet Hosea prophesied that for "many days" the children of Israel would be without the sacrificial system (Hosea 3:4) pressed Israel to approach God with words (not animal blood) asking God to forgive their sins, and that bulls (for sacrifice) be traded for prayer-confession of the lips! (Hosea 14:1-2) Of this, the prophet Hosea noted that mercy and the knowledge of God is greater in God's eyes than any blood sacrifice offered to Him (Hosea 6:6)!
For 70 years the Jewish people were in Babylon where they could not blood-sacrifice at the temple mount in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25:11-12). Using the actions and prophesies of King Solomon, Prophet Hosea, and Prophet Daniel (listed above) it becomes evident that the entire generation of Jewish people that included the prophet Daniel and the prophet Ezekiel living in Babylon and the prophet Jeremiah living in Egypt, was not without the possibility of having their sins forgiven and atoned for. Not only that particular 70 year Jewish generation but considering the generations that followed that stayed in Babylon and in Egypt for 500 plus years before Jesus' time (St. John 7:35) also was not without a way to have their sins forgiven and atoned for according to Hosea's "many days" prophecy (Hosea3:4 / 14:1-2). Are we to understand that because a Jew was living in exile away from Jerusalem and the temple that he was just out of luck, and would go to hell because he wasn't able to rid his sins by blood-sacrificing an animal as sin-offering in Jerusalem? Of course not!

For Paul or anyone else to suggest that it was or took literal blood that made the atonement possible is dead wrong! Any and all sacrifices (including the blood ones) were only as good as the human heart that brought it (Proverbs 21:27 /Isaiah 1:11-15 / Micah 6:7-8)! Regardless of how bloody the sacrifice was it could be rendered null and void if the human heart was not pure in bringing the sacrifice before the Lord, which is the basis behind any and all sacrifices, not the blood itself!
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This reality is not what is conveyed in Hebrews 9:22, just the opposite is! Christian apologists will give lip-service to the "Proverbs 21:27 Jewish Bible reality" but continue in the mindset and concept of Hebrews 9:22 that it was the "literal blood" and only the "literal blood" that atones and allows forgiveness of sins. By doing this they place the state of the human-heart and mind towards God (what should be first and foremost) as only "secondary" to the "literal blood" of the sacrifice!
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The fact remains that no Jewish scripture even comes close to indicating a human sacrifice of the coming end-of-days messiah. That theology has to be read into the text using pagan mythology as a guide. Osiris-Dionysus was a mythical god that died and rose on the third day after which a ritual celebration meal of bread and wine symbolized his body and blood.3
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The "Price" Factor and the True Meaning of the Word "Atonement":

Because the New Testament doctrine involves a vicarious atonement through human sacrifice (Hebrews 9:28) the very meaning of "atonement" and "price" seem to merge in the Christian view. The Hebrew word "Kafar" as in "Yom Kipper" (Day of Atonement) means "to atone". Like the the definition in English it means "to reconcile" and to make amends through reparation. What it doesn't mean is "to pay an owed price" or "payment". Likewise the Hebrew word for "repentance" (teshuvah) comes from the root word "shuv" meaning "to return" and not "to pay for something owed"! Both "atonement" and "repentance" in the Hebrew Bible has to do with reconciling and returning to God and not paying some sort of debt prices in order to obtain favor with God!
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The sacrificial system of the Hebrew Bible was a method of showing God ones earnest devotion in repentance, thankfulness, and praise (blessing towards God by an offering) and not a method by which to pay God an owed debt. The Hebrew Bible never indicates that the sin offerings were a debt payment but rather a way to express a reconciling with God. The view that the sacrificial system was a price-debt payment for ones sins was created to coincide with the "types and shadows of sacrifices" doctrine of the New Testament, something also foreign to the Hebrew Bible.

The Christian "price-required" view of the Law of Moses has helped in giving the Hebrew Bible a bad "justice with no mercy" rap in their own minds. The question I like to ask is, if your spouse or child offends or angers you, do you demand a "price" to be paid before your fellowship with that spouse or child can be returned back to normal? or do you simply demand a change in their behavior that caused their offense in the first place, allowing their natural love for you cause them to be repentant of their offense? When we read God's most famous call to repentance within the Hebrew Bible we see no demand for a "price" to be paid in order for Israel (God's bride / son) to obtain a restored fellowship with God:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - II Chronicles 7:14

There are several scriptures within the pre-Jesus Hebrew Bible that should help those who have trouble getting passed the "price-blood required-atonement" issue that comes with the standard Christian view. But one must be willing to accept what the Hebrew Bible states on its own revealed word of God foundation without first running it through a New Testament filter for an interpretation.

" Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." - Palms 40:6

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." - Psalms 51:16-17

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats." - Isaiah 1:11

"Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" - Micah 6:7-8

"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:6

" To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." - Proverbs 21:3

One must wonder that if Jehovah God of the Hebrew Bible was so dead-set on blood-sacrifices (pun not intended) first and foremost, why would such scriptures above appear even in the slightest of fashions that would indicate that there is something more meaningful to God of the Hebrew Bible than blood sacrifices in how man fellowships with Him and is reconciled to Him after sin?4

One Final Note:

Referring to the New Covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31-36, the New Testament states, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:16-18) However, the prophet Ezekiel has a different view. In his future vision of the temple, "sin offerings" are very present (Ezekiel 40:39 / 42:13 / 43:22 / 45:19-20).
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The same prophet Ezekiel scriptures that tell us of the "physical" return of the children of Israel back into the "physical" land of their "physical" forefathers are the same scriptures that tell us of the "physical" return of the Jewish temple (Ezekiel 37:21-28). And that "physical temple" is detailed extensively in chapters 40 through 48 of the same book. The covenant along with the temple are to be restored among the people of Israel at the "End of days". The question then becomes, why doesn't the Gentile-named Paul agree with Jewish named Ezekiel pertaining to the restoration and presence of sin-offerings during the Messianic Age or anytime after Jesus' time?
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Received e-mail - May 30, 2009
I just glanced through your post on the blood atonement and the following paragraph stood out to me:

"This reality is not what is conveyed in Hebrews 9:22, just the opposite is! Christian apologists will give lip-service to the "Proverbs 21:27 Jewish Bible reality" but continue in the mindset and concept of Hebrews 9:22 that it was the "literal blood" and only the "literal blood" that atones and allows forgiveness of sins. By doing this they place the state of the human-heart and mind towards God (what should be first and foremost) as only "secondary" to the "literal blood" of the sacrifice!"

Before I forgot I wanted to chime in: Christians don't treat the heart and mind towards God as secondary. It is central to man's salvation. A quick reference on this is Romans 10:9-10. I don't have time to read your whole post right now or even offer any more details beyond what I've given you. But I at least wanted to pass this one before I forgot. Maybe you should take that statement out of your post or at least reword it.

My response: May 31, 2009
"Actually, your NT scripture reference proves my point. According to that scripture, before one can believe Jesus rose from the dead that he / she might be saved as Romans 10:9-10 states, one must "FIRST" believe he shed his blood and that his blood is the only source and price for sin remission. I'm sure you don't think that if Jesus died of a heart attack without shedding his blood and then rose from the dead, Romans 10:9-10 would still be in effect?
One must ask, if the heart and mind are pure before God was the "primary goal" of the Christian believer, why is there a need for Christian Communion? The fact is the Christian Communion is a symbolic ritual patterned after the Hebrew sacrificial system. Not only was it to be done often, but one was considered guilty of the body and "blood" of Jesus if participating in it unworthily (I Corinthians 11: 27).
To the Christians, it is unquestionable that a pure heart and mind can only be obtained through the Christian blood covenant first and foremost. My post comment not only reflects many, many books of Christian commentary on the "Blood Covenant" but the mindset of Hebrews 9:22 itself.
The only difference between Christianity and Judaism in obtaining a pure heart and mind before God is that one believes there must first (primarily) be blood present, and as you'll see in my post, the other one doesn't."
- Joe
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Notes:
1. There are two New Testament verses that makes an attempt to spiritualize and explain away why Jesus was "sacrificed" outside the provided place for sacrificial atonement.
Hebrews 9:24 "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us".
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Paul wants to downplay the temple because it was constructed by human hands even though the tabernacle and temple was commissioned by God Himself (Exodus 25:8 / I Kings 9:3) and was the very place unto which exiled Jews would pray towards when repenting to God of their sins (I Kings 8:44-50) and of which God Himself calls "My temple" (Zechariah 1:16). Also, Jesus' body has more of a human connection to it (besides being human "son of man" itself) coming through Human-sinful Mary than does the commissioned holy temple. Perhaps seeing this became the foundational reason why the Catholic Church wants to venerate Mary as being sinless and co-redeemer.

Hebrews 13:11-12 "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate".
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First of all, the sacrificial animals didn't "suffered" outside the gate as Paul suggested Jesus' suffering types, for they had already been slaughtered "within" the gate that their blood might be used in the temple (within the gate) on the altar. It would be impossible to "suffer outside the gate" being brought outside the gate already slaughtered and dead. What we see here is a "stretch" by the book of Hebrews to make an allegory that really doesn't match quite well while at the same time trying to explain away a fundamental reality concerning the only established place for sacrifice.
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Secondly, according to Jewish kosher slaughter rituals (see Deuteronomy 12:21) the animal being slaughtered was not to "suffer" or as little as possible from the ordeal.>http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm#Shechitah Jewish animal sacrifice was certainly not for the purpose to cause the animal to suffer as much as possible as compared to the Roman method of crucifixion which indeed was designed to cause as much human suffering as possible. In either aspect, how could Jesus' suffering outside the temple be spiritually typed with the animals sacrificed within the temple as Paul conveys?
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2. Taking a single text outside its context is a common technique used by Christian apologists. For example, like Leviticus 17:11, Isaiah 7:14 is "always" quoted by itself among Christians. To add the next two verses (15 and 16) to the context would challenge the Christian viewpoint by its obvious historical setting and placement within the time of Isaiah.
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3. "Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus" by Asher Norman, page 197, "Israel and the Endtimes" by Professor Eugene Narrett, page xii of introduction.

4. One has to wonder how Jesus as "the son of man" forgave sins [before] the blood-required antitype Calvary-atonement was made? After all, all sin in the Christian view required "blood"?

See Matthew 9:2-5 / Luke 7:47 compared with Hebrews 9:22.
Concerning such a Christian response as "Jesus was God, therefore he could forgive sins" then such a one must be reminded that it was the same "God" that "required blood" all through the "Old Testament" and required His son's blood (Jesus) in the New Testament, according to Christian doctrine. Therefore, again, how did Jesus forgive sins between the time of animal blood-sacrifices and Jesus' blood sacrifice, when it took blood (Roman 9:22) to forgive sins?

The Trinity - Part Three - Psalms 110:1

2009-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. -Psalms 110:1 [KJV]
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The New Testament take on this particular verse is as follows:
"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." - St. Matthew 22:41-46
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This verse help create the Jewish-Christian debate that has lasted to the present day. The writers of the New Testament wants their reader to believe that their demigod overwhelmingly won a great theological debate against the very best theologians (the Pharisees) the Jews could offer. According to the New Testament (the most bias work in favor towards Christianity ever written) showed up those bad O Pharisee Jews, and even doing it with their own Jewish scriptures. It is New Testament texts such as this that causes many Christians to be very hardened towards the Jews who insisted on sticking with their scriptures, for by doing so, they (not the Gentile Romans) murdered their Gentile-approved demigod.
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The New Testament paints the Jews as being ignorant of their own scriptures, therefore, this is precisely how the Jew (even the non-religious ones) are casts in the minds of Christian theologians. Even in politics such as the Israel-Palestinian "physical" conflict, the Palestinian side is whole-hearted received by the non-Christian Zionists due to New Testament "spiritual" doctrine.
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Armed with the above New Testament understanding of Psalms 110:1, a minister-friend challenged me on the Jewish-take of it. I informed him that unlike Matthew's claim that "no one (Jew) was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone (any Jew) dare question Him anymore" there was a Jewish answer to Jesus' question. His response was, "Oh, they had time to think about it?"
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What he and so many Christians don't realize is that the Jewish answer that had always been there from the very second it was first asked, "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" cannot be granted without a Hebrew biblical background knowledge of the Psalms - the knowledge that the New Testament purposely avoids for the benefit of its Gentile readers. Without a background knowledge of the scripture one wishes to debate, even child-like questions can seem problematic. For example, "If Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (The Torah / Pentateuch ) how did he write of his own death? (See Deuteronomy 34:5)1
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To answer Jesus' question outright, David did not write the psalm for himself to sing but rather for himself (his testimony) to be sung about. Therefore, David is not the one in Judaism's eyes stating, "The Lord said unto my lord"2. Therefore, we must first look at who would sing a song concerning David's testimony, and then compare this knowledge with other scriptures (namely within the Psalms) to see if other scriptures will back this knowledge up, making it clear as day.
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As I lay out the clear Jewish response of their own Hebrew scriptures, keep in mind that the New Testament records " no one (Jew) was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone (any Jew) dare question Him anymore". If this New Testament statement is true then at what time in history did the Jews supposedly come up with the following clear-cut answer? And during the nine-hundred years between David and Jesus, what was the common understanding of Psalms 110:1 among the religious Jews who poured over the scriptures day and night? And since there was undoubtedly a common knowledge understanding of Psalms 110:1, why didn't the New Testament record that very common-knowledge Pharisee response in answering Jesus?
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In all actuality the New Testament book of Acts (supposedly written by Luke - a Gentile) does hint at the Jewish understanding of Psalms 110:1. Acts 2:34-35 makes sure it addresses the "David understanding element" of the Jewish people concerning Psalms 110:1 by stating "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool."
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Two things in response to Acts 2:34-35:
First, whether David wrote Psalms 110 in the third-person sense (similar to Paul speaking in the first-person historical-presence in Romans 7) or if as the Jewish sage Ibn Ezra Radak suggested, that one of David's soldiers may have written the psalm about his king, the fact remains it was given in past tense about something that already occurred and was in process during the time the Psalm was written. The New Testament doctrine is based largely on making many of the Psalms and events in David's life "prophecy" when the text and David's experiences was never originally intended to be prophecy.
Secondly, if rising from the dead was Psalms 110 clear-cut message as the author of Acts 2:34-35 indicates, why were the Jewish disciples and different ones so oblivious to such an event as described in Luke 24:23-27 (also see Matthew 16:21-22 / Mark 8:31).
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When we look at Psalms 110:1 in the English we see two identical key words, "Lord and Lord". Both of them are capitalized and both of them are portrayed to be taking about God. The Christian-Trinity take on this is, God the Father (Lord) said to God the Son (Lord) "sit at My right hand" but is that how the original Hebrew has it? The answer is no!
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First of all, unlike Greek and English there are no capital letters in Biblical Hebrew, therefore to imply that there are two identical words with a deity reference within Psalms 110:1 is false.3 Most of the Christian-English Bible versions has the words "The Lord" taking the place of the Hebrew name of God, "Jehovah".4 There is only "one" reference for "Jehovah" in Psalms 110:1 causing there to be only "one" reference to a "lord" in the same verse. That "lord" is not deified as in the name "Adoni" which would make it one of the other four main names connected to Jehovah - the same "God the Father" God-person within the Trinity doctrine. Rather, it's referring to an earthly lordship (a person in charge). The same word that appears as second "Lord" word in the English versions are used in the Hebrew Bible to describe earthly non-deity masters / lords 5. See Genesis 24:54 and Genesis 32:4.
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Like the Hebrew alphabet contained throughout Psalms 119 (every eight verses) most people when reading the Book of Psalms don't catch the heading that is present on most of the Psalms at the beginning of each chapter, such as:
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David - Psalms 4:1
To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David - Psalms 5:1
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David - Psalms 8:1
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite - Psalms 88:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David -Psalms 109
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These are not just mere footnotes created by biblical commentators for historical purposes, but they are indeed found within the Hebrew as part of the holy text. So who are these "Chief Musicians" that the psalms are referred to, and do they play any role in understanding Psalms 110:1?
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It's interesting to know that David though unable to build the first temple in Jerusalem did arrange and prepare the temple service (See Samuel 7 / I Chronicles 14-17 / 22-26). Most, if not all of David's psalms were song by the temple choir. Even during the 1st. century the Levitical Choir stood at the south-west corner of Herod's temple between the Beautiful Gate and Nicanor Gate and sang Psalms 24 on the first day of the week, Psalms 48 on the second day of the week, Psalms 82 on the third day of the week, and so on. David, being a poet, musician, and temple organizer that he was, wrote Psalms 110 for the temple singers (who along with the temple were to last forever) to testify of the mighty works God had done in David's life. Therefore, the temple singers were to sing a song concerning David (see the heading of Psalms 110)
" Jehovah said (past tense) onto my lord (David) Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
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In order to make it crystal clear of the meaning of the Psalms 1110 text, one needs to ask, did Jehovah place David at His right hand in order to make David's enemies his footstool as dictated by other verses through the Psalms?
"Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet." -Psalms 18:35-38
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"My soul follows hard after thee: thy right hand upholds me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth." - Psalms 63:8-9
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"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me." - Psalms 138:7
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'Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet." - I KINGS 5:3
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It's worth noting how the Hebrew Bible equates God's right hand with the downfall of David's enemies in the book of Psalms, and how the verse above in I Kings matches almost word for word Psalms 110:1. What is for certain is that Psalms 110:1 that was written by David or at lest by one of David's companions whom David was a commander (lord) over, it was written during David's lifetime, and it follows the same mindset of other scriptures concerning David and his enemies. What Psalms 110:1 does not do is call a man (given in the past tense) "Lord" as in Jehovah-Lord, nine-hundred years after David's time and testimony.
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It goes to figure that if during David's lifetime he wasn't the one placed at Jehovah's right hand as Psalms 110:1 indicates some sort of "lord / master" has been placed, how then could David being the very author of Psalms 110, write " "in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalms 16:6) The question for the Trinitarians is how many other individuals like David does the Bible name as being so close to Jehovah's that they are placed at His right hand insomuch that it caused their enemies to placed under their feet? If David was the only one named, maybe that's why the temple singers were to sing about it forever?
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Notes
1. Though the entire and complete "Law of Moses" is fully contained within the Torah, Moses himself did not pen the Biblical text we have today, i.e. the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 24:7) that Moses read to the people was a complete contract between God and Israel, but Moses did not read to them Exodus 24:7 when Exodus 24:7 was taking place. The contract that Moses read to the people and what we read today that records Moses' acts has to be from two different writers. Also, it is clear that is was an inspired Israelite historian who wrote Deuteronomy 34:10 (the last verse in the Torah) as well most, if not all of the Book of Deuteronomy. The higher-criticism scholarly idiots, refer to him as the D-source.
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2. Misapplying (changing) the speaker of scriptural words is technique the New Testament uses in other places such as Isaiah 53 in changing the Gentiles voice for that of the Jewish nation, (see my blogs on Isaiah 53). Such willful misapplying of holy text probably made it easier on the consciences of the KJV translators who found it easy to take out of context, change the meaning of words, and capitalize key christological words throughout the KJV.
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3. Daniel 9:25 also contains a capitalization for christological purposes. See my blog on Daniel Seventy Weeks.
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4."Jehovah" is actually the "English" pronunciation of the original Hebrew name of "YHWH".
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5. The Christian "Revised Standard Version" translates the Hebrew of Psalms 110:1 correctly into English using all upper case letters for the word Jehovah, and all lower case letters for the word meaning lord / master: ¶ A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool." (RSV)

