Yet again we have a claim made by the list maker that a very generic situation (being betrayed by a friend) is somehow a messianic prophecy. Messianic prophecies are the opposite of generic -- they are very specific and very difficult to fulfill (which is why we are still waiting for the real messiah). Here are a few of those messianic prophecies with their sources listed: A. Build the Third Temple (Yechezkel / Ezekiel 37:26-28). B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Yeshayahu / Isaiah 43:5-6). C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Yeshayahu / Isaiah 2:4) D. Spread universal knowledge of the G-d of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "G-d will be King over all the world -- on that day, G-d will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9). If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be "The Messiah." Jesus was not the messiah. What of T'hillim / Psalm 55:12-14? Again, in Jewish versions these are lines 13-15 as most Christian versions either do not print the first line or do not number it. T'hillim / Psalm 55:1 says "For the conductor, on neginoth, a מַשְׂכִּיל / maskil of David." A poem, thoughts of King David. David is speaking of his own trials as a soldier, and how those he trusted often betrayed him. T'hillim / Psalm 55:13-15 says "For no enemy reviled me that I should bear it; my enemy did not open his mouth wide against me, that I should hide from him. And you are a man of my equal, my prince and my esteemed one. That together we would devise counsel; in the house of G-d we would walk with a multitude." If missionaries want to say this is about Jesus -- who is a man of Jesus' equal? Surely missionaries do not consider Judas equal to Jesus? Again, missionaries will most likely ignore that pesky detail that doesn't fit their theology -- for if Jesus were a god or even the "without sin" messiah there was no man who was his equal? His prince? His esteemed one? Surely not Judas, the man who supposedly was his friend who turned against him -- he was no equal, no prince, no esteemed one. As usual picking a line or two out of context can make it seem to say almost anything. Read down to T'hillim / Psalm 55:16 and it is clear that David is speaking about אחיתופל / Aḥitofel and his fellow conspirators and that they should descend to the grave. . . (see Shmuel Beit / 2 Samuel 15:31) "And [someone] told David saying, "Aḥitofel is among the conspirators with Absalom." And David said, "Make foolish, I beg you, the counsel of Aḥitofel, O' L-rd." אחיתופל / Aḥitofel was counselor to King David who was not only a friend, but related by marriage. He was grandfather to David's most beloved wife (Bat Sheva, which is never spelled as one word). אחיתופל / Aḥitofel deserted David at the time of Absalom's revolt (T'hillim / Psalm 41:9; 55:13–15) and supported the cause of Absalom (Shmuel Beit / 2 Samuel 15:12). It is interesting to note that the NIV translation references T'hillim / Psalm 41:9 to the "prophecy" claimed in John 13:18 (the one the list maker uses for T'hillim / Psalm 55:13-15). Neither T'hillim / Psalm 41:9 or 55:13–15 are messianic prophecies -- they are both about David's false advisor and friend who turned against him, אחיתופל / Aḥitofel. אחיתופל / Aḥitofel committed suicide when he realized his revolt against David had failed (Shmuel Beit / 2 Samuel 17:21-23) "they went and they told King David, "Arise and cross the water quickly, for thus has Aḥitofel counseled against you. And David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By the morning light not one of them was missing that had not crossed the Jordan. And Aḥitofel saw that his counsel was not done, and he saddled his ass, and he arose, and he went to his house, to his city, and he gave charge to his household and he strangled himself, and he died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father." So yet again we have the list maker (and the NIV translators) taking a historical fact regarding King David and his experience (in this case of being betrayed and deserted by his friend אחיתופל / Aḥitofel) and claiming it is a messianic prophecy which Jesus fulfilled. The beauty of the psalms are that the emotions and experiences of King David resonate to so many of us -- who has not ever felt betrayed by a friend? But claiming that this is a "prophecy" and that it is unique to Jesus (and is thus "proof" of his being the messiah) is deceitful and a complete misuse of the psalm. What of "dual prophecy"? Is it possible that the psalm is speaking both of Aḥitofel betraying David and Judas betraying Jesus? No -- there is no such thing as dual prophecy. The concept of "dual prophecy" (that a vision in the T'nach happened "way back when" but that it also pertains to Jesus) is not biblical. The concept is Christian not biblical -- it was an attempt on the part of missionaries to paint Jesus into text where he clearly does not fit. Prophecy is always based on the plain meaning of the text and when the psalm is read in its entirety it is quite clear it does not fit Jesus (or Judas).
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Photos used under Creative Commons from dionhinchcliffe, paulasenciogonzalez, paulasenciogonzalez, amy32080, petersbar, Aaron Stokes, amboo who?, Damian Gadal, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, SharonaGott, Udo Schröter, paulasenciogonzalez, Joybot, zeevveez, ianmunroe, freeqstyler, quinn.anya, Ivy Nichols, Groman123, UnknownNet Photography, torbakhopper, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, CarbonNYC [in SF!], dgoomany, Lion Multimedia Production U.S.A., oldandsolo, dbeck03