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Seminar. Knowledge of Judaism and Bible
Interpretation. Part 2. This seminar was held in The rabbis said that the aspects of the word
of God have no limits. They are endless. They have also said that every portion of the
Torah has 70 aspects, because of the fact that there are 70 members in the
Sanhedrin (The High Council.) In the interpretation of the Bible all the
rabbis count with and use the 4 levels of the word of God. It is the Peshat-, the Remez-, the Drosh- and the Sohd level. In addition to all this some rabbis have
worked out other rules for the interpretation of the Scripture. Rabbi Hillel for example had elaborated 7 rules for the
interpretation of the Tanach. We can also use these
7 rules, when we read and interpret the Berit Shadashah (N.T.) (Se my
lecture: Knowledge of Judaism and Bible Interpretation. Part 1. (All the
lectures at the Conference are going to be published in a book.) When we read our Bible, we therefore stand
ahead of GREAT CHALLENGES. We are not able to find so many aspects in the
word of God as I have mentioned above, and we are not able to use all these
rules of interpretation in every section of the Bible, but it is our RESPONSIBILITY
to understand the word of God as good as possible. "And Jesus answered
him (the devil), saying: It is written: That man shall not live by bread
alone, but by EVERY WORD of God." (Luke 4,4.) To work with the word of God and to
understand it, is HARD WORK under the guidance and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you
things to come." (Joh.16,13.) In this lecture I will not teach you about of
the Hebrew language and the Hebrew way of thinking or the rules of the rabbis
and their interpretation of the word of God, as I did in my first lecture,
but I will teach you about some OTHER RULES and give you some OTHER
INFORMATION that is NECESSARY TO KNOW when we study our Bible. They are VALUABLE
TOOLS in the Bible study. This afternoon I have another message from
the Lord. We must remember that Biblical Judaism is not
composed of only the thoughts of the rabbis and their interpretations of the
word of God, but it is also composed of the whole contents of the Bible. That
includes both Tanach and Berit
Shadashah. My FOCUS in this lecture will be the
connections between the Tanach and the New
Testament and the right interpretation of SOME ASPECTS in both the Tanach and N.T.- as I
see it. We must admit that there are SEVERAL VIEWS
and OPINIONS as to the understanding of the word of God. We all see the word
of God only PARTIALLY, because of the fact that we do not understand the word
of God in a perfect way yet. But in Jesus Christ we are perfect. This was
also the situation for Paul when he wrote The First Letter to the Corinthians."For we know in part, and we prophecy in
part. But when that which is perfect, is come (when he got his later
revelations), that which is in part, shall be done away. When I (Paul) was a
child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, but when I became a man,
I put away CHILDISH THINGS (the teachings that had to do with the dispensation
of the Torah of Moses.) For NOW we see through a glass, darkly, but THEN face
to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am
known." (1.Corithians 13,9-12.) As we see, there is a hope that we shall
understand more and more of the word of God. "Let us therefore, as many
as be perfect (in the understanding of the word of God), be thus minded: and
if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto
you." (Philippians 3,15.) Every believer ought to have certain rules in
the reading and understanding of the Bible. We can not read the Bible only on
A GENERAL BASIS. It is necessary, in order to understand the word of God,
that we have some If we do not have these rules, the content of
the Bible will be FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS, and that was not the purpose. The
purpose was just the opposite- that we can understand SO MUCH AS POSSIBLE of
the Bible and relay upon it. WHO
IS THE ADDRESSEE After 45 years in reading and studying the
Bible, I have the following platform for my Bible study: The first question we must ask in the
interpretation of the Bible, is this: TO WHOM IS THIS SCRIPTURE WRITTEN? Who
is the addressee? Is it written to the Jews, to the church (the body of Christ), or it is
written to the Gentiles? "Study to show yourself approved to God, a
workman that needs not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF
TRUTH." (2.Timotey 2,15.) "Give none offence, neither to
the Jews, nor to the gentiles, nor to the God deals with these
3 different groups in different ways. If we for example read the 3 first
chapters of Pauls Letter to the Romans, we see, that this is correct. He spoke in these chapters to
both the Gentiles, to the Jews and to the Christian Church and summed up some
differences between these 3 groups of people and the possibilities that they
have (had) to be saved. God do not deal
with these 3 groups in the same way. They are only responsible towards God in
accordance to the knowledge that they have of God in their own situation and
in their own dispensation. God is JUST and he does not claim that the
gentiles shall have the same knowledge as the Yews and the Church have about
the history of salvation. In Acts 17, 26-27 Paul spoke to the
gentiles: "And has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and
the bounds of their habitation. That they should seek the Lord, if happily
they might feel after him, though HE BE NOT FAR FROM
EVERY ONE OF US." THE DIFFERENT
DISPENSATIONS When we have found the right
answer to the first question, we must ask another question, and that is: TO
WHICH DISPENSATION do this Scripture belongs? The rabbis of the
a. During the first 2000 years there was chaos. That means, that the world had no written Torah during this
first 2000 years. This period lasted from Adam to
Abraham. b. The next 2000 years was the time of the Torah. (We
must remember that the meaning of the word "Torah" is not
"law", but "instruction" and "teaching".) The
rabbis included the time from Abraham to Moses in this dispensation. This period lasted from Abraham to Jesus. c. The next 2000 years are "The days of
Messiah". The Jews called these 2000 years "Jemoth
ha Masiach." They should include the many battles
of the endtime, the conversion of the Jewish
people, the subjection of the gentiles, the reign of Messiah and the
resurrection of the just ones. "The days of
Messiah" also includes after this view The This could have
been the reality, IF the Jews had accepted Jesus from Nasareth
as their saviour and king. When the Jews did not accept Jesus as their king and
saviour, the endtime was POSTPONED for 2000 years. N.T. calls this time "the endtime"
or "the last days." “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, have in this LAST DAYS spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has
appointed heir of all things, by whom he also have maid the dispensations."
