[This
is the article that got me fired as the editor and writer for a popular
ministry site. I
have re-worked it some, but the essence has not changed. Actually, since writing this article I have
done a considerable amount of study and found that I am not alone in my
paradigm shift that moves away from the Trinity Doctrine I learned in the
church.
Buckle
up! This will mess with your paradigms!]
This article will look at an ‘understanding’ we have
been taught in the Christian church. This is yet another stronghold that we
would do well to examine, test, and understand.
We have been confused about Who we need to pray to, who the Messiah
really is, and have replaced the real Messiah Yeshua with a kind of Superman. Yes…the analogy fits!
Our fellowship likes to sing songs that are based in
scripture. Often they are in my ear when
I wake up, and become the stems for articles.
Today I awoke ‘singing’ the following:
For
the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through Yah! To the casting down of strongholds, casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of Yah! And bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor 10:4)
Get ready to cast down some strongholds and vain
imaginations that exalt themselves above the knowledge of YeHoVaH.
What does this song from scripture have to say to us
today? It paints a very clear picture
that the source of our weapons of warfare come not from man, but from Yah (YeHoVaH)!
He exhorts us to cast down our own imaginations, and every (ANY) ‘high thing’ that exalts itself
above the knowledge of Yah. We are to
bring into captivity (carry away/ remove/ exile) every vain thought and be,
instead, obedient. The same way - just
as - Yeshua was obedient.
That’s what ‘obedience OF Christ’ means. We don’t Obey Yeshua, we obey YeHoVaH, as
Yeshua modeled and taught us to do. It’s
a subtle distinction! We only obey
Yeshua in the context of the authority he has been given by YeHoVaH. This
happened when Yeshua became the first fruits of the resurrection (i.e. only
begotten son). His post-resurrection
divinity and authority includes being the King of Kings that will rule on Earth
for the Millennia, but at the conclusion of the thousand years it is all turned
over to the Father.
In other words, we obey Yeshua because he is acting as
the regent for his Father and speaks and acts on behalf and under the authority
of his Father, not because he IS the Father.
“…a
distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Seminary and general
editor of the prestigious New Testament
Theology [said] “The crux of the matter is how we understand the term ‘Son
of God’…The title Son of God is not in itself a designation of personal deity
or an expression of metaphysical distinctions within the Godhead. Indeed, to be a ‘Son of God’ one has to be a
being who is not God! It is a designation for a creature indicating
a special relationship with God. In
particular, it denotes God’s representative, God’s vice-regent. It is a designation of kingship, identifying
the king as God’s Son.” [1]
Theologians who simply assert, without proof, that “Son of God” means “God the
Son” are in Brown’s words laboring under a “systematic misunderstanding of Son
of God language in Scripture.” [page 44, The
Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity’s
Self-Inflicted Wound, Anthony F Buzzard and Charles F. Hunting]
In short, Messiah is Not God, but God’s Agent!
Yeshua himself used the Hebrew understanding of what
it means to be a Son of God. (See Psalm
82 and Yeshua’s defense in John 10)
ARE
YEHOVAH AND YESHUA THE SAME?
There are a lot of teachers that claim Yeshua and
YeHoVaH are the same; using the names interchangeably. The claim is made that Yeshua is a demi-god, simultaneously
both man and God. Some go so far as to
assert that he is a hybrid of a human mother and the LORD himself which would
make Yeshua mixed seed. (Something
that YeHoVaH hates!) Some teach that Yeshua is the Creator. The doctrine of kenosis says he set aside his
deity to dwell among us, and then set aside his ‘flesh-suit’ and ‘returned to
Heaven’ where he was originally (i.e. pre-existence and incarnation). Or even, that Yeshua is the One who is
described as the eternal, almighty God that Is, Was and Will Ever Be. True?
Or only traditions?
All of these notions (I don’t think they qualify as
understanding) satisfy what we want
to believe. We think GOD has given us an
impossible task! The Torah is too
difficult, and no one can follow it!
Only GOD himself can follow the rules He gave to mankind so that we can
be in covenant with Him. We are given
instructions in righteousness that require us to be obedient to His Kingdom
rules, but of course, it’s just too hard!
