A heart lured away: failing G-d’s test of love
The L-rd G-d of Israel, the Eternal whom devout Jews worshiped and served for thousands of years, warned the whole Jewish nation in His Torah to watch out for and purge from its midst any false prophet who would lead people to worship gods they have not known. Israel was told to be always on guard, careful that their hearts were not lured away from the Only G-d they knew intimately and One who rescued them from slavery (Deuteronomy 30:17).
The false prophets, we are warned in G-d’s Word, though they may look like holy pious men after G-d’s own heart, though they may appear to us righteous and pure on the outside, though they may say all the “right” things and even set themselves as defenders of the downtrodden, actually hide a dark secret which is fully revealed only after they have already gained their victim’s full confidence.
To gain that confidence and to get a foothold into the heart of a person, the Hebrew Bible tells us, the false prophets have a whole arsenal at their disposal. To mimic the true prophets of G-d these impostors may even produce “proofs” of their supposedly G-d given authority – miracles, wonders and even prophecies, all designed to seduce and lead their victims astray. G-d, however, told us in the Torah that it is precisely through the agency of a false prophet is how He would test us to see if we really love Him and Him alone, if we are truly willing to follow and obey only Him, rejecting any other pretender to His throne.
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The L-rd your G-d is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the L-rd your G-d you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the L-rd your G-d, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the L-rd your G-d commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
Jesus is known in Christianity, a religion named after and centered on him, as the “Second Person of the Trinity” or “G-d the Son” (per Athanasian Creed). Although born a Jewish man, shortly after his death he became in the eyes of his followers a god clothed in a human body, fully equal to the G-d of Israel and deserving of the same worship, loyalty, affection and obedience. As a god in the flesh, Jesus has been worshiped by literally billions of Christians over the last two thousand years. At the same time, Jesus’ own faith and people became despised and oppressed by his followers. Although in the Christian scriptures Jesus referred to himself as one of the Israelite prophets sent by G-d (Mark 6:4), the seeds of his ultimate deification and exaltation to equality with G-d were already planted across New Testament’s pages by the scribes of the fast growing Church.
In a short amount of time, a new religion based around his persona developed. It quickly left the Jewish fold to be spread far and wide across the Roman world by Paul and his disciples, readily attracting millions of Gentile worshipers, some of whom were already familiar with Judaism and its messianic ideas. For many of these “pagans” bowing down to deified human emperors and demigods of the Greek mythology was already an everyday reality. This new divine-man “emperor”, soon known as Jesus Christ, would not only soon displace the old gods of the Greek and Roman pantheon, but would also imbue the budding new religion with the ancient spiritual and scriptural legacy of Judaism, all while declaring the latter obsolete. After an initial slow start, the new religion became very popular among the masses, and a few centuries later, mandatory for all Roman subjects.
In this way Jesus, a Jewish man who was one of the many failed messianic wannabes in the first century Judea, became the “other god” that Israel knew not and a false prophet who came to lead people astray. As befitting his new role as a deity, the image of Jesus in the Christian scriptures demanded that people follow him at all cost and love him above everything they hold dear:
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me… (Matthew 10:37)
Jesus required of all those who believed in him total submission and love for himself, referring to himself as the only person worthy to be called their “Master” (Matthew 23:10) and even calling his followers “servants” and “slaves”. However, at other times he also presented himself as a selfless servant who only wanted to glorify G-d and not himself. But the true nature of his mission came out in the end, when this same man Jesus, or at least the picture of him that the writers of the New Testament had painted for us, became the lure that drew millions of hearts away from worshiping only the G-d of Israel and to worshiping himself, though he was only a human being like you and me.
It matters not if the New Testament persona of Jesus was based on some actual Jewish person who once walked the land of Israel. It also does not matter if he, as some propose, was just a devout Jew who didn’t even imagine himself becoming an object of worship or having a new religion created around him. What truly matters is what he and his followers did and taught that lead to this diversion from the G-d of Israel that enveloped the world when a human being had become the object of people’s devotion and affection. For the last two thousand years and today Jesus remains a false idol created by men and adored by billions, taking away from the glory of the only True G-d, the L-rd G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Although the New Testament ascribes to Jesus (I John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16-17) the very creation of the world, the G-d of Israel disagrees:
Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. But G-d made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. (Jeremiah 10:11-12)
Daily Minyan 
I would like to gently ask you why El Shaddai would leave His people without a way to practice His law? If we are mistaken in Christ, then at what temple is the nation of Israel to sacrifice at?