The Trinity - Part Two - "The Shema and Echad"

2009-04-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

It must be noted that Jehovah declares Himself as being alone and without other deities more times than the rest of the Bible describes Him as being "one". This is important to keep this fact in mind when attempting to gain a complete understanding of the Shema. 1 The Shema (an imperative command to listen up) is a signature-scripture to the Hebrew Bible and is comparable to what John 3:16 is to the New Testament. Its opening line states: "Hear O Israel Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one".
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Because the Shema is part of the foundational concept of Judaism, and because of the need to proof-text their doctrine, the Trinitarians twist the Shema totally out of its context of how it was originally given to the Jewish people by the hand of Moses. They wish to inject into the Shema the idea of a three-person Godhead, even though the Shema along with its complete original meaning and context out dates Christianity by more than a thousand years!
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The Trinity within the Shema is a mindset that reasons; if Adam and Eve can be considered "one" flesh2 and evening and morning can be "one" day3 so too could three God-persons of the Trinity be called "one" in the Shema. The Trinitarians then take it a step further in suggesting (even to the point of outright lying) that the Hebrew word, echad (meaning 'one') has only the meaning to "categorize things in number into a single unit". In other words, the word echad within the Shema is a sure signal that there is something plural within Jehovah whom the Shema described as one. It's almost laughable how these willful Trinitarian twisters of the Hebrew scriptures attempt to make the Shema say the exact opposite of what its true message is. I don't mean to stereotype, but perhaps its their Gentile nature (desire to worship multiple gods) coming out in them that causes them to do this?
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What they will willfully withhold and avoid is that echad, like out English word "one" is an adjective and is subject to the noun(s) it's describing. In English, as well as in Biblical Hebrew "one/echad" can be used to describe one set of eyes, as well as one nose on a face. Example:
"There is one [echad] alone, and there is not a second.." - Ecclesiastes 4:8
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There are not multiple subjects in the opening declaration of the Shema to be united with the adjective, echad. "God" is the single subject and "one" is that single subject's adjective. Again, there are no two or three subjects in the opening statement of the Shema to united under the adjective "one"! Multiple subjects such as three God-persons within the Shema are only a figment of a Trinitarian's imagination. It's simply not in the text. A Trinity can only be injected into the text outside the confine structures of the Biblical Hebrew and English languages. The Trinitarians not only try to superimpose three subjects unto one original subject but try also to alter the concept of written and spoken languages to meet their own superimposation. This is the lengths of which they will go in their desperate need to worship multiple god-persons while trying to hang unto the vindicated one true God of Israel.
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The correct doctrine of the Shema, "Hear O Israel Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one/echad" can only be a description of its single subject (in this case God Himself) without the blinding of another subject to Him in set-descriptions. The Shema is clearly a declaration that their God (the God of Israel) is one in nature and that He is one in being. But don't take my word for it, let the very words of God Himself declare this truth of the Shema:
"I am Jehovah, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" - Isaiah 45:5
Just a thought, but this Jehovah that was using the personal pronoun "I" and "me" in the above scripture doesn't sound much like He's in favor of Trinitarianism Himself!
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The bottom line is that the Trinity doctrine undermines God's very nature and being as "one" as well as disregarding His own declaration of Himself being alone and knowing no other deities. One of the greatest rebukes to God is to call Him three, after He Himself has declares Himself is "one"!
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Scriptures regarding Jehovah's declared oneness:
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"Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else beside him." -Deuteronomy 4:35
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"Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else." - Deuteronomy 4:39
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The Shema: "Hear O Israel Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one/echad - Deuteronomy 6:4
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"That all the people of the earth [including Trintarians] may know that Jehovah is God, and that there is none else. - I Kings 8:60
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"I am Jehovah, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" - Isaiah 45:5
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"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am Jehovah, and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:6
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"For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah; and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:18
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"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I Jehovah? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." - Isaiah 45:21
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"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am El (not "Elohim" - see part 1) and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:22
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"Remember the former things of old: for I am El (not "Elohim" - see part 1), and there is none else; I am El, and there is none like me." - Isaiah 46:9
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"And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and none else" - Joel 2:27
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Notes:
1. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is the full text of the Shema.
2. Genesis 2:12
3. Genesis 1:5

The Trinity - Part One

2009-01-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

The doctrine of the Trinity is simply a confederation of three different god-persons united in a Godhead call a single God (Colossians 2:9 / I John 5:7-8). Though the official Nicaea Council of 325 CE has the three god persons as part of the same substance, the god-persons themselves are completely separate from one another in "personhood" nonetheless. The Trinity is in a sense polytheistic in nature but operating under a monotheistic title.
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The Trinity and its god-persons can be broken down in the following way:

God the Father - god person #1 - separated in person from the other god-persons: God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.
God the Son - god-person #2 - separated in person from the other god-persons: God the Father and God the Holy Ghost.
God the Holy Ghost - god-person #3 - separated in person from the other god-persons: God the Father and God the Son.

To the Trinitarians who insists that they believe in one God and one God only, let me ask you a simple question: What is his [one] name? (See Zachariah 14:9) The last time I asked a Trinitarian this I got a long pause because the person knew where I was going with such a question. If you say the name of your one god is "Jesus" then who is the one god person Jehovah? Isn't Jehovah a different "person" in the Trinity with of different name than your one-god Jesus? If the name of your one god in indeed Jehovah as in the Jehovah Witness doctrine, then isn't Jesus "another" god in person form apart from Jehovah, making all that is to be consider God multiple and polytheistic via more than one persons with different names?
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Another question would be, what is the actual name of the third person in the Godhead? Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is not a name but a title or office position. If the other god-persons known as God the Father and God the Son both have specific names, why doesn't the person of the Holy Ghost have one. According to Matthew 28:19 and the Trinitarian mindset he is suppose to have one.
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Though falling short of its goal it was the Oneness Pentecostal movements that have tried to fix these "Trinitarian multiple god-person problems" within the Christian faith by simply making Jesus and his father the same "person" which goes against Revelation 3:5,21. But to truly fix the Trinity multi-god person problem, I believe one has to travel back to the original Bible - the Hebrew scriptures. There in the Hebrew scriptures (though the Trinintarians go to great lengths to try to prove otherwise) you won't find Trinity (multiple-person gods) issues. Though I have never received an answer, I love to ask Trinitarians, which person of the Trinity Godhead made the following statement:
"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:5-6
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Check out all those singular personal pronouns. Just in the short statement above I counted three I's and another three me's along with four declarations of the personal pronoun speaker (God) of being alone. All three god-persons of the Trinity could not have made the singular personal pronouns at the same time without being the exact same in personhood. So, again to all Trinitarians, feel free to post a comment telling me what god-person in the Trinity made the above statement. If it was God the Father (as the original Hebrew states: "I am Jehovah") tell me why He didn't consider the other god-persons when He stated, "there is no God beside me".
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Also concerning the Hebrew scriptures, you won't find a need of a second-person in a Godhead Trinity to be your savior.
"...and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." -Isaiah 45:21-22
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Christian Proof Text of the Trinity
One of the main arguments that pro-Trinity Christian groups use is that the Hebrew name "Elohim" (actually a title taken from the Canaanites' god El) is given in plural form revealing the Trinity Godhead plural nature within the one true God of Israel. 1 This shows their willingness to use a very limited knowledge of Hebrew while disregarding the rest. The Trinity scholars who know better still use this lie to convince their listeners.
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Out of the four main names of God used in the Hebrew Bible (Jehovah, Adoni, Shaddai, and Elohim) Elohim is the lest personal. It simply means "God" as in the title of an object of worship. Elohim is not a personal name just like the title "husband" is not my personal name though I carry that title and office. The title "Elohim" is also used throughout the Hebrew scriptures in reference to false gods 2 which definitely can't be said concerning the personal names of God: Jehovah, Adoni, Shaddai! Not only were false gods referred to as "Elohim" but also judges, angels, and even an altar were referred to as "Elohim"3 again, something the names Jehovah, Adoni, and Shaddai could not have been used for. Why don't the Trinity scholars point this out? They simply know that such information undermines their Trinitarian doctrine.
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The Canaanites who lived among the Israelites, had a pantheon of gods with the head of that pantheon called "El" who was the mythological father of Baal. The proper name of El meant "power" or "powerful". For the Israelite to take off the plural ending of Elohim when referring to their one God of Israel without tying it to personality trait of their God in such usage as in "El Shaddai" (God Almighty) in Genesis 28:3 (notice the singularity of Elohim in such a title)4 would seem to be referring to the Canaanite god of El or one of the gods under El. In other words, for an Israelite to refer to "El" by itself would seem to be referring to one of the many Canaanite gods (elohim), or El, the father of Baal. The Israelites therefore referred to their one God as "Elohim" (of which no one Canaanite god including the head of the pantheon is named) as all-powerful to imply that their God takes the place of the entire Pantheon of Canaanite gods in power and uniqueness. For the Israelites of the day, the one Hebrew God makes up and was the very source of all the many powers that the El-Canaanites gods represented (i.e. god of lightning, god of grain, god of rain, ect.) rolled into one by saying that He is "Elohim"!
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God explains His true non-truine name to his one-person "Elohim" named Moses. Did you caught that? God said unto the "one person" Moses: "I have made thee an "Elohim" to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet." (Exodus 7:1) Why didn't God say to the one person Moses, I have made thee an El (singular) to Pharaoh? Again, why isn't this made mention of by the Trinitarian Hebrew scholars, for they avoid expounding on that particular scripture like one of the ten plagues (pun intended)?
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The one true non-truine God explains His name to His personal Elohim (Moses) on earth this way:
"And Elohim spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai (singular form) but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them." - Exodus 6:2-3

It must be noted that the name Jehovah derives from the meaning "I am" (see Exodus 3:14) to "He is". Both personal pronouns in these most personalized names are singular in nature. God was telling Moses His "mystery" name of which He didn't even reveal to "His friend" Abraham! (II Chronicles 20:7 / Isaiah 41:8)! O ye Trinitarians, let me ask again, what Godhead "person" of the Trinity spoke unto Moses and used the personal pronoun "I" for His name when He said, "ahyeh-ahshear-ahyeh" I Am that I AM? For it is through this singular personal pronoun natured name that He stated the following: "this is "my" name for ever, and this is "my" memorial unto all generations." (Exodus 3:15). Moreover, the prophet Zechariah states that during the Messianic Age: "And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Jehovah, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9) So how is it that you can come up with a three-person Godhead based Trinity when comparing and considering Exodus 3:15 and Zechariah 14:9 together? Why have countless Jews been murdered down through the ages in the shadows of your Trinity crosses, while no Jewish movements ever killed or even sought to kill Christians based upon their trinitarian beliefs?5
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Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." - Genesis 1:26
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Most serious trinitarians understand that Genesis 1:26 is a royal majestic decree made before a heavenly court (see Isaiah 6:1-2, 8). However, I don't think that they fully understand the significance of the statement "our image". The "creation of man" of which this scripture is concerning, is the very last of the creation events and is the very climax of all creation, and is given dominion over all that already had been up until that point, created (Genesis 1:26). The sum of all creation i.e. image of all creation is reflected in Adam. Even the adomah (land / ground / earth) is reflected in Adam (man / mankind) from which the first man is so named. It becomes easy to see that the original Hebrew gives even New Testament texts such as I Corinthians 15:47 a deeper meaning. Does the "Us" and "Our" image that God uses in Genesis 1:26 mean, "God and the earth" as in Jeremiah 22:29? Does it mean "God and the angels" (not to be confused with winged seraphims as in Isaiah 6:2) that appeared in the exact same "image" and even called "man" in the Bible as with Abraham (Genesis 18:2) and to Jacob (Genesis 32:24). Does it mean "God and all of creation" where God being the King makes a decree to His creation being His willing subjects as when a president making a State of the Union address states "Let us" do such and such. The answer to all these questions is "yes". What it doesn't refer to is the Father-person of the Trinity speaking to the others (Son-person and Holy Spirit-person) urging them of the same God-person status to following His leading idea. My question to the Trinitarians is why isn't man "three persons" like the image of the Trinity when man was made in the same image? 6
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...and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. - Isaiah 48:16
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I heard one woman a few years ago who had called into a Hal Lindsey's radio show really complaining and wanting to know why the Christian non-trinitarians (also including those bad O Jews) can't plainly see the Trinity all through the above verse. She probably wouldn't like me telling her that, that very verse she was holding so dear to her trinitarian heart, was not only translated by Christan Trinitarians but that it by itself actually proves the Trinity doctrine wrong. When reading the text word for word in the Hebrew it goes (flows) like this: "And now, Adoni Jehovah has sent me and His Spirit". Right away one can see the context meaning change from a Trinity proof text to a sort of "Oneness" proof text. Of course questions should now be raised.
1. Why wasn't the text translated in the same manner and method as the Hebrew gave it?
2. Does the Hebrew reading imply that Jehovah's Spirit is a whole other person, separated in personhood from that of Jehovah?
3. Why didn't the second Son-God person have anything to do with the sending of Isaiah? I mean Isaiah according to the KJV text, took time to specifically name the first and third persons of the Trinity, so why not included the Son-God person too?
4. Is the "spirit" of Elijah different in personhood than Elijah himself? (See II Kings 2:15)
5. Can we determine by continuing in the text what the proper name of "the Spirit" is that sent Isaiah? I mean, the Trinitarians really don't have a proper personal name for Him, just the title of "Holy Spirit"?
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Actually, the very next verse (Isaiah 48:17) reads: "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am Jehovah thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." So if we place together the two verses (16 and 17) along with following the context through, a complete picture emerges. It is not that God and His other-person Spirit is sending out Isaiah to declare something on his own as the KJV might indicate in the minds of Trinitarians, but God places His very person in Spirit form on Isaiah (anointing Isaiah) for a declaration to the people of Israel. And with that anointing the "Spirit of the "one" God of Israel" upon Isaiah, the anointing-causing Spirit speaks of "Himself" giving His proper name while stating in the Hebrew: "I am Jehovah your God"! Come on Trinitarians, learn some Hebrew and get Hebrew real! It's absolutely asinine to willfully believe in twisted translated scriptures while stretching to denying the easy to understand text of what the Hebrew Bible clearly states and its contextual meaning!
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Notes:
1. The plural masculine noun suffix in the Hebrew is generally (but not always) given and pronounced "eem" or "im" at the end of the noun. It has the same effect as adding the letter "s" at the end of a noun in English. "Elohim" can be translated as "gods" in the Hebrew Bible. For example, the words "God" and "gods" are spelled the same in the Hebrew in Deuteronomy 8:19
2. Even though the KJV and other Christian translation carry it, there are no term "false gods" as in "false Elohim" in the Hebrew Bible, just Elohim. Example: "Thou shalt have no other gods (Elohim) before me" - Exodus 20:3
3. Judges are called Elohim: Exodus 21:6 / Exodus 22:8.
An altar is called Elohim: Genesis 33:20.
Angels are called Elohim: Psalms 8:6
4. To the Trinitarians; if the name "Elohim" denotes the triune nature of God, why doesn't the truine God refer to Himself as Elohim or Elyai Shaddai instead of the singular "El Shaddai"? Isn't it ironic that Elohim states: "I am the El Shaddai; walk before me, and be thou perfect." - Genesis 17:1 (Also see Genesis 35:11).
5. Though the later writings of the New Testament gave hints of a Trinity (I John 5:7) the doctrine of the Trinity wasn't ratified by Christianity until the Nicene Council in 325 CE. The picture at the top is taking from the Nicene Council decree. Paul (the New Testament chief overseer) never implies that Jesus was one of three "persons" making up the Trinity (I Corinthians 11:3) but rather the "Godhead" was a system that God (singular) used for revealing Himself (Romans 1:20 / Colossians 1:15).
6. Some will use the male and female of mankind (Genesis 5:2) as a type of the Trinity. However, there is a reason why out of all the creation Adam was originally alone and without a mate. If God had created two separate individuals as He did with the animal kingdom in an original creation that was to be after His image then we could say God was indeed multiple in personhood. The reality is that man in singular form is an attribute of God, and woman (also in singular form) is the image of man. The New Testament scriptures of Ephesians 1:4 and I Corinthians 11: 7-8 should confirm this to the Trinitarians. Besides, giving man is both male and female doesn't add up to there being "three" as to somehow reflect a truine Trinity Godhead called God.

