{"id":28,"date":"2010-03-03T12:23:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T19:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=28"},"modified":"2012-12-24T08:04:03","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T15:04:03","slug":"another-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=28","title":{"rendered":"Another ‘Jesus’"},"content":{"rendered":"

For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [NKJV]
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

— II Corinthians 11:4<\/em><\/p>\n

And, as it turns out, Paul\/Shaul was correct.\u00a0 Most of what is now called ‘the Christian church’ did exactly that.<\/p>\n

One need look no further than the words of the Messiah Himself (Matthew 5:17-18)\u00a0 to make the point:<\/p>\n

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.<\/em><\/p>\n

For assuredly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away<\/strong>, not one jot<\/strong> or one tittle will by any\u00a0 means pass from the law<\/span> (torah) <\/strong>until all <\/strong>is fulfilled.” <\/em>(Emphasis <\/strong>added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last time I checked, “heaven and earth” had not passed away, which would seem to imply that those who say that “the Law” was “nailed to the cross” and “done away with” have a problem with Him.<\/p>\n

Which should not be a surprise, either.\u00a0 After all, everything in Scripture points toward that same Truth:\u00a0 His character does not change, His Covenants are forever, He (and arguably He alone) is trustworthy, He “changes not<\/em>”\u00a0 (Mal. 3:6) and is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.”<\/em> (Heb. 13:8).<\/p>\n

We are even told by Moses that “Another” would come, greater than Moses…and given LOTS of information about how to confirm whether someone claiming to be That Prophet that he foretold was telling the truth.\u00a0 Check out Deuteronomy chapters 7, 12, and 13 – just for starters.\u00a0 The gist of those teachings are clear, specific, and consistent:\u00a0 YHVH hates idolatry.\u00a0\u00a0 A LOT.\u00a0 So should we.\u00a0 We are not to engage in idolatry, at all.\u00a0 We are not even to “bring an abomination into your house<\/em>“!<\/p>\n

And if “there arises among you a prophet<\/em>” — even if his prophecies come to pass! — who tries to turn you from YHVH your Elohim, you are not to listen to him.\u00a0 (Read Deuteronomy 13 for yourself, however.\u00a0 He is far more blunt about it than my brief summary!)<\/p>\n

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we are told (at least twice,\u00a0 Deut, 4:2, and 12:32,\u00a0 so He is probably serious about it) that no one is to “add to” or “subtract from” what is Written.<\/p>\n

All of which should make the title of this article perfectly clear.\u00a0 The entirety of the “old testament”\u00a0 (I don’t like that terminology, obviously – if for no other reason than that it tries to perpetuate the false claim that it is some “old”, “done away with”, and no longer relevant to Modern Churchianity) tells us about His character.\u00a0 It tells us Who He Is, and makes the point – over and over again — that He is a Keeper of His Word.\u00a0 Unlike the Greek and later Roman ‘gods’, who were capricious, fickle, and downright demonic, He alone is worthy of our trust and worship.<\/p>\n

If someone claims to “come in His Name”, but denies His character and attempts to REWRITE His Word, to “add to” or “subtract from” what is Written..in short, to DO AWAY WITH the very PROOFS which were given to us to know Who He sent… then that false prophet is a liar, and the Truth is not in him!<\/p>\n

Yahushua of Nazareth Himself confirms these crucial points in John chapter 5:<\/p>\n

“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me…But you do not have His Word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.<\/em><\/p>\n

You search the Scriptures…and these are they which testify of Me…<\/em><\/p>\n

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.\u00a0 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The answer is simple, but distressing.\u00a0 It is right there in John 5:43 as well:<\/p>\n

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another<\/strong> comes in his own <\/strong>name, him you will receive<\/strong>.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, that is exactly what happened.\u00a0 Within only a few generations after His Sacrifice and for our Redemption, men had taken it upon themselves to do EXACTLY what our Savior had been SO critical of the scribes and Pharisees for doing:\u00a0 “teaching as doctrine the commandments of men”\u00a0 and rewriting His Word!<\/p>\n

If you think that “Jesus” would never be hard on anyone for something like preaching that His “teaching and understanding”\u00a0 (torah <\/em>in the Hebrew) had been “done away with”, read Matthew chapter 23.<\/p>\n

(And if you are worried about the oft-twisted words of Paul’s letter (Col. 2:14) — read it again, carefully!\u00a0 Just like it is the “love of money” which is condemned in another popularly-misquoted verse, it is the “handwriting <\/em>of the charges <\/em>against us”, the INDICTMENT<\/em>, or the accusation<\/em>, literally the dogma<\/em>, which was\u00a0 “nailed” to the execution stake — and not <\/strong>the “law” itself!\u00a0 That distinction is absolutely crucial!\u00a0 After all, if that were not true, why would that same author and consummate Torah scholar have also said, (Romans 6:1)\u00a0 “What shall we say then?\u00a0 Shall we sin more that grace might abound<\/em>?\u00a0 YHVH forbid<\/em>!”)<\/p>\n

That same Messiah, the “Torah Made Flesh” who so carefully distinguished between the “traditions of the elders” and what is actually Written, made that point over and over again, so that those who ignored His lesson are ultimately “without excuse”.\u00a0\u00a0 Take another look, for example, at the repeated refrain from His “sermon on the mount” in Matthew 5.\u00a0\u00a0 Notice how many times (v. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43) He uses the same teaching structure:<\/p>\n