(Hebrews 1,1-2.) d.
The last 1000
years is "The coming world". At that time Messiah has defeated all
his enemies. It is only Messiah who is high during this period. The Jews
called this period: "olam ha bah". The rabbis had
several explanations, why Messiah did not come at the appointed time, and
what he is doing now. The Sanhedrin 97 b says that because of the many sins
of the Jewish people all these years have been lost. In Sanhedrin 98 a it is written that Messiah already has come, and that he
is seated in the paradis-gate in Rom helping the
sick ones. In Bereshit Rabbati it is written,
that Messiah has already come, and that he is now visiting the great cities
in the world. In the endtime he will return to All this are very
interesting commentaries of what happened to Messiah. They are also
true. N.T.
tells us the same story. In my
understanding of the Bible I count with the following dispensations: 1.
“The Period of
Innocence”. It covered the time that Adam and Eve was in the Garden of Eden.
The first period had perfect surroundings. There was no sin in Adam and Eve.
They were innocent, and the cherubim watched the Garden of Eden. 2. “The Period of
Conscience”. The second period had no written rules. It was the conscience
that should determine what was wrong and what was good. This period covers
the time from the exclusion from the Garden of Eden to the worldwide flood, which
drowned all the people except Noah and his family. (Genesis 6,17.) 3. “The Period of the Human Government”.
In this period the government began to rule over mankind. It covers the time
from the flood to Abraham. The third period had some few rules for the reign
of the government.
4. “The Period of the Promises”.
It covers the time from Abraham to Moses. Abraham got many promises from God
during this time. They were all unconditional. 5.
“The Period of
the Sinai Torah”. It covers the time from Moses to John the Baptist. The
fifth period had the Sinai Covenant as one of its fundaments. The Sinai
covenant was not a substitute for the many promises to Abraham, but it was
laid BESIDE the promises and the covenant to Abraham..
"Wherefore then serves the Law? It was added because of the
transgressions, till the seed (Christ) should come to whom the promise was
made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a
mediator."(Galatians 3,19.) 6. “The Period of
The Offer of the If the Jews had
accepted Jesus as their king and saviour, he would have come back after a
SHORT STAY in heaven and established the If that had
happened, we had not had the church period and the different revelations that
Paul got from Jesus Christ. Then we had become The period of the Millenium at once. 7. “The period of
the Church” which is "the body of Christ".
It lasts from the conversion of Paul to the rapture of the church before the
great tribulation. This period was a MYSTERY that had not been revealed
before. It was not made known to anyone but Paul. It was HID IN GOD.
(Ephesians 3,1-11.) Paul called his
teaching "my gospel" or "the gospel that I teach". He had
not learned it from men (not from the apostles), but from Jesus Christ.
"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which
was preached of me, is not after man. For I neither received it from man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
(Galatians 1,11-12.) Paul called his
gospel. "The gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20,24.) The gospel that Paul preached was not bound neither
to the Torah of Moses or the Torah of Jesus, when he was on earth. His gospel
was a NEW REVELATION that had not been preached before. The main content of
this gospel was that both the Jews and the gentiles were saved BY GRACE ALONE
apart from the keeping of the law. "For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2,8-9.) "But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the
law (Torah) and the prophets: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith
of Jesus unto all (both Jews and gentiles) and upon all that believe: for
there is no difference." (Romans 3,21-22.) When we compare
the teaching of Paul with the teaching of John the Baptist, the teaching of
Jesus and the teaching of the apostles, we understand that the teaching of
Paul is a NEW TEACHING, that had not existed before. While the
teaching of Jesus and the apostles were attached to the Mosaic Law and the
interpretation of Jesus, Pauls teaching has not its
basis in the Mosaic Torah. He loosed the salvation of men from the Law. The Law was never
meant as an instrument for salvation. It was laid beside the promise of the
salvation of men through faith. It is the faith that have
saved men throughout all the history. That was also the case in the Period of
the Law. But in spite of
that Jesus and the apostles continued to teach the necessity of following the
Law for the messianic believers. That is the great difference between the
teaching of the apostles and the teaching of Paul. Paul preached the
FREE GRACE while the apostles preached both grace and the necessity for the
believers to follow the new Law of Jesus. We know that
Jesus fulfilled the claims of the Law for the Jews at From this we
learn hat we have TWO DIFFERENT GOSPELS in N.T. We
have the teaching of Jesus and the apostles. It is the teaching for the
coming Millenium. Pauls
teaching is the teaching for the church period. In Galatians 2,7 these two different gospels are named “the gospel of
the uncircumcision” and “the gospel of the circumcision”.
