| So uou thought you were following Yeshuwa |
SO YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS.....YOU MIGHT NEED TO RECONSIDERLet me begin with a quote from the New Testament…from an epistle written to non-Jews like most of our readers. 2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your ownselves…… I think that this is a very good idea to prove to ourselves that what we believe is true; in fact I have practiced self-examination of such religious beliefs in light of the facts regarding the “real historical Yeshua” for over a decade. Because of such self-examination in light of my discoveries as I combed through 2000 years of Biblical history, culture, as well as in-depth analysis of Biblical language, I have been forced to change much of my religious belief system along the way. It is my desire that this article challenge you to scrutinize your religious beliefs as I have been challenged over the years. May God witness truth to your soul. Answer for yourself: Was Yeshua a Christian and would he ascribe today to the vast majority of doctrines taught in his name in churches which go by his name as well? Well let us investigate. But first we need to set the stage for what is coming next. Try and be as honest with yourself as possible in answering these next questions. TO WHICH RELIGION WOULD A PERSON BE A MEMBER IF HE DID THE FOLLOWING?
I suppose that most of you came up with the same answer…..you don't have to be a scholar to recognize that one that practiced such a faith does not practice Christianity......he holds to the teachings of Judaism. NOW, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT ANOTHER PERSON. SEE IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY THE RELIGION OF THIS PERSON
I bet you got the right answer again – a Christian. GOING DEEPER THAN YOU POSSIBLY HAVE EVEN GONE BEFORENow let's take this discussion one more step by answering this question. Answer for yourself: If a Jew wanted to become a member of a Christian religion could he continue practicing Judaism in the church? The answer is so simple. You would only have to ask your Pastor that one question to get the answer. Probably in the 99.9% of the cases the answer would be - NO! TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAYAnswer for yourself: If a Christian wanted to become a convert to Judaism could he continue practicing Christianity and the items listed above? Again the answer is rather obvious. Now, the percentage moves upwards, probably in 100% of the cases the answer would be - NO! It is very apparent that not only are Judaism and Christianity different religions, they are exclusive in many ways. This reveals an amazing fact which can be seen by asking one very simple question – WHICH RELIGION DID YESHUA BELONG TO...CHRISTIANITY OR JUDAISM?
Now for the easy part. The answer to the above question is a matter of historical record which is easily attested to by the New Testament itself-- Yeshua was a Jew, not a Christian and he was certainly not both. It is clear that Yeshua was a practicing Jew who lived a very observant Jewish life-style. In fact we cannot find any instance whatsoever where Yeshua ever: Kept the Sabbath on Sunday, attended or affiliated with any group which rejected things Jewish, kept the pagan festival of Ishtar/Easter or the sun god’s birthday (Saturnalia…December 25th….Christmas) which were pagan festivals made to look religious to us today, ever taught anything that contradicted the Old Testament as does much in the New Testament, ever stressed a person's beliefs over his actions, ever taught that people had to be "saved" by acknowledging a creed or an established set of beliefs in order to go to heaven, ever taught that people are not under the law or that the Law had passed away and they were under grace alone, ever taught that the church had replaced Israel as God's people, and ever taught that you can eat anything…even Biblically unclean foods. YESHUA NEVER RENOUNCED JUDAISM OR QUIT BEING A JEWAn amazing discovery for any Christian is the fact that there is simply no evidence that Yeshua ever renounced Judaism and quit being a Jew. Also, his teachings do not indicate that he ever wanted any Jew to renounce their Judaism and join a new religion. If this revelation every breaks into your conscious mind then you will have to confront Gentile Christianity for what it has actually become despite Yeshua's wishes or example set for us. Answer for yourself: How then, did Yeshua get credited with the distinct label that he was the person responsible for creating a new religion? Answer for yourself: How did Yeshua get credit for creating another religion which opposed the religion and way of life he continued to live…even up to his death? Let us try to answer questions raised by such an assumption: LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A JEWISH RABBI NAMED YESHUAAnswer for yourself: Would a rabbi prohibit circumcision or downplay its significance? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi change the Sabbath to another day…let alone to the day set aside for sun worship by the pagans? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi create a replacement for the synagogue? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi substitute a pagan feast which was clearly idolatrous, Ishtar (Easter), for Passover? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi want his followers to celebrate the birth of a Roman god (Saturnalia -- December 25)? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi teach his students to not keep the biblical commandments or that they no longer applied when God already said they were forever? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi teach Gentiles to hate Jews? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi add books to the Torah in spite of the warning in Deuteronomy forbidding the changing or adding to the Word of God? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi replace Deuteronomy 6:4 as the most important commandment? Answer for yourself: Would a rabbi teach Gentiles that it is permissible to eat unclean food when Noah, himself a non-Jew separated animals based on the principle of clean/unclean long before there were any Jews? The answer to all the above questions is that a rabbi wouldn't, and that includes a rabbi named Yeshua! TOUGH - THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ANSWER FOR YOURSELFAnswer for yourself: If Yeshua didn't create a new anti-Jewish religion, who did? Answer for yourself: Who is responsible and what were their motives in replacing the faith of Yeshua with a faith about Yeshua? Answer for yourself: Was it the men who acquired leadership after Yeshua' departure and the death of the Apostles who did such a thing ? Answer for yourself: Were those responsible for changing the faith of Yeshua actually Jews or Non-Jews and were their motives in changing Jewish doctrines consistent with anti-Semitism? Answer for yourself: Did they continue teaching Yeshua’s message and his gospel or did they change Yeshua’s message in places, and are you, at the present not yet aware of it at your present level of knowledge? THE BOOK OF ACTS PAINTS US A PICTURE WE WOULD DO WELL TO EXAMINE CLOSELYThe book of Acts provides us with some very valuable information too long overlooked by most Christians. Acts 21:17-25 records Paul's return to Jerusalem and his meeting with the leaders of the "church." Keep in mind that these were the men who had been personally taught by and lived with Yeshua. Their words provide us with some very enlightening information. The translation given below is based on a cultural and historical methodology. Your translation most probably reflects the doctrines of the Roman church and therefore may differ. "You see, brother (referring to the Apostle Paul), how many thousands of Jews have become faithful (observant). All of them are zealous for the Torah (Law). They have been informed that you have taught the Jews of the Diaspora to not keep the Torah, that they should not circumcise their children or live according to the Jewish religion.... Take these men and do the following... so that everybody will know that there is no truth in these reports about your teachings, but that you yourself are living an observant life-style and keeping the Torah." REMEMBERING THAT THIS IS A PICTURE OF JESUS’ CHURCH………A quick summary provides us with some very significant information. Understanding that this passage reflects events which occurred long after Yeshua’s death then I ask you to be truthful to the text as well as yourself in asking yourself this: Is your church producing the same results?
