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Reflect with us . . .
February 29, 2012
Please, share with us your thoughts, comments and reflections pertaining to anything you have discovered on the pages of our website. As our fellow pilgrim on the journey of life, your thoughtful input and prayerful feedback are essential in helping us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Holy One of Jacob and His Messiah Yeshua HaMashiah! We are eagerly looking forward to your thinking!
3 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT
Hi, there,
Do you believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ? Does not the Virgin Birth of Jesus prove that He is God in flesh? Was it not the Holy Spirit who enabled Mary to conceive and bear the Messiah? How then is worshiping Jesus an act of idolatry? Please, explain. Sincerely, Jennifer
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Hi, Jennifer!
Knowing that your question is not born out of idle curiosity, I’d like first to answer it with one of my own: “Would the virgin birth prove that Jesus is the Second Deity within the triune god?” Regardless of the fact that pre-Christian history of religions abounds with miraculous (virgin) births of male hero-children, I am willing to work with the New Testament claims that it did indeed happen!
One of the most notable examples of pre-Christ’s legends of a god generating a son through a mortal woman includes the birth of Hercules by the union of Zeus and Alcmena . You may also know of Pan begotten by Hermes through his union with a shepherdess.
I would also like to be very clear that it is not my goal to dissuade you from your current theological position or make you change churches, etc, - far be it from me. “Let every person be firmly established in their own minds. . .” The beliefs of our Ministries are plainly outlined on the pages of The Rock of Israel, - you are more than welcome to investigate the material and compare it with the Bible and historical records. Should you find something that does not jive with reality, - please, let us know!
As I outlined in my previous responses, there is nothing wrong in believing and accepting that the God of Israel provided a Sacrificial Lamb for expiation of human sins. After all, the Bible says: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (II Cor. 5:18-19) – The fact that it was God who did the action of reconciliation through Jesus is of note here.
The fundamental flaw of Christianity is that in their eagerness to create their own religion and thus to distance themselves from the Jewish roots of their faith, the Church deliberately shifted the focus of praise, worship and adoration from the One True God of Israel and onto His Messiah, Jesus Christ! In light of this, here is a theological challenge to you, Jennifer: Please, find at least one passage in the entire corpus of the Hebrew Scriptures, (the Word of God used as such by Jesus Christ Himself), that would call God’s people to worship anybody or anything else beside the LORD of Heaven! Is there any thread of evidence that the people of God were supposed to embrace the Messiah as another deity?
In one of the prophecies, considered to be Messianic by both camps of theologians, namely Jewish and Christian, Moses declaims concerning the Messiah: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. . . The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.” (Deut. 18:15-19) – Please, observe that according to this text, the Messiah is as purely human as Moses himself!
In another passage, found in Deuteronomy 13:1-ff, the Living God warns that should there arise a person among the Israelites who will try to entice them to follow the gods that neither they nor their fathers have known, that person should be stoned to death without mercy! I am sure you would agree that Jesus was not such a man! He was not trying to teach His fellow Israelites that the God who had gone to such great lengths instilling monotheism into His people’s hearts and minds was now somehow triune instead of One! According to God’s immutable Word, he should have been stoned right there and then! As a true follower of One God of Israel, though, Jesus would never have taught anything like that. Check out Mark 12:28-ff. In that passage Jesus quotes from the Shema prayer of Judaism, - the most sacred confession of Jewish faith! That was His expression of faith as well!
Be blessed, Jennifer!
Dmitry
Hello, Dmitry,
I am sad. I have been grafted into the root of David, as a gentile, because I believe Jesus died as the LAMB of Israel and that propitiation was extended to me.
Peter was not Romish. You have alleged that Matthew 28 was changed at the behest of Rome, but you did not support that. The challenge is that Peter could have denied that Jesus was GOD, as he had done three times already that week, and was lovingly corrected and welcomed back by Yeshua. Do you believe that God became a man and that He sent the Paraclete afterwards?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Redeemer. I know he is also the coming KING from the Root of David, Abraham’s promise fulfilled. The time is coming now, the birth pangs are here, but more is coming, and GOD will choose to protect his own.
I continue to pray for you, more fervently now. Blessings and Truth be granted unto you and your family.