The first gospel was not bound to the Jewish law. The second gospel was bound
to the Jewish Law. “But contrariwise, when they (the Messianic Jews) saw that
the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto
me (Paul), as the gospel of the circumcicion was
unto Peter.” (Galatian 2,7.) From Pauls
conversion in the year 37 (Acts 9) to the destruction of the Jewish temple in
the year 70 we therefore have TWO GOSPELS, that are preached. It is the
gospel of the apostles, and it is the gospel of Paul. The apostles preached
only to the Jews while Paul preached both to the Jews and to the gentiles. This time (33 years) is a period of TRANSITION.
It is also common in the civilian life that when a new law is introduced, the
old law must have some time to be ended. After the destruction of the From the year 70 till the coming of Christ
for the church, which is his body, there is only ONE TEACHING that counts,
and that is the teaching of Paul 8. After “the Period of the church” comes The
period of the Millenium. In this period Messiah
will reign over the whole word with righteousness. It will be a period that
is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the water covers the see. 9.
After the Millenium we will have the LAST DISPENSATION which is
called "The dispensation of the fullness of times" or "The
dispensation of the new heaven and the new earth". "That in the
dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and whish are on earth, even in
him."(Ephesians 1,10.) In Ephesians 2,7 this two last dispensations are called "the ages
to come." THE RIGHT
TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK WORD “AION” AND THE HEBREW
WORD “OLAM” All the dispensations have ended or will end
with the judgment from the Lord except the eight dispensation
that will be a PERFECT one. It will not end with Gods judgement, because of
the fact that the sin is taken away. There is no more to judge. The word "dispensation" comes from
the Greek word "aion" and the Hebrew word
"olam". As I said in my first lecture: It
is a CATASTROPHE for both the Jews and the Church, that this word is not
correctly translated in our Bibles. It is often translated with the word
"eternity" or the word "world". Both of these
translations are incorrect. This word must always be translated
"dispensation". I know that many
Christians are not aware of this incorrect translation of the word "aion", and many Christians are also AGAINST a
correct translation of it, but if it had been correctly translated in our
Bibles, the result of that would have been, that the Christians have got a
MUCH MORE correct understanding of the content of The New Testament. I
also know that many Christians are AGAINST that we divide the contents of the
Bible into dispensations, but they are wrong, because of the fact that the
New Testament itself speaks MUCH about the dispensations. The New Testament
says the following about the dispensations: a. It is God that HAVE CREATED
THE DISPENSATIONS. "Have in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he has made the
dispensations." (Hebrews 1,2.) b. God have elected the church, which is his body,
BEFORE THE DISPENSATIONS. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect: Jet not the wisdom of this dispensation, nor
of the princes of this dispensation, that come to nought. Howbeit we speak
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the dispensations unto our glory." (I.Corinthians 2,6-7.) c. God shall free us from THIS PRESENT EVIL
DISPENSATION. "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us
from this present evil dispensation, according to the will of God and our Father." (Galatians
1,4.) d. The Millenium is called
THE COMING DISPENSATION. "And have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the dispensation to come." (Hebrews
6,5.) e.
Jesus is set far
above all powers not only in THIS DISPENSATION but also in THE DISPENSATION
TO COME. "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this dispensation, but
also in that which is to come (that is the Millenium)"
(Ephesians 1,21.) f. Satan is called THE god OF THIS DISPENSATION.
"In whom the god of this dispensation has blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glories gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them." (2.Corinthians
4,4.) g. After the Millenium comes
THE DISPENSATION IN THE FULLNESS OF TIMES. "That in the dispensation
(household) (gr.oikonomos) of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heavens, and which are on earth, even in him." (Ephesians 1,10.) h.
