Translate

Friday, November 1, 2013

Worship and Encountering the Divine - Part Seven

Go to Part 8...

…Worship and Encountering the Divine…

Part Seven

 But you, who do you say that I am?

Matthew 16:13-18 (HCSB)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, n o He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” p
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” q
15 “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” r
17 And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, s t you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. u 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, v and on this rock w I will build My church, x and the forces y of Hades will not overpower it. [1]

In our last segment, I made the statement:

“…It begins here:
“..I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery..”
The LORD is ONE…” [2]

The development of the Jewish belief of monotheism was not a onetime thing, despite the adherence to the legends and stories of the Jews that the oral transmission of the knowledge of one God was handed down from Adam through the subsequent patriarchs. The truth is a bit more complicated:

“…Robertson Smith has summed up the matter with the statement that “what is often described as a natural tendency of Semitic religion toward ethical monotheism is in the main nothing more than a consequence of the alliance of religion with monarchy ” (“Rel. of Sem.” p. 74; Montefiore, “Hibbert Lectures,” p. 24; Schreiner, “Die Jungsten Urtheile über das Judenthum,” p. 7). The Hebrews alone of all the Semitic peoples reached the stage of pure monotheism, through the teachings of their prophets; however, it required centuries of development before every trace of idolatry disappeared even from among them, and before they stood forth as a “unique people on earth,” worshipers of the one God and of Him alone.
In Hebrew tradition the origin of the belief in the one God is connected with the religious awakening
of the patriarch Abraham…
…Though the tradition contains without doubt the kernel of the truth, modern criticism holds that the Hebrew tribes were brought to a clear realization of the difference between their God and the gods of  monotheistic belief by the whole people was a slow process at best; how slow, many statements in the
historical and prophetical books of the Bible prove amply. Throughout the period of the first  commonwealth there was constant reversion to idolatry on the part of the people (comp. Judges ii. 11–13, 17, 19; iii. 7; viii. 33; x. 6, 10, 13; I Sam. viii. 8, xii. 10; I Kings ix. 9, xiv, 9, xvi. 31; II Kings xvii. 7, xxii. 17; Isa. ii. 8, x. 11, xxxi. 7; Jer. i. 16; vii. 9, 18; ix. 13; xi. 10, 13, 17; xii. 16; xiii. 10; xvi. 11; xix. 4–5, 23; xxii. 9; xxii. 29, 35; xliv. 3, 5, 15; Hos. ii. 7, iii. 1, iv. 17, viii. 4, xi. 2; Ps. cvi. 36; II Chron. vii. 22; xxiv. 18; xxviii. 2, 25; xxxiii. 7; xxxiv. 25). Forgetful of their obligation to worship YHWH and Him alone, the people   followed after the “ba’alim”; the “bamot” and the “asherot” dotted the land; frequently, too, the Israelites confounded the worship of YHWH with the worship of Baal…”[3]

And the idea of a monotheistic God (one God, one hypostasis [4]) was not without dispute among Jewish theologians and scholars also. The substance of God was debated as to whether or not the godhead was a composite unity or a singularity. This is seen in the differences groups had to the approach of the study of who God is. While not yet developed as a “religion” so to speak, the Messianic writings are full of the early believers attempts to delve into the same problem that was infecting early Judaism as a whole – Gnosticism.  Marc A. Krell, who teaches Judaic Studies at The Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas, NV said this:

“…In both early Judaism and Christianity, we see attempts by the religious authorities to construct theological boundaries around a common enemy, gnosticism. This Hellenistic school of thought was based on the Greek word gnosis or esoteric knowledge of the cosmos that was only available to a select group of spiritual seekers. The gnostics sought to attribute the origins of evil in the material world to the wicked creator god Yaldabaoth that emanated from the mother goddess Sophia when she went against the wishes of the transcendent "Spirit."
There was clearly a tension between the dualistic, polytheistic beliefs of the gnostics and the early rabbinic and Christian mystical seekers. In the Christian version of this myth, The Apocryphon of John, Christ is sent down from the transcendent realm of heaven to remind people of their heavenly origin, yet only his followers who possess this gnosis and separate themselves from the evil material world can be saved from darkness. They can only return to the divine light of the transcendent God by following Christ back up through the different heavenly regions to the infinite realm. In the rabbinic community, Jewish mystics drew upon elements of the gnostic myth to describe divine characteristics, the ongoing revelation of God to humanity, and the path on which humans may ascend to God, while attempting to remain within monotheistic parameters.
Both Jewish and Christian religious authorities branded the gnostics as heretics, yet their comprehensive critiques of gnostic teachings belie the pervasiveness of gnostic ideas within the leadership of their own communities. Just as the 2nd-century Church Father Irenaeus must have been familiar with Christian gnostic teachings in order to refute them in Against Heresies, the rabbis indicated their familiarity with Jewish gnosticism in their polemics against it. In the Talmudic tractate Hagigah, the rabbis laid out the parameters for acceptable cosmological speculation, and in the process shed light on the very mystical schools they set out to debunk.
In both of these sources, the rabbis set out to circumscribe the mystical study of Maaseh Bereshit, "The Work of Creation" in the first chapter of Genesis, that involved speculation of the universe. They restricted not only the subject of study but limited who may study it by arguing that one must not study with more than two people the heavens above, the demonic world below, the origins of the cosmos before the world was created, and the messianic destiny of the universe after the period of this-worldly existence is over. Yet they went even further when addressing the mystical study of the Maaseh Merkavah, "The Work of the Chariot," based on the vision of God's chariot or throne in Ezekiel chapter 1. Because it involved delving into the very essence of God, the rabbis argued that one can only study it with one other person, and that person must be a sage who is old and wise enough to understand such mysteries…”[5]

He goes on:

“…Yet these polemical texts actually reveal the emergence of divergent mystical schools of thought dating back to the Second Temple period. Certain pharisaic circles taught Maaseh Bereshit andMaaseh Merkavah in which they referred to the living creatures in Ezekiel's vision as a hierarchy of angels in the Celestial Court of God. The next stage of Jewish mystical development occurred during the period of the Mishnah with the hekhalot or throne mysticism based on Ezekiel's vision of the divine throne and the larger realm of the "throne world." This corresponds directly with the gnostic pleroma or "fullness" of divine light, a sphere of divinity consisting of semi-divine powers or archons in different aeons or heavenly realms.
This literature, referred to as the "Hekhalot Books," displayed the different heavenly halls or divine palaces that the mystic, like the gnostic visionary, passed through until he reached the seventh heaven, and encountered the divine throne. The hekhalotliterature was attributed to a late 1st-century circle of rabbis who were disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai: Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, Akiba ben Joseph, and Ishmael the "High Priest." What makes this school of thought so countercultural is that these texts did not consist of traditional midrashim or interpretations of biblical passages, but a completely unique set of religious experiences not found in the Hebrew scriptures. Ultimately, this subterranean sect of rabbinic Jews could not share its gnosis for fear of opposing the rabbinic establishment and widening the schism within Judaism. Jewish gnosticism would remain underground until the end of the 13th century when the study of Kabbalah, the secret tradition of mystical teachings, would become popularized, and the Sefer Ha-Zohar, or "Book of Enlightenment," would become part of the canon of Jewish literature.
            In 10th-century Muslim-ruled Babylonia, the Karaite sect emerged in opposition to the rabbinic establishment by rejecting the Talmud as a human creation set up to deceive and alienate the individual Jew from the Torah while strengthening rabbinic power. Influenced by Greek and Arabic philosophy, the Karaites argued that each individual must rely on one's own intelligence to understand the Hebrew Bible and not depend upon any outside human authority. However, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, one of the rabbinic sages who directed the Babylonian Talmudic academy in Sura and produced his own philosophical work, countered that while the human intellect is the most essential foundation of faith, the Written and Oral Torah are also necessary sources for understanding divine revelation and must be reconciled with human knowledge…[6]

Finishing, Marc adds this:

                    Karaites
                                 Rabbinic tradition
reject the Talmud as human creation
only Hebrew Bible is necessary
                                       accept the Talmud as authoritative
                                       Written and Oral Torah are needed