Gregory
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Hello, Gregory!
Thank you for your comments! I also appreciate your honesty!
Matthew 28:19 is not biblical because the rest of the New Testament does not support it at all, - as pointed out in the article. Together with I John 5:7-8 it represents Church's desperate attempt to legitimize its pagan belief in Trinity.
I do believe that Jesus is the Redeemer, but only by virtue of being made so by the Holy One of Israel who put His Name in Jesus. You may recall the episode from the Israelite history, when God, speaking to Moses, says: "Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you . . ." (Exodus 23:20-23) - Then the LORD God of Israel adds: "So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. " (v.25) - Was Israel to worship the Angel in whom the LORD put His Name? Of course, not! The same goes for Jesus!
Please understand this: if Jesus is someone who brought a new religion to Israel and the rest of the world, he is firmly in the company with such people as Confucius, Buddha, Mohamed, Joseph Smith and many others. Quite to the contrary, however, Jesus was a faithful rabbi and a true son of his people Israel. As a kosher rabbi and the Word of God in flesh (John 1) he was to point Israel and spiritual Gentiles back to the One and Only Living God and lead them into a more intimate connection with the LORD's Torah. This way he is the true Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the sinners. Otherwise he is just another Mohamed!
By the way, if you have noticed, we do believe everything that Scriptures tell about Jesus: he was the Messiah of Israel, the Perfect Lamb of God, the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, etc. However, the Bible never ever states that He is some Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And yet, this is precisely what the 99.99 %of Christianity has come to believe and profess. Why is that?
One of the most paramount things to remember is that the LORD God of the Bible is very particular when it comes to worship and obedience. Can Christianity today proclaim that they worship and obey the same God as did Jesus the Messiah? No, they cannot!
Be blessed, Gregory!
Sincerely,
Dmitry
P.S. Would you like to wrestle a little bit with a theological challenge, Gregory? Here it comes: If Christianity has got it right and is supposed to convert the rest of the world to its fold, why does the Bible say the following? "This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:23) –
This is one of those clear-cut Messianic prophecies that predict that the Gentile nations will abandon their false beliefs and humanly-crafted theologies and turn to the one nation of monotheists. A true Jew is someone who believes in and worships the One God of Israel! What do you say?
Here is another stunner: "O Lord, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, wworthlessness and unprofitable things.”(Jeremiah 16:19) - Notice that in this Messianic prophecy the Gentiles confess that they have inherited lies from their fathers. I, for one, don't want to be in this company of duped people, do you?
The Name "LORD" is the covenantal Name of the LORD God of Israel and can never be confused with the name of any other "god" or supposed deity! There are half a dozen of similar passages in the Bible, but does the church discuss them? Why not?
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deut. 6:4)
Dmitry, How could Yeshua call the Lord His Heavenly Father if there is no Trinity?... It is not that simple even when we take away the word Trinity. How would you explain the passage in Matthew 22:41-45, for example? Thanks!
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Hi, Katy!
Thank you for your question! The first and easiest way to explain how Yeshua can call the LORD of Heaven his Heavenly Father is the same way you or I could do the same today! Does that make me a fourth person of some divine "godhead"? It is that simple! :)
The quote in Matthew 22:44 is from Psalm 110:1. A careful observer will see that the two words appearing as “lord” in the English translations are two completely different terms in Hebrew: the first is the personal Name of God “YHWH” and is an all-capitalized “LORD” in English translations; the second is “Adoni,” which means “my master.” The second word is never – ever - ever found to refer to the God of Heaven in all of Hebrew Bible. All of its references in Hebrew Scriptures are with respect to human beings.
So, what’s going on in Psalm 110? Very simple again: the Levite, who was supposed to sing this Psalm in the Temple in Jerusalem relates how the LORD (God of Israel) speaks to David (king of Israel) “sit at my right hand. . .” Even if we suppose that it is David who sings the song about the Messiah, then Messiah is just another human being, referred to in the Psalm as “Adoni.”
By the way, the New Testament does not prove anything, unless its text and message conform fully to the plain statements of the original Word of God, the Hebrew Bible! The Christianity has thrived on misinformation and ignorance of the original Scriptures!
Hope this helps!
Peace and blessings!
Dmitry
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