THE COMING
DISPENSATIONS. "That in the ages (dispensations) to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus." (Ephesians 2,7.) I could have said
much more about the "dispensations" and the "households"
in the Bible, if I had mentioned all the verses in N.T.,
where the Greek words “aion” and "oikonomos" occure. While
the word “aion” means “dispensation” the word “oikonomos” means “household”. The last word comes from
the word "oikos", that means
"household" and the word "nomos",
that means "laws" or "rules". The Greek word "oikonomos" is translated in different ways in N.T.,
but it means "the laws that belong to a certain household". (See
1.Corintians 9,17, Ephesians 3,2, Colossians 1,25
and 1 Thimoty 1,4.) The word “aion”” expresses the duration of a dispensation while the
word “oikonomos” expresses the spiritual quality of
a dispesation. Why did (do) the
translators of N.T. translate the words “olam”
and “aion” incorrect? There are five
answers to this question. a. For the first the Jews who
translated the Old Testament (Tanach) from Hebrew
to the Greek language (The Septuginta Translation),
needed a word that they could use for the Greek word "eternity".
They had no suitable word for it, and they used the Hebrew word "olam", that originally meant "a long duration”.
In this way the Hebrew word for "a long duration" became the word
for "eternity". I will refer to b.
For the second
the later translators of N.T. followed the
translation of the "Septuginta". c) For the third there are many Christians-
both among the leaders and among the laymen- that do not dare to go against
this incorrect translation. When you are a member of a certain theological
group or community, you are obliged to have the SAME MEANINGS and THE SAME
OPINIONS as the leaders of community have. If you have other theological
views then the leading persons in the community, you will be excluded from
the group. The tradition can be a good thing, but in MANY
CASES it will be an obstacle to new and correct thoughts and understanding of
the word of God. The tradition will not promote the progress, but it will
hinder that we reach a better understanding of the word of God. d. For the fourth
there are many Christians who prefer to understand the Bible GENERALLY. They
think and teach that God has only one congregation throughout all the dispensations,
and that is the people, that believe and trust in God and Jesus. It is common
(usual) to call this theology the "Covenant Theology". (Se my book:
The Roots of Christianity, pages 218-227.) e. For the fifth there are also many Christians, who
do not see and do not understand, that when Jesus came the first time, he
came to save the Jews and establish the This theology we
call the "Theology of Substitution". This
theology have been and is still a CATASTROPHE for a correct
interpretation and understanding of N.T. and has
contributed to the fact that many Jews have lost their interest in
Christianity. We must commit
that there are MANY HERESIES in the teaching of the church (especially in the
Catholic Church), and that we FULLY UNDERSTAND that many Jews have lost their
interest in the Christian belief. Our theology has contributed to the fact
that we have hidden Christ for the Jewish people. The GREAT MISTAKE
that the Jews have done, is that they have
identified Christ, their own Messiah, with Christianity and the church and
have not investigated thoroughly the teaching of Jesus. If they had done
that, they would have observed, that his teaching is not the same as the
teaching and the doctrines of the church. When you want to
have knowledge of a case (matter) it is not enough to relay upon what other
people say about the case or what the common opinion is. You have to
investigate it yourself. If the Jews had
(has) done this in their relation to the teaching of Christ, they would have
seen that his teaching is full of Jewish thoughts and Jewish concepts. There
are many Jews that have discovered the Jewishness
of Jesus and have received him as their saviour and king. (Se my book: The
King of the Jews. Volume 4. Chapter: Jewish Bible-investigators views of
Jesus and Paul. My books are not translated into English.) THE MEANING OF THE
EXPRESSIONS “THE The third question we must
ask in the interpretation of N.T, is: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE EXPRESSIONS "THE The rabbis also
said that these two expressions meant the same. There are several
explanations of what these expressions mean. I can not mention them all. I
will refer to Brad H.Youngs book: Jesus the Jewish
Theologian, pages 75-77, where he mentioned some of them. Broadly speaking
there are three main definitions of these two expressions, and that is: a.
It is the GENERAL
or b.
It is the DAVIDIC
KINGDOM that God has promised king David and his descendents.
This kingdom is a phase of the universal c.
It is the Church. After my view
there can be NO DOUBT that these two expressions, when they are used in the 4
gospels and in the Jewish Letters in N.T., mean the
concrete and historical Kingdom of Heaven, which God had promised to establish
in Israel in connection with the coming of Messiah. This promise is one of
the MAIN THEMES in Tanach. It is connected with two separate promises and covenants: a.
It is Gods
covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12,7, 13,15, 15,18-21
and 17, 1-14.) b.
It is Gods
covenant with king David that God would establish
both a house and everlasting kingdom for him and his house for ever. This kingdom is a
political and historical kingdom with Messiah as the king and judge of I will refere to what E.W.Bullinger
wrote about this Kingdom in the "Companion Bible", page 155. (Appendixes): a.
It has Messiah as
its king. b.
It is limited in
its scope. c.
It is political
in its sphere. d.
It is Jewish and
exclusive in its character. e.
It is national in
its aspect. f.
It is the special
subject of old Testament prophecy. g.
And it is
dispensational in its duration. There are many
aspects of this kingdom. In my book: The Return of Jesus. Volume 5. Chapter:
The Millenium. I have summed up 53 aspects of the a.
The Lord will
come back and establish his kingdom in b.
c.
