[TruthTalk] (Slade) God's Way and Man's Way

[Judy Taylor]

From: "Slade Henson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I disagree with some of your points, but they are non issues that can inflame and that is not my point nor my style by habit, but there is a point I would like to bring to the forefront. I will quote you and then begin.   jt: "I understand that the Jews were given the oracles of God and I value both them and their contribution; Jesus said He was sent to the lost sheep of the 'house of Israel' and they are the ones to whom He went with the message of His Kingdom.  However, the Jews as a nation rejected Him.  The apostles Peter and Paul went to the 'circumcision' first but they had a lot of trouble with riots, insurrections, etc. and by the end of the book of Acts Paul had wiped his hands of them and said he was going to the gentiles who would hear him (see Acts 28:26,27) Paul repeated the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 to the Jews which Jesus also reminded them of in Matthew 13:14.  As a nation the Jews still do not receive Jesus as their Messiah." The Jewish people did not reject Yeshua as a nation.   jt: Then what is "He came to His own and His own received Him not" (John 1:11) saying? John goes on to say "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God [....] who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (His disciples must be born of God or born again).   Here are your texts for today: Luke 23.27; "there were following him a great multitude of the people" does not necessarily mean they were all His disciples. Look at the miracles, how many he fed and how many came to the upper room 125?   John 19.13 (the Stone Pavement can hold 45 people comfortably, 200 people if they're cramped); The judgment seat at the place called the pavement is where Pilate tried to exonerate Him and the crowd cried "crucify Him, crucify Him" So there was no loyalty to Him there.   Acts 2.41, 6.7, 15.5. (myriads who are zealous) Yes 3,000 souls were added by Peter's sermon and after Pentecost when His disciples received power from on high the number of disciples increased but this is after the crucifixion.   A Jewish believer in Chicago says that between 25-40% of the Jewish population in the Land believed in Yeshua as the Messiah. If his calculations are correct (I don't know how he came up with them), there was not a national rejection. In my opinion, even if 5-10% believed, it's not a national rejection.   jt: The scriptures teach that He was "rejected by His own" and "wounded in the house of his friends" Romans Chapter 11 addresses Israel's rejection ATST stating that it was not total and will not be final.   (cf. Genesis 18:32) Sodom and Gomorrah were still destroyed, it was just delayed; this is an example of Abraham's intercession and what it means to be a friend of God. I don't see how it ties in to Israel's rejection of Christ as their Messiah.  As a Nation they are still looking and they are still saying to each other: "Next year in Jerusalem"   Please remember that the Gospels (with the possible exception of Matthew) were written for a Jewish audience, therefore the words need to be understood within their historical context. While we tend to see the words "Jews" to be an all-encompassing term, it was/is not considered so in the Hebraic mindset.   jt: I've read that Matthew is the one gospel that was written primarily for a Jewish audience. A good example of how the Holy Spirit communicates is that of Peter's sermon in Acts 2.  People were in Jerusalem from all over Europe and Asia to celebrate the Passover and when Peter spoke they all heard him and understood in whatever language they spoke. I don't believe this was a one time phenomenon.  One does not have to be Jewish or Greek to have understanding that comes from God by way of the Holy Spirit.   jt: Not sure about the above -(Cain & Abel)  what kind of an offering was it?  There must be the shedding of blood to atone for sin. Vegetables would not be accepted for that.   You are assuming that the sacrifices performed in Genesis 4 are sin sacrifices; we have no evidence to go on.   jt: None other than the fact that the Levitical system of offerings was more than 400 years into the future and there is no record of any other offering but that of sin.  When A&E sinned God killed an animal because without the shedding of blood there is no remission.  It's the pagan gods to take offerings of fruit and vegetables.   They could have been simple burnt offerings (which the "grain offering" in just one kind). In Leviticus, however, one can use a simple grain offering for a sin offering if one is poor enough (Leviticus 5:11-13). Also, your word "vegetable" is merely "m'peri ha-adamah" (Strong's #6529 and #127) which simply means "fruit of the soil" -- a generic term that can mean anything.   jt: This is what the scriptures say in Genesis 4:3 "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell ... so the Lord said to Cain"   I guess you could assume Cain's bringing celery and avocados, but I assume Cain would bring something a bit more appropriate. He's merely the first of many who despoil the gifts we are to give to God by having a rotten attitude. No wonder He hates our sacrifices and feast days!   jt: The kind of offering matters also; when I read the text I get the idea that Cain became angry when his offering was refused and Abel's was accepted because this is when he became angry and his countenance fell with God warning him about sin lying at the door (Vs.7)  We are given the same warning in the NT about letting the sun go down on our wrath. When we refuse to do things God's way He is not obliged to cater to us as is evident all through scripture.   -- slade P.S. The Torah serves many functions... only one of which is the schoolmaster, which you eluded to.   jt: Please explain.  My belief is that the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy which would be considered part of God's Commandments and Statutes still stand but that the Levitical Law was nailed to the Cross.  Romans 10:4 tells us that Christ is the end of the law... (ATST we are still responsible to fulfill the "Royal Law" in Him).