The past twenty-four hours have been among the most painful of my life. I have always prided myself on being intelligent. I have always thought I was bright. People have told me I am bright. People have told me I am intelligent. On the last IQ test I took in 2003, I scored a 148. Supposedly, I am Mensa material.
When I was in the Christian religion I embraced it wholeheartedly. I worked with a discipler, I went to Bible studies, I hosted Bible studies, I attended seminars, and I studied on my own. I went through the New Testament several times, memorizing key verses. I read the Old Testament as well, but the emphasis in Christianity is on the New Testament so that is where I focused my attention. I even read the Book of the Revelations a couple of times, but since I was not really interested in end times prophesies I did not pay much attention. I do remember a handful of sermons on the subject, and I remember a reference to the "Synagogue of Satan" warning of the dangers of turning away from Christ.
When I first started college, my major was pre-law. I devoured every law class the school had to offer, maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Once I exhausted all of the legal courses I went to my school counselor for the first time. He advised me to change my major to English because of all the reading and writing involved in law school. So I did. Even though I went cross-eyed in primary school at the mere mention of adjectives and adverbs, I studied the intricacies of the English language. I learned the importance of words. I became a stickler for using just the right word to convey a given message. I have used the skills I acquired during the course of my education to write countless articles, essays, research papers, editorials, legal, briefs, and so on.
One of the courses I was required to take was critical thinking. It was my performance in that class which resulted in my first college scholarship. In her recommendation, my professor wrote "LaDonna is in the top ten percent of all of the students I have had in twenty-two years of teaching this course". High praise indeed.
Someone on Twitter shocked me yesterday with information concerning a phone call between the Reverend Billy Graham and President Nixon. That information caused me to reevaluate things I thought I knew about Christianity. My readers know of the issues I have regarding that religion; there is no reason to regurgitate them here. But, late last night one thing struck me like a ton of bricks.
"The Synagogue of Satan."
I thought I knew words. I thought I understood language. I thought I excelled at picking apart words and phrases in order to discern their meaning. I thought I was intelligent. I thought I understood Christianity. I thought the "Synagogue of Satan" was a euphemism for the apostate church, those who had turned away from "The Word". I distinctly remember a sermon making that very claim. Even though the verse in question mentions Jews by name, Christian literature and sermons blend both Christians and Jews under this heading to condemn those who do not serve Christ.
If I am Mensa material, if I am so intelligent, why did it never occur to me to ask the question:
How many Christian churches are called "synagogues"?
Before the reader jumps in to explain that the writers of the New Testament were Jewish, let me point out that those same writers had no trouble using the word "church" when speaking of the so-called "Rapture", nor of the "bride of Christ", nor when chastising wayward Christians.
No. The "Synagogue of Satan" is specific.
It refers to Jews.
But it gets worse. For within the verse itself is an accusation that I always thought was taken out of context, given that this verse was merely a euphemism. Revelations 2:9 reads as follows:
"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan."
How many times have I had this argument with people who used this very verse to condemn Jews? How many times has someone made the allegation that there are such things as "real" Jews and "fake" Jews? How many times has this libel been given to me as a statement of fact? I never realized the source of this lie. I never made the connection, and because of my thoughtlessness I have unwittingly participated in the very blood libels I have fought so vigorously to oppose.
I am a fool. I am an idiot.
I, too, have blood on my hands.
I, too, have blood on my hands.
I hang my head in shame.
I'm new here, reading your blogs for the first time today. I have been studying the "synagogue of Satan" in reference to the teachings that Jesus and the apostles so vehemently opposed. John is referring to the Christian Jews who were insisting that Christians must be Jews first before they could be converted to Christians. Revelations is talking about things that will shortly come to pass (Rev 1:3). The Christians in the church of Smyrna were going to be persecuted, jailed and killed. Those people who listened to the "Jews/Christians" who said they first had to be Jews were denying the sacrifice of Christ that would save their souls, it was nullifying the painful sacrifice that Christ made for us. That was the ultimate slap in the face to Christ. No wonder it was so vehemently opposed and call "the synagogue of Satan" because only satan and his followers would malign so great a sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteRubbish. John had no problem referring to churches when he was talking about churches. He used the word "synagogue" on purpose. The bottom line is, Paul was the original anti-Semite who railed against Jews who did not embrace his new-found religion. He fought with James over it, remember? That is why he decided to take it to the gentiles, if you recall. BTW, where is Jesus mentioned in your "Old Testament"? HINT: Do not give me Isaiah's reference to Immanuel. If that applied to Jesus, it would have said "He will be called 'Jesus'".