All the nations
in the word will submit to the reign of Messiah and worship him as their king
and saviour. d.
Messiah shall
rule over the people of the whole word with his rod of iron. This rod of iron
will not be soldiers and armies, but it will be the word of God as it is
written in the new Torah of Jesus. e.
Messiah will rule
the world with right and righteousness. f.
g.
All the Jews
shall return to h.
All the Jews
shall be converted to Messiah and the Messianic belief. i.
The Jewish nation
shall be a great and the leading nation in the world. j.
The gentiles will
come to k.
There shall be no
more war in this kingdom. There shall be peace all over the world. l.
The earth will be
filled with the knowledge of God as the water covers the sees. m. A new temple will be built in n.
The Jewish belief
will be the only belief of the whole word. o.
The teaching of
Jesus will be the spiritual basis in this belief. p.
The Jews shall be
the priests over the whole word. That is their original calling. "And
you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the
words which thou shall speak unto the children of q.
The gentiles who will not submit to Messiah, shall perish. All the books and
the prophets in Tanach have prophesised about the
Messiah and the Kingdom of God that would come, so there can be NO DOUBT that
when Jesus came for the first time, he came in order to fulfil the promises
to the Jewish people according to the word of prophecy. "For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Concellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase
of his government and peace there shall be NO END, upon the throne of David,
and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and
with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of host will
perform this." (Isaiah 9,6-7.) (The zeal of the
Lord will be a guarantee for the establishment of the kingdom.) "And in the
days of these kings (the ten kings) shall the God of heaven set up his
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all this kingdoms, and
it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2,44.) The angel Gabriel
said the following about Jesus and the kingdom to the virgin Mary: "He
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over
the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
(Luke11,32-33.) Shame upon all
the theologians and preachers that have meant (and still mean) that the
descriptions of the Messianic Kingdom is a description of the church period.
This theology is not from God, but is it from satan,
which is Gods opponent and main enemy. I can not with my
best will and ability understand that people can interpret the content of the
Tanach in this Paul also used
the expression "The "And the
Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his
heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen." (2.Timoty 4,18.) While THE BEGINNING OF
THE CHURCH PERIOD The forth
question we must ask, and be aware of in the interpretation and understanding
of N.T, is this: AT WHAT TIME DID THE CHURCH START? Did
it have its beginning with John the Baptist, with Jesus, at At the day of
Pentecost Peter also referred to this promise. He referred to the prophet
Joel 3,1-5. (Acts 2,16-21.) If the church of
God had begun at the day of Pentecost, the prophets in Tanach
had known about the church, but they did not, because of the fact that the
apostle Paul said, that the church was a SECRET, that was not revealed before
he got the new revelation. (Ephesians 3,1-11.) One of the
consequences of this is that THE FIRST MEMBER of the church is Paul. He was
converted to Christ outside Damask in the year 37. He then went to After Paul had
stayed in Paul and Barnabas
were together for one year in Antioch, and they
preached the gospel that Paul had learned from God during his silent years (6
years) to the congregation in In the year 45
Paul and Barnabas began the first THE TWO DIFFERENT GOSPELS
IN N.T. We must be aware of
the fact that there were TWO DIFFERENT GOSPELS that were preached in that
time. The apostles with James, Johannes and Peter as the leaders, preached
the gospel of the circumcision (Galatians 2,7-8.) or the gospel of the
Kingdom of Heaven.(Matthew 4,17 and 24,14.), while Paul and Barnabas preached
the gospel of the uncircumcision (Galatians 2,7.) or
the gospel of the church. At the first
Apostle-Meeting in What are the
resemblances and the differences between these two gospels? I shall not sum
up all of them, because there are many, but I will mention only a few facts: a.
We have the same
Saviour, Jesus Christ. b.
We have the same
grace. It is our belief in Jesus that gives us Gods grace and salvation. c. Jesus died for both the Jews and the church.
"And he is the propitiation for our sins (the sins of the Jews), and not
for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1.John 2,2.) d.
We have the same
Spirit of God inside our hearths as a token of our conversion and salvation. e.
Jesus fulfilled
the Law or the Torah for the Jews. (We gentiles are not under the Mosaic Law
or the new Law of Jesus, with its many commandments and ordinances.) The new
Law of Jesus was built on the Mosaic Law. f.
In spite of the
fact that Jesus fulfilled the Law for the Jews, their lives as believers HAD
TO BE TESTED in accordance to the teaching of Jesus, which was based on HIS
INTERPRETATION of the Mosaic Law. The Jewish
believers were obliged to receive both the love of Jesus and to follow his
new Law for the g. The church is not tested on the laws of Christ with
its many commandments and ordinances. We are tested only with ONE TEST, and
that test is whether we have the HOLY SPIRIT in our hearths as a token of our
conversion and salvation or not. "But you are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans
8,9.) "For sin
shall not have dominion over you: For you are not under the law, but under
grace." (Romans 6,14.) The new Law of
Jesus had THE SAME THREE ASPECTS as the Mosaic Law: a. The Law COULD NOT SAVE any person. The only thing
that could save a person was the faith in God or in Jesus. That is a
principle that is known through all the history of salvation. This principle
began with Adam. Even David that lived under the dispensation of the Law, recognised
this principle "Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man,
until whom God imputes righteousness without works. Saying: Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." (Romans
4,6-7.) b.