The Conclusion of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 - Part 5

2008-11-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

The Gentile / Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 denotes the Jesus-accepting "New Israel" (Galatians 6:13) as holy and righteous while depicting the true physical nation of Israel as a Jesus-denying evil people. Many Gentile Christians became persecutors and many Jews were persecuted based upon the Christian interpretation of this chapter. On the other side of the coin, the Jewish interpretation concludes Israel the nation is venerated at the End of Days which is an undeniable theme that is consistent with the rest of the Hebrew scriptures. One must spiritually travel outside this very biblical theme in order to take up the Gentile interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures.
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I would challenge the Christian /Gentile concept of Isaiah 53 with not only the Hebrew text itself, but with all the other Gentile concepts found within Christianity that are foreign with the Jewish scriptures as well such as:
Man-deity: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" -Numbers 23:19 (see also I Samuel 15:29)
Human sacrifice: "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire....For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD." -Deuteronomy 18:10,12 (see also Jeremiah 32:35)
Vicarious atonement: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." - Deuteronomy 24:16 (see also Ezekiel 18:20)
The Trinity: :Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.... Is there a God beside me yea, there is no God; I know not any....I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself" - Isaiah 44:6,8,24
(Did you notice all 7 single personal pronouns in these verses? See also Deuteronomy 32:39)
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Many Christian apologists try to use Jewish rabbinical sources such as Targum in order to try to prove their interpretation. This only demonstrates their weakness by having something that they must "prove" outside their own sources. There is a spiritual reason why you don't see Jewish rabbis trying to use Christians commentary sources against Christians to prove their Jewish case. That is, Jews don't use deception in purposely misapplying or purposely mistranslating a Christian commentary to prove to the Christians the Jewish belief for the purpose of converting Gentiles to Judaism.
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Christian apologists end up doing the same thing with rabbinical sources as they do with the Hebrew scriptures, which is the usage of partial quotes and an outright changing its meaning and context to fit their predrawn conclusions. They cleverly try to make rabbinical Judaism to appear as believing that Isaiah 53 was speaking strictly of the End of Day messiah and not the nation of Israel. Because the Christian apologists have such a hard time proving the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53 to be wrong, they seek out rabbinical sources (of which they personally don't place any spiritual value) that they can misrepresent the source to try and prove their Gentile interpretation. They do this knowing darn well that if they could ask that same rabbi who gave the source whether or not Isaiah 53 is speaking about the messiah or Israel, what the rabbi's answer would be!
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Deception concerning Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki 1040-1105 C. E.) is also prevalent among Christian apologists. Because Rashi is so revered among religious Jews he is a special targeted of Christian missionaries and apologists. Their claim is that it wasn't until Rashi that the Jewish world changed their view of Isaiah 53 from speaking of the messiah to the nation of Israel. As Outreach Judaism points out http://www.outreachjudaism.org/sin.html this Christian deception is blasted into smithereens by the 3rd. century church father Origen in his writings "Origen Contra Celsum" in which he stated concerning Isaiah 53: "I remember that once in a discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I used these (Isaiah 53) prophesies. At this the Jew said that these prophesies referred to the whole people as though of a single individual."
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The learned Jew that Origen was talking about who believe Isaiah 53 was speaking of the whole nation of Israel wasn't Rashi, since Origen (185 - 254 C.E.) died 786 years before Rashi was born. Yet, this Christian deception that Rashi was the culprit in guiding the wayward Jews to misapply Isaiah 53 away from its messianic meaning is wide spread among Christian missionaries and messianics. Go figure.
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Not all Christian theologians disagree with the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53. This is remarkable since there are no Jewish sources (non-messianics) who agree the Christians on Isaiah 53. Again, as Outreach Judaism points out, The New English Bible - Oxford Study Edition (with a big Crusader cross on the front cover) has footnotes pertaining to Isaiah 52-53 that totally (and I do mean totally) agree of the Jewish view. In fact, as one who has studied much on this subject as well as these footnotes, I can truthfully say, that these footnotes given by Gentile Christian theologians with doctorate degrees are the best that I have ever seen. They make points from other biblical scriptures as to the regard to the nation of Israel that I hadn't seen coming even from Jewish scholars! Hey, chalk one up for the Gentile Christian theologians who don't look through an interpretation-window of the New Testament in order to understand what Isaiah 53 is talking about.
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The bottom line of Isaiah 53 is simply this:

When examined, the Christian version is deceptive concerning the original Hebrew, its context, and how it is presented by Christian apologists and missionaries, especially when it comes to Jews.

The Jewish interpretation is inline and even dove-tails with the rest of the Hebrew scriptures especially the Torah by which the Jews have maintained since the text of Isaiah 53 was first written and given to the Jews!

Who can better explain the American Bill of Rights, an American civics teacher from Des Miones, Iowa or a foreign political student from Beijing, China? Likewise, Who stands more suited to explain the Hebrew scriptures such as Isaiah 53, a Jewish rabbi from Jerusalem whose past generations of two millenia are connected to Jerusalem, or a Gentile religious leader from America bent on destroying Judaiasm, the Jewish people as a people, and Israel as a Jewish state through conversion to their Gentile faith?
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Who can speak the American English language better, an native born American from Utah or a an Asian who has taken English 101 in Korea?1 Likewise, who is more qualified in the Hebrew Biblical language, a Jew whose name and prayers are in that very language, and to whom the text of Isaiah 53 was originally given, or a religious Westerner with predrawn Gentile conclusions who has studied Hebrew under another non-Jewish teacher, who also has predrawn Gentile conclusions of the Hebrew text?2
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I really don't mind the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 as long as it stays among the Gentiles. It's when Isaiah 53 is used to attack the Jewish nation for the purpose of assimilating them to be like the other Christian nations (contrary to Deuteronomy 14:2) that I have a real problem of which has inspired this five-part blog.
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Notes:
1. In 1985, I worked with a German man in Tucson, Arizona who had grown up and lived in Germany during the Nazi era and carried a heavy German accent. The place we worked at was on Broadway Blvd. While on the telephone he began trying to relay the street "Broadway" to the person on the other end of the line. He keep saying, "Vradvay", "Vradvay". The person on the other end never could understand him. He finally got very irritated yelling in a load voice, "Vrad-Vay" before hanging up. Afterward, I began to poke fun at him about his English as did others who also heard the conversation. He ask me how old I was which at the time I was 20. He informed me that he had been speaking English longer that I had been born. I ask him, then why can't you say "Broadway" I've been able to say "Broadway" since I was about three or four? This all goes to show that you can't the Germany out of the German no matter how Americanized he becomes, and in like manner, you can't get the Gentile out of Gentiles who learn and teach Hebrew for a Gentile cause.
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2. I can always tell by looking at the Hebrew translation whether or not a Hebrew-Biblical dictionary or lexicon has been edited by Christian or Jewish scholars. Aside from the English dead give-away introduction of the "Old Testament" which means it's coming from Christians, the translation of two certain Hebrew words (one is not even an actual word) tells me a Christian has been here. The word "alma" spelled "ayin-lamed-mem-hay" means "young maiden" but Christians will learn and teach it as to mean "virgin". There is a Isaiah 7:14 reason as to why this is. Even though the Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah" (bet-tav-vav-lamed-hay) is used in close proximity of Isaiah 7:14 (Isaiah 23:4,12) and from which its root is used as the sign of virginity "batulim" (see Deuteronomy 22:15) Christians still must stick with "alma" to mean virgin. Many Christian Bibles will have a footnote number beside their translation that will indicate in real small letters at the bottom of the page, 'young maiden'. Perhaps, they mean that the little Emanuel that is connected with the two kings Pekah and Rezin in the very next verses 15 and 16 (compared with II Kings 16:5, 9 / II Kings 15:29-30) are indeed from a non-virgin young women, but because of a "duel prophecy" of which somehow excludes verses 15 and 16 from the prophecy, the Emanuel to come 700 years later would be from a virgin, adding an all new meaning to the word alma?
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The second Hebrew word found in a Christian dictionary is not even that, a word. There is a reason why Paul or any other New Testament writter had never jumped all over the KJV Psalms 22:17 "pierced hands and feet" as a "proof text" for their new faith. The reason is simple, it wasn't originally there and had not been yet been tampered with during the first century CE. The Hebrew word for pierced is, "dakar" or "ratza". Whomever, tampered with Psalms 22:17 (probably a 3rd. century Christian monk) was skillful in changing the words of David, "like a lion" (of which "lion" is mentioned throughout the 22nd. Psalm) to mean pierced. They took the Hebrew word "kar" meaning "to dig" or "excavate" disregarded the letter aleph in the word, and passed it off as "pierced". As a result, the Christian Hebrew dictionary has at least one extra word that the Jewish dictionary don't have. Of course, there is only one single place in all the Hebrew scriptures that their new word for pierced can be found. Go figure.

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 - Verses 10-12 (Part 4)

2008-09-27T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Gentiles confessions concerning Israel start at Isaiah 52:13 and end at Isaiah 53:9. Christian and Jewish views of Isaiah 53 both see verse 10 as starting a new pattern that is non-confessing while still maintaining the context concerning the servant. Verse 10 begins with the relationship between God and the servant.

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief..." - Isaiah 53:10
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Why would it please the Lord to bruise/crush his servant and make him ill? And why does God wish to cause ill on the servant who seemed so righteous and victimized during the confession verses? These questions are answered in the following words of the text, but one needs to understand God's dichotomy of judgment concerning Israel and the Gentile nations to better understand the following words within the text.

Israel has been, and always will be, God's chosen people and nation. But that fact doesn't mean that as a whole Israel has been a righteous nation. So when verse 10 begins to address the relationship between God and Israel, a thing called sin emerges that must be dealt with. This is where God's dichotomy of judgment comes in. God allows the Gentile nations to persecute the Jewish nation as God's army (see Habakkuk 1:6). Notice that the context though changed from a confession to a statement of fact is still staying with an overall pattern of Gentile persecution of Israel. However, when the Gentile nations overstep their commission in punishing Israel, God's anger then becomes directed at the Gentile nations for their persecution on His chosen people. It kind of runs something like this:
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A. God allows Hitler to rise in Germany in order to persecute the "reformed" German Jews for assimilating and totally rejecting their prophets by declaring Berlin as their Jerusalem.

B. The Holocaust forces destroy one-third of the "enlightened" assimilated European Jews and force the rest into the land of their forefathers - Israel.
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C. Hitler goes to hell, Germany is destroyed, the State of Israel is born among the modern nations as an ultimate rebuke to Hitler overstepping his commission that God allowed so He could be glorified in His chosen people.

I know what I just wrote is not politically correct but is it biblical? Of course it is. I wouldn't wrote it if it hadn't been.

"...Thus saith the Lord of Host; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was wroth a little, and they helped to do harm." Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.- Zachariah 1:15 (also see Isaiah 40:2)

Now the next line will be even clearer, that is when we straighten it out with the original Hebrew of course:

"...when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." - Isaiah 53:10

One thing the KJV totally and I believe willfully leaves out of the text is the Hebrew word that is spelled, aleph-mem pronounced "eem" meaning "if". If the word "if" was left in the Christian translation it would seem to make it less messianic, therefore, the translators substituted the word "if" for "when". This was done even though the Hebrew word "when" / "as" is spelled with the letter "caph" in front of a word or is spelled "caph-aleph-shen-raysh".

However, if the text of Isaiah 53 is talking about Israel, this prophecy, as so many other prophesies do, can easily be referring back to the Torah and its mentioning of the nation of Israel. Deuteronomy chapters 28-30 specifies blessings and curesing based upon Israel's choices that they make toward their God and His commandments. This is why the word "if" is so important in the Isaiah 53 text, because a choice has to be made. Now with that, notice the direct comparisons""if he places (acknowledges) guilt his soul shall see seed (progeny). -Isaiah 53:10

"And thou shalt return (by acknowledging guilt) and obey the the voice of the Lord, and do His commandments which I command thee this day, And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body....If (there's that word again) thou shall hearnen unto the voice of the Lord the God, to keep His commandments and His statues which are written in this book of the Law... - Deuteronomy 30:8-10

The Hebrew word for "seed" is "zerah" and it literally means "semen" or "physical offspring". What "zerah" never means is "spiritual metaphoric children".1 Therefore, if Isaiah 53 is only talking about Jesus, what's he doing having physical children? Most Christians (as well as myself) has a big problem with the Da Vinci Codes and their number one factor for having a problem with the Da Vinci Codes is that Jesus' deity comes into question if he has normal relations with a mortal woman. But being blessed in having normal relations with mortal women is the very context of Isaiah 53:10 (see Isaiah 59:20-21 for a comparison).

...he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. - Isaiah 53:10

Again, we must go back to Deuteronomy 30 as we did with the first part of the verse concerning the servant's seed to get conformation as to whom Isaiah's prophecy is refering concerning the servant's days being prolonged:

"That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days..." -Deuteronomy 30:20 (also see Deuteronomy 5:16 / 6:2)

Now, the question now as to what the text doesn't say. It doesn't say that the servant will cut-off (meaning a shortened life) as in Daniel 9:26 - a scripture Christians relate to Jesus. Psalms 90:10 proclaims a normal man's life is 70-80 years yet Jesus lived not even half of that before his death. Also, something prolonged doesn't mean forever and ever as Christians try to imply when challenged with this. As in Deuteronomy 6:2 (letting the scriptures interpeeate themselves as to their meaning) a prolonged life still refers to one that will eventually come to an end. Even Isaiah's own depiction of righteous Israel seemingly has an end of very "prolonged" days. See Isaiah 65:20-23

"He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied..." - Isaiah 53:11

Staying with the context of Gentile presecution upon Israel and Israel's now acceptence of it because he knows that it pleased God to get his servant Israel to repent and have their days prolonged (as well as the Gentile recognition of their presecuting sin) he will be satisfied with the "travail of his soul".

"with his knowledge my servant will vindicate the righteous before many..." Isaiah 53:11

Notice again what it doesn't say. It doesn't say the righteous are to be justified / vindicated through faith in messianic shed blood. However, the "knowledge" that the Jewish nation obtains is vital to the world as to the Gentile nations seeking righteousness:2

"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statues, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." - Deuteronomy 4:6

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" - Deuteronomy 29:29 (also see Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7
Also, the making of many righteous occurs at the End of Days when the Gentiles realize their spiritual mistakes and recognize Israel for her knowledge.
"And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing..." - Zechariah 8:13
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us (with spiritual knowledge) of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." - Isaiah 2:2-3
Notice: all nations go to meet the specified God of Jacob (Israel) to what is holy territory in Judaism -Zion, to learn the righteous paths the Torah (Law) from which is the holiest place in Judaism - Jerusalem.
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They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. - Isaiah 11:9
"Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." -Isaiah 60:5
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"...their iniquities he shall carry - Isaiah 53:11

This is a repeat on verse 6 but stressing the fact that it is because of the knowledge that the servant obtains whereby fear of the Lord begins, the servant will be burdened with Gentile iniquity. It is through this great knowledge (Deuteronomy 4:6) that I as well as many other Gentiles have sought righteousness / justification even before the End of Days with the one true God of Israel.

"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death..." - Isaiah 53:12

In staying with the entire context of all prior eleven verses, notice that the "pouring out of the servant's soul unto death" is directly connected with receiving vast booty (as a conquering nation does after it defeats another nation) among the great and mighty nations. In other words, because the Gentile nations have unjustly taken Israel as a criminal to the edge of death, Israel who is least among the nations (Deuteronomy 7:7) will therefore be given portions as to what the great Gentile nations have acquired. The question then arises, "what does the death as Jesus have to do with booty"?

"...and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." - Isaiah 53:12

Again, we cannot separate these words with the rest of the entire context. The servant who receives great booty among the great is the same servant who is numbered with transgressors and bares the sin of those who falsely numbered him as such. The Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, Mein Kamph, the Koran, and the Hamas covenant all have one thing in common besides being responsible for murdering Jews. They all have numbered the Jewish people (therefore the Jewish nation) among the tranagressors! In fact, being numbered among the transgressors has been the main cause behind Jewish persecution and murder throughout all of Jewish history.

Notes:
1. When challenged as to the "only" meaning of word "zerah" the best a learned messianic Jew could give me is Malachi 2:15. At first glance one might see a reference of a "godly seed" as in a metaphoric meaning, but when the context is read it becomes plain to see that the "zerah" was to be "physically produced" by a man and women who are spiritually one. The "wife" (the bearer of the seed) is mentioned both in verse 14 (prior verse) and after the "zerah" in verse 15 is mentioned.

2. If Hitler and the Nazis were even remotely Torah observant the entire Holocaust nor the war and death that Axis of Evil waged would have never occurred. However, because they had rejected all of the Jewish Torah, the Holocaust and all the death and destruction that followed it did happen. The same principle can be said for Al-Queda today.

The Suffering Servent of Isaiah 53 - Verses 7-9 (Part 3)

2008-09-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 53:7
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth."
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About two years ago I was watching a History Channel 2006 documentary entitled, "Hitler's Holocaust". This documentary contains several interviews of Nazis from that era in order to allow the viewers into the mindset of the Nazis. One particular interview caught my eyes and ears more than any other. It was a former lieutenant of the German Military Police who was responsible for supervising the lines of Jews awaiting their turn to enter the gas chambers. As I was hearing this Nazi speak I was caught up into what Isaiah 53:7 states. I immediately went to get pen and paper and began the process of starting and stopping the taped video so I could write down each sentence and word according to the English subtitles of his German statement, and this is what he said:
“They were always very quite, I never heard the cry. I never heard railing. Although they were being pushed forward by the Germans, this was usually without shouting. There was such a deathly silence over everything that it was very oppressive.” - Peter V.D. Osten-Sacken Lieutenants German Military Police
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It is noteworthy that this speaker like the ones speaking in Isaiah 53:7 is a Gentile, and not just any Gentile, but one who was among Israel's most notorious persecutors - an actual Nazi. What he is not, is a religious Jewish rabbi confessing his faults for not recognizing what the Gentile had persecuted him to believe for two thousand years, that Jesus was his messiah. So with that in mind, let's compare this Nazi's statement along with the scripture of Isaiah 53"7 back to back and see just how close they actually relate to each other.
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"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." “They were always very quite, I never heard the cry. I never heard railing. Although they were being pushed forward by the Germans, this was usually without shouting. There was such a deathly silence over everything that it was very oppressive.”
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The text of Isaiah 53 is completely allegorical. However, because the Holocaust was so extraordinary in the history mankind, many things in the text that are allegorical almost becomes literal. The reality of Jews being transported on "cattle cars" to places like Treblinka and Auschwitz where their heads (including women) were shaven, and lines were formed (many of them naked) to await their slaughter via gas chamber or crematorium, seems almost to fulfill the text in a literal sense of "sheep before her shearers" and "lambs being 'brought' to the slaughter". This fact becomes even more extraordinary when David's statement concerning his Jewish people is added:
"Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter" - Psalms 44:22
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Isaiah 53:8
"He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living..."
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When you take the KJV translators preconceived notion of influence from out of the verse, one ends up with an English translation sounding something like this:
"(Seeing) him being released from captivity and from judgment, who could have imagined this generation? For he was cut off from out of the land of the living and was afflicted due to my people's sin."
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One of the greatest end-time events that gets a lot a air-time so to speak in the Hebrew scripture is the promised return of Jews to the land of their fathers - Israel. The return of the exiles, Israel becoming righteous before the Gentile world while keeping (doing) the Law of Moses, the messiah, and the messianic age are all connected together as one single fulfillment (see Ezekiel 34:13 / Ezekiel 36:24 / *Ezekiel 37:21-28 / Isaiah 11:12 / Isaiah 43:6).
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In verse 8 the Gentiles begin to marvel over the Jewish return to Israel (as many non-Christian Gentiles already have) - http://www.geraldschroeder.com/age.html They marvel because of two reasons. One, they realize that there is a spiritual reason as to why after all that they have done to the nation of Israel it wasn't enough to bring him to an end, and that their desired to blot out his name forever (see Psalms 83: 4) was spiritually evil. Two, the return to the land is so great that the Gentiles begin to understand that such a return could not have been possible without God being on Israel's side (See Ezekiel 36: 33-36). Israel becoming a state in 1948 was the beginning and not the conclusion of a world-wide Jewish return to Israel. There is something in the form of "return" even far more greater in the near future.