In response, the Karaites only increased their polemics against the "Rabbanites" by criticizing their promotion of worship outside of Jerusalem, arguing that all Jews must come to Jerusalem to publically mourn the destruction of the Temple and exchange any material prosperity they have gained in exile for a life of asceticism there. Ultimately, while the rabbis were able to suppress the Jewish gnostics until the 13th-century emergence of Kabbalah, the schism between the Karaites and Rabbanites was irreparable and produced permanent Karaite communities, some of which still exist today…”[7]

So it is clearly not the case that the Jews were unified at all in their theologies and in the nature of God. While the monotheistic tendency was there, the various sects and groups that comprised the Jewish community had different approaches to the subject, and some of these differences led to the separation of the various groups from the Jewish community at large: so it was even so for the followers of Yeshua, who were denigrated by the term “Minim”.   The Jewish leaders, because of the rise of the followers of Yeshua, inserted into the Amidah[8] an additional “blessing” called the Birkat HaMinim ("the sectarians, heretics")that asks God to destroy those in heretical sects (Minuth), who slander Jews and who act as informers against Jews. While there are textural variations to this “blessing” it reads in essence as this:

"For the apostates let there be no hope. And let the arrogant government be speedily uprooted in our days. Let the noẓerim and the minim be destroyed in a moment. And let them be blotted out of the Book of Life and not be inscribed together with the righteous. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who humblest the arrogant" (Schechter)." [9]

Two medieval Cairo Genizah copies equate Minim and Notzrim, "Nazarenes", i.e. "Christians. [10] While there has been in recent years the attempt by some Jewish scholars to down play a connection to this “blessing” to the early sect of believers (i.e. what they call “Christian”), it none-the-less has to be seen that the main focus in any of its contexts this "blessing" may also be a euphemism for a curse. The benediction is thus seen as related to the Pharisees, the Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, the split of early Christianity and Judaism as heresy in Judaism, the origins of Rabbinic Judaism, Origins of Christianity, Christianity in the 1st century, and history of early Christianity. [11]

In Hilchot Teshuva Chapter 3 Halacha 7[12] there is a list of who are considered “heretics”. Among these are: minim, epicorsim[13] and those who deny Torah.
Minim are said to be those who:
·         Who denies the existence of God or the ruler of the world
·         Who says there are two or more rulers of the world
·         Who accepts there is one Master of the world but maintains He has a body or a form
·         Who denies that He is the sole First Being and Creator of all existence
·         Who serves entities that serve as intermediary between him and the eternal Lord such as stars, constellations or any other entity
According to Hilchot Teshuva 3:6 Minim do not have a portion in the world to come. Their souls are cut off and they are judged for their sins.[14]
The Birkat haMinim is a malediction on heretics. The belief that the curse was directed at Christians was sometimes cause for persecution of Jews. Modern scholarship has generally evaluated that the Birkat haMinim probably did originally include Jewish Christians before Christianity became markedly a gentile religion. ([15])([16])

As the persecution arose from all sides, the followers of Yeshua became squeezed all the more. Messianic Judaism, which was initially strengthened despite persecution by Jerusalem Temple officials, soon fell into decline during the Jewish-Roman wars (66-135) and by the growing anti-Judaism within the Gentile community, perhaps best personified by Marcion (c. 150).[17] The Messianic Jewish community differed from the growing Gentile influence in the fledling religion of “Christianity; they were mainly characterized by combining the confession of Yeshua as Messiah with continued adherence to Jewish practices such as Sabbath observance, observance of the Jewish calendar, observance of Jewish laws and customs, circumcision, and synagogue attendance.

For the early believers, there was dissension from all sides. They weren’t “Jewish enough” for the Jews and were “too Jewish” for the Gentile church.

Yet through it all, they maintained the belief in One God and His Messiah, Yeshua. Alister McGrath, former Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, claims that the 1st century "Jewish Christians" were totally faithful religious Jews. They differed from other contemporary Jews only in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. [18]

What conclusions can we draw from this?