“I would like to gently ask you why El Shaddai would leave His people without a way to practice His law? If we are mistaken in Christ, then at what temple is the nation of Israel to sacrifice at?”
Mary, the G-d of Israel did not leave the Jewish people without a way to practice His Torah. This is because Torah is a lot more than just doing some rituals or worshiping in a temple – it’s a whole way of life that encompasses ethical, moral, interpersonal, business and national life of Israel.
But your question pertains specifically to sacrifices and how can Jews be forgiven today without them. First of all, sacrifices are not necessary for forgiveness of sin – it’s a mistaken Christian assumption which is not based on G-d’s Word. You see, in the Bible, G-d routinely forgives sins requiring nothing more than a contrite heart and sincere repentance. King David is a good example of this. We read that G-d had simply “taken away” his sin.
Why are the sacrifices necessary at all? Well, for one, a sacrifice of an animal (or bread, or wine, etc.) is an external expression of an internal change – which is the only thing that G-d seeks. Without that change, sacrifices mean nothing and in fact are disgusting to G-d (Isaiah 1:11). A sacrifice for sin is like saying “thank you” to G-d, after He has already forgiven you because you have repented. Also, sacrifices were also required for various ritual purifications in order to enter and worship in G-d’s Temple when it stood. Some were simply “thanksgiving” offerings. However, when the Temple is not standing, one is not required to bring sacrifices. Also, the Third Temple (described in detail in Chapters 40 to 42 of Ezekiel) will stand in Jerusalem some time in the (hopefully near) future and all nations will be required to go there to worship the G-d of Israel. Sacrifices, too, will resume and the future Jewish prince/king (Jewish Messiah) will be also bring his sacrifices to G-d there (Ezekiel 45:17), including a sin offering.
Also, this is not the first time Israel is without her Temple. The Temple was already destroyed once before, during the Babylonian exile. In that very same exile, the righteous prophet Daniel, who continued to practice G-d’s Torah by refusing to eat from pagan king’s table and praying to G-d three times a day toward Jerusalem (per Jewish custom still practiced to this day), couldn’t bring any sacrifices in a non-existent Temple, far from the land where it once stood. As you can see, not having a Temple doesn’t prevent a righteous Jew from worshiping his G-d, from fulfilling other requirements of the Torah, or from having his sins forgiven.
Shouldn’t have vegetarian food been used for the offerings/sacrifices instead of animals?
In regards to [some of] the offerings as atonement for sins, I would think that in slaughtering an innocent animal to effect (or as you say, indicate) atonement you would now have the sin of taking an innocent life along with the original sin. How does a wrong– killing an innocent animal not for food– make a right (atonement)?
And it would seem this wrong would apply all the more for offerings that aren’t atoning for sins?
ps. think of taking your beloved pet and cutting its throat…
Leonard, while G-d loves all creatures He created, He apparently does not equate the life of animals to that of humans. Only humans have a spiritual component (according to Judaism) . In nature carnivorous animals kill other innocent animals all the time, with some just for sake of a hunt (not even consuming their kill). That’s how nature is, right or wrong in our eyes. Humans are also animals in part, so we too kill our prey, for various reasons. We are all part of the circle.
I am troubled in that I have never received a good Jewish answer to all the blood sacrifices in the Tabernacle/Temple* and how my not having a ‘good’ Jewish answer to the animal sacrifices seems to me to play into the hands of Xianity, who at least DO have a good answer to why there was blood there, and why it no more needs to be there.**
* Remember that Jerusalem is called the city of peace (eer shalom) and that not even a hammer or saw, or any metal tool was to be used in the building of the Temple, and that David couldn’t build it because he was a man of blood (i.e. war) BUT– INCONGRUOSLY– there’s blood all over the Temple area– even in the Holy of Holies.
** I and you may not like the answer, but it has taken the blood in this most peaceful place seriously, in that– you can say– it centers its theology around this one troubling stain in Judaism. Yes, this is the only troubling issue I have with Tanakh/Judaism. Interesting how Xianity answers me POINTEDLY on this one and only weak area for me.
Thanks
Leonard Goff, here’s an answer I’ve been using on christians lately…It completely destroys the foundation of christian belief about jesus…
The christian assertion that Israel cannot atone for sin without “jesus blood/jesus death” couldn’t be farther from the truth…Nowhere in the Tanach does it even hint that “jesus blood” is needed for Israel to receive forgiveness of sin from Hashem.
The prophet Daniel stood righteous before Hashem without a Temple. He didn’t need “jesus blood” or jesus in any fashion on order to stand righteous before Hashem.