The keeping of
the Law promised the Jews a LONG AND LUCKY LIFE without illness and poverty.
"And (Moses) said, if you will diligently hearken to the voice of God,
and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his
commandments, and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases
upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that
heals you." (Exodus 15,26.) "And it
shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the
Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you
this day, that the Lord they God will set you on high above all nations of
the earth." (Deuteronomy 28,1.) Paul also
mentioned this aspect of the law when he wrote: "For Moses describes the
righteousness which is of the law. That man which
does those things shall live by them." (Romans 10,5.) c.
In order to be members
of the When the young, rich man
came to Jesus and asked him what he SHOULD DO to have a life in the messianic
dispensation, Jesus said to him: a.
That he must keep
the commandments. b.
That he must sell
all that he possessed and give it to the poor. c.
After he had done
all this, he could come and follow Jesus and get the faith in Jesus. (Matthew
19,16-26.) The same question
was posed by the keeper of the prison in This two examples
illustrate in an excellent way the difference between the teaching of Jesus
(the Messianic Judaism, as I call it), and the teaching of Paul. The young, rich
man had to do something to be saved, but the keeper of the prison in If the Jews wanted to be saved and have a
life in the new dispensation, which was the Kingdom of Heaven they must both
keep the law and come to a personal faith in Jesus. They were tested to the
law both before entering in the Both the Mosaic
Law and Jesus new Law for The a.
It was the
righteousness of God, which was the righteousness that gave salvation. This
righteousness was a gift. b.
It was the
righteousness of man. This righteousness could not save a person, but in
spite of that the two types of righteousness were necessary for the salvation
in The In the Messianic
belief we can therefore say that the salvation and Gods grace depended on the
fact that the Jews kept the new law of Jesus. That is not the same as the FREE
GRACE, that Paul preached, but this is the CONDITIONAL GRACE. Tanach also tells us that the Jews must keep the Law to
become members of the Millenium or the . "The
sinners in It is important
that we see and understand that both the Mosaic Law and the new Law of Jesus
has these four different aspects: a.
The keeping of
the Law could not save the Jews. b.
The keeping of
the Law was necessary to live a good life. c.
The keeping of
the Law was necessary to become members of Millenium. d.
The Jews were
tested to the Law in their lives as believing people. The apostles had
the same teaching as Jesus. We can read about their teaching in the first
part of Acts and in the letters that they wrote to the Jews. It is not correct
to interpret the Jewish teaching in the light of Pauls
teaching. It has bin done, and that is also to day the common interpretation
of N.T., but it is wrong. When we do that,
we lose the Jewish aspect of N.T. and mix the two
gospels that we have in
N.T. This is due to
the Theology of Substitution that has stolen from the Jews their promises and
their tasks, but the word of God says: "As concerning the gospel, they
are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved
for the fathers sakes. For the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance." (Roman.11,28-29.) It was Gods plan
to establish the Peter pleaded the
Jewish people to receive Jesus as their Lord. If they would recognise him, he
would COME BACK to establish the Kingdom for them. If the Jews were willing
to repent and be converted, God would send Jesus back to the Jews. (Acts 3,17-21.) But the Jews were
not willing to receive Jesus as their saviour and the establishment of the It is important
for us, when we read the New Testament, to be aware of the fact that there
are TWO DIFFERENT GOSPELS in N.T. It is the gospel
of the This fact will
also have as its natural consequence that we must divide the content of the
New Testament into TWO SECTIONS: a.
It is the Jewish
books in N.T. They describe the spiritual rules of the
b.
