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“Those who know, don’t say, and those who say, don’t know.”
Christianity, as a man-made religion, claims that there is no greater thing a person can do than to believe and profess that Jesus is god and lord. Not only that, but this belief is so crucial that it is the only real way to ensure salvation and an eternal life of bliss. If one does not believe this about Jesus, one not only risks, but most likely “deserves” eternal punishment and torment (G-d forbid). It logically follows from this that nothing could be worse or more damnable than to deny Jesus.
But what is actually, truly denying Jesus? Is it denying who he is, when you don’t really know who he actually was, but loving everything he loved and doing what he did? Or is denying Jesus believing that he was god and lord, but not doing the things he himself did and not loving what he loved (the religious hypocrisy that he so loathed)?
Is living according to all of Jesus’ words and desires, even without knowing that’s what you’re doing, denying Jesus? Or is it really denying Jesus to know what Jesus said, to claim it is divine utterance, and yet to pick-and-choose from Jesus’ words what is expedient to live by and what is not?
In both cases, I claim that the latter is the true denial of Jesus and that the former is the real acceptance and embrace of Jesus (Yeshua).
Yeshua himself clearly alludes to this same thing, when he speaks only of Christians,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice Lawlessness [violate the Torah]!’”
-Mattai (Matthew) 7:21-23
According to Yeshua, prophesying, casting out demons, and doing wonders in Jesus’ name can actually not be G-d’s will. This seems a very non-Christian message! And from Christ himself?! But what is the greater will of G-d? The opposite of practicing lawlessness, or, practicing law! Man’s law? No, but G-d’s Law! And what is the Law of G-d in the Bible, except the Law of G-d given through Moses to Israel?! Not only that, but the Law of G-d given through Moses is G-d’s Word itself and is the foundation of the entire Bible.
My argument is that it is Christianity which often denies Yeshua by not loving what he loved and doing what he did, whereas it is Jews who wholly embrace Yeshua in their embrace of the Torah and in loving what Yeshua loved, e.g. his G-d, his Temple, his City, his Land, his People, and his Torah (the Word).
We see this concept in Yeshua’s own words,
“Yeshua said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.”
-Yochanan (John) 9:41
Christians say that Jews are blind to Yeshua, based also on this passage,
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
-Romans 11:25
According to Yeshua, Jews would then not be held responsible or accountable for their blindness to Yeshua (especially since this is for the benefit of the Gentiles!), but it is actually those who claim to see and believe in Yeshua, who will be held responsible and accountable for their belief.
Oh, you see and believe in Yeshua? Great! But are you like him? Do you love exactly what he loved and do you prove it with your actions? And would you, who see, blame and accuse a blind man for not being able to see? Would you not rather, in a humble spirit of gentleness and gratefulness for your own sight, take him by the hand and lead by example? Or, are you who supposedly ‘see’ actually “ignorant” and “wise in your own opinion,” as Shaul (Paul) warned?
Shaul makes a similar argument earlier, with regards to the Law,
“For there is no partiality with G-d. For as many as have sinned without Law will also perish without Law, and as many as have sinned in the Law will be judged by the Law (for not the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of G-d, but the doers of the Law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, by nature do the things in the Law, these, although not having the Law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when G-d will judge the secrets of men…
-Romans 2:11-16a
Here, we can substitute the ‘Law’ for ‘belief in Yeshua.’ Those who don’t hear the Law (Gentiles), but do the things in the Law, “will be justified.” Similarly, those who don’t hear about or believe in Yeshua, but do the things Yeshua did and loved (practicing G-d’s Law), will also be justified. Whereas those who believe in Yeshua, but aren’t becoming like Yeshua, are like those who have the Law, but don’t keep it…
“You who make your boast in the Law, do you dishonor G-d through breaking the Law? For “the name of G-d is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.”
I say that the names of Yeshua and G-d are blasphemed among Jews and Gentiles, by those who boast in Yeshua, but ‘dishonor G-d through breaking His Law!’
“But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one G-d. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
-Ya’akov 2:18-20, 24
How do we know that we can substitute G-d’s Law for Yeshua, as we have just done above?