Daniel Boyarin, a professor of Talmud at the University of California in Berkeley has written a book called The Jewish Gospels and in it he contends that in ancient times, the borders between what Judaism and Christianity were far more porous than we conceive today:  it was not until the fourth century that the doctrinal differences were clarified, not least because of the desire of the Roman-backed church to put clear water between the spreading new faith and those it considered Jews. In his introduction Boyarin states:

:…If only things were this simple. In this book, I’m going to tell a very different historical story, a story of a time when Jews and Christians were much more mixed up with each other than they are now, when there were many Jews who believed in something quite like the Father and the Son and even in something quite like the incarnation of the Son in the Messiah, and when followers of Jesus kept kosher as Jews, and accordingly a time in which the question of the difference between Judaism and Christianity just didn’t exist as it does now. Jesus, when he came, came in a form that many, many Jews were expecting: a second divine figure incarnated in a human. The question was not “Is a divine Messiah coming?” but only “Is this carpenter from Nazareth the One we are expecting?” Not surprisingly, some Jews said yes and some said no…”[19]

Judaism did not exist in the time of Messiah Yeshua – the “religion of the Jews didn’t even have a name for itself until the 18th or 19th century. The term “Judaism” up until that time was only used by non-Jews to describe the religion that had formed out of Sinai. [20]  What “Judaism” was (and is), was not a religion; it was and is a way of life, one formed around obedience, worship and belief in God.

Boyarin continues:

“…So being religiously Jewish then was a much more complicated affair than it is even now. There were no Rabbis yet, and even the priests in Jerusalem and around the countryside were divided among themselves. Not only that, but there were many Jews both in Palestine and outside of it, in places such as Alexandria in Egypt, who had very different ideas about what being a good, devout Jew meant. Some believed that in order to be a kosher Jew you had to believe in a single divine figure and any other belief was simply idol worship. Others believed that God had a divine deputy or emissary or even son, exalted above all the angels, who functioned as an intermediary between God and the world in creation, revelation, and redemption. Many Jews believed that redemption was going to be effected by a human being, an actual hidden scion of the house of David—an Anastasia—who at a certain point would take up the scepter and the sword, defeat Israel’s enemies, and return her to her former glory. Others believed that the redemption was going to be effected by that same second divine figure mentioned above and not a human being at all. And still others believed that these two were one and the same, that the Messiah of David would be the divine Redeemer. As I said, a complicated affair.
While by now almost everyone, Christian and non-Christian, is happy enough to refer to Jesus, the human, as a Jew, I want to go a step beyond that. I wish us to see that Christ too—the divine Messiah—is a Jew…” [21]

So here we are, at the place of encountering the divine. Now what you believe is how you are prepared to accept the message of the Bible. Most will come to it with a notion already conceived, with an identity of the Messiah firm in their hands and hearts.  But is this the way we should look at the message of either the Tanach or the Messianic Writings [22]?

The idea of religion itself is what separates us today as well as in the past. What we call religion is simply a pre-defined set of complex beliefs and convictions set up by its (the religion in question) boundaries. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and all the other “..isms” which we have as people put up around ourselves all deal with these boundaries. Even atheists (atheism?) have boundaries that they set for themselves – basically a “this far and no more” attitude. It is almost as if each group in question can take out a basic “grocery list” of do’s and don’ts that define the “proper way” an adherent to the group must look, act or behave; this list controls the basic thought patterns and life-styles that each adherent must conform too if they are to be considered a “true” Christian, a “true” Jew, a “true” Moslem etcetera, etcetera. Here is the dilemma: who sets the rules? What authority was given to any particular group or “ruling council” to tell all the rest what was acceptable or not? And if there was a ruling council, was the decisions they made correct? Was any provision made to question these decisions?

That is where I am today. I have come to the decisions and positions I espouse not because someone told me this is the way I must think, but I am here today precisely because I choose to question what I was being taught. The plan of God for my life is too important to me to leave it up to religion. His word should be all that guides me, not a “predefined checklist” of what it is I should believe or not. That is why my blog is called “At the Gates of Yerushalayim: A Search for Messiah”. I am on a search for the real Messiah, not the one invented by others. Just as it is important to believe in the One True God and His plan of salvation (Messiah Yeshua!), it is more important WHAT we believe.

