Posts

The Meatless Kingdom | 7

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The Meatless Kingdom | 7 Introduction   This is the last post in this series on sacrifices and meat eating. In this post, we're going to evaluate Paul's writings in light of the Essene/ Ebionite doctrine and practice. What did Paul teach, and what has his impact been on believers? Most believers today take Paul to be an authority on religious matters. He has 13 epistles in what's called the New Testament , so it's now wonder why people assume he's a particularly blessed messenger. After all, why would God allow for 13 epistles to be in the Bible if they weren't authentic and his Apostleship genuine? But these same readers are unaware of the information we've presented thus far; they'll be unaware of the information presented here. In reality, what we're going to discover is that Paul taught the opposite of James, Peter and the other Apostles, and, thus, Yashua the Messiah.   As before, we'll present quotes from ancient writers that provide deep i
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The Virgin Birth | 2

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  The Virgin Birth | 2 Introduction Isaiah 7:14 gives us a promise of an alleged “virgin” birth.But what I think we'll see is that the context doesn't allow for such a conclusion. in v.3 of chapter 7, Isaiah brings his first son with him to speak with Ahaz. in v. 14, a “virgin” is promised a son, a sign to King Ahaz. in chapter 8, we learn that it’s Isaiah’s son Mahershalalhashbaz, who is “called” “Immanuel. This proves a few things: it’s primarily a near prophecy of Isaiah’s son Isaiah’s wife wasn’t a virgin because they already had a son (v.3), so the word can’t be translated “virgin.” The JPS TaNaKh renders the Hebrew word as “young woman” in English—which is contextually accurate. if this has a double fulfillment, it shows that it isn’t prophetic of a virgin birth; and it shows that “Emmanuel” is an epithet. Jesus was named JESUS and NOT Immanuel in the Gospel accounts, meaning it’s not to be taken literally. Jesus is “God with us” in the sense that God was in him, working
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The Meatless Kingdom | 6

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The Meatless Kingdom | 6 Introduction Now that we've explored some of the major scenes in the Old Testament as they relate to the topic of animal sacrifices and meat eating (from Adam and Eve allegedly being clothed with the skins of an animal that God killed, to God's supposed allowance for Noah to eat "all" things, all the way to the prophets who denounced animal sacrifices), we can now begin to step into the New Testament era. John the Baptist, the Essene Prophet The New Testament opens up with several key details as to who Jesus is and some of his early life, but it also opens up with one enigmatic figure standing between two crucial periods of history with a crucial message, and lifestyle, that bridges the gap between the older Prophets and Jesus. Thus, we'll begin with John the Baptist. John is the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth[1] and is a prophet of God sent "in the spirit and power of Elijah"--a mighty, righteous prophet, no doubt. Of John, Jesu
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