Ezekiel 14:14 even if these three men–Noah, Daniel and Job–were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.
You see, Daniel received forgiveness for his sins INDEPENDENT of jesus during the first exile. He did this by praying and sincerely repenting before Hashem. Daniel 6:11 states that he even did this in the face of death! Clearly, Daniel knew that his sincere repentance to Hashem brought him back to righteousness.
He was simply following the words of Jeremiah!
The context of Jeremiah 29 concerns what G-d expects of us during the exile in order to merit the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Consider what is said in Jeremiah 29:12-14
Jeremiah 29:12. And you shall call Me and go and pray to Me, and I will hearken to you.
Jeremiah 29:13. And you will seek Me and find [Me] for you will seek Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:14. And I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place whence I exiled you.
G-d expected that the Israelites would pray to Him while in Babylon. The result of their prayers and repentance allowed them to return to the land and rebuild the Holy Temple.
This is precisely what Daniel did…
And this is precisely what Orthodox Jews do today! Hosea gives us a similar message:
Hosea 3:4. For the children of Israel shall remain for many days, having neither king, nor prince, nor sacrifice, nor pillar, nor ephod nor seraphim.
Hosea 3:5. Afterwards shall the children of Israel RETURN, and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness at the end of days.
How do we return to Hashem if we do not have any sacrifices? Hosea tells us in Hosea 14:2-3!
Hosea 14:2. RETURN, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have STUMBLED IN YOUR INIQUITY.
Clearly, the subject of the next verse explains HOW Israel is supposed to RETURN to Hashem so that OUR INIQUITIES WILL BE FORGIVEN. Of course, the next verse explains just that!
Hosea 14:3 Take WORDS with yourselves and RETURN TO THE LORD. Say, “YOU SHALL FORGIVE ALL INIQUITY and teach us [the] good [way], and let us render [for] bulls [the offering of] our lips.
Even though we have stumbled in our iniquity and have been put into exile, we still have a means of returning to Hashem though our sincere PRAYERS. We take our words and return to Hashem by saying; “FORGIVE ALL INIQUITY.” Nothing in Hosea 14:2-3 indicates that we need the blood of animals in order to atone for our sins during the exile. And most importantly, NOTHING in Hosea 14:2-3 says we need the blood of jesus!
This is why Daniel was able to stand righteous before Hashem, praying three times a day, despite the fact that he knew he would be thrown into a pit of lions if he continued to do so. Yet he continued to do so in the face of death! (Daniel 6:11)
If the Jewish people did not need “jesus blood” to merit the rebuilding of the Holy Temple during the first exile, then why would we need it now?!
Hebrews 9:22 is a false statement. It erroneously claims that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”
Lets take a look at II Chronicles 30:16-20 where it is HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER and NOT BLOOD which ATONES for the sins of the people…
II Chronicles 30:16. And they stood in their station as was their custom, according to the Torah of Moses, the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood from the hand of the Levites.
II Chronicles 30:17. For there were many among the congregation who had not consecrated themselves, and the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover sacrifices for everyone who was unclean, to make it holy for the Lord.
II Chronicles 30:18. For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, for they ate the Passover sacrifice not as it is written, for **Hezekiah had PRAYED**for them, saying, **”MAY THE GOOD LORD ATONE FOR**
II Chronicles 30:19. anyone who has set his whole heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his forefathers, though [he be] not [cleaned] according to the purity that pertains the holy things.”
II Chronicles 30:20. **And THE LORD HEARKENED TO HEZEKIAH and HEALED the people.**
The Hebrew word יְכַפֵּר is used in verse 18. It means ATONE! Here we see that in the case of Hezekiah’s passover, many of his Israelite guests DID NOT cleanse themselves with BLOOD according to the Law of Moses. In order to ATONE for the sins of his people, King Hezekiah PRAYED TO HASHEM that he should grant ATONEMENT for all those in his Kingdom who truly turned their hearts to Hashem. Now, to further expand on this…In verse 16, it clearly states that the Levites were in charge of sprinkling BLOOD to purify Israel as it is stated in the Torah of Moses…Now, verses 17 and 18 say that there were many in Israel WHO DID NOT PURIFY THEMSELVES WITH THE **BLOOD** AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE TORAH! When someone disobeys a Law in the Torah, what do we call that? We call it a SIN! Here, there were individuals who SINNED by NOT being purified by the LEVITICAL PRIESTS OF THE HOLY TEMPLE with BLOOD! Now, according to Hebrews 9:22, the only way to ATONE FOR SIN is through BLOOD! But here, the sin that was committed was that they DIDN’T use blood for atonement…So how is this sin atoned for?