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Of the two things verse 8 mentions, one being the servant being taken from captivity and two, the servant being cut-off from the land of the living, are both connected together in persecution of the servant, and not as two separate events unrelated to each other. Being cut off from the "land of the living" was to be "cut off" from the land of Israel (see Deuteronomy 30:19-20 / Ezekiel 37:11-12). This "cutting off from the land of the living" occurred in 586 BCE and and again in 70 CE that resulted in Israel's long Diaspora. The Jews also have also been historically "cut off" from Gentile "lands of living" such as Spain-1492, Germany-1939, and not to mention Gaza (which is again was Jewish land) 2005.
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Therefore, what verse 8 reveals is in fact the Diaspora (a very significant part of Jewish history - if a Gentile can even imagine important Jewish history actually being contained in the Hebrew Bible). This Diaspora was caused by the Gentiles that forced Jewish exiles into Gentile foreign lands where they were held captive from entering into the land of their fathers. But verse 8 hints of the massive return to the land (a return to "the land of the living") and the confessing Gentiles who now see in a spiritual perspective what they have historically done to the Jews.

"...for the transgression of my people was he stricken."

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In part 1 of this blog we saw how an original singular pronoun was translated in the plural in Isaiah 52:4. Here in Isaiah 53:8 it is a plural masculine pronoun that is translated in the masculine singular by the King James translators. The Hebrew word "la-mo" (spelled: lamed-mem-vav) that is found here in verse 8 is a poetic expression of "la-hem" meaning "to them". It is a word that the King James translators had no problem at all with translating "lamo" as the pural pronoun "them" in all the other places throughout the Hebrew scriptures including the book of Isaiah (see Isaiah 16:4, 23:1, 30:5, 44:7, 48:21).

So the question then becomes, why here in Isaiah 53, does the King James translators find it necessary to translate "lamo" as the singular pronoun "him"? Maybe because they needed to read the Gentile messiah-Jesus into the verse? The Hebrew reading of this portion is: "My people's sin (rebellion) had struck them".

Examples: The Inquisition and Holocaust rebellion against the God of Israel, struck the Jews!

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Isaiah 53:9
"And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death..."
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Following the flow of the context, "the servant" didn't "make" anything as the KJV might seem to be suggesting, because the servant was forced into it. The opening line of verse 9 is easier understood as, "he submitted [Hebrew root: na-ton 'gave'] himself to his grave among (along beside) the wicked." The following words, "and with the rich in his death" doesn't mean that the servant is buried in a rich man's tomb as the New Testament indicates (St. Matthew 27:57-60). That would make the flow of the context of a servant being persecuted to not make any sense. How is a innocent victim being buried in a rich man's tomb denote any derogation when derogation of the innocent servant is the theme of the entire context? I'm sorry, but to me the Gospel writer(s) of Matthew had to come up with a filler to fulfill this portion within the prophecy text, and Jesus being placed in a rich man's tomb was the best that they could come up with in using a history concerning only one man.
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The Hebrew is a little tricky here with its usage of the "Definite Direct Objects" but it's better translated and understood as: "He gave / submitted (himself) to his grave and the rich (gave / submitted) in their deaths.1
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The switching of a plural for the singular happens yet again here in verse 9. This time it is a plural possessive noun that is translated in the singular.

Hebrew Lesson:
In Hebrew, the root verb or noun is first given with the pronoun-suffix attached at the end of the word. To indicate that a possessive noun is plural in connection with the pronoun, the letter “yod” is placed in between the noun and the pronoun. Its use is like the plural-making “s” in English coming at the end of a noun. The word “bamotav” in the text is spelled, “bet-mem-tav-yod-vav”. The letter bet meaning, “in, by, of, on”. The letters mem-tav mean “death“. The letter yod changes “death” to “deaths” and the letter vav is the singular-male pronoun. The correct Hebrew translation is “his deaths".2 Therefore, if the original text reads "deaths" in verse 9, how does the one man death of Jesus fit into the text when it's "deaths" that the text is talking about?
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Getting back to the "wealth" portion of the text, the Jews are the only people who are stereo-typed as a race with wealth. The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is largely based on this notion. Even the oil-rich Arabs are not stereo-typed for their wealth by race but only because of the "oil-rich" land in the Middle Est they happen to live on. I live in a state that has a Jewish population of about 6,ooo. Yet, even with such a low population the antisemtic mindset is still here. There are two incidents in recent past that I witnesses personally. In my training class at work a fellow co-worker asked the instructor whose last name was Goldstrum if he was Jewish because according to him, the word "gold" appears mostly in Jewish names. And one antisemite ask me in a Social Security office when seeing a Jewish man wearing a kippah (religious head covering) sitting at the service window, "What's he doing filing for social security, I thought they already had all the money?"
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The Jews do have a long history of having a high rate of success in finance. A large part of this history of was due to Gentile persecution. In Muslims lands is was forbidden for Muslims to handle gold whereby the Jews in Muslims lands became very skillful in the art of crafting gold, and money-leading was one of the few things the Jews in Christian Europe were allowed to do. The Jews became so good at managing money they were actually called upon to go to certain areas to rescue the local economies. And I'm of the opinion that our USA has been going downhill financially ever since a Jew named Alan Greenspan retired.
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The Webster Dictionary defines "usury" as the following: 1. the act or practice of lending money at a rate of interest that is excessive or unlawfully high. 2. the workings of the Jewish people during the Medieval period.
Just kidding. Webster doesn't say that. But see, you had "logical reason" to believe Webster could in fact (though insensitive) say something to that effect about the Jews. If any other race on earth was given with that same description you would have known right off I wasn't repeating Webster.
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The fact is however, the Holocaust is a great indicator of Gentile history towards the Jews. Many things that happened in the Holocaust had already taken place in the Spanish Inquisitions, such as purity of blood decrees, the wearing of yellow badges, Jewish ghettos, and of course, massive Jewish murder. The Jews were a wealthy people in Germany, Poland, and in every location across Europe. So when Hitler revolted against the World War I Treaty of Versailles the Jewish wealth was targeted. Jewish homes, property, jewelry, and even the gold in their teeth was striped from them before they were sent away in banishment or to the Nazi death camps stationed throughout Europe.

The Christian Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, and Mohammad's Arabian raids were no different to the Jewish communities that were subject to them. Everywhere the Jews have been persecuted it has always been their wealth that was taken from them and never their religion.
It was Jewish booty and slaves that built such places as the Roman Coliseum and stolen Jewish wealth during the Dark and Middle Ages that financed the Vatican.

It has been Jewish wealth being stripped from them and distributed to the Gentile persecuting powers that fulfills the scripture, "He gave / submitted (himself) to his grave and the rich (gave / submitted) in their deaths."3

There is something very spiritually symbolic that occurred at Brunnlitz that the ending part of "Schindler's List" - the movie brought to our attention. A gold filling is taken from out of one of the prisoner's mouth and made into a gold ring that states the Talmudic saying, "He who saves a single soul , saves the world entire". For a Jewish Holocaust victim to freely give his personal gold (even from his own mouth) to a righteous Gentile with Hebrew words of life inscribed on it for the Jewish lives he saved by his "List" was in fact the ultimate rebuke to the unrighteous Gentiles who took Jewish gold by murder that would forever represent Jewish death.
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What is ironic, the Gentiles never saw themselves in the same light as they saw the Jews as evil, rich, and conspiring, once they had illegally obtained the wealth of the Jews. This is why the "wealth portion" of the text is mentioned at all - the Gentiles who once viewed the Jews (as they do now) as owning all the banks and Wall Street for the purpose of an evil "Protocol" will see themselves as unrighteous slayers of this wealthy people and that their own illegal wealth condemns them in the same way that they historically condemned the Jews.
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Isaiah 53:9 (continued)
"...because he had done no violence..."
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"Violence" as in crime-violence, is not a Jewish characteristic. Different sects within Judaism such as the Orthodox and Reform are miles apart in how they each express their Judaism, but they don't murder each other in the name of their God like the Christian sects of East and West, and Catholic and Protestant have done in their past. The Islamic sects of Sunnis and Shiites are in the process of killing each other everyday and have been since the murder of Husayn ibn Ali in 680 CE. The Jews not only didn't murder each other over doctrine but neither have they sought to conquer Gentile lands outside their own "promised land". Modern Israel has fought many wars but has yet to initiate one or even threaten war outside of a defensive military mindset. Israel's military armed forces are known as IDF - Israel "Defense" Force".
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It is not a coincidence that the Hebrew word for violence (or crime) used in this ancient text is spelled "chet-mem-samech" pronounced "hamas" when a terrorist group by the same name is the closest to the peaceful (in-gathered) Israelis, and are the most "violent-cultured" people in all the earth!
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Ponder this:
The most commonly known Hebrew word in the West is, "Shalom"4 of which I don't have to tell you what it means.
The most commonly known Arabic word in the West is, "Jihad" of which I also don't have to tell you what it means.
Now, notice the opposite meanings that each culture is based upon!
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Isaiah 53:9 (continued)
"...neither was any deceit in his mouth."
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Judaism is the only monotheistic religion that simply tells you what it is all about from the get-go. The reason simply being, Judaism doesn't seek new converts to join in with the religion. They actually discourage (but not prohibit) Gentile conversion into the religion. A Gentile can be righteous outside of Judaism by blessing the God of Israel (Numbers 24:5,9 / Micah 6:8). Judaism has no reason to sugar-coat nor threaten with hellfire in order to fill the pews and tithe boxes.
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Deceit can be found in the mouths in Islamic tactics of al-takiah deception. An Imam-spokesman from C.A.I.R. (Council on American-Islamic Relations) for example, stating on national television that "Jihad only means an inner spiritual struggle" or "the Koran states there is no compulsion in religion, and therefore, Islam is a religion of peace." is a lying deception for the sake of the religion itself! The religion is a religion of war and terrorism whose prophet and founder was a murdering child-marrying (molesting) warlord!
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Deceit and sugar-coating (a form of deceit) can be found in "Christian training cards" on how to "witness" to the Jews. A typical training card can read something like this:
"Don't say, "New Testament" say, 'New Covenant".
"Don't say, 'Jesus' say, 'Yashuah."
"Don't say, 'cross' say, 'torture rack."
"Don't say, 'born-again' say, 'completed Jew".5
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From the early Catholic Church taking money from the widow and the poor to pray a dead loved one out of purgatory, to the modern televangelists taking money from the widows and poor for "that special miracle" the Church has been full of spiritual deceit. On the other hand, I don't recall ever hearing of the rabbis demanding money for "Synagogue contribution" to pray someone out of hell, nor have I heard of them selling "holy water" for the people's healing needs. Neither have the Jews charged a fee of around twelve bucks to resolve other Jews from all their sins including adultery, robbery, and murder, otherwise known as "Indulgence"6 to help fund their Synagogue.
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I believe Paul was sincere and more righteous than most of Christendom that followed him, but even he didn't much care if a little deceit helped promote the faith.
"What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." - Philippians 1:18
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It also must be noticed that it is the Gentiles of whom the Hebrew scriptures view as the "inheritors of lies" all the way until the End of Days.
"the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." - Jeremiah 16:19
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The Jews however are to be God's witnesses (see Isaiah 43:10-12, Isaiah 44:8,) and as such they must speak righteous truth without any deceit as the Gentile confession proclaims in Isaiah 53:9. The book of Zephaniah reinforces this issue using the same wording "deceit in his mouth" as we find in Isaiah 53:9, making it easier to know who Isaiah 53;9 is talking about.
"The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." - Zephaniah 3:13

Notes:
1. The King James translators played upon the Definite Direct Object indicator "et" (a word in Hebrew that has no comparison in English) as meaning "with". For an explanation of this Definite Direct Object, see Yale University published "Biblical Hebrew: A Text and Workbook" by Bonnie Pedrotti, Vivki Hoffer, and Rebecca Abts Wright - Lesson 7 - page 31
2. To view the differences between the singlar and plural pronouns in their relationship to nouns see ibid page 216
3. Other places of scripture show the singular pronoun with a plural noun. > Hosea 11:1,2
4. "Shalom" (peace) is offered in typical greetings, "Mah Slalom chah?" - "How is your peace" not "How are you doing?". "Solomon"(Shlomo in Hebrew) is a popular name that is derived from "shalom" (peace). Jerusalem - the Jewish spiritual capital literally means, "city of peace".
5. Also see how deliberate lying-tracts were intended to save Jewsih souls >

http://www.kfoxtv.com/entertainment/10464489/detail.html
6. The Forbidden Book - DVD

http://www.explorationfilms.com/explorationfilms-forbidden-book.html

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 - Verses 1-6 (Part 2)

2008-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?" - Isaiah 53:1
The Church does not want the Gentiles saying, "who would have believed our report?". They want it to be the Jews saying it about the Christian doctrine. However, there are two ways to verify who is speaking in astonishment when asking that question. One, you can go back in chapter 52 where the stage is set leading up to this question of which I cover in part 1 of this blog, or two, go to the very next question it asks and answer it biblically. Just who is it that the "Arm of the Lord" is revealed?
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The Bible itself actually gives us the answer to this question starting with the Law of Moses, all way to the Prophet Isaiah in the 52nd. chapter where again, the stage is being set for Isaiah 53.
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: - Deuteronomy 5:15 (also see Exodus 6:6, Deuteronomy 7:19, 11:2, 26:8, II Kings 17:36-37)
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"O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." - Psalms 98:1-3
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Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. - Isaiah 52:9-10
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Every time the Bible mentions bringing Israel out of Egypt which was the founding of Israel, the metaphor of God's arm is noted. Israel is literally founded on the "Arm of the Lord". This is something that comes to light in the eyes of the Gentile world at the end when they ask the question to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Notice, that even the everlasting Torah and the keeping of it is placed together with this metaphor in II Kings 17:36-37.
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The book of Psalms as shown above displays the same picture. It declares the salvation of Israel by God's arm before the eyes of the heathen / Gentiles, then it repeats it by declaring God's mercy to be upon the House of Israel while the whole world will witness this salvation by God of Israel.
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In leading up to Isaiah 53:1, Isaiah emphasizes the redemption of God's people Israel and Jerusalem as he ties them in with the the Gentile nations seeing this salvation in the form of God's arm. As I pointed out in part 1, notice how Isaiah 52:9-10 totally, easily, and completely blends in with such prophesies as Zechariah 8:3 / 8:23.
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It also is noteworthy to know that unless the prophets and writers of holy script are telling what someone else is saying or will say as in Isaiah 53, they speak in the first person and not for mankind in general. It be said enough that the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, by the Hebrew prophets, for the Hebrew people to receive a Hebrew related message unto their Hebrew selves so that they may have a relationship with their Hebrew people-choosing God! I say this because we find in both the prophesies of Psalms and in Isaiah the words "salvation of OUR God" when speaking of the Gentile recognition at the End of Days. The salvation of God will not be a Gentile concept of God that we find in Christianity's Trinity of three persons making up a Godhead-confederation (see the symbolic picture of this blog above) nor will the End of Days recognition be according to Islam's non-Jewish / non-seed of David messiahship of Muhammad.

Jeremiah 16:19 declares very explicitly what the Gentiles among these and other religious groups will be saying when there are no more questions to be asked at the End of Days! There will a recognition of the God of the Jews along with THEIR concept of God, not a Gentile one.
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The bottom line is that St. John 12:38 has been simply misapplied when compared to the context of Isaiah 53:1. In reality, Isaiah 53:1 was written due to the future event of the Gentiles recognizing Israel's glory that God shall bestow on him according to all of Isaiah's prophesies, and not because those bad O Christ-killing Jews refuse to believe in their messiah which would bring about an opposite effect of a destroyed - forever Israel that the Isaiah's prophesies never mention.
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"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground... - Isaiah 53:2
Both the Messiah (of End of Days) and Israel are referred to as "a branch" or plant life throughout the Hebrew scriptures. That is a fact that Christian missionaries will fail to mention when quoting "branch quotes" from Jeremiah when evangelizing Jews. However, the Hebrew scriptures spend much more time on the messianic age itself and the glorious redemption of Israel than the messiah himself.1 The messiah figure that is to come at the End of Days is a key function and plays a very important role in the full restoration and redemption of Israel. Therefore, the messiah-branch (in type) is only part of the bigger picture Israel-branch (in type) that is to be fulfilled at the End of Days. The problem with the Christian view is that it attempts to apply references of the messiah as being fulfilled in the 1st. century in order to establish Christianity before the actually events of the End of Days occur.
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To "proof text" what I'm saying is correct concerning "the branch" and its timing in world events I'll use the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 36 is roughly the same) as a measuring stick to compare other messianic prophesies of "the branch" to determine its appearance.
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land... And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them." - Ezekiel 37:21, 24.
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And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds....Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord is OUR righteousness. - Jeremiah 23:3, 5-6
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Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord OUR righteousness. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. Neither shall the priests the Levities want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. - Jeremiah 33:14-18
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Did you notice that the prophesies together are in perfect sequence of events? First there is to be an in-gathering of Israel back to the land of their fathers, then David (a branch) rules the land in righteousness while Israel becomes holy before God. Did any of this happen in the 1st. century? From what I gather from the New Testament and its times, ninety-five percent of the Jewish nation lived outside of the land of Israel, all two-year olds and under toddlers were murdered, Rome subjugated all of Israel - even their religious practices, Jews were horribly crucified by the Romans in their own sovereign land, and an insane Gentile-murderer himself was set up as Israel's puppet-king. Does any of that that sound anything at all like the prophesies of exile-return and of Jerusalem and Israel dwelling in safely, not to mention the horrific events of the temple desecration soon after in 70 CE? Remember that the prophecy of Jeremiah states, "In his days (meaning in the days of David the messiah named in the same prophecy) Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely".
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Notice, Jeremiah 33 mentions that during the days of David the messiah there will be Levities offering meat and burnt offerings and sacrificing continually. Doesn't that sound more like the Ezekiel 37 prophecy where a temple is put in place after the exile return, the appearance of David the messiah, and the holiness and obedience of Israel to their God (Ezekiel 37:22-28) and of the third of final temple that Ezekiel goes into great detail on (Ezekiel chapters 40-48)?
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Isaiah 53:2 describes Israel as a "tender plant" in a dry ground. This description gives an impression of something that is on the brink of dying. This has been Israel's story from the beginning. From Pharaoh at the Red Sea, to Haman, to the Crusades, to the Inquisitions, to Hitler's Holocaust, to the Muslim Brotherhood that is spread throughout several Middle-Eastern countries Israel has been in the cross-heirs of annihilation time and time again.
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Psalms 83:3-5 shows that even in accent times how the Gentile nations will conspire together in seeking the destruction of the Jewish nation. Annihilation attempt after annihilation attempt, Israel has barely survived to world astonishment. Even though Israel was like an non-matured plant in a hostile ground awaiting death, he is promised to be glorified at the End of Days described in a plant-life type:
"I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." - Hosea 14:5-7
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Isaiah 53:2-3
...he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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This portion of scripture gives a lot of descriptions on how the servant of God has been viewed by his oppressors. The descriptions of the servant is as follows:

Being despised (twice stated).