John tells us:

1 John 2:18-29 (HCSB)
18 Children, it is the last hour. h And as you have heard, “Antichrist i is coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
20 But you have an anointing j from the Holy One, k and all of you have knowledge. l
21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? m This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son can have the Father; n he who confesses the Son has the Father as well. o
24 What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son p and in the Father. q 25 And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. r 26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things s and is true and is not a lie; just as He has taught you, remain in Him. t
28 So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears a we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. b 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right c has been born of Him. d [23]

My brethren, no lie is of the truth. So WHAT we believe has an impact upon our salvation – it really is that simple. Now this is MY conclusion, what I believe is truth (and of course I am teachable and correctable…):
Yehsua is divine, for two reasons:

1.       By the virtue of Who His Father is, YHVH Tzva’ot – YHVH LORD of Hosts
2.       Because the Father elevated Him to the Supreme position at His Right Hand

That being said, I, at this time and this place in my search for my Messiah, do not believe He is God (or YHVH). To hold to that violates what I read in the plain (p’shat (פְּשָׁט) — "plain" ("simple") or the direct meaning) of Scripture.

I believe Yeshua was preexistent in the mind of God, as the culmination of all that He prophesied to His prophets, of all the covenant promises He gave to Adam, Noah, Abraham, etcetera. I believe that at the right time, in the right place, He begat (ילד  yâlad yaw-lad', meaning to bear, beget, or bring forth, to bring into existence [24]) His Son Yeshua to be His instrument of salvation, to the Jew first and then the Gentile.  Yeshua’s birth was the fulfillment of Psalms 2:
Psalm 2:6-12 (NASB95)
6     “But as for Me, I have 1installed aMy King
Upon Zion, bMy holy mountain.”
7     “I will surely tell of the 1decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are aMy Son, Today I have begotten You.
8     ‘Ask of Me, and aI will surely give bthe 1nations as Your inheritance,
And the very cends of the earth as Your possession.
9     ‘You shall 1abreak them with a 2rod of iron,
You shall bshatter them like 3earthenware.’ ”
10     Now therefore, O kings, ashow discernment;
Take warning, O 1judges of the earth.
11     1Worship the Lord with 2areverence
And rejoice with btrembling.
12     1Do homage to athe Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For bHis wrath may 2soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who ctake refuge in Him! [25]

Unless we are willing to do violence to the meaning of words by declaring that that they really don’t mean what they are supposed to mean, begat or begotten mean simply this: to be brought into existence. Yeshua was brought into existence by the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit.

Let us look at a few verses of John 1:1-5, in parallel:

       King James Version                   Bishops Bible (1568)           Geneva Bible (1587)            1899 Douay- Rheims

1.       1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1  In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God: and that worde was God.
1  In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.
1  In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God: and the Word was God.
2.       2  The same was in the beginning with God.
2  The same was in the begynnyng with God.
2  This same was in the beginning with God.
2  The same was in the beginning with God.
3.       3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
3  All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made.
3  All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.
3  All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
4.       4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
4  In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,
4  In it was life, and that life was the light of men.
4  In him was life: and the life was the light of men.
5.       5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
5  And the lyght shyneth in darkenesse: and the darknesse comprehended it not.
5  And that light shineth in the darkenesse, and the darkenesse comprehended it not.
5  And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Bishops’ Bible of 1568 was the basis of the King James Bible translation that began in 1602 and finalized in 1611. The Geneva Bible of 1587 was a continuation of the translation program that began in 1557. Notice the wording in verses 3 and 4 of these two Bibles: keep in mind that men lost their lives to produce these Bibles…

The key word is highlighted: it. It being the word of God which was God. The word spoken by God since the beginning, the plan and purpose of God that was to come to pass in the right time. The mind of God, His eternal purpose, laid out since before the foundations of the world – His Messiah would be begotten. With one man sin entered the world. With one man, all would be reconciled to Him again – but His plan was to use the agency of humanity, a man born unto a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit which is the power and presence of God – and a new creation would begin with this one, this begotten one of God. The earliest writers knew of this:

David wrote of Him in Psalms.
Isaiah prophesied of Him:
Isa 9:6-7
(9:5) For a child is born(ילד  yâlad yaw-lad', meaning to bear, beget, or bring forth, to bring into existence) to us, a son is given (to be given v. — to be caused to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense) to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo`etz El Gibbor Avi-`Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],  (7)  (9:6) in order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.[26]

This child of man, this Son of Man would be the one to bring restoration of all things back unto God by His obedience unto the Word, and by His sacrifice that was predicted before the foundation of the world. To view Yeshua as YHVH means that God’s plan had no pathos to it, that it was basically meaningless for a sinless existence is of no effort for God to do; but a man? O what a divine plan! To see our Savior as actually one of us! To know he suffered the pangs  of hunger, loneliness, joy, sadness, all the emotions that make us human yet he sinned not…

Why do I say He couldn’t be God, YHVH?

Yeshua
Reference
God
Reference
Is called ‘Son of God’
Is called ‘God the Father’
Was born
Is from everlasting to everlasting
Was tempted
Cannot be tempted
Overcame sin
Cannot sin
Was obedient to God
Is supreme
Was seen
God cannot be seen
Had limited knowledge
Knows everything
Died
God is immortal – cannot die
Was raised from the dead
God raised Him !
Now sits at God’s right hand
God’s throne always in heaven
Will return to earth
Is everywhere present

While some may argue these points, they are clearly what Scripture tells us and our interpretations cannot override the plain meaning of Scripture! To add another (i.e. our own) interpretation to God’s word is to try and distort the Word for our purposes, to fit our own preconceived conclusions instead of letting God bring us to the proper dividing of the word.

This is a lot to chew on I know, so let’s continue this in our next post, where I will try to flesh out for you the New Creation – the restoration of all things.

Till then, may God richly bless you my beloved.


n  16:13 A town north of Galilee at the base of Mount Hermon
o  16:13–16 Mk 8:27–29; Lk 9:18–20
  Most frequent title Jesus used for Himself (Dn 7:13; Mt 8:20)
p  16:13 Other mss read that I, the Son of Man, am
q  16:14 Mt 14:2; 17:10; Mk 6:15; Lk 9:8; Jn 1:21
  Or the Christ; the Greek word is Christos and means the anointed one. Where the NT emphasizes Christos as a name of our Lord or has a Gentile context, “Christ” is used. Where the NT Christos has a Jewish context, the title “Messiah” is used.
r  16:16 Mt 1:16; Jn 11:27
s  16:17 Or son of John
t  16:17 Jn 1:42; 21:15–17
u  16:17 1Co 15:50; Gl 1:16; Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14
v  16:18 Peter (Gk Petros) = a specific stone or rock
w  16:18 Rock (Gk petra) = a rocky crag or bedrock
x  16:18 Mt 18:17; Ac 5:11; 7:38; 8:1,3; 9:31; 11:22,26
y  16:18 Lit gates
  The Greek word for the place of the dead; it corresponds to the Hebrew word Sheol.
[1]  The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Jewish Encyclopedia: A DESCRIPTIVE RECORD OF THE HISTORY, RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND CUSTOMS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY. Vol. Volume 8. PREPARED AS AN EBOOK BY VARDA GRAPHICS, INC. ©, 2002 by Varda Books. ©1905, 1909, BY FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, n.d. Article “Monotheism” pg 659.
[4]Hypostasis: (from ujpo>, under, and i[sthmi, to stand; hence subsistence), a term used in theology to signify person…” Strong, James and McClintock, John. CYCLOPEDIA of BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL and ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE. Vol. 4. (in 12 volumes.) Electronic Edition. pg. 167: AGES Software Rio, WI USA, 2000.