It is the letters
that Paul wrote to the church. They describe the spiritual rules of the
church, which is his body. This does not
mean that there are not similarities between these two gospels, but there is also great differences. If the Christians
do not see and understand this, they will mix up these two gospels and be
confused. They will mix up the overwhelming great grace that we have in our
dispensation (Ephesians 2,7.) with the new Torah,
that Jesus established for the Jewish people. The new Torah, that Jesus
established, is not for the church, but it is for the Jews. Some will say
that this view can not be correct, because of the fact that Jesus fulfilled
all the claims of God at Calgary, and that is correct, but Jesus also said
AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, that his apostles should go out into all the world
and make ALL THE NATIONS to his disciples and teach them to observe ALL
THINGS THAT HE HAD COMMANDED (before his death.) (Matthew 28,18-20.) Jesu teaching does not only contain the 10 commandments,
but all that he had taught during his mission. It was not only the Jews that
should keep all his instructions but also the gentiles who were members of
the Jewish congregation. When we compare
this with Pauls message,
that the salvation was apart from the keeping of the Law, we see that Jesus
and Paul represents two different gospels. It is neither the
task for the Church to make all the nations disciples of Jesus, but it is the
task of the church to take out FROM THE NATIONS the body of Christ. Jesus was a Jew
his whole life. He both lived under the Mosaic Torah and he established his
own Torah. "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law. To redeem them who were under
the Law, that we might receive the adoptions of sons." (Galatians 4,4-5.) THE TEACHING OF JESUS AND
THE APOSTLES When you ask many
Christians what is in fact the teaching of Jesus, they can not give a good
answer on this question, due to the fact that they have not studied
thoroughly their Bible. Many of them are what the Bible says: "babies"
or "small children in Christ". What had Jesus
commanded his disciples to do? What is in fact the teaching of Jesus? I will
sum up some of the aspects that we CAN CLEARLY SEE and UNDERSTAND that MANY
ASPECTS of the teaching of Jesus are NOT FOR THE CHURCH. The teaching of
Jesus is related both to his GREAT GRACE for the Jewish people and to the
LAW. Here are some of
the teachings of Jesus: a.
The Jews had to
keep ALL THE COMMANDMENTS of the Torah. "Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called
the least in the b.
The Jews had to
have a HIGHER RIGHTEOUSNESS than the scribes and the Pharisees to become
members of the c.
The Jews had to
be PERFECT as to the keeping of the law. "Be you therefore perfect, even
as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect." (Matthew 5,48.) d. The Jews had to FORGIVE each other their trespasses.
If they were not willing to that, they could not get the forgiveness from
God. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew
6,14-15.) e. The Jews would be JUDGED according to their own
judgement of their compatriots. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For
with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you
mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7,1-2.) f. If the Jews did not confess Jesus before men, Jesus
could not confess the Jews before his Father. "Whosever therefore shall
CONFESS me before men, him will I also confess before my Father, which is in
heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before
my Father, which is in heaven." (Matthew
10,32-33.) g.
If the Jews loved
their parents more than they loved Jesus, they could not be saved. "he who LOVES father and mother more than me is not worthy
of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of
me." (Matthew 10,37.) h.
If the Jews blaspheme
the Holy Spirit they could not be forgiven that sin. "Wherefore I say
unto you. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but
BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT shall not be forgiven unto men." (Matthew
12,31.) i. The Jews are going to be JUDGED according to what
they have spoken. "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by
thy words you shall be justified, and by thy words you shall be
condemned." (Matthew 12,36-37.) j.
The Jews had to
sell their properties and give it to the poor, they
could note inherit the k. The Jews had to LEND THEIR MONEY to their
compatriots. "but love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and
you shall be the children of the Highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil." (Luke.6,35.) l.
The Jews had to
be BORN AGAIN to become members of the m. The Jews had to have GOOD DEEDS to be participant of
the resurrection of life and members of the n. The Jews had to KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF JESUS to
abide in the love of Jesus. "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide
in my love, even as I have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in his
love." (Joh,14,10.) "If ye abide
in me, and my words (commandments) abide in you, you shall ask what you will,
and it shall be done unto you." (John.15,7.)
(Se my book: The Jewish Roots of Christianity: Chapter: The first preaching
of Jesus.) The keeping of
the commandments of the new Law of Jesus, could not save any person. It is
only the regeneration and the faith in Jesus that can save a person, but in
spite of that both the Mosaic Torah and the New Torah of Jesus claimed that
the Jews should KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS to be saved and be members of the
Kingdom of Heaven. The Jews were TESTED according to the claims in the Torah
of Jesus. The keeping of
the commandments should be both a TOKEN and EVIDENCE that they had been born
again, and that they in fact were the children of God. The teaching of
Jesus is not the teaching of the church, which is body, but it is the
teaching for the When God sent his
only begotten Son to the earth, he had SIX MAIN TASKS to do, and these were: a.
He should give
the Jews the RIGHT TEACHING for the b.
He should DIE for
all the sins of the world. c.
He should fulfil
the law for the Jews, but he should not abolish or cancel it. d.
After his
resurrection and ascension to heaven he should send the Holy Spirit to the
Jews. e.
After that he could
have ESTABLISHED the When we examine the
teaching of the apostles after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord
Jesus, we also see that their teaching is not for the church. a. Peter said that the Jews must repent and be baptised
to become the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2,38.) b. When Peter came to the house of Cornelius he
preached the following: "But in every nation he that fears him (God),
and works righteousness, is accepted with him (God)". (Acts 10,35.) c.
At the Apostle
Meeting in the year 50 it was decided that it was not necessary for the
gentiles to be circumcised and keep Torah of Moses. The Jews that belonged to
Messianic Mouvement, had still to be circumcised
and keep the law to be saved. (Acts 15.) d.
