COMING SOON!

Within the next couple of months, I will be writing a few interesting articles. I have already written a few writings on the Talmud, and will be following this up with some writings on the Apocrypha, and where the early church fathers from the Catholic side got it wrong. I will also be looking at dualism vs. monism in regards to the brain vs. the mind and how one relates to the other. The other interesting thing I will be doing is I will be going to church services besides the Messianic Jews and will be taking notes of their practices. I will be doing a thorough analysis of these practices. This will lead into a book that I will be hoping to write soon as well.

All of this I will be doing with the guidance of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, in his name I pray,

Casey Powell

Does God Cause Suffering? The Problem of Job

Recently there was an issue that was brought up to me in a conversation that I had with a gentleman questioning the justice system of how God operates. The question was, if God is a just God and omniscient, why would he need to prove to Satan that Job would need to overcome obstacles to sustain his faith? And secondly, why would a just God allow Satan to do the things that he allows Satan to do in the book of Job.

For starters, lets answer objection no. 1. Nowhere in the text of the book of Job does it say or even infer that God needs to prove ANYTHING to Satan. Thus, the first question about whether or not God's omniscience is in danger is null and void.

The 2nd question is why would God allow these things to happen to Job? This is an interesting question and requires more detail to answer. More detail is to come, however, I will give a short answer before we jump into details. The next time that I am able to update, this will be addressed more thoroughly, but just for those who need an immediate answer, one will be provided right here. It seems this is how God and Satan used to interract before God banished him from heaven altogether. God can not be approached by sin, he can only be approached when that sin is gotten rid of. And because of this, Satan was able to jump on the opportunity to take advantage of something that is never really mentioned regarding Job's character. What people often overlook is that while Job was a good person, he was also highly overly self righteous and prideful. That is a sin. As a result, Job believing he should make judgments that only God could make about humankind. He often within the book asks why people who are unrighteous not being punished. He fails to realize that people who are not being punished by his standards are being punished by God's standards, and that those people are punishing themselves in the long run (though it appears they are being rewarded, their actions will eventually catch up with them). Because of this sinning attitude that Job has, God allows Job to suffer. Suffering could only be taken in the form of evil, and one type of evil that exists of course is Satanic influence when he is invited in. Essentially when we sin, evil is invited into the scenario in different forms by ourselves. It could be disease or many varieties of things. Eventually, Job learns from his attitude, and becomes a stronger person in dedication to the Lord, and eventually is rewarded twice as much as he was when he displayed a self-righteous attitude. This is a short answer to this question and we will get into more detail in the ensuing weeks, as well as site some specific passages from the Bible to further explain my answer on this issue. However, with the Christian mentality often being one that Job did no wrong, the wrong that Job did is often overlooked. Sin is punished by consequences, and thats the way it has always been since the Garden of Eden.

Is the Talmud a holy religious text from God

Some Jews consider the Talmud, consisting of the Gemara and Mishna to be an authoritative law from God. Why is it that Messianic Jews and Christians reject this notion, and why can it be said that the Talmud is not an authoritative text of God?

Lets take a look at what the Tanakh from the Bible which is accepted as the word of God by Jews (especially the Torah) and compare it with the Talmud. One problematic scenario existing within the Talmud is within the Torah when Joshua and Caleb are discipling to the nations. Caleb remarkably enough is the person who was engrafted as a Jew and chosen to represent the important tribe of Judah. He was a Gentile. Why was this important? All Gentiles were considered unclean. The Kenizzites, the group of people that Caleb was from, were referred to by the Jews as an unclean people. They were referred to as "dogs." He was allowed to not alone be included within the Jewish population, but also to lead the tribe of Judah. Where then does the problem arrise?

When we look at passages from the Talmud, here is what we have:

"The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."
Talmud: Baba mezia, 114b



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"The Akum (non-Jew) is like a dog. Yes, the scripture teaches to honour the the dog more than the non-Jew."
Ereget Raschi Erod. 22 30



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"Even though God created the non-Jew they are still animals in human form. It is not becoming for a Jew to be served by an animal. Therefore he will be served by animals in human form."
Midrasch Talpioth, p. 255, Warsaw 1855

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"A pregnant non-Jew is no better than a pregnant animal."
Coschen hamischpat 405

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"The souls of non-Jews come from impure sprits and are called pigs."
Jalkut Rubeni gadol 12b

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"Although the non-Jew has the same body structure as the Jew, they compare with the Jew like a monkey to a human."
Schene luchoth haberith, p. 250 b

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"If you eat with a Gentile, it is the same as eating with a dog."
Tosapoth, Jebamoth 94b

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"If a Jew has a non-Jewish servant or maid who dies, one should not express sympathy to the Jew. You should tell the Jew: "God will replace 'your loss', just as if one of his oxen or asses had died"."
Jore dea 377, 1

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"Sexual intercourse between Gentiles is like intercourse between animals."
Talmud Sanhedrin 74b

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"It is permitted to take the body and the life of a Gentile."
Sepher ikkarim III c 25

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"It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah."
Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

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"A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands."
Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

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"Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God."
Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

Now this is from an antagonistic source http://www.missionislam.com/nwo/talmud.htm.