Rejected or isolated from man.

Man of pains - The Hebrew root word is "ka-av" meaning, "to feel pain".

Accustom to illness - The Hebrew word is "cho-lee" meaning illness, and not "grief".

From whom faces were hid.

Was not regarded or esteemed (not highly thought of).

Before going into biblical portion of these negative descriptions of God's servant, I want to pose some post-biblical questions concerning the Jewish people in light of these descriptions.
Question: Could these negative descriptions of the servant be easily applied to the Jewish people in light of the Gentile historical treatment of the Jews?
For example, could the forced Jewish segregation in such places as the rione Sant'Angelo of the Catholic Papal States (now Italy) that lasted for over three hundred years fit Israel as the "rejected" or "isolated" servant?
It was there at rione Sant'Angelo that the Jews were forced to hear the Sunday Church services and had to swear loyalty to the Pope by the Arch of Titus which celebrates the sacking of Jerusalem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Ghetto.

Maybe such places as the Russian-created "Pale of Settlement" that was created to keep Jews restricted and that spawn the Russian riots (Pogroms) could cause them to be identified as "rejected or isolated" from Russian-Gentile society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement? Maybe the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi concentration camps that sprang up all over Gentile-Europe, where one-third of the Jewish population on earth was viciously murdered, might cause them to be identified as that "isolated" servant and "man of pains"?
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As for the Jewish people, another word for "despised" (twice mentioned in the text) is definitely modern "antisemitism". It is the antisemitism within the Gentile soul that causes them to "despise" the Jew. The Gentile world has certainly "not desired" the Jews nor found "beauty" in the Jews or their religion. A Gentile US staff member to the UN Secretariat named Pedro A. Sanjuan, said it best in his non-religious book "The UN Gang":
"Israel has been rejected by every regional grouping, including the European regional association of common interests, as if everyone in the world concurred that Israel was a diseased society that nobody should touch".2

It should be noted that the context in which Sanjuan wrote the above quote was addressing the modern UN-world politics against the State of Israel, while Isaiah 53 or any other type of religious thought was nowhere mentioned in his entire book, much less being alluded to in his context-quote above. Yet we see a striking similarity between the above Gentile description of a perceived "diseased" and "rejected" Jewish-Israel by the modern world Gentile powers and the Gentile confession found in Isaiah 53:2-3. Wow, isn't that something?

While writing this I can't help but think of the Isaiah 53 quoting lady with the big smile that I mentioned in part one of this blog when she said to me about my Judaism beliefs, "you believe in nothing". It makes me wonder what she would be willing to have done with the "nothing Jews" if she were living with the same mindset as she is now during the time of Nazi-Germany, or four hundred and fifty years earlier in Spain in 1492?
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Forced banishment, forced isolation, and government sponsored murder of Jews served the Gentiles in two ways. One, was to "reject" them as equal members of their society and two, the repulsive Jew would not have to be seen among the people. It is interesting that even during the so-called modern day of enlightenment that Jews still suffered just as much and in many cases even more so from Gentile rejection. It is through rejection that the Holocaust could even begin to occur where "Judenrien" meaning "Jew free" was the call. Europe's 2003 survey that placed Israel as "the most dangerous country on earth" from among Iran, North Korea, Syria, and others demonstrated the Jewish rejection as a people in the minds of the Europeans. As for the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) in trying to make way for a Palestinian state, the area of Gaza had to become Jew-free for the exact same principle Hitler wanted Germany Jew-free which was the rejection of the Jewish people as a people!
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It is evident what the Catholic Church was capable of by looking at its long history. It was their Crusade, Inquisition, and pogrom history that help make Israel "the servant" become one of "pains" not to mention the 1933 Vatican-Berlin Concordat where they vowed not to stand in the way of the Nazi government http://www.shoaheducation.com/1933concordat.html.

Now take a look at a quote from the founder and father of Protestantism - Martin Luther, and see if you can easily place Isaiah 53:2-3 descriptions concerning God's servant as the nation of Jews as being:"despised, rejected or isolated from man, being a man of pains, being accustom to illness, being of whom faces were hid, not highly regarded".
“First, their synagogues should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or speared over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or a stone of it.” “Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like Gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives.…”
“Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds...... ”
“Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more…”
“Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural districts since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor
merchants, nor the like. Let them stay home.”
- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies - 1543
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Such statements coming from out of the Gentile world did not begin or end with Martin Luther. Countless Popes, bishops, kings, queens, monarchs, princes, generals, clergymen, and the everyday commoner down through the centuries have not only made such public statements, but have indeed acted upon them with religious motivation. One of many being Adolph Hitler who said, "I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."3
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In modern times, the Jew is still painted and believed to be the "ills of mankind" among the European world, the liberal church denominations of the West, the David Dukes of the world, and the Islamic world, of whom all speak with one united voice against the Jew. Oh yes, the blood libels, the Protocols , the Koran and hadiths, and even Mein Kampf, 4 are still very popular today, all of which contribute to the currency of Isaiah 53:2-3.
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And what does the Bible say in similar fashion as to Isaiah 53:2-3? As Psalms 83:2-4 reveals the Gentile nations' intent on destroying "out of remembrance" (as to 'hide their faces' from) Jeremiah gives us a little more detail:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Consider thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." - Jeremiah 33:23-26 (see also Jeremiah 31:35-36)
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Notice just how deep the Gentile nations' despise towards Israel is: "thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them." Notice likewise how deep God's commitment was in answering such despise for His people, "If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." Notice that the statement, "for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them" is in direct correlation with Ezekiel 37:21-23 that is as I pointed out in part one of this blog, could not have been fulfilled at anytime in the past but only in the future.
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To hit closer to the reading of Isaiah 53 concerning the "despised" portion of the text, Isaiah records how the nations "despise" God who chooses Israel and his prophets, which is the core root behind all historical and future antisemitism!
"Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nations abhors, To the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:7 (see Isaiah 44:1-2 in comparison)
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Isaiah 53:4-6
"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
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Many Christians will ask, "How can Israel bare the sins of the whole (Gentile) world?" The only reason a Christian will ask that in the first place is because he/she believes that the answer has to be in accordance with the Christian mindset where the Hebrew scriptures are first filtered through the New Testament mindset. While the Hebrew- scriptural answer is that no one can take unto themselves another ones sins (see Ezekiel 18:20 hint - hint) sin by its very nature, causes great burdens upon who it most effects. The one who suffers the most from an adulterous affair is not the one(s) who commits the sinful act, but the one who was cheated against - the innocent victim. So to answer that question with a question: "Who was it that was most "pained" over the Gentile-causing Inquisition sin, and the Gentile causing Holocaust sin?" Who was it that carried the burdensome weight of Crusader-sin and Pogrom-sin on their shoulders?" Who is today that suffers the most from the sin called terrorism? Now look down through the chronicles of history and ask yourself, "Who has been the most sin-bearing (persecuted) people?" Isn't it just biblically-amazing that when looking at things in this sin-bearing perspective it just so happens to be the Jews? When this reality hits home among all the Gentiles at the onset of the Messianic Age, the Gentiles will be saying exactly what the Hebrew scriptures foretells they will be saying in Isaiah 53:4-5, as well as in Jeremiah 16:19, Zechariah 8:23.
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I've had people tell me that the Christians have been received more persecutions in other countries such as China, Russia, and of course the Muslim countries. Perhaps this is true on a grand scale due to the fact Jews make up only 0.4 percent of the world's population. However, the persecution of ones faith is not the full issue! Christians as a whole are not a people that have a shared heritage based upon a land, language, and history while the Jews are. Their connection is Israel, Hebrew, and the Bible. Regardless of the continent, country, state, or city, Jews, whether they be Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, all read from the same weekly text, praying in Hebrew, facing Jerusalem. When a Christian leaves his/her faith they are no longer considered Christian period. After reading this blog would you call me a Christian because that was how I was raised and how I believed? However, if a Jew leaves Judaism he is still a Jew, just apostate one. As far as "persecution of religion" goes, the Jews are the only people in the world who are defined by their religion! Modern Israel is the only, and can be the only, Judaism based state in all of the many nations of the world. They are the only people where millions who didn't practice their religion were still murdered because of it! So when it comes to the title of the "Most Persecuted People" the Jews have it hands-down, even if there had never been a Holocaust!
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What sets the Jews apart is their everlasting tribal-covenant that God has with them.
"O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant - Psalms 105:6-10
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. - Isaiah 51:2-3
Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them - Jeremiah 33:25-26

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This covenant that the scriptures above talk about is what the Gentiles have sought to destroy down through the ages and still seek today. Whether it be by persecution, conversion (away from the covenant) or assimilation (away from the covenant) the goal is still the same: "we must rid ourselves of the Jews". This is why Jewish persecution (as unique as it is) is not simply a mishap of humanity, but it's a spiritual matter based upon a biblical purpose. The God of Israel is to be glorified at the End of Days before all nations of the earth.
"Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." - Isaiah 44:23 (see also Isaiah 49:3 in comparison)
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The God of Israel will be so glorified that the Gentile nations who before treated Israel like a drunken father treats his red-headed stepchild, will have to go to Jerusalem, not to pay homage to God during their Santa Clause - Christmas or Easter Bunny - Easter, but during the Jewish festival of Sukkot (see Zachariah 14:15-18). I can guarantee that the George W. Bushes and the Tony Blairs of the world will not be thinking about a Palestinian state and half of Jerusalem as its capital, on their way to Jerusalem (the glorified Jewish capital) to pay their homage to the God of creation of whom it will be made manifest to them, that He has chosen Jerusalem as His resting (habitation) place (see Zachariah 8:3).
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Question to Christians:
Why have the Jews suffered so much from the Roman conquest (a 1st. century Holocaust) the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms, the Holocaust, Islamic terrorism, and all the slander, harassment, blood libels, mayhem, deportations, government forced isolation, forced conversion, and massive murder in between?

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Do you have (the spiritual) answer to this question in your mind? Good. Now, with that spiritual answer in your mind let's read part of Isaiah 53:4. "yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Did you catch a revelation?
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Let's take another look at a quote from the father and founder of Protestantism -Martin Luther while remembering this was somewhat of a prophecy exactly 400 years before Hitler's Holocaust. Answer in your mind if Luther esteemed the Jews to be stricken and smitten of God:

"Even if they were punished in the most gruesome manner that the streets ran with their blood, that their dead would be counted, not in the hundred thousands, but in the millions, as happened under Vespasian in Jerusalem and for evil under Hadrian, still they must insist on being right even if after these 1,500 years they were in misery another 1,500 years, still God must be a liar and they must be correct. In sum, they are the devil’s children, damned to Hell…..The Jews too got what they deserved.” - Martin Luther, Of the Unknowable Name and Generations of Christ - 1543
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It is ironic that the Jews never saw Jesus as someone who was "smitten of God" as in being plagued by God for sin. Yet, this is how the Christian Gentiles view the Jewish perception of Jesus. What is also ironic is the fact that first century Jews of Judea who actually heard of Jesus (about 2 percent of world Jewry at the time due to most Jews living outside of Israel) saw the one man Jesus as a law breaker subject to the Law of Moses, while Gentiles have slaughtered Jews throughout history and throughout all their world-wide lands just because they were Jews!
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Neither did the Jewish communities ever view the Christian people (Christ living within them according to Galatians 2:20) as smitten (plagued) by God for being Christians, even though the Gentiles were the ones acting like the sub-human animals while persecuting the Jews in the name of "Christ"!
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Fact:
It was the Gentiles who brought about a long history of Jew-murdering incidents. One of which was the Crusaders who in 1099 burned alive several hundred Jews in a synagogue in Jerusalem while quoting St. John 15:6 and sang hymns. The following day that partook in "holy communion" in essence communing with God over the murder of Jews. Their inspiration for such "religious acts" was based upon their belief that the Jews according to their beloved New Testament scriptures, was "smitten of God".

Now I'm about to make a very profound statement of which no believing Christian has the right to be upset with, nor should they have the audacity to do so based upon the long held belief of the Church. Even today among all the political correctness, most Christians from all denominations both liberal and conservative, are willing to accept the fact that the Jewish people are responsible for Jesus' death based upon three things:

The Gospels portrayed the Jews as calling for Jesus' blood to be upon them and their children of which there was no other reason for the Gospels to mention this to its readers except for to paint the Jews in such a bad light. (St. Matthew 27:25)
The letters of Paul blasting the Jews as a people (and not as individuals) but never blasted the Gentile Romans from whom his name "Paul" originated, and from whom he benefited from (Acts 22:25-29) as we will see.
The prophecy of Isaiah 53 where "the Jews" according to the Church's view, see their mistake for not recognizing Jesus as their messiah.

Christians have the audacity and the spiritual willingness to charge the entire Jewish nation (of whom 2% or less even knew about Jesus during his lifetime) for his murder but for sure will take an offense of my next statement: Christians as a whole (that means you if the are a Christian reading this) are guilty of the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms, the Holocaust, and every act ever committed against the Jew in the name of Christianity or was carried out with the Church's support! That is right, Jewish blood is spiritually upon you and on your children! Ooh, now how does make you feel Gentile Gospel reader / believer? The same spiritual reasoning (and not one spiritual once less) that Christianity uses to condemn the entire Jewish nation fully comes back upon them, and I dare say, the "Hebrew scriptures" of Isaiah 53 proves this to be true! How about that for some in-your-face Judaism? Remember, I'm an enlightened Gentile. Most all lamb-like (hint- hint) Jews would be way too meek to be religiously brazen to say something as I just did in like manner.
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It should be obvious that since it was the Gentiles who started this people blame-game for religious purposes to begin with, it will be them who eats their own religious hat! It is when this realization of such evil acts as what occurred at Jerusalem in 1099 by so-called Christ-believers comes into view among the Gentiles themselves, then we will hear them confess as a whole what Isaiah 53:4-6 states that the Gentiles will indeed confess.
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I beg to differ with any Christian who denies that antisemitism is present in the New Testament. Countless of innocent Jews have been slaughtered throughout the Christian era based upon how the Jews are painted in the New Testament. Every time the book of St. John states "the Jews" (and believe me, there are several) nine times out of ten "the Jews" are painted in a inherently-evil portrait. It is never the nail-driving Romans with hammer in-hand who committed deocide (the killing of God) but "the Jews" - they are the guilty ones. It's not just any Jews who are guilty of deocide, but "the religious" Jews, who like Satan, deep down in their heart of hearts knew he was a demigod or greater and still killed him.
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Paul, who saw it kosher (pun intended) to go by a Gentile name in order to express his disassociation with the Jews, said it this way: "For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and pleased not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." - I Thessalonians 2:14-16
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What else could the New Testament-believing Europeans believe about those "contrary to all men" Jews concerning responsibility for the Black Plague, the poisoning of Christian water supply, the baking their Passover matzahs with Christian-youth blood, and "Host (literal body of Jesus in the form of a wafer) desecration"? And if you believe that the Europeans went too far in their religious passion based upon their Christian text, then just how much "too far" did they go? Just what are the Jews who "MURDERED GOD" and His prophets capable of in your non-antisemitic mind? Ah yes, it does change things when asked by a question that demands some thought, doesn't it? Are they capable national conspiracies against the Gentiles like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion suggests? Are they the ones who were really behind 9/11 perhaps? And just how much "contrary to all men" are they? How "afflicted" of God's wrath "to the uttermost" are they?5
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The Gentile holy book of the east (that is east of the promise land - Israel) also paints the Jews in an evil portrait. The Koran claims that the Jews were so evil Allah turned them into Apes and pigs, that they were most violent people towards Muslims, that they altered the Torah (something again only Satan could do) that they are NOT God's chosen anymore (similar to Romans 2), that they are the most mischief in going around starting wars that Allah has to put down, and that hell awaits them. And like the Europeans of Christianity, they are inspired to persecute the Jews from the reading of their holy books, the difference being that the New Testament doesn't actually advocate violence against the Jews, just spiritual damnation, whereas the Koran and its corresponding hadiths do advocate violence against the Jews along with the typical spiritual damnation.

Isaiah 53:5-6

But he (was wounded) for our transgressions, he (was bruised) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace (was upon) him; and with his stripes we are healed. We were like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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Verses 5 and 6 reflect a deeper continuance of the Gentiles recognition of their sins upon the Jewish people. A Jewish version of the Christian "Living Bible" translation might go something like this:

"Our transgressions are what wounded him, and our iniquities are what bruised him. Now that we know it was our strips and not God's that was placed upon him, we can for once be healed of our long historical (Holocaust-causing) antisemitism. We all separated ourselves from the God of Israel by creating a thousand different church denominations world-wide all of which claim that our own iniquities that burdened him was God's doing."

One thing that should be noted about the text in the original Hebrew, it reflects a one-time past-tense recognition, not a two-thousand year continuous atonement. The KJV translators wanted the text to represent something ongoing to better fit their ongoing Christianity instead of the one time fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Gentiles at the End of Days.

It's amazing how the very scriptures in Isaiah 53 that speak of the Gentiles recognizing what they have done throughout the ages against the Jews, are the very scriptures that the Gentiles spiritually and physically use to do it!

I will continue with the rest of the chapter (verses 7-9) in part 3 of this blog.
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Notes
1. The Messiah will be a product of the Messianic Age and not the other way around.
2. The UN Gang: A Memoir of Incompetence, Corruption, Espionage, Anti-Semitism, and Islamic Extremism at the UN Secretariat - by Perdro A. Sanjuan - page 89 - copyright 2005
3. Mein Kampf - page 65
4. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44727 and

http://www.freeman.org/m_online/oct99/meinkampf.htm
5. Like the visiting "messianic" leader David Bricker stated on August 17, 2008 at Sarah Palin's Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla, Alaska, that suggested Palestinian terrorism was God's judgment of Israel's refusal to adopt the Christian faith> http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/09/palin-the-jewish-vote.html Of course as a punch back, I would like to suggest to Brickner (Yimach Sh'mo V'zichroa) that the terrorism and horrors of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City Federal Murrah Building was Elohim's judgment upon the leading Gentiles of the world (Americans) for their refusal to accept Judaism, and that Al-Queda is God's tool of punishing America for allowing "Jews for Jesus" to operate within her borders! I'm not trying to offend the Messianics, for my prayer is that all "Jews for Jesus" repeat of their polytheistic Trinity and come to the Light of Judaism (Isaiah 44:6,24 / Isaiah 60:1-3).

