Without your permission
(since you�re not �here� for me to ask), I�d like to explain why I see things
the way I see them, but it may take a paragraph or
four.
When I began reading the
Bible myself, I began reading at Malachi. Then I read Zechariah, and so on,
until I got to Ezekiel. By that time, I was in crisis because my faith was
terribly shaken. The prophets were telling the people �return to YHVH,� �return
to Torah,� �return to Shabbat,� �return to loving each other.� No one was
listening.
You see, the prophets were
not saying Torah or Shabbat, or loving others guaranteed Salvation (in terms of
Eternal Life). Moshe/Moses never guaranteed Eternal Life in His writings either.
Moshe and the Prophets, however, said blessings would come through obedience to
these rules and curses would abound if the commandments were ignored. Simple
process. Eternal life is a completely different issue and I�m not even going to
speak about it here otherwise I will be accused of mixing my messages and I
don�t want that.
You see, what I read in the
Prophets contradicted what I had always been told in my Baptist background. The
Prophets were begging YHVH�s children to come back to Him and His Torah, yet I
was taught that the Torah was nailed to the cross! I saw a problem. I saw
dichotomy because the Prophets said that the commands were forever. Could that
be true? Paul of Tarsus changed it all and Yeshua nailed it to the cross.
Right?
To solve my perplexing problem, I decided to read the Foundation of my horror: the Torah. I went to the beginning of the book and read � in order this time � Genesis through Deuteronomy. However, when I finished, I was worse off than before. �The Law is the impossible taskmaster,� I was told, yet Moshe said it was easy. [Note: Luke 1:6 says it�s easy, too!] Who was I to believe?
I decided to read the book of Acts and the writings of Paul to make sure I was taught right. Sure enough, as I read those books with the Baptist eyeglasses I was given, the New Testament contradicted the Old.
As I lied in bed that night, I decided that in the
morning I was going to throw away the New Testament because it was the creation
of the Adversary and it was perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church. I decided
I was going to join Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (as long as they didn�t demand
bloodletting because I�m already circ�ed). However, I couldn�t sleep because I
was haunted by a thought that popped into my itty bitty mind that said, �What
were the last recorded words of Paul?� I got up to read�
After three
days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Judeans, and
when they came together, he began saying to them, "Brethren, though I had
done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was
delivered as a prisoner from Yerushalayim into the hands of the Romans. And when
they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no
ground for putting me to death. But when the Jews objected, I was forced to
appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. For this
reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am
wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Yisrael." They said to him, "We
have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the
brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. But we desire
to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to
us that it is spoken against everywhere." (Acts
28:22)
Why was Paul arrested? Because the Sadducees said he
preached against the Torah and because he (Paul) had a hope in the Resurrection
(and the Sadducees didn�t). Some of the sect of the Pharisees said Stephen
preached against the Torah and the Temple, but the book of Acts says the men
against Stephen were FALSE WITNESSES.
When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Torah (Law of Moses) and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. The things spoken were persuading some, but others would not believe. (Acts 28:23-24)
Unfortunately some were not persuaded. Why? Luke the
Chronicler tells us why�
And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, �The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, �Go to this people and say, �You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.��� (Acts 28:25-27)
These are the TRUE last words of Paul. These are very
powerful words, and they apply to us in
TruthTalk.
Like those who visited Paul in his home-prison, some
today are not persuaded and they prefer an ambiguous set of rules that cannot be
defined outside the simple and HUMANISTIC �love God� love your neighbor��
parameters. In this manner, Christians worship YHVH in a way that seems right in
their own eye, which is spoken against throughout
Scripture.
Why do I call it humanistic? Because we think God will
accept whatever we do simply on the merit of our faith. We define within
ourselves GOD�S standards of right and wrong when we live this way. This is
Humanistic and it�s terribly wrong. We worship a God who created us in HIS
image. Stop creating God in YOUR image and obey HIS
rules.
Am I a heretic for this? If I am, so is Paul of Tarsus�
"But this I
admit to you, that according to The Way which they call a sect
(KJV reads
HERESY) I do serve
the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the
Law and that is written in the Prophets
(Acts
24:14)
--
slade