Notice that Paul did as he was requested - Paul example, at least while he was in Jerusalem under the watchful eyes of the Apostles, wasn't teaching the Jews to abandon their religion. On the contrary, Paul’s behavior and example was one as "under the law" and as one who lived an observant Jewish life-style. Answer for yourself: How then could he have been the author of a doctrine that advocated rejecting the law as is ascribed to him by most Christians today? Answer for yourself: Not meaning to over-stress this point, but are you really getting the importance of this message as taught by Yeshua’s church in Palestine? IS YOUR CHURCH PREACHING THE SAME GOSPEL AND MESSAGE AS YESHUA'S CHURCH?Again looking at Acts 21 for our information………let us examine what we are taught by this New Testament picture:
HOW ARE WE TO INTERPRET PAUL’S ACTIONS?When we look at Paul's actions, after being ordered by James to take several men with him to the Temple, thereby paying for their animal sacrifices in order to prove that he was an observant Jew by bringing blood sacrifices and sin offerings necessary in finishing his Nazarite vow, we are faced with two possibilities: (A) Paul intentionally deceived the apostles and the Jews in Jerusalem; or, (B) Paul's image and/or the teachings attributed Paul may have been altered by the Roman Church a hundred or more years later. Answer for yourself: Did Paul intentionally deceive the apostles by faking his true beliefs when bringing sacrifices in the Temple after Yeshua’s death? Answer for yourself: If Paul did deceive them, could you put much confidence in his teachings at other places in the New Testament? Remember he already has said that he can become anything to anyone to prove his argument and accomplish his goals. Answer for yourself: On the other hand, if Paul's words were changed by the Roman Church could we base our foundational beliefs on forged documents? Christianity, almost universally, requires a Jew to convert to Christianity before he can become a member of the church or be saved. This conversion process forces the Jew to renounce his or her Judaism and terminate or redefine many Biblical and Jewish practices. Having read this article so far, please think deeply while answering these next questions: Answer for yourself: Would your church require a Jew to renounce or stop practicing Judaism if he or she wanted to become a member? Answer for yourself: How many circumcisions have you attended for the children of Jewish members of your church? Answer for yourself: How many of your church's members are Jewish and are zealous for the Torah and are pursuing it with fervor? Answer for yourself: Does your church conduct at least one Torah study per week? Answer for yourself: How many of your church's Jewish members are observant Jews? Answer for yourself: When was the last time you attended a Passover Seder, or a Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur service at your church? Answer for yourself: Do you have a rabbi or a minister well educated in the Hebraic Roots of Christianity leading your church? Your answers to the above questions are probably -- Yes, None, None, No, None, Never and Minister. I want you take some time to think about the next question before you answer it. Answer for yourself: What would your church require a rabbi to do if he applied for membership? Answer for yourself: Would they allow him to continue to be a rabbi, practice Judaism, teach the Torah, wear his prayer shawl, observe all the Jewish festivals and teach the members that they were under the Law? Answer for yourself: What if that rabbi was Yeshua? Are you beginning to see the truth? Without a great deal of effort it becomes glaringly apparent that neither Rabbi Yeshua, the apostles nor the Paul of Acts 21, would be allowed to join a Christian Church the likes of which we see today. On the other hand, it is also clear that Rabbi Yeshua would not participate in any religion that not only opposes, but is actively dedicated to destroying his Father’s religion! Gentile Christianity has for centuries felt it was given a mandate from God to “save the world.” This is the goal and stated mission of Christianity. THE SILENT SLAUGHTER OF TRUTHAnswer for yourself: How is this mission to “save the world” to be accomplished? Just ask the Southern Baptist Convention who just last year vowed to win every Jew to Yeshua by the year 2000. To put it very simply, the goal is to convert every Jew (non-Christian) to Christianity. The Jewish convert must renounce his Judaism (or any non-Christian religion he may hold), agree to accept the doctrines of Gentile Christianity and oppose any religion that opposes Gentile Christianity. Instead of a physical holy war (Jihad), Gentile Christianity has engaged in a doctrinal holy war. As I stated above, Christianity is an exclusive religion. Christians are not allowed to simultaneously practice Islam, Buddhism, Judaism or any other religion. Therefore, if Christianity was to attain its goal of "getting every person on the face of the earth to believe in Yeshua," including all the Jews, Judaism would be totally destroyed and cease to exist. If this were ever