This time the list maker is referencing Sefer Rut (the book of Ruth) – which is not prophetic. Ruth is the story of the ancestress of King David. She was a Moabitess (a non-Jew) who converted to Judaism and married David’s ancestor (בֺּעַז / Boaz) who was of the tribe of Judah. There is nothing in the story of Ruth which is prophecy – and the book is located in Ketuvim (Writings) in the T’nach. The word TaNaCH is actually an acronym for the parts of the Hebrew Bible: "T" is for Torah, "N" is for Nevi'im, and "CH" is for Ketuvim. The Torah is the first part of the TaNaCH. The Christian version of the Jewish bible moves the books around – which changes not only the flow but the logic of many of them. . . The T’nach is comprised of תּוֹרָה (Torah), translates to "instruction." The Torah is often called the “Five Books of Moses” or the Pentateuch. G-d dictated the Torah to Moses and it is the holiest part of the bible. The second part of the bible is נְבִיאִים / Nevi’im (Prophets). נְבִיאִים / Nevi’im (Prophets) records the communication to the Jewish people by the prophets aka a navi. A navi is really a spokesperson for G-d one who speaks to his or her generation on behalf of G-d. These prophets had dreams and visions (not direct communication as did Moses). The works in נְבִיאִים / Nevi’im (Prophets) were saved by the Men of the Great Assembly as their messages were both for their own generation and future generations. The prophets often warned the Jews to follow Torah. There is nothing in Nevi'im that adds to or contradicts the Torah – the books re-enforce the need to be Torah observant. Then we come to כְּתוּבִים / translated as "Writings" is the third section of the T'nach. Ketuvim consists of history, stories, essays, songs and poems. Again, the Men of the Great Assembly compiled Ketuvim. Just as Nevi'im is holy, but not as holy as the Torah, so too is Ketuvim holy, but not as holy as Nevi'im. The Writings were written under the influence of the spirit of G-d, which is a communication with G-d that is a level less than that of prophecy. In prophecy G-d speaks through the prophet. With ruach haKodesh (spirit of holiness) the person is moved by the spirit of G-d. The Book of Ruth is found in Ketuvim. Ruth 4:4-9 is speaking of Boaz buying the land from Ruth and her mother in law, Naomi. It has nothing to do with “spiritual redemption.” It is a legal transaction. Start with line 3: "Naomi, who has returned from the field of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother, to Elimelech. . . “ The passages in between discuss Boaz acquiring both the property and Ruth as his wife. Skip to line 9 “And Boaz said to the elders and to the entire people, "You are witnesses today that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's from Naomi.” Do you see any prophecy about the messiah here? Neither do I. Boaz married Ruth under the concept of yibum (often called levirate marriage in translations). When a married man dies childless, the widow could marry her dead husband's brother, preferably the eldest. The firstborn son they produce together inherits the dead first husband's estate and his portion of land in the Land of Israel. The first son of the new union is said to "redeems" the name and memory of the dead husband, who otherwise would have no lasting remnant in this world. There is an article on the topic of yibum at this link. This has nothing to do with Jesus or any redemption by him, for him, from him or any other type of redemption one might imagine. Ephesians 1:3-7 (the supposed prophetic fulfillment text claimed by the list maker) speaks of “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. . .” This obviously does not tie in any way to the redemption of the land of Ruth’s deceased husband. Further we know that human blood is not fit for a sacrifice – the spilling of human blood is disgusting to G-d. Bamidbar / Numbers 35:33; "you shall not corrupt the land in which you live, for the (human) blood corrupts the land, and the blood which is shed in the land cannot be atoned for except through the blood of the one who shed it." Aside from the fact that human sacrifice is forbidden, Torah tells us that a proper sacrifice must be of a kosher, domestic animal (the animal is often identified as a bull, a seh (goat or lamb), and so on (see Sh'mot / Exodus 13:13; Vayikra / Leviticus 22). Jesus, being a human (or even a demi-god) was obviously not a kosher animal and thus was unacceptable as a sacrifice. While human blood could not atone for sins (to the contrary of the statement in Ephesians 1:3-7) the Torah tells us that the sin sacrifice (חַטָאת קָרבָּן / chatat qorban) only atoned for mistakes (a "missing of the mark" -- you tried to do the right thing and "missed." It did not atone for sins that had not yet been committed (so Jesus’ “blood” could not have atoned for people alive today), on top of that intentional sins could be forgiven with acts of charity and repenting -- but not with blood (sin) sacrifices) of kosher animals. Can a person give his life as a ransom (sacrifice) for many? No, of course not. D'varim / Deuteronomy 24:16; "Fathers shall not be put to death because of sons, nor shall sons be put to death because of fathers; each man shall be put to death for his own transgression." Melachim II / II Kings 14:6; "it is written in the book of the Torah of Moses, which the L-rd commanded saying: "Fathers shall not be put to death for sons, nor shall sons be put to death for fathers, but each man shall be put to death for his own sin." See also Sh'mot / Exodus 32:31-33; Yirmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:29 [30 in a Christian Bible]; Yechezkel /Ezekiel 18:4,20; and T'hillim / Psalms 49:7. Aside from the fact that human sacrifice is forbidden, Torah tells us that a proper sacrifice must be of a kosher, domestic animal (the animal is often identified as a bull, a seh (goat or lamb), etc (see Sh'mot / Exodus 13:13; Vayikra / Leviticus 22). Jesus, being a human (or even a demi-god) was obviously not a kosher animal and thus was unacceptable as a sacrifice. Torah teaches that sacrifices can only atone for sins committed PRIOR to the offering of the sacrifice. No sacrifice could ever atone for sins committed AFTER the sacrifice was offered. Thus, no sacrifice could ever atone for people born after the sacrifice was offered. So, as you can clearly see that the death of Jesus could never atone for any sin, much less all sins of all people for all time? NOT AT ALL, NEVER! The story is pagan in its entirety and breaks all the laws of Jewish sacrifice. The missionaries who say that Jesus was a human sacrifice whose death "atoned for the sins of the world makes a common mistake regarding sacrifices. They seem to think that G-d needed them (bloodthirsty god perhaps?) Missionaries seem think there was some "magic" in blood sacrifices and this is not supported by the Jewish bible. Indeed sacrifices were not so much for G-d as they were a gift from G-d. The Rambam explained this when he told us that G-d doesn't need sacrifices. Man does. In other words, the Jews were used to bringing sacrifices and this is why G-d permitted them. Sacrifices gave man a way to feel closer to G-d by giving Him something of value (be it money, flour, an animal, etc.). In pagan religions the gods were bloodthirsty and needed blood to be satisfied. In Judaism G-d permitted man to bring sacrifices because man needed them -- He needs nothing. The Rambam's "The Laws of Repentence": "If a person violates any mitzvot of the Torah, willingly or unintentionally. . .he must repent. . .Similarly, people who are sentenced by the Rabbinical court to be executed, or to be lashed, do not attain atonement through their death or lashing unless they repent and confess. . . Now that the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) is not standing, and there is no sacrificial altar for atonement, we are only left with repentance. Through repentance, G-d forgives our sins, and no mention is made of these sins even if one sinned one's whole life and repented only in his final moments. As it is written, "The wickedness of the wicked will not cause him to stumble when be turns back from his wickedness." (Yechezkel / Ezekiel 33:12)." Sacrifices were not magic -- they were a gift of G-d to help us truly atone by giving up something of value to Him. G-d forbids and abhors human sacrifice. The death of Jesus (if he ever even lived) couldn't have atoned for the sins of anyone, he was simply murdered by the Romans as were tens of thousands of Jews. #46 down for the county, and on we continue checking each supposed “prophecy.”
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