[8] The Amidah (Hebrew: תפילת העמידה, Tefilat HaAmidah "The Standing Prayer"), also called the Shmoneh Esreh (שמנה עשרה, Shmoneh Esreh "The Eighteen," in reference to the original number of constituent blessings, now nineteen with the addition of the ), is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy.
[10] See Yaakov Y. Teppler, Susan Weingarten Birkat haMinim: Jews and Christians in conflict in the ancient world 2007 - Page 56 "Thus Krauss speaks on the one hand of notzrim and on the other of minim, and his two pleas do not really hold up side by ... 207 Rashi on BT Megillah 17b: "The minim are disciples of Jesus the Notzri which is why they put Birkat haMinim ..."
Also, Marvin R. Wilson Our father Abraham: Jewish roots of the Christian faith - 1989 Page 68 "We must emphasize that only two texts of the Birkat ha-Minim (both found in the Cairo Genizah) explicitly mention Christians. Both texts refer to "the Christians [notzrim, ie, the Nazarenes] and the heretics / minim]. "
And again: ed. William David Davies, Louis Finkelstein, Steven T. Katz The Cambridge History of Judaism: The late Roman-Rabbinic period 2006 - Page 291 "He proposes that the original Yavnean version of the Birkat ha-Minim, following the medieval Genizah fragment, included both minim and "Nazarenes," and that "in this liturgical fragment minim and Notzrim are synonymous, ie, "
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkat_haMinim
[12] "Hilchot Teshuva". Mishneh Torah. Moznaim Publications.
[13] Epikoros (or Apikoros or Apikores or Epicurus; Hebrew: אפיקורוס, lit. "Heretic", pl. Epicorsim ): "AN EPIKOROS. Rab and R. Hanina both taught that this means one who disrespects a Talmid Chacham [erudite Torah scholar]. R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi maintained that it is one who disrespects his neighbour in the presence of a Talmid Chacham. " —B. Talmud, Seder Nezikin, tractate Sanhedrin, 99b
[14] "Hilchot Teshuva". Mishneh Torah. Moznaim Publications.
[15] The Cambridge History of Judaism: The late Roman-Rabbinic period pp291-292 ed. William David Davies, Louis Finkelstein, Steven T. Katz – 2006.
[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuth
[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christians; Marcion of Sinope (Greek: Μαρκίων[1] Σινώπης), (c. 85 – c. 160) was a bishop in early Christianity.[2] His theology, which rejected the deity described in the Jewish Scriptures as inferi\wxor or subjugate\
1.01]m .,?”
ed to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion)114   `weruiop]\[
[18] McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN 1-4051-0899-1. Page 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief — that Jesus was the Messiah. Unless males were circumcised, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1)."
[Author’s note: The term “Jewish Christians” is a misnomer; the followers of Yeshua probably considered themselves notzrim or netser (the modern Hebrew equivalent  (No·tsri, נוֹצְרִי)) in the 1st century, probably from the Hebrew na·tsar, נָצַר, meaning "to watch," or from ne·tser, נֵ֫צֶר, meaning branch. It had something to do with Yeshua coming from Nazareth. {The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (1906/2003), p. 665…  See also: "...if the word Nazareth is be derived from Hebrew at all, it must come from this root [i.e. נֹצְרִ, nostri, to watch]" (Merrill, Selah, (1881) Galilee in the Time of Christ, p. 116. "The etymology of Nazara is neser" ("Nazareth", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911.) "…NAZARETH, NAZARENE - Place name meaning, 'branch.'" (Holman's Bible Dictionary, 1994.) "…Generally supposed to be the Greek form of the Hebrew netser, a "shoot" or "sprout." (Easton's Bible Dictionary, (1897)…} In rabbinical and contemporary Israeli Hebrew, the term "Notzrim" (plural) or singular "Notzri" (נוצרי) is the general official term for "Christians" and "Christian", although many Christians prefer Meshiykiyyim (משיחיים) "Messianics", as found in most Hebrew New Testament translations as seen in Acts 11, etc. per BFBS Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament and revisions.}]