He had to come down here himself to save us from our inability to
measure up. He is the only one who can
follow Torah. He had to follow the Torah
and die (but not really die, because he was God already) just so we don’t have
to follow that law that our flesh hates.
THAT
THINKING TURNS THE CREATOR INTO SUPERMAN
Don’t be offended, just consider: He is not really a human but is a super-human
disguised as Clark Kent (a Man)! He
walks among us until the time is right to save us from destruction. Underneath the business suit and glasses he
is, and always will be, Superman. All of
his actions, while disguised as Clark Kent, are a sham. He is benevolent to the good guys and fights
the bad guys and Lois Lane is the perpetual victim. She (we) cannot possibly overcome the bad
guys! We need a savior in the form of
Superman to preserve us from death.
BEFORE
YOU STOP READING: SOME OF THIS FITS!
In one way, this does fit the Creator. Obviously, we cannot save our own selves and
confer eternal life upon this flesh. We
cannot even determine whether or not we will draw the next breath. Whether we live or die is all in the hands of
the Father! But, what do we expect the
Father to do for us? Has he removed
death from the equation yet? When we die
do we all go to heaven (a doctrine that appears nowhere in the Scriptures, by
the way)? And if he came to take on and
remove our sin, why is sin still rampant among believers?
If he ‘paid it all’ why are we still here? Why didn’t all those disciples that believed
in him follow right up to heaven with him when he was resurrected? Isn’t that what he came to do: wipe away the Law and give us all eternal
life? Why are we still hanging around on
Earth?
LOGICAL
FALLACY
Many believe Yeshua (Jesus) came down from heaven, perfectly
followed the Torah (that he wrote himself), taught everyone to love their
enemies as themselves, and then died a horrible death just so we don’t have to
follow the law he authored and taught us how to follow.
As long as we ‘invite him into our heart’ we can pass
on from this existence and have eternal life with him because ‘he paid it all.’ The only thing missing - what gets between us
and eternal life - was the need for GOD to come in disguise and put a check
mark in the box that says “Followed the Torah perfectly.” That’s it!
Now all who ‘believe in Yeshua’ can have eternal life. Easy.
THE
LAST PUZZLE PIECE IS IN PLACE!
Am I the only one that thinks this is absurd? Did the Creator give us an impossible task
when He gave us our instructions in righteousness (Torah)? And if all has been satisfied, what exactly
are we supposed to be doing while we hang around in our own flesh-suits waiting
to die so we can be eternally with the Creator? We’re supposed to just ‘win
souls for Jesus?’
[Yeshua said:] It is the Spirit who gives life;
the flesh is of no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are
life! Yet some of you do not trust.” Yeshua knew from the beginning who were
the ones who did not trust, as well as which one would betray Him. Then He told
them, “For this reason I’ve told you that no
one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.” From
this time, many of His disciples left and quit walking with Him. [Joh 6:63-66 ]
According to Yeshua it is the
Father that grants understanding and eternal life. We’re all supposed to be ready to give an
account for our faith, but we don’t ‘win’ souls for Him.
WHAT
IS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT WE ARE NOT GETTING?
Psa_119:34 Give me understanding,
that I may keep Your Torah and
observe it with all my heart.
Psa_119:100 I have gained
more understanding than all my
elders, for I have kept Your precepts.
Psa_119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives
light, giving understanding to the
simple. (TLV)
According to the above scriptures, understanding is
following His Torah. Abraham understood this
even before Moses was handed the covenant from Mt. Sinai!
…And
in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because
Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and
my laws. (Gen 26:4-5)
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; And
the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10 ASV)
WHO
IS THE HOLY ONE?
But Jehovah is the true God; he is
the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and
the nations are not able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them,
The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from
the earth, and from under the heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he
hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he
stretched out the heavens. (Jer 10:10-12 ASV)
WHEN
DID WE GET CONFUSED ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE CREATOR?
I recommend reading Isaiah Chapters
40 through 44. They connect directly
with John Chapter One. Pay attention to
the many verses that say things like, “I am YeHoVaH, there is no one besides me,”
“Beside me there is no God,” “I am YHVH that makes all things, that stretches
forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the Earth by myself.” YeHoVaH also says, “I am YeHoVaH: That is my
name and my glory I will not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images.” Nowhere is there a
suggestion that YeHoVaH is anything other than the ONE, just as he exhorts us
to understand in the First Commandment: “I am the LORD thy GOD…you shall have
no other gods before me.” (Ex 20:1-2)
[Just a thought: Yeshua prayed to YHVH.