DeleteI accept your challenge of “seeing Jesus in the Old Testament.” My challenge, I fear, is much easier than your challenge—your challenge is to “listen with your ears and see with your eyes” unlike the other Jews that God talks about. For God knows His people very well—He created them, He lead them out of Egypt, and nurtured them in the wilderness, He fought for them in the land of milk and honey, and sustained them even through their exile.
Deleteread this scripture:
Matthew 13:10-23
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” (He was speaking to the Jews when he was teaching in parables) And He answered and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have a abundance; but whoever dow not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. There fore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing but will not perceive;
For the heart of this people has become dull
And with their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes
Lest they should see with their eyes,
And hear with they ears,
And understand with their heart and tun again,
And I should heal them. (Isaiah 6:9)
(I quote the scriptures for you so that you don’t have to look them up, but by all means check the scriptures to make sure I quote them accurately and that they are being quoted in context.)
I don’t say these things to be ugly or hateful to you but that you may know that others had these questions too, and this is how God/Jesus answered those questions.
You do also remember that Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus) was a Jew, he vigorously persecuted those Christians who were being called "the way" (because Jesus was quoted as saying "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father but through me. John 14:6)which the Romans perceived as a faction of the Jewish religion but which Saul/Paul knew was not and so neither did the Christians at that time. But because the Romans saw them as a part of the Jewish sect they were protected from persecution for a time until they later understood that they were followers of Jesus not of the law of Moses. (BTW do you remember the transfiguration with Jesus, Peter, James and John on the mountain when they saw Moses and Elijah? Peter said "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah" but while he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold a voice out of the loud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; hear Him!" (Matt 17:1-5) God wanted the disciples to now listen to Jesus and His message, Moses and Elijah were obsolete now, they had fulfilled their roles, now they had God's own son and the message that He was to disseminate over all the world.)
Paul was not an anti-Semite as you understand it, he wanted eagerly for his fellow brothers in the Jewish faith to listen to God's message to them (Romans 8:9 "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethern, my kinsmen according to the flesh, (his Jewish brothers) who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever, Amen.)
Reading Romans (authored by Paul/Saul) he speaks passionately to his fellow brethern "according to the flesh," because he was born a Jew and taught by Gamaliel, a renowned Jewish scholar, he followed the Law so that none could accuse him of wrong doing, he knew his Jewish faith--he was so committed that he sought out and killed Christians because he thought that was the will of God, and he thought Jesus blasphemed God's name by calling Himself "I AM".
DeletePaul was not an anti-Semite. Who told you that "rubbish" as you would call it? Who has lead you to believe that--surely it was not Paul's own words because as you can see, he loved his fellow Jewish brothers so much that he would have given up his own salvation if he could so that they would be saved from the wrath to come.
Now as to finding Jesus in the Old Testament that is a taller order, a more extensive entry, but to help you see Jesus in the Old Testament I will skim the surface and reply in a couple of days because the passages in the Old Testament about Jesus are voluminous!
Here is something for you to read while I compile the scriptures about Jesus in the Old Testament:
Romans 8:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
God through Paul is saying that the Law (Law of Moses--the Law the the Jewish faith follows and now looks for the Christ to come) was weak in that it pointed out what sin was but there was no permanent provision for taking that sin away. (a temporary stop gap was given when they sacrificed the "scapegoat" and sent it into the wilderness with their sins) That was a stop gap until the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus happened once, for all who will call on the name of Jesus.
Romans 2:17-29
But if you bear the name 'Jew,'and rely upon the Law, and boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For the Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written, For indeed circumcision is of value, if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If therefore the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And will not he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
I write in orange to delineate my comments from scripture, and to help you understand what the scripture is meaning.
Romans 3:1-
DeleteThen what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles o God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and mightest prevail when thou art judged.(Psa 116:11 and Ps 51:4) But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms) May it never be! For otherwise how will God judge the world?
vs9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin:
Paul is saying that Jews are not better than Gentiles or via versa, we are all under sin.
vs 19
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Because there was no one who observed the Law of Moses perfectly, therefore they had to make sacrifices for their sins, but the blood of goats and oxen never could erase the sin it was a stop gap for the time that Christ/the Messiah would come and cleanse the sins all away once and permanently.
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace though the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
God never intended the sacrifice of animals to be a righteous sacrifice, it would be fulfilled in Christ the Messiah when all sin was to be washed away, it had to be through Jesus that sin would be fully taken away.
vs 29
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also--if indeed God is one--and He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised though faith. Do we then nullify the aw through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
For God in Old Testament times spoke through the fathers of the families even of the Gentiles. God chose the Israelites as a special people and gave them the Law of Moses but do you think honestly that he abandoned the rest of the world to hell merely because they were not Jews? Paul says may it never be. God loves all of mankind and spoke to man in various ways. Yes the Israelites were special but they were not God’s only children. God made a way for both Jew and Gentile to be cleansed of their sins, Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for both Jew and Gentile.