According to Hebrew 9:22, it has to be blood! But is that how this sin was atoned for? NO! Their sins were atoned for in this manner:
II Chronicles 30:18 **Hezekiah had PRAYED**for them, saying, **”MAY THE GOOD LORD ATONE FOR**
II Chronicles 30:19. anyone who has set his whole heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his forefathers, though [he be] not [cleaned] according to the purity that pertains the holy things.”
II Chronicles 30:20. **And THE LORD HEARKENED TO HEZEKIAH and HEALED the people.**
The sin of those not purified with the blood was atoned for through PRAYER! Thus, Hebrews 9:22 is an inaccurate statement…
And if you are still skeptical about atonement without blood, The Hebrew word יִּרְפָּא is used in verse 20 for the word “healed.” The root of this word is רְפָּא which means heal. Amazingly, this same root is used in Isaiah 53:5
Isaiah 53:5. But he was pained because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his wound we were **HEALED.**
The Hebrew word נִרְפָּא is used in verse Isaiah 53:5 for the word “healed.” This shares the SAME ROOT with יִּרְפָּא as shown above. In both cases, (Isaiah 53:5 and II Chronicles 30:20) a form of the word רְפָּא is used for the word “healed.”
Clearly, there are circumstances in which atonement can be made through PRAYER, particularly when blood sacrifice is not immediately available…
II Chronicles 33:9-13 demonstrates this same principle:
II Chronicles 33:9-13: “And Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray to do what was evil, more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Children of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they did not listen. And the Lord brought upon them the generals of the king of Assyria, and they seized Manasseh with hooks and bound him with copper chains and brought him to Babylon. And when he was distressed, he entreated the Lord his God, and he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he PRAYED to Him, and He accepted his prayer, and He heard his supplication and He restored him to Jerusalem to his kingdom, and Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”
Here we see that Manasseh used PRAYER to receive forgiveness of his sins as well. We see that when blood sacrifice is not available, prayer is a valid method of atonement for sin. Also keep in mind that under Manasseh’s rule, the kingdom of Judah was more idolatrous than it had ever been in the past! Clearly, Manasseh’s prayer served as a means of forgiveness/atonement without blood sacrifice and most importantly, without jesus!
Here we have a cause and effect: King Manasseh says a prayer asking for forgiveness and G-d accepts his prayer and restores him as King of Judah. No blood sacrifice was used to atone for King Manasseh as there is nothing in the text that would indicate such.
This proves that Hebrews 9:22 is a false statement. Blood sacrifice is not the only way to atone for sin. Your jesus has nothing to with our atonement.
Shabbat Shalom!
“Interesting how Xianity answers me POINTEDLY on this one and only weak area for me. ”
Leonard… Christianity has G-d voluntarily put his own “son” (who according to the NT didn’t want to go through with it), a human being with feelings and thoughts, on a cross and has that man slowly tortured and murdered with very painful death, all for a sacrifice. Is this not at least as troubling to you as Judaisms’ sacrifices of animals, which were done according to very strict Jewish law – with very sharp knife to insure animal lose consciousness almost immediately with least amount of pain (and in most cases animals would be eaten by people)?
Also, Christianity is also wrong about sacrifices not being needed anymore and ceasing forever – the prophets of the Tanakh clearly foretell resumption of animal sacrifices in the new Third Temple.
Leonard, to go with all that Yehuda said, even if the Christian religion could somehow prove that Jesus’ death atoned for sin, a vicarious atonment, (ie an atonement without needing to work for it) is a concept totally alien to the Hebrew Bible, and Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic faiths too. EVEN IF A PERSON HAS THE BLOOD, repentance is 200% required for atonment to have any impact at all. Take Cain and Abel’s offerings, the problem with Cain’s offering, according to the text wasn’t the type of Offering, it was that his heart wasn’t in the right place in offering it.
Even if hypothetically the death of the righteous man atones, look at what Isaiah 57:1 says.
“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.” (Somehow I missed this verse in all my years as a Protestant.)
In context this is talking about how G-d takes the righteous away, (or they die) to motivate the wicked to repent, (when one mourns for the death of a righteous man, it cuts him to the heart, motivating a change in actions for the better, like in Zechariah 12:10) BUT if They don’t return to Torah, or don’t change behavior, doom still comes. Consider that righteous Enoch was taken from earth by G-d, but nobody took notice,) and then a while later, the flood happened. Consider for a moment, that generation saw an ascension in Enoch, nonetheless after it happens, life goes back to a state of unrepentant behavior, then the flood, and the cycle continues. You can move Heaven with miracles, but if there is no repentance, it’s for naught.