He was without sin; he never would have broken the first
commandment! And, if we set Yeshua up
instead of or in front of YHVH, isn’t that putting a god before YHVH? It’s no
wonder the Trinity doctrine is so popular...only by twisting the scriptures to
make them two parts of the whole can we reconcile this! Surely you can see the problem with this doctrine!]
Isaiah Chapter 42 talks about
Yeshua. He is called ‘My Servant,” and a
‘light to the gentiles.’
I suggest that the ‘new’ testament
scholars have led us to view the scriptures in reverse. They have set up their ‘understanding’ and
figured out ways to interpret the ‘old’ testament looking through the lens of
John Chapter One. They conflate Yeshua
and YeHoVaH by insisting we understand the ‘Word’ is Yeshua. But, is that really the case? The first 12 verses of John Chapter One are
speaking about YeHoVaH! The Greek
doctrine of Logos is in our way!
What if a better understanding of
the ‘Word’ is the ‘Plan and Purpose’ put in place by the One who created
everything?
Try it! Replace ‘Word’ with ‘Plan/Declared
Purpose.’ In the beginning was the
plan/declared purpose of YeHoVaH…do it for the first twelve verses of John! I
know…it messes with your paradigm, doesn’t it? I am not alone in this Hebraic
understanding. Further reading on this topic may be found here: http://hethathasanear.com/theWord2.html
WHAT IS HEBRAIC UNDERSTANDING?
Hebraic understanding can best be
described with this example. If you show a Greek a pencil and ask him to
describe it he will say it is yellow, made of wood with a point at one end and
eraser on the other. Hebrews would
describe the same object as something you write with. Hebraic thought is action-oriented, it is something
you DO.
The pencil is ‘named’ for its
function; just as Yeshua was ‘named’ Yeshua, because he would be the means for
Yah to save his people. Yeshua means: Yah
Saves.
…but as
many as did receive him to them he
gave authority to become sons of God--to those believing in his name, who--not
of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but--of God were begotten. And the Word became
flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an
only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:12-14]
Therefore, when Yeshua is described
as the Word made flesh, it is describing his function. He isn’t really
a Torah Scroll, he is the Torah in action.
What did he do? He showed us how
to walk out the Torah.
What
if John Chapter One has been confused by doctrines like the trinity, or
misunderstanding phrases like ‘son of God’ and ‘God in the flesh?’ What if have we made those phrases literal instead
of a description of Yeshua’s function?
What if we believe the testimony of
the apostles and have faith that Yeshua has been granted eternal life and sits on
the right hand of the Father? Does that
mean that he always was divine?
IF we study the scriptures with the
paradigm Yeshua IS the Creator
IF we conflate the Son of God with
the Father/Creator
IF we miss that he is the First
Fruits of the Resurrection, it distorts everything!
IF we correctly identify Yeshua as the
First Fruits of the Resurrection from the dead, we allow YeHoVaH to be the
Creator of All. Yeshua is the first
begotten son (first man resurrected to eternal life). Just as we are all promised that we may be
begotten of the Father by His authority! (see John 1:12-14)
Yeshua is Not the Great I AM.
Not convinced?
WOULD
YOU BELIEVE WHAT YESHUA SAID?
Mar 10:17 As
Jesus was setting out again, a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him,
and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?"
Mar 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus
asked him. "Nobody is good except for one—God.
If we would understand the Shema, we would not be
confused by The Prophet that was foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15. Although Yeshua is THE Prophet foretold by
Moses; Yeshua did not claim to be the Father.
He was ‘like’ Moses (a man). He
was/is the Prophet to whom we must listen and obey!
When asked for the greatest commandment Yeshua
paraphrased the Shema (Deu 6:4-5).When he arose from the tomb he said,
"Don't hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But
go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my
God and your God.'" (John 20:17)
I
AND MY FATHER ARE ONE!