[19] Boyarin, Daniel (2012-03-20). The Jewish Gospels (Kindle Locations 245-251). New Press, The Kindle Edition.
[20] …Ibid… (Kindle Location 257).
[21] …Ibid… (Kindle Locations 287-298).
[22] Calling the New Testament “The Messianic Writings” isn’t my idea … no, allow me to give credit where credit is due: see the book “The Messianic Writings” by Daniel Gruber, ELIJAH PUBLISHING; 1 edition (June 21, 2011).
h  2:18 Jn 2:4; 1Pt 4:7
i  2:18 Mt 24:5,24; 1Jn 2:22; 4:3; 2Jn 7
j  2:20 2Co 1:21
k  2:20 Ps 89:18; Mk 1:24; Ac 10:38
l  2:20 Other mss read and you know all things
 Or the Christ; the Greek word is Christos and means the anointed one. Where the NT emphasizes Christos as a name of our Lord or has a Gentile context, “Christ” is used. Where the NT Christos has a Jewish context, the title “Messiah” is used. {Authors’s note: Folks, let’s face it… the entire NT is written in a Jewish context, so we need to wrap ourselves around that truth, not try to read a “dual theology” (Jewish and/or Christian) into it..}
m  2:22 Jn 20:31; Ac 18:5; Eph 5:2; 1Jn 5:1
n  2:23 Jn 5:23
o  2:23 Jn 8:19; 16:3; 17:3; 1Jn 4:15; 5:1; 2Jn 9
p  2:24 Jn 15:4–7; 1Jn 2:6,27–28; 3:6,24; 4:13,15–16
q  2:24 Jn 10:38; Col 3:3; 1Th 1:1; 1Jn 4:15–16
r  2:25 Jn 4:14; 1Tm 4:8; 2Tm 1:1; Ti 1:2
s  2:27 Jn 14:26
t  2:27 Jn 15:4–7; 1Jn 2:6; 3:6,24; 4:13,15–16
a  2:28 Lk 17:30; Col 3:4; 1Jn 3:2
b  2:28 1Th 2:19
c  2:29 Gn 18:19; Dt 6:18; 1Jn 3:7,10
d  2:29 Jn 1:12–13; 3:3–7; 8:41; 1Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18
[23]  The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[24] In its narrowest sense yālad describes the act of a woman in giving birth to a child (e.g. Ex 1:19; I Kgs 3:17–18), but it is sometimes used of the father’s part in becoming a parent (e.g. Gen 4:18; 10:8, 24, 26; 22:23, 25:3; I Chr 1:10–20, Prov 23:22). It may be used with reference to the whole procedure involved in producing a child (e.g. Gen 38:27–28) or it may even be specifically applied to the pains of a woman prior to the actual birth (e.g. Gen 35:16; Mic 5:33). Although predominantly used of human beings it is occasionally used of animals (e.g. Gen 30:39; 31:8; Job 39:1–2, Jer 14:5; Ezk 31:6).  Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament by R Laird Harris (Author) , Gleason L Archer Jr. (Author) , Bruce K. Waltke.. Vol 1, pg 378-380. Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (October 1, 2003), n.d.
                                                                                                                   

1  Or consecrated
a  Ps 45:6
b  Ps 48:1, 2
1  Or decree: The Lord said to Me
a  Acts 13:33; Heb 1:5; 5:5
a  Ps 21:1, 2
b  Ps 22:27
1  Or Gentiles
c  Ps 67:7
1  Another reading is rule
a  Ps 89:23; 110:5, 6; Rev 2:26, 27; 12:5; 19:15
2  Or scepter or staff
b  Ps 28:5; 52:5; 72:4
3  Lit potter’s ware
a  Prov 8:15; 27:11
1  Or leaders
1  Or Serve
2  Or fear
a  Ps 5:7
b  Ps 119:119, 120
1  Lit Kiss; some ancient versions read Do homage purely, or, Lay hold of instruction
a  Ps 2:7
b  Rev 6:16, 17
2  Or quickly, suddenly, easily
c  Ps 5:11; 34:22
[25]  New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[26] Stern, David H. The Complete Jewish Bible. Electronic Edition -e-Sword v. 10.2.1. Jewish New Testament Publications, ©1998. (highlighted emphasis/definitions added)

No comments:

Post a Comment