Sacrifices – And Paul’s final Episode
Samson did not realize that God had departed from him; and neither did Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, discern, during those dark days in Jerusalem, that he was very much on his own. His six days in the big city, are a disgrace upon his ministry. He compromised his whole message against priest craft in an abortive attempt to reach the Jews. He did the very thing for which he had openly rebuked his brethren.
He almost committed a great sin against Messiah by offering an animal sacrifice! Hear these words from the records of the book of Acts, (with our comments in brackets to emphasize the essence of this amazing section of Scripture):
We read from Acts chapter 21:19 onwards, about Paul’s arrival and meeting with his messianic brothers in Jerusalem. 19 “Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do?”
Here we have a clear admissionn from the New Testament itself, admitting that Paul did teach the “doing away with the Law”. The writings of Paul abounds with such instructions), authorising them not to circumcise their children or to follow the customary practices). What is to be done?
The leaders of the Messianic congregation at Jerusalem then arrive at the following solution: Acts 21 “23So do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. (a ritual process according to Jewish Law). Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision (regarding the keeping of the Law or not) that they must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication.” (This according to a prior ruling which they had made – Acts 15:19).
“So, the next day Paul took the men along and was purified with them, and he visited the Temple to give notice of the time when the period of purification would be over and the offering would have to be presented on behalf of each of them. The seven days were nearly over, when some Jews caught sight of him in the Temple and stirred up the crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Men of Israel, help! This is the man who preaches to everyone everywhere against our people, against the Law and against this place!’”
In a hearing against him, shortly after, Paul admitted: Acts 24:17 “After several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to make offerings. It was in connection with these that they found me in the Temple.”
From this time to the end of his life, Paul remained a prisoner. Was it the ’Rod of God’ that had fallen on his back as punishment for his stubborn rebellion against the leading and advise of the Spirit of God to go and preach only to the Gentiles? (That is, where the exiles of the Lost Ten Tribes from ‘The House of Israel’ were captured. Yet, God continued to stand by him and bless his remaining confined ministry until his death.
Conclusion
Paul was a “man of like passions” unto us. He was “God’s man”, not “man’s God”. His preaching and his letters are profitable as spiritual records, but none of his statements should be used as a foundation for replacing the Original Torah based Faith of YHVH, Creator God.
The “saved by Grace” believers have the foundation for their heresy based upon their own interpretations of the writings of Paul. Take these epistles away from them, and in the rest of the Bible they have no foundation for their teaching of “Grace which has done away with the Law”. This heresy of Paulinism has influenced the teachings of most of the denominations of Christianity. To these people, Paul has virtually superseded the Messiah and his words and interpretations are taken above the Word of YHVH.
Messiah has come and had to endure rejection and unwarranted suffering, for the sake of “Restoring the fallen Tabernacle of David”. This includes restoring the proper observance of the Law and Customs of God, which had been handed down to mankind at Sinai. With the first seeds having been planted by Messiah, the human incarnation of Almighty God, it would now be an ongoing process, until the “Original True Faith” would be fully restored.
This process have received fiery momentum by the knowledge explosion of the last few decades. true to the prophecy contained in Daniel 12:9, “These words are to remain secret and sealed till The Time of the End … the learned will understand”. The advent of the technology revolution has made knowledge available on a scale never imagined before. Out of this has grown a gradual movement amongst serious and sincere Christians, back to the True System of God. Seventh Day Sabbath churches popped up as early as the nineteenth century and restored the true ‘Sabbath of the Jews’. Further restoration included reinstatement of the Sacred Feasts of God (‘Jewish Feasts’). Then followed the Sacred Name Movement, restoring the original Hebrew versions of God’s Name. And of late, there arose “The Restoration of Hebrew Roots Movement” amongst dedicated Christian sectarians. This movement promotes the original Biblical (‘Jewish’) customs, and Hebrew language terms are used freely and intermittently. This movement, for many restoration believers, has lead to full conversion to Judaism – which completes the full circle back to the original Messianic Judaism of Messiah’s time in Israel.
These restorers had to cope with the writings of Paul and, notwithstanding the positive denunciation by Paul of many true tenets of Judaism, they have returned to the Law and Customs of the Original True Faith. Many of their conclusions were founded in defense of Paul’s writings; interpreting it, sometimes ignoring it, but always in the confidence of adhering to God’s Command above all – sometimes even twisting Paul’s statements into conformity!
The contents of the study above and its headlong confrontation with “Paul’s written statements” in relation to the revealed Word of YHVH, should shed much light on the true facts, namely, that only God is infallible and mankind, including the powerful apostle Paul, are merely beings “of like passion”. May this realization give a further and final boost to the Restoration of the Original True Faith which Jude commended us to strive for (Jude 3).
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YESHUA & JUDAISM versus PAUL & CHRISTIANITY
A strong viewpoint with Scriptural support, claiming that the teachings of the apostle Paul are seriously flawed. The author presents a number of historical facts, quotations from Paul, and quotations from Messiah Himself which are recorded in the New Testament, to provide some quite compelling circumstantial evidence against Paul’s apostleship being Divinely recognized. This Web Site is under construction, but completed sections appear at:
http://www.JudaismVsChristianity.com/paula.htm
http://www.JudaismVsChristianity.com/paulthe.htm
ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY and JUDAISM – by Manfred Davidmann
The author describes and proves how Paul changed what Jesus had taught, how Paul’s ideology serves the establishment instead of the people, and how this became Christianity’s official doctrine. Messiah taught that the social laws of the Torah have to be followed. These social laws guarantee equality, social justice and security, and a good life for all members of the community. These laws protect people from exploitation, oppression and enslavement through need. Early Messianic believers, being mostly Jews, followed these laws. Manfred Davidmann then proves how these essential social laws of the Torah were bypassed and ceased to be observed, in Judaism and in Christianity at the same time.