The Suffering Servent of Isaiah 53 - Part One

2008-07-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

A religious statement was once made in my presence by a Christian woman of which I openly agreed with her. With a big smile on her face she asked me if I went to church in the area nearby. When I told her my faith was Jewish that big smile she had immediately left her face as she proclaimed very vehemently that I believed in "nothing". It didn't dawn on her that such an attack on my faith opened up a justifiable response that from my prospective her form of Christianity is as "nothing" to me as my Judaism was to her. This was something I would have done had I not been convinced that she was totally clueless of Judaism, or for that matter, her "Old Testament".

Come to find out, this woman had never had an experience with God and was totally relying on what her pastor who she kept bringing up during the conversation, tells her. I ask her what scripture of the "Old Testament" most tells her that Jesus was the Jewish messiah. Of course, she, like most Christians, pointed to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah as a prophesy of Jesus' suffering. When I told her that the suffering servant was indeed the nation of Israel, she kept shaking her head from side to side (still without that big original smile on her face) stating that Israel was never a servant. It was then that I knew this religious woman was clueless of the Hebrew Bible, or her Old Testament for that matter.1

Therefore, while knowing that women will never read this blog, I'm dedicating this blog to her and the rest of the Judaism-hating Christian religious women with big smiles on their faces, who don't know the Bible that they say they believe as the word of God.
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Two questions come to mind when first approaching Isaiah's suffering servant.

Was the nation of Israel considered a "servant" in the prophet Isaiah's own eyes?

Has the nation of Israel "suffered" as God's servant?

The first question is quite easy to answer given the fact that we have Isaiah's own words revealing the fact of Israel's servantship:
"But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." - Isaiah 41:8
"Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.." - Isaiah 44:1
"Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me." - Isaiah 44:21
"And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." - Isaiah 49:3
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From Isaiah 41:8 until the beginning of chapter 53 Israel is referred to as God's servant no less than sixteen times! Therefore, without a scriptural doubt, Israel was and is a biblically declared servant leading up to Isaiah 53. 2
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The second question, "Has the nation of Israel suffered as God's servant?" is almost a comical question. It's like asking if the Buffalo Bills has ever lost any major football games such as Super Bowls.3 Besides the sad fact of how much Israel has suffered, any question to their suffering can be answered with a question: "What nation throughout world history has been most persecuted through banishment, forced isolation, forced conversions, government-sponsored terrorism and mayhem, and industrialized murder?" Even new words such as "antisemitism" and "genocide" have arisen within the English language in response to such suffering of the Israelite nation! In fact, it has been said, "antisemitism is the second oldest profession known to man"! Such statements are attempts to somehow reflect the vastness of Israels' suffering throughout world history.
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In comparison, the long historical sufferings brought about by the Roman conquest, the Inquisitions, the pogroms, the mind-blowing Holocaust, and the never-ending Muslim terrorism, far outweighs the suffering of one man's / one day crucifixion. The question then becomes, "Is Isaiah 53 talking about a literal one day execution of one single man or millennias of unjust persecutions of an entire people who just so happens to be His "Chosen People"?

FACT: Jesus' own crucifixion can be counted among the Israelite sufferings due to it being a Roman political execution, one of thousands preformed by the Romans on Jews while in occupied Jewish land. In suffering alone, Jesus' suffering was not unique. Thousands of Jews (and Gentiles) died upon Roman crosses as did Jesus. On the other hand, the Israelite nation's sufferings are very unique as the most persecuted people in human history and of whom the single greatest crime of mankind (the Holocaust) was orchestrated against! The Jews have been suffering at the hands of the Gentile nations long before, during, and long after the time of Jesus. In this present day there are several organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah vowing Israel's torture and death, while the world powers (the Quartet) overwhelmingly supports Israel's enemies.
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ANOTHER FACT: Israel is a declared "servant" by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah. This is not a matter of faith. All it takes is just an ability to read the words of Isaiah and to comprehend what was read. This is something that cannot be said concerning Jesus. Jesus' servanthood has to be taken as a matter of "faith". Therefore, when it comes to who is best fitted for description of one who suffers as God's "declared" servant, Israel the nation, wins hands-down.
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The text and context of Israel 53
It must be noted that chapters divisions and numbering of verses of the biblical texts were of medieval-Christian origin, and far from being part of the original text. Jewish Bibles adopted most of this Christian numbering system as late as 1330 CE, about two thousand years after the text was first given. http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/quotes/bible.asp?level=3

The context of Isaiah 53 does not begin at verse 1 of the chapter, but three verses earlier in verse 13 of the 52nd. chapter. You say you want proof of this? I'll let you the reader establish your own proof. If you are a Christian who believes Isaiah 53 concerns only Jesus, then consider of whom Isaiah 52:13 (three verse earlier) is talking about:

"Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."

If you believe this verse is talking about Jesus, then you yourself agree that the context of God's servant in Isaiah 53 is connected with the "servant context" just three verses prior to Isaiah 53.

If it's not Jesus, then who is this "exalted servant" of God? I rest my case on this "connection of context" issue.

Quick Test for Christians (and Jews):

What is Isaiah 53 about? You say the suffering servant? Very good.
Now, because I know you know your Bible really well, what is Isaiah 52 about? Not a clue?
What is Isaiah 54 about? Still, not a clue?

It interesting to note that when it comes to "Old Testament" readings most Christians are most familiar with scriptures that in their minds point to Jesus rather than all the scriptures as a whole. This is because they view the Hebrew scriptures through the window of the "New Testament" (or "New Covenant" as pertaining to the Christian Messianics) rather than the what the Hebrew scriptures gives on their own. It is the same principle as the Mormons viewing the New Testament through the window of the Book of Mormons, though I give Paul a lot more spiritual credit than Joseph Smith.
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Since one can say for absolute certain that the last three verses in Isaiah 52 are connected with Isaiah 53, time needs to be spent examining chapter 52 because it indeed sets the stage for Isaiah 53. In fact, Isaiah 52 blends right into Isaiah 53.

Isaiah Chapter 52
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith YHVH, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith YHVH GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. - Isaiah 52:1-4
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From the reading of the first four verses of Isaiah 52 can we conclude from the subject-nouns of Zion, Jerusalem, and holy city, that the context is obviously talking about the "servant" of Isaiah 41:8, Isaiah 44:1, Isaiah 44:21, Isaiah 49:3? Is there any chance that the words in verse 2 "Shake thyself from the dust; arise," has anything at all to do with the servant being exalted just eleven verses later in verse 13? "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."Any chance at all?
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Verse 4 tells us that Israel was oppressed without cause: "My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." What? Is there no mention within the context of Isaiah 52:4 of "Israel's sins" involved in this Gentile oppression of Israel here? Are the Christians who normally render every persecution of the Jewish people on their so-called "rejection of Jesus" forced to keep silent here on this Biblically proclaimed unjust Gentile persecution of the Jewish people?

Bringing this biblical context into modern times, Hitler's Europe, like Assyria of Isaiah's time, also oppressed Israel without a cause as well. The Islamic world carries the "Israel oppression without a cause" torch in this present day!

Is it too far fetched of a biblical reading revelation that this biblical description of God's servant "oppression them without cause" found in Isaiah 52:4 is directly linked to the "oppression" (without cause implied) found in verse 7 of Chapter 53 which reads "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted"?
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There are many reasons why I chose to learn Biblical Hebrew and the following is one of them. The KJV translates the Hebrew in verse 4 of chapter 52 "va-ashur ba-ephes ashak-o" as "and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." However, that is incorrect. I agree that such a translation makes the English more understandable, for even some Jewish translations are similar, but that is not how the holy script in the original language was given! The word ashak meaning "to oppress" is given in the affixed form with the objected suffix pronoun letter "vav" (but is the holem maleh vowel) attached to the end of the verb, making the verb be applied with a singular-masculine pronoun.

The precise correct translation from the original Hebrew should be: "and Assyria without cause, oppressed him". The singular "him" meaning the "single servant" that will be referred to in the coming verses. Feel free to check out what I'm saying. Obtain a Biblical Hebrew grammar book (preferably edited by Christian scholars) and the Tanach (the Jewish Bible in Hebrew) and learn the objected suffix pronouns and then read it in Hebrew for yourself. Also, keep this in mind when we go through chapter 53 in part three of this blog, for we will see the exact opposite in verb pronoun formation where the plural was translated as being singular.
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A further examination of chapter 52 reveals certain spiritual details about this servant:

Verses 5 and 6: God's people knowing God's Name of YHVH on a personal level.
Verses 7 and 8: The salvation of Zion (not the Gentile world, but Zion)
Verse 9: The redemption of Jerusalem (Zion, by name)
Verse 10: The Gentile world bears witness of God's salvation of Zion. Notice the words "salvation our God" and not just" salvation of God".
Verse 11: The commandment to be clean before YHVH.
Verse 12: The "God of Israel" is their reward.

All of these events found here in chapter 52 are also found elsewhere in prophecy Hebrew scriptures:

God's people knowing His name: "So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more." - Ezekiel 39:7 (Compared with Isaiah 52:5-6)
The salvation of Zion: "Thus saith YHVH; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth" - Zechariah 8:3 (Compared with Isaiah 52:7-8)
The redemption of Jerusalem: "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness." - Zachariah 8:8 (Compared with Isaiah 52:9)
The Gentile world bears witness of God's salvation of Zion: "And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28 (Compared with Isaiah 52:10)
The commandment to be clean before God: "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." - Ezekiel 44:23 (Compared with Isaiah 52:11)
God of Israel" is their reward: "yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." - Ezekiel 37:27 (Compared with Isaiah 52:12)

Now we're back to the last three verses of chapter 52 again where a new thought begins in addition to the previous twelve verses. Isaiah 52:13 is where the fourth and last servant song begins with the servant being promised to be exalted as the prior verses indicate.
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Isaiah 52:14 "As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men"
The Holocaust as a whole was the most despicable action known to the history of man. Great evil arose from out of Germany and spread among many European peoples. There were no shortages of Hitler's European willing executioners! What came out in Nazi-Germany wasn't something new under the sun as Solomon has informed us in Ecclesiastes 1:9, but what has been in the hearts of the Gentiles since ancient times then was brought out on a massive and technologically-advanced level! Pharaoh, Haman, Muhammad, the Popes, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisitioners, and the Pogromers didn't have fast moving cattle-cars and Zyklon-B pellets at their disposal.
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Many depictions of Jews as vermin and other non-human animals came out of Nazi-Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Jew and the official Nazi party indoctrinated its people that the Jews were "untermensch" (under-human or sub-human) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch

During the Spanish Inquisition, the Jews were known as "marranos" meaning "pigs", and Gentiles could be put to death for acts of bestiality and sodomy for have sexual relations with a Jew. Medieval folklore caused the actual belief that all Jews had indeed grew devil horns on their heads. When I see these historical phenomenons along with the Muslim Koran - dating back from the seventh century - that today billions in the world believe as the "revelation from Allah" stating that the Jews are as "donkeys" and were turned into "pigs" and "apes" (suras 5:59-60, 7:166, 62:5) I'm reminded of Isaiah 52:14.

Isaiah 52:14 is describing the "psychology of the nations" view towards the Jewish people down through the ages. It is an interesting fact that this Gentile concept of the Jew has been so vast that Gentiles living before the television and the internet who had never seen or known a Jew became actual shocked on that how the Jew resembles a normal human!
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As far as this servant being marred by crucifixion, I would recommend the reading of the book entitled "The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Christian Anti-Semitism" by Dan Cohn-Sherbok http://www.amazon.com/Crucified-Jew-Centuries-Christian-Anti-Semitism/dp/0802843115
And the answer is "yes" for all you who have a touch of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion - spiritual conspiracy" on the brain and don't know it, Mr. Cohn-Sherbok is Jewish. But that just means his book has a more personal viewpoint of the Jewish people being of victims of Gentile aggression than does a conspiring evil shylock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shylock attempting to replace a Jesus-verse out of his own Hebrew Bible for a Jewish one. 4
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Isaiah 52:15
"So shall he sprinkle (shake) many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."

It must first be noted that the "many nations" in this verse are Gentile nations. Never does the word "goyim" in the Hebrew Bible refer the non-gentile single nation of Israel. Secondly, the subject of "the kings" (given in the plural) is the continuation of the first mentioned "many nations" context of the verse. The verse moves the subject matter from addressing Gentile peoples themselves to the leadership and political arena of those "many nations" which is their "kings".

Fact: The Herodian Dynasty that was ruling over Israel during the time of Jesus was not of Jewish descent and were puppet kings that was put in place by the Roman Senate.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodian_Dynasty

The Christian notion that Isaiah 52:15 refers to Jesus transforming the Jewish nation can not be further from the truth. It is the Gentile nations as a single unit that are being shook up over something they have never considered, but shall indeed witness.

Also Isaiah 52:15 is very consistent with what the Hebrew Bible does and doesn't do throughout its entire message, especially in the "Israel redemptive section" of Isaiah (chapters 40-66).

The Hebrew Bible never, I repeat, NEVER prophesies or even implies in the slightest way that the Hebrew nation turns to the Gentiles for their understanding of God.
The Hebrew Bible prophesies in many places show how the Gentiles as a whole, will turn to the Jewish people for a correct understanding and worship of the God of Israel. Here is the list from the book of Isaiah alone: Isaiah 2:2-3, 11:10-12, 42:1-6, 49:6-7, 52:10, 52:15, 54:3, 55:5, 60:3, 60:10-12, *60:16-21, *61:6-11, 62:6-7, 66:18-20.

Most Christians will try to spiritualize the Hebrew prophecy of Gentile recognition of Israel as being related to the vast number of Gentiles becoming Christians under Jewish-Christian leadership at the beginning of the Christian era. However, some of these scriptures are impossible to deny, and when compared altogether, they become overwhelming for the Christian faith.
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Let's take a look at Zechariah 8:23 for an example where it prophesies that the Gentiles will take a hold of a Jew in seeking the correct path to God. One might argue that ten Gentiles will grab hold of Jesus, Peter, or Paul in fulfilling that prophecy. However, when the same scene of Gentile recognition is setup by the prophet Ezekiel it becomes very difficult for the Christian apologist to keep such claims. Consider the uniformity and closeness of the two prophesies:
"Thus saith YHVH of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall 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." - Zechariah 8:23
"And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28
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Does it not become very clear that the Gentiles shall finally know (implying that they never have known before this prophesied-fulfilled time) that the God of Israel does sanctify Israel, are the same Gentiles grabbing unto a Jew in finding a true path to God? There is a very spiritual and profound reason why the Ezekiel prophecy and the Zachariah prophecy mentions Gentile recognition. These prophets did not just mentioning it in passing when writing their holy script.
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In the short verses above the two prophecies relate on two accounts. One, is Israel's spiritual glorification, and the second is the Gentile recognition of that glorification. It is a greater stretch to say that they are fulfilled thousands of years apart than to say they are simply fulfilled at the same time. It is according to prophecy that the Gentiles turn to glorified Israel (the same glorified Israel that returns to the land in a massive in-gathering and becomes holy before God) not some Jewish cult during the exile!!!
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As I pointed in my open letter to Hank Hanegraaff

http://zionism-now.blogspot.com/2007/08/letter-to-hank-henegraaff.html the Ezekiel prophecy could not have happened during the Babylonial return of the 6th. century BCE because one, only about 5% of the Jewish exiles actually returned which would not fulfill other scripture-prophecy of return (see Isaiah 27:12 / Ezekiel 36:24). Because of this low Jewish percentage rate of return from Babylon is also why we have today the "Babylonian Talmud". And two, the Ezekiel prophecy states that the messiah (a descendant of Kind David) will rule the Jewish nation which could not have happened during the time of the Babylonian return.
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Neither could the Ezekiel prophecy be fulfilled during the time of Jesus since Israel was being ruled by Rome and the Jewish nation mostly lived outside "the land of their fathers" during the 1st. century CE which goes totally against the context of the Ezekiel prophecy (see St. John 7:35 compared to Ezekiel 37:25).
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Also, the Ezekiel prophecy consists of a temple lasting forever (Ezekiel 37:27-28) , while the Herodian Temple that stood during Jesus' time was completely destroyed 37 years after Jesus' life in 70 CE. Therefore, this Ezekiel prophecy in all of its context can only, I repeat can ONLY, be fulfilled at a future date. And if the Ezekiel prophecy is indeed set for the future, then so is all the other prophecies of the same event including Zechariah 8:23.
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Now allow me to through in a "servant-prophecy" scripture into the "Gentile-recognizing prophecy scriptures" for a conformation, and watch how all three scriptures compliment each other in painting the true and perfect end-time scene.
"So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider." - Isaiah 52:15"
"Thus saith YHVH of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall 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." - Zechariah 8:23
"And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28
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Yes, the Gentiles who shut their mouths and consider something about Israel that they had never considered according to prophecy, are the same Gentiles grabbing unto a Jew because they know "God is with them" according to prophecy and that "God does sanctify" them according to prophecy. Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.
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With these things in mind, one can begin to understand Isaiah 53 which the continence of the fourth servant song of Isaiah that consists of Israel being exalted before the nations and the Gentiles recognizing it! Isaiah 53 begins with the Gentiles' response under "shock and awe" in recognizing Israel's exaltation. They begin to speak about what they have began to spiritually recognize. And it is from there (Isaiah 53:1) is where I will continue the second part of this blog.
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Notes
1. Even the New Testament states that Israel is God's servant. "He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy" - Luke 1:54. This New Testament verse shows the 1st. century Jewish mindset towards the mentioning of "God's servant" throughout the Hebrew Bible including the servant songs found in Isaiah's writings.