If Gentiles were associated with the Old Testament writings or the Tanahk which are referred to as the Holy Scriptures, unlike what the Talmud is referred to as, why would the Jews put Caleb, an important figure from their own history and one who was endorsed or chosen by their own God Yahweh himself in the light of a heretic? This attitude can very well be seen as contradictory attitude from Orthodox Jews who are trying to preserve Phariseeic laws and traditions.

Not only is there a metaphysical difference needed to be addressed, but also it is commanded by God that we only follow Torah related writings and teachings. The Talmud is based on oral law. The question becomes, did Joshua receive an oral law from Moses? Joshua 8:30-34 states ""Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lifted up any iron; and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace-offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote before the children of Israel. And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger as the home-born; half of them in front of mount Gerizim and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law." When Joshua is about to die, he claims in Joshua 23:6 ""Therefore be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left." There is never a mention of the oral laws that were allegedly received or sent down from Moses.

What does the Torah say about adding to its written contents? "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2
"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Deuteronomy 12:32 By this it means that any oral law mentioned alongside the written Torah is to be rejected.

Some people claim that the Jewish writings of the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim (the other scriptures) are oral and were not written down, and this somehow reduces the mitigation of the sources. Anyone making this claim should refer back to the Talmud which states that the contents of the Tanakh were compiled by the Men of the Great Assembly as it refers to it as by 450 B.C., which is what both Messianic Jew and Orthodox Christian agree with. Also a good study of Hebrew would do well here, as the Tanakh is derived from the Hebrewic word Miqra, which means "that which is read." Not that which is orally spoken, but this infers that it was written down. The Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls and other texts also refute this argument.

Is Rosh Hashanah the Hebrewic New Year?

Just recently, as I'm coming to become more familiar with the Messianic Jewish Theology, I was approached by a Theology minor on the issue of whether or not Rosh Hashanah was the Jewish New Year holiday.. I took the liberty to discuss with him what the first day of the New Year Hebrewic calendar was. He directed me to the all important Torah passage Leviticus 23:23-25. We will take a look at that in a while.

Its important to know first what Rosh Hashana means in Hebrew. In Hebrew Rosh Hashana literally means "head of the year." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah It is oberserved on the first day of the Jewish month Tishri, which is the seventh month of the Hebrewic calendar. Thus, what the Orthodox Jewish community claims is that Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar. Where it must be asked did this New Year commemoration originate from.

The answer to this is in legalistic texts. Originally, and according to the holy text of the Bible, the Feast of Trumpets was noted to be a holiday known as Yom Teruah. This was the literal Hebrewic and Biblical term for "Festival of Shofars." The Mishnah and Talmud later on would change this into Rosh Hashanah, or the New Year observance due to its very unfounded belief that this was the representation of when the creation of the world or universe began. As to why its unfounded, we shall address in a future article. In short, while the Mishnah is considered to be Orthodox Jewish oral law and was given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and the Gemara completes the Talmud between the 2nd and 5th centuries C.E., there is no legitimate reason to accept them as an authoritative word of God.

Lets see what God says about Yom Teruah. Is Yom Teruah the holiday that should be used to commemorate the New Years? As it reads from the New International Version "23 The LORD said to Moses, 24 "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25 Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.' " No where in this claim is it stated that God comes down and reveals to Moses that this is to be the New Year. That is only in later traditional man made accounts that this is the case. So what is the first of the year that God commands us to keep?

This does actually to my surprise included, exist. The reason that there is no way that the New Years can be commemorated by what the Orthodox Jews of today claim is that Exodus 12 prohibits it. In Exodus 12, we read of the holiday, Pesach, which is to commemorate the New Years. "1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb [a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.
12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

14 "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do.

17 "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

24 "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead."

Thus we have our answer. Rosh Hashanah is not the Hebrewic New Year. It is what the Orthodox Jews follow incorrectly today as the New Year.

Is Rosh Hashana the Jewish New Year

I am a Messianic Jew

I would like everyone here to know that I have decided to renounce my Christian beliefs......kind of. I have agreed with Messianic Judaism for many years and have always described myself as an Orthodox Christian with Messianic Jewish leanings. As of now, I have decided to abandon the Orthodox Christian and simply refer myself now as a Messianic Jew. If one has any questions about this, you may contact me at loveforwisdomjc@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to explain it to you.

God bless in Y'shua Ha Mashiach's name may the Apologetics war continue until the day we win over the nation of Israel,

Casey Powell