James wrote in
his letter that it is not enough to have faith to be saved. The Jews must
also keep the Law to be saved. (James 2,14.) e. John wrote in his First Letter that if the Jews did
not confess their sins, they would not be forgiven. (1.John.1,9.) f.
John wrote in his
First Letter that a person who does righteousness, is
righteous. (1.John.3,7.) These teachings
are not in accordance with the teaching of Paul. He taught that it is enough
to believe in Jesus to be saved. When the Jews as
a nation refused to receive Jesus as their saviour and king, God rose up his
worst enemy, Paul, in the year 37. He gave him a new task (commission) that
was based on a NEW REVELATION, that was not revealed before. (Ephesians 2 and
3.) The rabbis also
wondered what would happen to the Torah when Messiah came. They had the
following answers: a.
b.
Messiah would
give the Jews a new law in addition to the Mosaic Law. (Yalkut
Isaiah 26.) c.
In the endtime both the Torah and the commandments would be
annulated and forgotten. (Nida 66.b and Mechilta, Masechet Piska 2.) (See my book: The Jewish Roots of Christianity:
Chapter: The new Torah of Jesus will contain of 30 commandments.) THE TEACHING
OF PAUL When we compare
the teaching of Jesus and the apostles with the NEW REVELATION that God gave
Paul, there are many differences between this to gospels. I will mention only
a few of them in addition to what I already have said about this: a. Jesus and his apostles were sent only to the Jews.
"These twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them: Go not unto the way
of the gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not, but go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Paul was sent to
the gentiles. He is called the "apostle of the gentiles". In
connection with his conversion he got a threefold commission, and that was:
He should preach the new revelation to both THE GENTILES, THE KINGS and THE
JEWS. (Acts 9,15.) b.
The several commissions
that we have in the 4 Gospels, are not for the
church, but they are for The church has
got its own commission, and we find this commission in Pauls
Second Letter to the Chorinthians 5,18-21. We call this commision
"the ministry of reconciliation". (v.18.) c.
Jesus and his
apostles preached both the grace and the necessity of keeping the Law of
Jesus, to become members of the Paul did not
preach the necessity to keep the commandments of Jesus to be saved. He
preached that the grace of God was enough to be saved. "But NOW the
righteousness of God WITHOUT THE LAW, being witnessed by the Law (Torah) and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them who believe, for there are no difference."
(Romans 3,21-22.) "For he is
our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of
partition (the Law) between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace. And that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby.” (Ephesians 2,14-16.) "Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances, that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing it to the
cross." (Colossians 2,14.) In our
dispensation we are saved only through the belief in Jesus. "For by
grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: It is the gift
of God. Not of works, lest any man can boast."
(Ephesians 2,8-9.) "But after
that the kindness and love of God appeared. Not by the work of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3,4-5.) d.
Jesus said that
he was not come to destroy the Law and the prophets, but to fulfil all what they
have written. (Matthew 5,17.) Jesus did not cancel
the Mosaic Law. He changed it according to his mission and moved the focus of
the Law from the outward keeping of the commandments to the motives that lay
beyond the breaking of the Law. Jesus did not cancel the Law, but he
SHARPENED it. Paul taught that the Jewish
Law was not for the church. It was ended for the church at e. Jesus and the apostles taught that water baptism was
necessary for the salvation. (Matthew 28,18-20, Mark
16,16 and Acts 3,28.) Paul did not teach that the
baptism was necessary for the salvation. In the beginning of his mission he
baptised a few persons, but he stopped it, when he understood that baptism
was not necessary for the salvation. He would rather preach his new
revelation for both the Jews and the gentiles. He would preach the gospel of
the grace of God and the cross of Christ. (1.Corintians 1,17-18.)
When Paul
stressed the significance of the cross of Christ, he did not only think about
the fact that Jesus took away all sin at the cross, but he also pointed to
another fact and that is, that Jesus took away (abolished) the Jewish Law for
the church, which is his body. It is composed of both Jews and gentiles. I have no problem
to understand that many of the orthodox Jews can not accept the teaching of
Paul because of the fact that they think that they can save themselves through
making good deads and keep the Law. They say that
they can accept the most of the teaching of Jesus, but they see Paul as an
apostate and a heretic. Abram Poljak has said:
"As long as you connect Jesus with Paul, we can not have any contact
with each other." Martin Buber has said the following about Paul: "Paul who also was a Jew, brought the teaching of Jesus to
the gentiles, but he mixed it with a sweet poison: A belief that despise the
deeds." The most of the
Christians are not able to see that Paul came with a new teaching and a new
revelation. The new teaching was that the good deeds were not necessary any
more to be saved. They mix the teachings of Jesus with the teaching of Paul.
The result of this is that we have got a mixed gospel in our congregations. The only thing
that is claimed to day to be saved is FAITH, and faith is a FREE GIFT. The
token that we are the children of God is that we have got the HOLY SPIRIT in
our hearts. Tingvoll the Oskar Edin Indergaard. |