Christians rightly say, quoting Yochanan 1, that Yeshua is the ‘Word of G-d made flesh.’
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory…”
-Yochanan 1:14a
So if Yeshua is the Word, then the Word is Yeshua.
Yeshua = The Word
The Word = Yeshua
So if the Word of G-d, particularly G-d’s Law given through Moses, is Yeshua, and there is no separating Yeshua from the Word, Covenants, and Law of G-d, because they are one and the same, then to wholeheartedly love and cleave to the Word, Covenants, and Law of G-d is absolutely to love and cleave to Yeshua… even if you have never heard the name, ‘Yeshua.’ Let me explain…
So if you were never to hear the name, ‘Yeshua,’ but you loved and believed wholeheartedly in the Law, Covenants, and Word of G-d, to the extent that you knew them and they were revealed to you, just as every righteous person did before Yeshua first came, then that would necessarily be equivalent to loving and putting your faith in Yeshua (but only if Yeshua really is the Word of G-d). Conversely, if you were familiar with the name, ‘Jesus,’ and even claimed to believe in him, but you rejected the entirety or parts of the Law, Covenants, and Word of G-d (G-d forbid!), would that not be tantamount to rejecting parts of Yeshua, if not all of who he was, being himself the Word of G-d?
It should go without saying that ignoring or denying Yeshua’s own words is essentially denying him, as well. Let us quickly look at some examples of what Yeshua said and how it clearly contradicts Christianity’s doctrines and practices…
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
-Mattai 5:17-20
This passage is so clear, because it is precisely the least of the commandments of the Law (Torah) that Christianity teaches men to break. Not only that, but it teaches that the Law of G-d given through Moses is abrogated by faith in Jesus. This is not only a rejection of the Word of G-d, namely the Law, but it is a denial of Yeshua’s own words, and therefore, plainly a denial of Yeshua. Have not the Jews, who uphold scrupulously and zealously even the least commandments of the Law, been more obedient to Yeshua’s instruction, without knowing it, than Christians who nullify G-d’s Law? So who then is truly denying Yeshua?
“Now behold, one came and said to him, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So he [Yeshua] said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, G-d. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.””
-Mattai 19:16-17
If Christianity was asked what one must do to inherit eternal life, would it respond, like its supposed “Lord,” with, “if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments [of the Law]?” No! It would say, “if you want to enter into life, believe that Jesus is god,” despite the fact that here, the only time someone ever calls Yeshua, ‘good,’ he immediately deflects that appellation from himself to the One who is exclusively good, G-d, thereby denying equality with G-d (another essential Christian doctrine).
“You have heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.”
-Yochanan 14:28
“You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews... the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”
-Yeshua, in Yochanan 4:22, 23b
Here, Yeshua includes himself as a worshiper of G-d (“we know what we worship”) and says that salvation is not ‘of the Christians,’ but, “of the Jews.” Instead of expounding on the newly discovered doctrine of the Trinity (which he never did) and his own equality with G-d (which he manifestly denies), Yeshua says that “true worshipers will worship the Father,” not the Son, nor the ‘Third Person of the Trinity’.
“Yeshua answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that He is your G-d.”
-Yochanan 8:54
In regards to the observance of the Law,
“Then Yeshua spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do…“
-Mattai 23:1-3a
Christianity generally slanders the Pharisees and ‘Pharisee’ has become a synonym for ‘hypocrite,’ even though Paul claimed to be a Pharisee until the end of his life (Acts 23:6). Yet, the truth is that Yeshua told “the multitudes and his disciples” to “observe and do whatever they [the Pharisees] tell you to observe,” as a ruling judgment or interpretation of the Law (“in Moses’ seat”).
The last example I will share is one which totally contradicts Christianity’s claim that denying Jesus is essentially denying eternity. Christians will often quote this verse,
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of G-d. But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of G-d…”
-Luke 12:8-9
But they often omit the very next verse,
“… And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.”
-Luke 12:10
So here we see that it is forgivable to speak against and blaspheme Yeshua, the Son of Man, but it is not forgivable to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, G-d’s very own spirit, which inspires us to lead holy lives like Yeshua’s, according to the spirit-breathed Torah.