to happen, and I pray it does not, then Christianity would have the dubious honor which Hitler in vain tried to achieve; namely the eradication of not only the Jewish people from the face of this planet, but the total destruction of the true faith of Yeshua…Biblical Judaism. This would accomplish something that the crusaders, the inquisition, Hitler and a number of others have failed to accomplish. Answer for yourself: How do you think a Jewish Yeshua would react to the idea that such a mission was being carried out in his name? This really gets weird when you think about it! Christians base their proof for their ultimate salvation on a Jewish rabbi named Yeshua (Jesus), who was an observant Jew who faithfully practiced Judaism. On the one hand, his religion would most probably not allow him to practice modern Christianity. On the other hand, modern Christianity would not allow him to practice its religion without first renouncing his religion -- Judaism! This should present a very important challenge to every Christian: If a Jewish Yeshua could not, and would not, practice a religion dedicated to destroying his religion, how can anyone who bases their salvation on Rabbi Yeshua participate in and perpetuate it? Answer for yourself: Would Rabbi Yeshua agree with the church’s salvation message which is based on such a system? Are you getting the drift of this discussion? Answer for yourself: How did the religion that Rabbi Yeshua and his followers practice evolve into what it is today? To begin to unravel this problem lets ask how a religion whose foundational position focused on teaching its members "to keep the Law" became a religion whose main message was that "members are no longer under the Law." Early Christian writers taught that the Law had been fulfilled with the coming of Yeshua. Fulfilled, as they defined it, meant that it had been canceled and therefore was of no importance to Christians. However, to Rabbi Yeshua, "fulfilled" meant (1) to keep the Law; and (2) to correctly interpret the teachings of the Bible. There is absolutely nothing said by Rabbi Yeshua that would support modern Christianity's doctrine of grace. Next, the Roman Christian leaders focused on the story of God's unconditional and unending support. However, they claimed that this was something new and was created when God made a new covenant of grace. Again, this was unknown to Rabbi Yeshua and his apostles. Early Gentile Christian leaders and theologians continued to develop their new doctrines from the mid-second century on through the seventh century. As they refined their arguments they became much more antagonistic toward Judaism. This Gentile anti-Judaic movement spanned almost all of Christianity -- from the Roman African communities represented by Tertullian (160-220 C.E.), to the Iranian monk Aphrahat (300-350 C.E.) of the eastern Syriac Christian tradition, and to Bishop John Chrysostom (349-400 C.E.) in Antioch. Studies have clearly shown the extent to which leaders of the early church attacked Judaism for its position on the law, calling Jews "slavish adherents to the letter of the law." They claimed that Judaism was allowed to continue to exist primarily as an example of degradation. Answer for yourself: What do you think that rabbi Yeshua would have thought about that position? Origin, the third-century leader of the Christian community in Caesarea, summed up the difference between Judaism's and Roman Christianity's approaches to Scripture: "It seems necessary also to explain how certain people by failing to read or understand Scripture correctly have given themselves up to a great many errors, since the way one ought to approach the understanding of divine letters is unknown to a great many people. And so, the Jews, through the hardness of their heart and because they wish to seem wise in themselves, have not believed in our Lord and Savior.... Now the reason that those we have just mentioned [Jews and heretical Christians] have a false understanding of these matters is quite simply that they understand Scripture not according to the spiritual meaning but according to the sound of the letter.... [But] a person ought to describe threefold in his soul the meaning of divine letters, that is, so that the simple may be edified by, so to speak, the body of the Scriptures; for that is what we call the ordinary and narrative meaning. But if any have begun to make some progress and can contemplate something more fully, they should be edified by the soul of Scripture. And those who are perfect... should be edified by that spiritual Law (Rom. 7:14) which has a shadow of the good things to come (Heb. 10:1), edified by the spirit of Scripture. Thus, just as a human being is said to be made up of body, soul, and spirit, so also is sacred Scripture, which has been granted by God's gracious dispensation for man's salvation." This new scheme for reading Scripture, and the charge that Jews miss all but the literal meaning, made for powerful arguments. Origin's dichotomy between "letter" and "spirit," or in other words, between reading biblical materials either at their face value for norms of behavior and as a more generalized