2. There are four "servant songs" throughout the "redemptive portion" of the book of Isaiah (chapters 40-66). First servant song - Isaiah 42:1-4, second servant song - Isaiah 49:1-6, third servant song - Isaiah 50:4-9, and fourth servant song - Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12.
3. I heard someone say that an acronym for "Bills" is: "Boy, I love losing Super-Bowls".
4. I mention this because of two personal accounts. One was a racially-aware feminist-liberal who believes America should let anybody and everybody come and live within her borders based upon what I call the "Rainbow-brotherhood doctrine". When I got her to read part of a newspaper editorial column condemning the religious evils of Islam the first words from out of her mouth concerning the columnist who wrote the article was, "Is she Jewish?" as if being Jewish created a strike against the columnist that she must use when evaluating her opinion. It seems the self-proclaimed enlighten ones regarding racism are not so enlightened, at least not spiritually. The second incident occurred when the James Ossuary was still being tested and dated. A Christian-conservative who generally favored Israel, suggested to me that Israel (the Jews) might deliberately falsify their findings on the ossuary in order to further deny Jesus and Christianity. This kind of thought process comes from being effected by the antisemitic portions of the New Testament that portrays Jews as being inherently evil towards Christianity, and for that matter, all mankind (see I Thessalonians 2:14-15). How someone really feels about another can be manifested of what a person is likely to believe about someone. In a small way he was mimicking the mindset of the Christian Europeans in their "Blood Libels" and the "Protocols of the Learn Elders of Zion" conspiracy without realizing it. It turns out that a Jew named Oded Golan forged the writing on the ossuary naming James as the brother of Jesus. I guess one could call him a "Jew for Jesus" in the archaeological world.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel: From the Destruction of the First Temple to the Destruction of the Second

2008-04-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel is the most widely used prophecies used by the Protestant for their end-of-time scenarios, even more than their own book of Revelations because they have to use the book of Daniel in order to place the book of Revelations. According to dispensationalist Christians sixty-nine weeks of the seventy (Daniel 9:25-27) were completed at the death of Jesus, leaving just one week left. After the death of Jesus, the running-time of the seventy weeks takes a break while the dispensation of the "Gospel / Gentile era" begins. That remaining week (The Seventieth Week of Daniel) is indeed known as the "Tribulation Period" and can only begin its running-time (to play out the full seventy weeks) after the church is taken up in the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) completing the Gospel / Gentile time (Romans 11:25,26) as the "Jewish time" starts back up again. It is during this Jewish-time of the seventieth and final week that the Jews (144,000 of them - Rev. 7:4-8) turns to Jesus or as their messiah.
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This sixty-nine weeks of Jewish time, followed by two millenniums of Gentile time, followed by another one-week Jewish time, is known to Christian theologians as the "Gap Theory". Needless to say, this is not how the observant Jews to Judaism view their scripture. And there are a lot of scriptural questions raised by such a view.
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Orthodox Judaism agrees little with this pre-Millennium Christian view concerning the Daniel seventy-week prophecy, but there are some things they both agree on. Both views hold that Daniel was a Jewish prophet to his people the Jews, whereby they (the Jews) would play a major role in the fulfillment of this prophecy. Also, within Daniel's prophecy, each day of the seventy weeks are counted for a year based upon the Hebrew scriptures Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.
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People who know me, know that I am a stickler for staying with the context of scripture. That is one thing that I've learn to do in coming to embrace Judaism as the spiritual and religious concept closest to the heart of the God of Israel. One of my pet peeves is to see a Gentile (like myself) parachute into a verse of scripture and come up with a whole scenario from that verse that they parachuted into, that is totally outside the context that surrounds that very scripture, then have the audacity to claim "duel prophecy" when challenged on it.
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One Hebrew text where this so frequently occurs is where Jesus is portrayed as being recognized by the Jews by his nailed "pierced" hands when he tells them that he received them in "the house of his friends" - his fellow countrymen, the Jews (Zechariah 13:6). This scripture is used on "witnessing" tracks to the Jewish people by the messianics and other Christian groups and organizations in order to get them to convert, of which no doubt works on Jews who don't know their scriptures. But when one examines the "whole text" (Zechariah 13:2-6) it then becomes very clear that the one with the wounds is nothing other that a lying false prophet trying to disguise his false prophethood! One could actually argue that it's talking about Muhammad rather than Jesus. And if this sounds offensive to you as a Christian, then I would invite you to read the entire context (Zechariah 13:2-6) out loud! To believe that this scripture is talking about the "anointed one" (mashiach in Hebrew) that is to come at the End of Days for the salvation of the nation of Israel gets even more outrageous when the context is read and understood in the original Hebrew.
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This kind of "parachuting into the text" occurs almost every single time when the Seventy Weeks prophecy is expounded upon by dispensationalist Christians. It is always the last three verses in the entire chapter (Daniel 9:24-27) that is most mentioned without ever tying the preceding twenty-three verses to those last three verses (Daniel 9:1-23) together for an understanding of the complete context. After reading the complete context we must begin to analyze the context itself as a whole. There are three main subjects of which this text is concerned with and addresses:

The Jews, a.k.a. "Israel / "God's People" in their breaking of the covenant (Daniel 9:5-16)
Jerusalem, a.k.a. "God's city" (Daniel 9:16, 18,19)
The Temple, a.k.a. "Holy Mountain" / "Sanctuary" (Daniel 9:16, 17)

All three subjects (Jews, Jerusalem, and the Temple) are reaffirmed as the main concerns of the text in Daniel 9:24-25 (the scriptures dispensational Christians love to quote). One thing the text is not about, but lays a foundation for, is the messiah. The Latin word "messiah" that the King James Version (KJV) translators used with a capital "M" in Daniel 9:25,26 is injected into the English text. Biblical Hebrew does not have capital letters, so one must wonder why did the KJV translators translate the meaning of "an anointed one" into one English word using a capital letter in the middle of a sentence? The Hebrew word "mashiach" that is used on many occasions throughout the Hebrew Bible (38 times in all) is never translated into English as "Messiah" throughout the KJV as it is in Daniel 9:25,26. There is a reason for this. The Christian KJV translators had an agenda to interpolate (not translate) the meaning of the Hebrew word mashiach as the one to come at the End of Days. This is also why the KJV translators used the definite article "the" before the Latin word messiah in their English translation. They wanted to give their interpolation more credibility. However, there is no definite article (the Hebrew letter "hay" that comes before and is connected to a noun) before the word mashiach in this Hebrew text. I will work my way down to this mashiach (anointed) from the beginning of the text.
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Daniel 9:1-3
Daniel was part of the Jewish refugees from the land of Israel living in Babylon. He knew that the Jewish prophet Jeremiah had prophesied that after 70 years the Jews would return to their homeland (Jeremiah 25:12). As the time of the 70 years was drawing close to expire, Daniel saw no change in his people and began to fear that God would decide not to bring them out of captivity even after the 70 years had expired. Thus, he began to cry out to God and confess the sins of his people.
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Daniel 9:4-15
I have often said that Psalms 51 is the best "sinners' prayer" that an individual can pray, but when it comes to the sinners' prayer for the nation of Israel, Daniel stands head and shoulders above everyone else. For twelve straight verses he cries out confessing the sins of Israel of not "rejecting the messiah" as the Jews are viewed among the Christian world today, but rather for forsaking their Law of Moses! This is key when it comes to understanding their redemption at the End of Days that the 70 weeks are to give way to. In staying with same mindset of the entire context, we can understand what righteousness is when it speaks of it in verse 24 (towards the end of the text) by what unrighteousness is at the beginning of the same exact text (verses 5-15). And get this: It will coincide perfectly with the Torah -Deuteronomy 6:25, and the prophets - Ezekiel 37:22-24 / Malachi 3:22 (4:1)
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Daniel 9:16-19
Daniel begins to pray for the sake of the three things most dear to him (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) His people, the Jews. Notice again that the three things that the text has Daniel being most concerned about does not include the messiah. Nor does Daniel pray for a "spiritual Israel" to come on the scene to "replace" the physical one. Rather Daniel followed like unto Moses and prayed for the nation of Israel to be spared judgment for her many sins and be brought to righteousness (Deuteronomy 9:13-29).
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Daniel 9:20-23
After Daniel's confession of his people's sins and his speedy intersession on their behalf because he knows the Jeremiah prophecy of 70 years is about up, it is then that the angel Gabriel visits Daniel to give him understanding concerning three things (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) The Jews - of which he just completed supplicating unto the Lord concerning. Notice again, Gabriel did not come to give Daniel understanding concerning "the messiah" or a "spiritual Israel" replacement. He only came to address the things Daniel had just inquired God about being that Daniel in his righteousness (such as keeping the "evening oblation") was so loved by God. We must stay with the context and only what the text states!
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Daniel 9:24-27
It is here that Gabriel announces a 70 week period concerning (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) the Jews. He gives Daniel the understanding that Jews would indeed return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple but that this would be during a time of trouble (verse 25). The 70 week period is a continued time of judgment towards Israel for her sins which didn't include a sin of "rejecting the messiah" but rather for forsaking the Law of Moses (verses 11-13). It is during this 70 week period that we learn three things concerning judgment of Daniel's rebuilt temple.

From its beginning, the second temple did not hold the beauty and splendor of the Solomon temple it replaced (see Haggai 2:3).
The second temple as Daniel 9:25 indicates, went through a time of trouble. Even Jerusalem's protection wall had to be built with "sword in hand" (see Nehemiah 4:18). This was just the opposite circumstance of the time of peace as when Solomon build the first temple while the other nations assisted in the project, and while no nation would dare attack Israel. It was during this 70 weeks of Daniel that Israel lost their sovereignty (including the spiritual center of Jerusalem) over their scriptural promised land to other nations (which in itself is a sign of judgment (Deut. 28:49 / Dan. 9:7) while the temple itself was desecrated with foreign gods and even pig's blood.
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/details/hanukkah.htm
The second temple was glorified with gold and the temple mount was doubled its original size by a non-Jewish murdering king who killed his own family members, picked non-Levitical priests to serve in the temple, and was a puppet for the Roman Empire. The Romans even had their own building (the Antonio Fortress) adjacent to the temple mount and the Holy of Holies to oversee that the temple services run according to Roman interests. This temple was destined to fall during Daniel's 70 weeks, along with its evil priests as the final verses of Daniel 9 indicates.

To look further into the 70 week judgment period toward Israel, notice the number of years that the full 70 weeks amount up to: 490 years. That number might not seem significant unless you take into account the 7 times rule promised in the Torah of Moses that Daniel had just acknowledge they had broken. "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." - Leviticus 26:18
God had already hit Israel with a 70 years period of judgment as Jeremiah prophesied concerning Babylon (Jeremiah. 29:10). But because Israel did not hearken unto their God, He did as He promised in Leviticus 26:18, and issued a period of judgment of "seven times more" the seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah (70 x 7 = 490 years). So when Christians claim that the second temple was destroyed because the Jews rejected Jesus, the biblical fact that the second temple was destroyed because the Jews rejected Moses' law (that reached its climax and the end of the 70 weeks) over four hundred years before Jesus, can be pointed out to answer that claim.
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The Gap Theory (as pictured above) has a hard time holding water in light of the Jewish scriptures. To inject two thousand Gentile years (four times the amount) into the midst of a 490 year Jewish period seems far fetched, but this "revelation" was originally conceived in order to Christianize (therefore Gentile-izing) the Jewish text. If any outsiders from both Christian and Judaism influences were to read the text, they would never come away with the notion that "extra time" beyond the stated 490 years is present within the text! The fact is, one can no more place "extra time" inside the 490 years time period than they can place extra time inside the original 70 year Babylon period that Jeremiah prophesied of, for they are both connected together! To place an "undetermined" amount of Gentile time within a "determined" Jewish time (see Dan.9:24) makes the whole prophecy undetermined and therefore non-biblical. It's kind of like a little leaven leavens all the lump (I Cor. 5:6 / Gal. 5:9). Even though I righteously hate the Palestinian-loving / Jew-hating preterists, they do make a good case for Judaism on this issue without knowing or acknowledging it, as do the Seven Day Adventist concerning the Jewish Shabat (Sabbath).
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In most Christian graphs of Daniel 70 weeks, the first 69 weeks are shown as one complete section of weeks. The picture above shows 483 years (the total number of 69 weeks). However, that is not how the Jewish text was given. In fact, the number "69" appears absolutely nowhere in the entire ninth chapter of Daniel. From the King James Version we have the following: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks..." -Daniel 9:25 There is an official split amidst the first 69 of the 70 weeks that Christian eschatologist refuse to acknowledge. In fact, the original 1611 edition of the King James Version didn't place a comma between the first seven weeks and the following sixty-two weeks as shown above, but instead actually placed a semicolon between the two sections of weeks. In no language, ancient or modern, would one express the number "69" as "7 and 62". The reason the Christian eschatologists don't acknowledge the two separate sections of weeks (one being seven weeks, the other being sixty-two weeks) is because they seek to emerge the two mashiachs "anointed ones" mentioned in both sets of weeks as being one "Messiah". This is also their reasoning for changing the Hebrew word "anointed" to "messiah", capitalizing the "M" of messiah (something they hadn't done nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible) and adding a definite article before their changed word in order to have the text referring to Jesus. However, if we wish to stay with the Hebrew text while continuing within the context is was written in, we have to acknowledge that there are two different anointed ones separated by 62 weeks (434 years).
This acknowledgment alone puts Jesus into question as to the one of whom the text is referring.
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The Gentile Messiah
If the Hebrew word mashiach can mean the Latin word messiah with a capital "M", then Cyrus was indeed a Gentile Messiah! The following are Cyrus' biblical credentials as the "Messiah" of the first set of Seven weeks in Daniel 9:25:

Cyrus is twice mentioned in two separate biblical writings (Ezra 1:1 / 2 Chron. 36:22) in connection with Jeremiah's 70 year prophecy of which is also mentioned in Daniel 9:2.
Cyrus is named by the God of Israel Himself before Cyrus even came unto the scene as being "God's personal shepherd" (a title of messiahship) in connection with Jerusalem (the city) being built and the temple foundation laid. Compare the scriptures of Isaiah 44:28 and Daniel 9:25 while remembering the three main topics of Daniel's 70 weeks (1) Jerusalem (2) the Temple (3) the Jews.
Isaiah 45:1 could be read this way: "Thus saith the LORD to His Messiah - Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut." Cyrus' His right hand (of power) is held by God Himself to subdue the nations of the world before him, where kings honor him? Wow, what an endorsement for messiahship!

Cyrus' anointment was during the time of Daniel, and his life was connected with a big part of the Book of Daniel, including his referral to Jeremiah. With all these messianic attributes ascribed to Cyrus by God Himself regarding Jerusalem and the temple, surely, Daniel's prophecies of Jerusalem and the temple would include "Cyrus the mashiach"!
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Cyrus fulfills the first set of weeks (seven) by declaring as the messiah the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple 49 years (seven, seven years) after the destruction of the first temple*: "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." - Ezra 1:2
Notice, that Cyrus in his messianic role, does exactly what the Jewish messiah will do at the End of Days, which is to build the third and final temple (see Ezekiel 37:24-28).
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The second set of weeks (sixty-two) speaks of the troubled times that would follow the rebuilding of the second temple. Not only did the construction workers of Jerusalem's wall have to carry a sword in hand (Neh. 4:18) and Antiochus Epiphanes murdered Jews including temple priests, outlaw the Torah and Judaism, and offer of pig in the temple, but the Jews themselves steeped into great sin. Many Jews during this sixty-two weeks embraced Antiochus and Hellenism much like the liberal Jews of today embrace the UN resolutions against Israel and join the peaceniks. Things got even worse after Israel lost there sovereignty to the Romans. The Gospels of the New Testament speaks a lot about the corruption among the spiritual leaders of Israel during the first century, but the "Works of Josephus" really spells out what happened spiritually to Israel towards the end. Murder, (like in the depiction of Hosea 4:2) was so widespread the Sanhedrin wouldn’t even judge them as homicide! In fact, the Sanhedrin Council was regarded as a “Killer's bias Den”. Even when they were under siege by the Roman army, the Jews in different groups were killing each other. They would be starving while rationing their food because they were under siege and different groups of Jews would destroy each others stored food supply. It is no wonder God cleared the land in judgment as He promised He would do in the last verse of Daniel 9! It is in the downgraded spiritual atmosphere after sixty-two weeks that the second mashiach (anointed) comes into view.
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The Jewish view of the second mashiach that is noted after sixty-two weeks is not righteous just like the one in Zachariah 13:6 is not righteous. This mashiach is "cut off" in judgment for some of the same reasons of Israel's sins during the 1st century as listed above. It is note-worthy that the Hebrew word "karaat" for "cut off" as applied to this second mashiach is never applied to a righteous person throughout the Hebrew scriptures, but only towards an evil person as judgment. Also, the Hebrew words "va-ayn-lo" that depicts this second mashiach literally means, "and nothing (of) him" meaning, "nothing is left of him" for he is completely eradicated. This is also a judgment term. This mashiach is the anointed high priest (priests) of the doomed temple, anointed as in "ordained by the people". The word mashiach comes from the root word "mashach" meaning "to smear oil". Kings, prophets, and priests can be mashiachs due to their position and not necessarily by God's calling. Even the murderous King Saul was considered "anointed" (see I Samuel 24:10).
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The temple was suppose to be the spiritual center of the Jewish nation with the priests and high priest its guardians. However, because of Israel's deep sin God showed His displeasure by focusing in on and destroying the ones of the highest religious calling. The entire reading of verse 26 is concerning judgment, and judgment only! Immediately after the mashiach is cut off (down) look at the following words: "and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood...". First, the priestly function is cut off and tied in with that major event and to complete the last and final week, the whole city and temple mount is completely destroyed. The finial vengeance of God's anger of Israel's sin. Notice, that the cutting off of the high priests and the temple's total destruction are tied to the last week of 70 CE and not 40 years (about 5 1/2 weeks worth of Daniel weeks) earlier in Jesus' time.
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Here is a question I have for the evangelical dispensationalists, gap-theory, tribulation-believing Christians regarding Daniel 9:27 and the finial 70 week of Daniel: Why would the Hebrew prophet Daniel (or the entire Hebrew Bible for that matter) go to great strains to write about the building and destruction of the first temple, the rebuilding of the second temple, but not one single word about the destruction of the second temple, especially since the duration of such a destruction of their second temple would be the longest lasting that the Jews would ever face (1938 years and counting)? Without question the destruction of the second temple was one of the greatest monumental events (if not the greatest event) in Jewish history, yet the Gap theorists ask people to believe Daniel never mentioned it, even though there are verses within Daniel that would appear as though he indeed did?
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Likewise, why did Daniel write about the destruction of a third temple without mentioning a single word about its rebuilding as he did extensively about the second temple, when the building of the third temple would be an even greater event in Jewish prophecy? Doesn't that seem strange? Again, let me recap: In order for one to believe that Daniel's prophecy contains 69 weeks pertains only to the second temple era and that the last and seventieth week pertains only to the future tribulation period temple, you have to believe the following two things:

Daniel wrote extensively concerning the building of the second temple and the period it which it was present, but absolutely nothing of its destruction and the events that transpired of such a extraordinary event.
Daniel wrote in great detail of the events concerning the destruction of a third temple, but not one single word of how it came into being.