Continue to read all of Romans, it was written, yes to the Romans but there is so much information for the Jews and their relationship with God and Jesus—His Son.
DeleteNow the question for you is this:
If you are still looking for the Messiah—how will He come through the line Judah when you don’t know who is of the tribe of Judah anymore?
All this to say that Paul was not a hater of Jews, on the contrary, he would have given his life if they—his kinsmen—would have accepted the message of Jesus Christ—the Messiah.
Fear not, for I WILL continue this entry with how you can find Jesus in the Old Testament.
I had to write this in stages because the reply box would not let me put so many characters in one reply so I broke it up into pieces, I hope it still makes sense to you. And alas, the orange print didn't come out in the reply text either, sorry, I hope you can read the difference in what I say and what the scripture is saying as I quote it.
Or these could just have been "Jews" who were intent on extinguishing Christ's message and messengers. Either way Christians are being warned of an impending persecution and that they were to hold fast to their faith--even unto death.
ReplyDeleteThe Jesus discussed in your "New Testament" did not quote the Tanach correctly, and appeared not to know anything about the mitzvoth. So, either King James "quoted" Jesus to suit himself, or the gospel writers wrote it incorrectly, or the "New Testament" simply lies. Take your pick.
DeleteI pick none of the choices, why do the quotes have to be exact as long as the message found in those quotes is still correct? Textual criticism doesn't bother me at all, the "errors" you find do NOT change the meaning of the text nor my faith in God, it merely allows those who do not want to accept the word of God as such an excuse to throw in faithful men's face. The history of the bible is astonishing, it continues the message that God put forth in the Old Testament, it has multiple different authors from different cultures and from vastly different times. The message is parallel, complete and even archeology bears out some of the facts in the bible that previously were pronounced in "error". The many, many prophesies of Jesus that were voiced in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the New Testament PERFECTLY like no other person could have fulfilled them.
DeleteA little research will show you these things and more.
Finding Jesus in the Old Testament.
ReplyDeleteI'll start with Moses and the Prophets since you will agree with the first 5 books of the Bible (Being the Pentateuch) as written my Moses (known as the Law). The prophets being the prophets of God generally recognized by the Jewish people as persons who spoke the words of God. Those words having been written down and being inerrant, infallible and inspired by God or as scripture says "God breathed."
I'll warn you, this could get quite lengthy, because Christ is the very theme of and subject of every book in the bible especially the Old Testament. History from God's point of view is leading up to and is all about Jesus the Christ.
Genesis:
When God made man He also created or planned a way for man to be redeemed back to God, it was His plan from the very beginning that He would sacrifice His son for our redemption. The Messiah was the hope from the very beginning of time. In the beginning God created with the help of others--"Let US make man in OUR image." God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were all together from the very beginning.
God's selection of Israel as His people--a conduit for the Messiah to become flesh and dwell among men--to be our Propitiation, our Redeemer. God gives Israel the adoption of sons, the divine glory, the covenants, the Law of Moses, temple worship, and especially the promise of the coming of the Messiah. These were all given with the purpose of bringing a plan of salvation through the Messiah.
Israel also had priests (Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.) A living example of bringing the people to God and God to the people. The very essence of the Messiah.
I can hear you saying "yes, the Messiah--but the Messiah is not the person of Jesus. Ah but there are so many prophesies that can only be filled within the personage of Jesus. I'll enumerate those as well.
First let me say that you have been a help for me, I have had a list of all the prophesies of Jesus in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the New Testament but I wanted to research it further for more info since I had not looked at this information in years. This search as strengthened my faith and given me a chance to delve into the word of God with fresh eyes. I am always looking for a chance to study with a purpose. :) Thank you for that!
Continuing...into the next post since my posts tend to be more than the allotted space available....
I have been talking with and got some information from Messianic Jews that may interest you as well, I'll put the info out here for you. I'm looking it over as well. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues
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ReplyDeleteThe Messiah would be the seed of a woman: referenced in Tanach Genesis 3:15 fulfilled in the New Testament: Galatians 4:4
ReplyDeleteThe Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham and would bless all the nations: Tanach reference Genesis 12:3 Fulfillment Acts 3:24-26
ReplyDeleteMessiah will be a willing sacrifice: Tanach re: Genesis 22:1-18
ReplyDeleteIsaac being the type of the Messiah, God's son as a willing sacrifice just like Isaac was willing to be sacrificed. Fulfilled: John 3:16