stance toward the world, set the stage throughout history for Christians to increase the fervor of the charge of legalism. Legalism became synonymous with Jewish, and therefore was viewed in a negative light. However, the word "legalism" simply means someone that "lives in accordance with or adheres to a legal system." Answer for yourself: What would you call someone who "did not adhere to or live in accordance with a legal system"-- a Christian? The products of this anti-Jewish tradition still shapes the thoughts of over 1.6 billion Christians regarding Judaic law. I am challenging every Christian to make a decision to return to the religion, teachings and life-style expounded by Rabbi Yeshua. Don't misunderstand what I am saying; I am not advocating adopting and accepting the current "theology or faith" about Yeshua; rather, return to the real faith of Yeshua and the place within it for the Gentile Godfearer. As I stated above, according to the book of Acts, your conversion experience to the faith of the Apostolic church of Yeshua as seen in Acts 21 should have made you zealous for the Torah and brought you back to an observant Biblical life-style as defined by the commandments of God. Answer for yourself: Has it? Becoming a member of Rabbi Yeshua's movement should have caused you to become a serious student of the Torah. You should be teaching the Torah to others, especially the flood of Gentiles who are coming to you to be taught. Answer for yourself: Has it? Answer for yourself: Is there any other way for you to be a "light to the Gentiles?" If you are a Gentile, you will also need to take a very close look at Acts 15. Gentiles who were coming to the movement originated by Rabbi Yeshua were given very special instructions. First they were to place themselves under specific laws. For all practical purposes those laws were the Ten Commandments. Of special importance was their keeping the Jewish Sabbath and studying the Torah at the synagogue with the Jews. Keeping the Jewish Sabbath is something that you can do immediately, however; many of you may find it difficult to locate a synagogue where you will be allowed to study the Torah. For very good reasons, after thousands of years of persecutions, the Jewish community is very cautious. I believe that as Christian Jews return to the synagogue, because of the teachings of Rabbi Yeshua, the doors will be opened wider to Gentiles desiring to know the God of Rabbi Yeshua. Two things must be kept in mind as both Jews and Gentile Christians choose to return to the teachings of rabbi Yeshua. First, almost two thousand years of conflict between Judaism and Christianity has left many scars. Both religions have developed reactionary doctrines and theologies. A reactionary doctrine created as a reaction to the another religion's actions or doctrines. An example would be the Jewish position concerning kneeling for prayer. Because Christians knelt for prayer, the Jews took the position that they should no longer kneel but stand for prayers. Judaism altered its form of worship because of this practice of Christianity. There have been many reactionary doctrines created both between and within both religions. This is an area of research that deserves much attention. I would challenge my readers to consider such a research project. It must be kept in mind that the Judaism of Yeshua is not exactly the same as the Judaism of today. Also, the movement attributed to Yeshua is not the same as modern Christianity. Obviously, many things have taken place since the time of Yeshua which resulted in the separation and numerous differences between the two religions. It is of the utmost importance for both Christians and Jews to understand these changes. You must know when the changes were made, identify the people who were responsible for making the changes, and discover why they made them. You must come to an understanding which changes were motivated by inspiration, which were produced by the hunger for power and wealth and which were the results of human frailties such as anger, rejection, fear and hatred. As you embark on this journey you will quickly come to realize that you have stumbled upon the greatest cover-ups in history. As you become more acquainted with the truth upon your study you will realize two very important things:
Today, there are over 2.5 billion Christians on the face of the earth – the vast majority who believe in their heart they are true followers of Yeshua, but as I have shown you, are practicing a different religion from which Yeshua practiced. If they all returned to the teachings and life-style taught in Acts, we would see a moral and ethical revolution that would literally rock the foundations of the world and no longer would America, touted to be the most Christian nation in the world, be recognized as the world’s most violent and law-breaking nation of the world. That should make you wonder what it would be like if Christians really followed the faith of Yeshua and if your church would really allow you to be like Yeshua. If you would like more articles and information on topics such as these, please contact us at Bet Emet ministeries,: |