Today we have swallowed the teaching that Yeshua and
the Father are identical. That ‘echad’(one)
is a ‘mystery’ that makes Yeshua and the Father two halves of the whole (or 2/3
of the Trinity). Or different facets of
the same being, a collective known as Elohim!
What if we do not have understanding? Why don’t we believe that there is only ONE
God and Creator of all: YeHoVaH? He said
he is One. He said there is no one
beside him. Yeshua never taught us otherwise!
He taught his disciples to pray to OUR FATHER, not to himself. He said there is only One who is good
(whole/complete/functioning in its purpose).
YeHoVaH sent Yeshua to renew the Covenant in his blood, and it was
YeHoVaH that raised Yeshua from death!
The scriptures say that man introduced death into
YeHoVaH’s creation, and that a man would lead the way and become the first
fruits for us to follow into resurrection bodies. “For by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead.” (I Cor 15:21)
With that understanding in place,
read the following verse that I later paraphrase:
Psa
111:9 He has sent redemption to His people. He has ordained His covenant
forever. Holy and awesome is His Name.
Paraphrase of 111:9
YeHoVaH has sent redemption (via a Kinsman Redeemer/My
servant) to His (YeHoVaH’s) people.
YeHoVaH has ordained His covenant (Torah) forever. Holy (Set-Apart) and awesome is His Name (YeHoVaH:
which carries the fullness and entirety of his character, reputation, power and
might).
YESHUA,
OUR KING, KINSMAN REDEEMER and
HIGH PRIEST FOREVER
Do not misunderstand the point of this article. Yeshua is worthy of praise because he did
what the Father sent him to do. He is
our Kinsman Redeemer. The First
Fruits. Our older brother, High Priest
and King!
BUT: He always pointed to His Father (and our
Father). He spoke the Father’s words and
did the Father’s will. He never claimed
otherwise! He has been given authority, he didn’t always have
it.
We must be careful not to place Yeshua above the Father. He isn’t even Equal To the Father! He said so
himself! “You have heard me tell you, 'I am going
away, but I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I
am going to the Father, because the
Father is greater than I am.” (John 14:28)
HAS
YESHUA BECOME OUR NAHUSHTAN?
What is Nahushtan?
A Google search reveals this:
In the biblical Book of
Numbers, the Nehushtan (or Nohestan) was a bronze serpent on a pole which God
told Moses to erect to protect the Israelites who saw it from dying from the
bites of the "fiery serpents" which God had sent to punish them for
speaking against God and Moses.
Later, this same bronze ‘serpent’ was given the name “Nahushtan”
and the people began to worship it instead of YHVH! Later, it was
destroyed! Why? It was formed for good, to help the Israelites
to ‘look up’ for their salvation, but it supplanted the source of their
salvation and became idolatry!
I think, the Greek understanding of Jesus has done
just that! He is a stumbling block and
an idol!
Be offended if you must, but think on it. Yeshua is a stone of stumbling for both Jew and Gentile. It is time that we place him in the correct
relationship to our Father (and his
Father). Although he is worthy to be
praised, he isn’t ‘Superman.’ ‘Superman’
implies that we can never aspire to do what he did!
Scripture tells us that the Law is altogether true,
good, light, easy and not burdensome. It
is the way of life, a guide to our path and a light to the nations. It is the easy yoke that Yeshua demonstrated
for us. The way of righteousness.
Those with ears to hear listen to what YeHoVaH has
told us. Let us be wise. Let us be earnest in our dedication to follow
His instructions. We don’t need Superman
to do for us what we have been given to do. We don’t require a Superman to
remove the Torah out of our way! The Torah is still in effect. His Word (his divine purpose and plan) is
eternal. It is up to us to choose, as it
has always been. Otherwise we are living
a life of futility. He gave us
instructions in righteousness so that we can all follow in Yeshua’s
footsteps. That is the way of
understanding.
Psa 111:10 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of
wisdom. All who follow His precepts have good understanding. His praise endures
forever!
Yeshua: “… I have not spoken on my own authority.
Instead, the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to
speak. And I know that what he commands
brings eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father
has told me." (John 12:49-50)
[1]
Colin Brown, “Trinity and Incarnation: In Search of Contemporary Orthodoxy,” Ex Auditu, 1991, 87-88