Hey Gene, just some thoughts I scribbled, thought you might wanna read it.
If there is one common ideal that Jesus teaches throughout his ministry, that is also central to his view of morality, it is outlined most fully, albeit vaguely in Acts 2.
“All the believers were together and had everything in common”
The ideal societal paradigm Which Jesus sets for his followers in brief, is one in which the widows and orphans are cared for, believers behave in a collegiate state of love, respect is paid (but not owed) to the state, accumulation of material gain is discouraged, and honor and service belong exclusively to G-d.
Mark 9:34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them wasthe greatest. 35 Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me;
In Jesus’ ideal paradigm, the Church is to be composed of servants of G-d, and servants of others to an incredible, almost absurd degree. This is true to such an extent the Church has never truly understood Jesus’ moral paradigm as a societal possibility, never truly practical, never has it been seen as a livable or attainable solution for historic Christendom, (in fact in many ways, the difficulty of Jesus’ stringent moral requirements has long been seen as a root of Christian explanations of the notion of utter human sinfulness, and the need for a savior, such as we see in Augustine,) but why? Why has the Church examined the teaching of Jesus and upon doing so said, “only he could truly have lived this way, the rest of us need him, this message is too ideal?”
From the time of Paul, (our earliest NT author) the Church was a semi collegiate body of Jews and Gentiles, but oneguided under elders, always one body and f believers living in an imperial political framework.
Paul, (upon his conversion) sets out immediately to establish congregations. He goes to Arabia, (without going up to Jerusalem first.) Based only on his revelation from Jesus, he goes and begins his mission. He goes to Jerusalem and checks in only years later. Often in his letters to his flock Paul stresses Jesus’ ethic, but it never truly sets in among his converts, prompting Paul to make allowances, (giving milk, not solid food.) Paul tells his concerts, “do what you can to emulate me, but do not be troubled, I will be with you soon.” In many ways Paul stresses his importance, but also the importance of the deacons, and the civil authorities, and also of giving alms for the maintenance of the poor, and of the Church. Is there an issue with this? Yes, a small one. The framework of the role of authorities outlined in Paul, (and of the historic lived in Church communities he built,) has always been the hierarchical and imperial structure.
The extreme ethical requirements of Jesus seem so extreme to us, because his political and ecclesiological assumptions are based on the hierarchy of one, namely G-d, with everyone else on a collegiate, (merit driven political association, as opposed to a tenured one,) with all functions done on a cooperative level. Jesus Chides the authorities, (he says they posses the keys, and Moses’ seat,) but he says authority is abused. How? The priests, (it is argued) seek magnification and authority, (and the Sadducees did, so far as we know.)
How are Jesus’ ethics supposed by him to be livable and attainable in real life? This question has Plagued authors and theologians for centuries. Simple answer though.
He presupposed a system where
1. The authority of priests, teachers, and civil servants, is not chiefly a landholding authority, tenured, or a hierarchically centralized one. (Deuteronomy 18:1)
2. A system where Moral Character, and fruit, (not title) are the real mantle of leadership roles. (David was only a shepherd,) a system where,
3. The Learning and ethics are the purview of everyone, especially the children, not just the few.
In case you were curious, none of these goals has been attained, (or easily can be) in an imperial, or minority controlled regime.
A regime where Jesus’ ethics can make actual sense in daily life presupposes a collegiate as opposed to hierarchical structure. His teaching presupposes a value to the accessibility of the knowledge of G-d, it presupposes that extreme measures be taken for the poor and disenfranchised, as well as other matters of social well being, and it also presupposes a collective ethic, collective responsibility, and a collective work, not an individual one.
Only one system known to us today is as mobile, as mailable, adaptable, and as historically demonstrably capable (as we see) of remotely attaining this ideal goal that Jesus set in his mind. Only a Torah based system remotely meets Jesus’ presuppositions for his ideas.
Interesting.
“look at what Isaiah 57:1 says.“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.” (Somehow I missed this verse in all my years as a Protestant.)”
That’s one great verse, CR….. I read this before, but somehow it slipped my memory since. This verse has a lot of implications for the untold numbers of innocent Jewish people who have been murdered by tyrants and mobs over thousands of years (which is, of course, whom Isaiah was addressing) .
“Only a Torah based system remotely meets Jesus’ presuppositions for his ideas.”
Since he was a Pharisaic Jew by all accounts, that would make sense (if we ignore some of the stuff NT has him say or says about him).