To take it a step further, here are some questions concerning Daniel 9:27 - the last verse in the chapter:

Does the words, "he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering" sound in anyway like what Titus did to the temple in 70CE, being that the temple sacrifices and meal-offerings did come to an abrupt halt in 70 CE?
Can the words, "and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights" be applied or identified with Hadrian's mute Temple of Jupiter that was erected upon the Temple Mount along with a statue of himself soon after 70CE?
Is the pronoun "he" that is mentioned in verse 26 of whom most Gap-theory Christians will agree is the Roman General Titus as the one who destroys the city and sanctuary, the same "he" in the very next verse (27) who abolishes the sacrifice and meal-offering temple ritual in 70 CE?
If we stay with the context from verse to verse, doesn't the "he" in verse 26 being identified by Daniel as the "people of the prince" continue of who the "he" is in verse 27, instead of it being someone totally different while jumping into the context with no introduction whatsoever?
Does the destroying of the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary, go together with the abolishment of the sacrifice and meal-offering temple ritual?
If the 70CE destroying of the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary can easily go together with the abolishment of the sacrifice and meal-offering in one single event, why wouldn't Daniel's prophesy include both happenings of the same event instead both events being separately fulfilled two-thousand years apart?

What is wrong with this picture here? What piece of the puzzle is missing? Maybe no piece is missing? Maybe Daniel's events concerning the first 69 weeks needs to be placed together with the 70th week without a space in between in order to get a complete and accurate picture to emerge? Maybe the 69th week can merge with the 70th week in the text like the first seven weeks merged with the following 62 weeks in the exact same way? I hope my point here is well taken. Daniel's Seventy Weeks has been completely fulfilled! It was fulfilled in 70 CE at the destruction of the second temple as indicated in verses 26 and 27. Therefore, Daniel Seventy Weeks covers 490 years from the destruction of the first temple to the destruction of the second. For it is only after the completion of the Seventy Weeks that complete redemption of Israel can come about. This is why the Talmud states that on the day of the destruction of the second temple, the messiah was born. They were not looking for the messiah and the End of Days to come during the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, only after.
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I can almost hear the Gap-theory Christians claiming "duel prophecy". What gets me about the duel prophecy claimers is that they only speak of duel prophesies when they find themselves in a prophecy jam and not until. When someone starts asking those tough questions like those of mine above, duel-prophecy becomes a quick-fix.
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One thing that I've noticed about duel-prophecy claimers is that they pick and choose only a portion of prophecy that they feel fits their theology while discarding the rest of the prophecy as fulfilled ancient history. For example, the Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 becomes a "duel prophecy" when any person of Judaism points out that Isaiah 7:15-16 are connected to verse 14 placing little Immanuel during the time of the "two kings" mentioned in verse 16, Pekah of Israel (of the divided kingdom) and Rezin, King of Syria (see II Kings 15:29-30, II Kings 16:5, 9). For some reason Isaiah 7:15-16 is not part of the duel-prophecy in their minds, just Isaiah 7:14 by itself is, even though all three verses are part of the same exact text. Likewise with Daniel's Seventy Weeks, all prior 69 weeks are ancient fulfilled prophecy, except for the last week which is duel so that the Gap-theory can be maintained. Go figure.
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What seems to be a silent "gap" between the second and third temples really isn't. What the Seventy Weeks of Daniel did was, lay a foundation for the great messianic age (olam haba) to come that will give rise to an everlasting temple. Remember, Daniel's temple was doomed from its beginning, it was only given 490 years to be in existence according to prophecy. Ezekiel's temple however, is prophesied to last throughout the ages (see Ezekiel 37:26-28).
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Daniel 9:24 spells out six things that the seventy weeks are to accomplish (1) to terminate transgression (2) to end sins (3) to wipe away iniquity (4) to bring everlasting righteousness (5) to confirm the visions and prophets (6) to anoint the Holy of Holies. These six glorious things that will no doubt benefit the Gentile nations but they are not centered around them. These six glorious things are centered around the Jews, Jerusalem, and the third and final temple, as Gabriel in verse 24, gave Daniel the understanding: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city..." The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied of this great time of the third and final temple and describes them in their prophesies the fulfillment of each of these six spiritual conditions:
(1) to terminate transgression - "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions" - Ezekiel 37:23
(2) to end sins - "I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." - Ezekiel 37:23
(3) to wipe away iniquity - "And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." Jeremiah 33:7,8
(4) to bring everlasting righteousness - "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:25, 26
(5) to confirm the visions and prophets - "And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. - Ezekiel 38:23
(6) to anoint the Holy of Holies - "So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house." - Ezekiel 43:5
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The destruction of the second temple is still being strongly felt today. From the second temple's destruction came the Christian persecutions of the Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, and the finally the Holocaust. It is due to the second temple's destruction that we have today's situation in the Middle East. If Israel would have maintained their sovereignty over the land and temple throughout the first century and beyond, there wouldn't be the terrorists-Palestinian problem that Israel has to deal with today! Those horrific events of 70 CE has laid the foundation for all the nations of today to assemble themselves against the tiny nation of Israel for a final spiritual showdown that goes far beyond the spiritual application of 70 CE.
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To understand what I'm saying in movie terms, picture the first Rocky motion picture as 70 CE and Rocky II as the Quartet verses Israel in the coming confrontation. This confrontation will end up causing the nations to know the true God of Israel. Just today I learned from the Associated Press' own admission that the Quartet (USA, UN, EU, Russia) was created solely for the purpose to deal with the Palestinian /Israeli issue. There is no doubt in my mine that the gathering of nations against Israel has been two-thousand years in coming from the destruction of the second temple. The core issue of this Palestinian / Israeli issue that has the nations gather together for one cause, and one purpose, is the Temple Mount! The most disputed piece of land in all the world is the Temple Mount, where the events of 70 CE and Daniel Seventy Weeks took place. And the end result will be the destruction of all Israel's enemies, and the emergence of the third and finial temple in the exact same place!
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*Christians love to point to Antaxerxas' declaration to build a "security fence" around Jerusalem as the time the 70 weeks of Daniel time starts based upon Daniel 9:25 that states in the KJV:"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.... However, Antaxerxas was not God's mashiach as any Bible reader can see nothing even close was ascribed to him from God as it was to Cyrus. Furthermore, the Hebrew word that the KJV translates as "commandment" (davar) for the purpose of their Antaxerxas revelation, actually means "word". The "word"(davar) that appears in verse 25 is connected to the same "word" (davar) in verse 2 of the same text, which is the "word to Jeremiah" (staying with the context) of the destruction of the first temple.

"For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word (davar) toward you, in causing you to return to this place. -Jeremiah 29:10
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word (davar) of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia... -Ezra 1:1
To fulfil the word (davar)of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. - 2 Chronicles 36:21
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word (davar) of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. - Daniel 9:2
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the word (davar) to restore and to build Jerusalem... -Daniel 9:25

Thus, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the understanding in verse 25 that Jeremiah's prophecy would be fulfilled 18 years later (there is an 18 year span between the Babylon's subjugation of Jerusalem and the city's total destruction) than what Daniel had originally thought based upon Jeremiah 25:12 and not the (davar-word) verse of Jeremiah 29:10. The difference being:

Jeremiah 25:12 speaks of the seventy years from Babylon's subjugation of the city of Jerusalem right after their kingdom arose to power, to Babylon's destruction and the rise of "God's shepherd" Cyrus. Basically, from the beginning to the end of the Babylonian Empire (non-biblical modern chronology 606BCE to 536BCE).
Jeremiah 29:10 speaks of the 70 years between the destruction of the first temple to the completion of rebuilding of the second temple (non-biblical modern chronology 587BCE to 516BCE). This also is the start-time of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel (the fulfillment of the word (davar) of the Lord. It was after seven weeks (49 years) after the this seventy year period started that Cyrus "the Messiah" came on the scene to declare by God's power through him, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the second temple.

Therefore, this great movement in time towards the ending of Babylon and the restoration of the temple would become noted in Daniel's first set of weeks in his prophecy of Jerusalem and the temple.

The New Heart and the New Spirit

2008-03-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Christian minister on the radio the other day explain how the Christian era brought about a new and deeper relationship with God via the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and that only "the believers" had access to this new relationship. He went on to say the under the "old" covenant (the completed temporary covenant) the Jews didn't have the availability of the Spirit of God to "indwell" within them. This has been for the most part a mainstream doctrine that the Church has carried for close two thousand years concerning the nation of Israel and the covenant that God has with them. As with all doctrinal claims be it Christian or Islam, they need to be looked at first through the Jewish Scriptures since the Jewish scriptures are the base from which all monotheistic beliefs derives from.

The Hebrew scriptures describes the relationship that God had with ancient Israel was not just as a son (which is fairly significant in and of itself) but as a "firstborn" son at that (Exodus 4:22)! Traditionally, the firstborn son held a special place in the father's heart. It was the plague of the firstborn that hit Pharaoh so personally hard that it became the only plague out of the ten that finally convinced him to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. Concerning the ancient Hebrews, the firstborn had the "birthright" of which Esau sought Jacob's life in his struggle to regain his birthright, and under the Mosaic Law the firstborn and only the firstborn, must to be offering to God in a life-long service of the priesthood or be redeemed back to his parents at a cost (Exodus 13:1-3, 13-15). In Hebrew, this portion of the law is called "Pidyon Haben" meaning "redemption of the son" and it shows the special thought that God had towards the firstborn in connection with His holiness. When we look at the entire nation of Israel as God's own firstborn as He has declared unto Pharaoh, we should ask ourselves what kind of intense closeness did God have for such a nation? How would God as a father interact with His firstborn? How would the relationship between this spiritual father God and His firstborn son be carried out? Could God express His very nature and "indwell" Himself in such a "firstborn nation- son"? We will find out as we go on.
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There is another type of close bond that God has with Israel. Israel was and is to be a bride and a wife to God. A deep reading of the Song of Songs (Songs of Solomon) reveals how close righteous Israel is to God and just how close God is to righteous Israel. After reading such a text in very graphic detail it becomes very plain that God didn't hold any indwelling back from His bride Israel. If He had, what kind of husband to Israel would He be? When Israel sinned by worshiping other gods, God didn't look at it that Israel just so happened to have failed at keeping His
commandments but was considered by God to be in an adulteress affair. This affair with other gods was not only adultery (which was plenty bad by itself) but was indeed adultery against God by prostitution which was all the more vile (Jeremiah 3:1 / Hosea 1:2). The church likes to perceive that because of Israel's adultery God had completely divorced Israel forever. This doctrine is partly based upon the New Testament passage that falsely quotes a Hebrew scripture pertaining to the forever marriage God has with Israel (see Hebrew 8:9 compared with Jeremiah 31:32) and the notion that God has taken on a new wife called "The Church" or "New Israel" based on Galatians 6:16 and other New Testament scriptures. However, contrary to this belief, it is during the glorious Messianic Age that estranged Israel will return to her husband with the same intensity contained within the Song of Songs (Isaiah 62:4,5).

Notice, when comparing Hebrew 8:9 with Jeremiah 31:32 that the complete context of Jeremiah 31:31-37 is declaring that the same nation that was "married" to God under the covenant (not a Gentile spiritual people under a another covenant) that did the sinning against her "husband" to begin with are indeed the same exact nation that returns to her husband. This time however, under a new covenant (promise) that Israel will be without the choice to accept or break away from the wedding vows - the Torah. Laying aside the choice that was first given to Israel between life and death given in Deuteronomy 30:19 God was so determined that His wife return to Him that He made a vow (a new covenant promise like that mentioned in Leviticus 26:42 and not a new Torah) that regardless of had deep Israel's sin is, God will see that she returns ever to Him, and we see this forever-return prophesied in Ezekiel 37:22-28.

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The relationship between father and son and between husband and wife are the same types of relationships that the Christian Bible uses to describe the relationship between God and the believer. So, what is the difference? Mainstream Christianity as did this radio host I first mentioned, has argued that the difference between ancient Israel and the Christian believer was that since the Christian New Covenant era an indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God is available to man that wasn't available to ancient Israel. My question then becomes, if the indwelling of the Spirit that is portrayed in the Christian Bible as a father to son and husband to wife relationship (Galatians 4:6 / Ephesians 5:23) why was Israel, who supposedly didn't have the Spirit indwelling availability be portrayed in the exact same closely intense relationship with God? Why wasn't Israel portrayed as God's servants only, so that the son and bride relationship could be reserved for the Christians only? Wouldn't that put things in a better prospective and leave little doubt of Christianity being the superior religion? The truth is, like the book of Revelations, Christianity had to borrow most of it's biblical metaphors from the Hebrew scriptures, many times using them word for word. And to think that the Hebrew prophets who spoke in "Thus saith The Lord" of what God had spoken to them from lip to ear, and those like Ezekiel and Isaiah who were carried deep into the Spirit of God by vision had anything less than an indwelling of God in their human spirit is really quite absurd!

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There are several men in the Hebrew scriptures in whom dwelt the Spirit of God. Many times it would be the Gentiles recognizing it: Pharaoh asked his servants concerning Joseph, "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Genesis 41:38). This same type of scenario of Gentile recognition is repeated in the book of Daniel when a pagan queen not knowing the one true God of Israel, declares unto King Belshazzar,"There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the holy gods" (Daniel 5:11). For the ministry of workmanship of holy objects in the tabernacle including the Ark of the Covenant, God says of Bezaleel son of Uri, "I have filled him with the Spirit of God" (Exodus 31:3). Caleb was led by the Spirit (Numbers 14:24). God told Moses that his successor- Joshua was, "a man in whom is the Spirit" (Numbers 27: 18). Of Moses himself, God said,"I have made thee a god [a god "Elohim" in flesh] to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet" (Exodus 7:1). The Bible tells us that, "the Spirit of the Lord (lav-shah in Hebrew- meaning "clothed") Gideon" (Judges 6:34). In other words, the Spirit of God became clothed and became active in an earthen vessel known as Gideon! And the prophet Isaiah recounts how backsliden Israel would remember God among the congregation saying, " Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him ?" (Isaiah 63:11).

Christianity began after the Ark became unaccessible and spread like a wildfire after the Temple was destroyed. Therefore, Christian foundational doctrine placed more emphasis on a human temple while looking down on a physical temple of the Lord as merely a shadow of a the new belief (Hebrews 9:13,14). However, the Temple never stood as a barrier between God's spirit indwelling with man just as the "Church houses" don't today! You have probably heard the saying, "God isn't in the church building, He is in the people". No kidding? And without the "people" of Israel, the Temple of the Lord becomes nothing as well! The Temple was a spiritual center for a chosen national people to worship God nationally with the main emphasis on the heart of man:

"And now, Israel what does the Lord thy God require of you, but to fear the the Lord thy God, to walk in all of His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statues, which I command you this day for thy good" - Deuteronomy 10:12,13

The question for the temple-replacement theology is, why did David who lived between the time of the Tabernacle and the First Temple beg God not to take His "Holy Spirit" from him in Psalms 51:11 if the Temple was only foreshadowing the Spirit to come? As the Temple was the spiritual center for a national Israel before the Common Era, guess what? It is to be a nation spiritual center again for Israel first, and then to all the Gentile nations!
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up the his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" -Amos 9:11My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:27,28.
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If the Temple was only a foreshadow of the Spirit to come, why is it prophesied to return "as in the days of old" and forever more at that? And if the Temple symbolized ancient Israel 's inaccessible ability to the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit within them, what's it doing in the Messianic Age where the Spirit of God will be known universally (Jeremiah 31:34 / Joel 2:28 / Habakkuh 2:14)? This brings me back to the radio preacher.

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During his radio message he stated that there was indeed a scripture that was not from the New Testament scriptures but from the "Jewish scriptures" that told Israel that they couldn't have access to the Spirit of God indwelling within them but that later they would after the Christian era. So I started to listen more intently as he began to read to his listeners the quote of such a scripture "from the Jews' own Bible". He read one verse from start to finish, Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I have to admit that if someone didn't know their Bible I could see how they could possibly believe that this scripture in Ezekiel is talking about the coming Christian era years after the last Jewish prophets. But because of how he setup the verse in its meaning there was a reason as to why he only read the one and only verse. If he had included just two verses either before or after his reading of Ezekiel 36:26 he would not have been able to use this scripture in the terms of how he introduced it.
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I'm not a scholar by any stretch of the imagination but there one thing I do preach hard on, and that is to "stay with the context" of what the scripture is plainly stating! I only care about what the context is directly telling me and not some imaginary doctrine read into it! Just take the text for what it says, and don't paint me a picture, for I have absolutely no interest in that!
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After he finished reading the verse I began yelling at the radio, "Who is the "you" in that verse? Just "who" is it that will get that new heart, that new spirit, and that heart of flesh? Is it talking about the Gentiles and the Jews all grouped together in one big indwelling as in the Christian era for the last two thousand years or is the text talking about the Jewish nation only at the End of Days? Let's look at the text in a broader spectrum:
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:23-28
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Without going through a lot of details that are clearly obvious, this context is the same context given in the very next chapter (Ezekiel 37:22-28). In the text above Israel will be gathered from all the Gentile nations and into their "own land" just like in Ezekiel 37:21,22. Then they will be cleansed for sin and walk in righteousness just like in Ezekiel 37:23. They will walk in God's statues and judgments and do them just like in Ezekiel 37:24. And they will dwell in the land of their ancestral fathers just like in Ezekiel 37:25. What Ezekiel 37 contains that chapter 36 doesn't is mention of the everlasting Temple.
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But with all this clear information within the text, how dare any minister try to use a Jewish text against the people of the covenant that the very text is about. How dare any minister spiritualize these holy texts when they know full well God didn't gather Israel from all of the Gentile nations and bring them into the land of their fathers during the rise of Christianity, but that the exact opposite happen when the Jews were even more so scattered among the heathen nations in 70 C.E. How dare they spiritualize these holy scriptures when they know full well that the Jewish nation as a complete whole, are walking under God's statues and Judgments and "doing them"as the scriptures says that they will be doing them - I might add. And how dare they spiritualize these holy scriptures when knowing full well that a third and final Temple as described Amos 9:11, Ezekiel 37:27,29 and Ezekiel chapters 40-48 did not happen during the rise of Christianity but that the exact opposite happened when the Temple that was build by the non-Jewish insane murderer, King Herod, was destroyed!
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No, these glorious events will happen at the End of Days, and not until then. Until that time we must read these holy text as they are given, which is of a holy and righteous day to come, where there will be no need for guess work concerning the text themselves. Where the terrible events of Jewish history of 70 CE give way to Biblical prophecy of a glorious time in the physical land of Israel that is promised not to cease, and the Spirit resting with and in His people.
"And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God." -Amos 9:15
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" -Ezekiel 36:24-28