There are many more examples than these ones, which I have written extensively about and will continue to do so (See my book, “The Restoration of All Things“), but these should suffice to drive the point home.
By denying, ignoring, or twisting these words of Yeshua, Christianity is actually denying Yeshua. Whereas everything that Yeshua says actually accords with Judaism, Jewish faith and practice, and that, as Yeshua said, “salvation is of the Jews.” It is the Jews who embrace these Jewish teachings and practices (from G-d’s Word), who not only don’t deny Yeshua, but unwittingly and completely embrace his true Jewish essence.
Greco-Roman Christianity’s denial of the true, historical Yeshua is so deeply entrenched that it is actually a different ‘Jesus’ altogether who is usually referred to in Christianity. This ‘Jesus’ teaches his followers to worship himself as G-d, to abrogate G-d’s Law, to replace G-d’s Temple (House) and Israel, to spurn Israel’s Land and her mother, Jerusalem. This is all in fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy about the final Beast of Rome and its Little Horn (counterfeit of the true Messiah, the “Horn of Salvation”). This ‘Jesus’ shape-shifts and takes on many different forms, whether it be the Greek Orthodox Jesus, the Roman Catholic Jesus, the European Protestant Jesus, the Muslim Jesus, Mormon Jesus, or ‘your own personal Jesus,’ but all bear little or no resemblance to the actual, historical Jewish rabbi, Yeshua. It is this false ‘Jesus’ antichrist (literally, ‘in the place of Christ’) which we actually must deny.
When Israel was about to go out of Egypt, the final act they were commanded to perform in order to exit the land of slavery to sin and idolatry, before the receiving of the Torah, was to sacrifice the Passover Lamb, which represented the false god of the Egyptians. They were to burn it entirely in fire, but they were not allowed to break any of its bones. In Hebrew, the words for ‘bones’ and ‘[true inner] essence’ are the same letters and word (‘עצמות’). Yeshua is called, ‘the Passover Lamb’ (1 Corinthians 5:7). We must burn up completely the false idol that has been made of him and worshiped, but we must forever keep intact Yeshua’s true essence as a Jew and rabbi.
Joseph was disguised to his brothers in Egyptian facade and language, and that had to be buried in Egypt. It was required only to return his bones (or, ‘essence’) to the Land of Israel. So too it is required for the Final Redemption (like the First Redemption) that we deny the false god ‘Jesus’ of Greco-Roman Christianity, ‘burning’ and ‘burying’ that part of him (the shell). Only in so doing, will we embrace the true Jewish essence of the true Messiah, the son of Joseph.
“Moses took Joseph’s bones and wrapped them in a sheep’s skin, upon which “the Name of G-d” was written; the dead bones and the skin then came to life again, and assuming the form of a sheep, it followed the camp of Israel during their wanderings through the wilderness.“
-Louis Ginzberg, (ed.), Legends of the Jews, trans. Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003), p. 430 note 442, citing Hadar, Exod. 13.
“There is a Midrash that Joseph’s coffin traveled by itself (without being carried), along with the Holy Ark which contained the Tablets, and they say, “The living is superior to the dead.” This one goes on its own, and that one goes on its own. Israel says, “This is confirmed by what is written in this,” and that’s why it goes on its own. This is as it is written: “Listen, Shepherd of Israel, guiding Joseph like a flock” [Psalm 80:2]. Moses wrapped Joseph’s bones in a kid’s skin, and he wrote the Shem HaMeforash (‘The Explicit Name’ [of G-d]) on it, and it walked on its own. This is as it is written: “Guiding Joseph like a flock,” and in Joseph’s coffin are placed all the bones of the tribes.”
-Hadar Zekenim, Shemos 13:19
“… In the Midrash, there is a saying that they put the bones of Joseph within the skin of a lamb, and the spirit of life entered the skin, and this is as it is written: “He led Joseph like a flock”” [Psalm 80:2].
-Tosafot Shantz, Sotah 13a
These sources all show that we must connect the bones of Yosef to the bones of the Passover Lamb, the ‘essence’ of the true Jewish Yeshua which must not be broken, even after the destruction of his typically non-Jewish, idolatrous facade.
Eye To Zion 