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Various Topics Discussed
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Last night I was watching a video where Rabbi Michael Skobac was discussing Matthew 1 with William Hall (of Tenak Talk). Matthew 1:1 says “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” But it isn't. Not if Jesus is a "virgin birth." It is instead (purportedly) the lineage of Joseph who was not Jesus' father (biologically). So Matthew is listing Joseph's lineage (supposedly). And supposedly Joseph did not father Jesus. -- and if Joseph is not Jesus' biological father this list is immaterial. A tribal status (and thus the right to be a Davidic king) passes only if the mother is Jewish before she is pregnant, and if the biological father (meaning his sperm) impregnates her. It the "holy spirit" impregnated Mary then Jesus has no tribal status and is not eligible to be the messiah. Let's assume for the moment that this genealogy given by Matthew is that of Jesus. The claim that Jesus is eligible to be the messiah falls apart based on the lineage given by Matthew. Read Matthew 1:2 - 17. Pay special attention to verse 17! Matthew complete re-works the genealogies of the T'nach (Jewish bible) and distorts them. From Abraham to David the lineages given by Matthew aligns with the lineages in the T'nach. From Solomon forward Matthew changes things. First Matthew 1:17 claims are the 14 generations from David's son Solomon to the exile of Jeconiah. Matthew 17 lists:
Compare Matthew with M'lachim I / 1 Kings 1 through M'lachim II / 2 Kings 24. Then peruse Divrei Hayamim I / 1 Chronicles 3:10-17, and Divrei Hayamim II / II Chronicles Chapters 1-36. The T'nach records all of the father/son generations from David's son Solomon to Jeconiah and his exile. The list does not match the one given by Matthew 1:17. Here is the list from the T'nach:
Somehow Matthew skips five kings altogether:
Jehoiakim son of Josiah between Josiah and Jeconiah. Jehoiakim is the son of Josiah and the father of Jeconiah. Yet Matthew's genealogy skips from Josiah to his grandson Jeconiah. All in all from Solomon to Jeconiah and his exile there are 18 generations of fathers and sons who were King of Judah – not the 14 claimed by Matthew. This is nearly 100 years worth of kings! So, Matthew's list is wrong to begin with... And it is supposedly for Joseph, who was supposedly NOT Jesus' father (so why bother listing it at all -- it is immaterial?)... But there is an even bigger error in Matthew's list. Matthew includes Jeconiah. Matthew 1:11 "and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon." The T'nach tells us that G-d removed Jeconiah and all of his heirs from the throne -- thus though they are descended from David and Solomon none of the descendants could be a messiah (king). "As I live, says the L-rd, though Coniah (Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, be a signet on My right hand, from there I will remove you." Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 22:24. Oops. Now, missionaries will bring up the fact that the Talmud tells us that G-d forgave Jeconiah. True enough -- but Christians dismiss the Talmud. How can they say it is (on the one hand) nothing to them and then point to it as proof of anything at all? But the fact remains -- even IF Joseph were Jesus' biological father (no virgin birth) and even if Joseph's line per Matthew (totally different from Luke's line) includes Jeconiah -- being a Davidic heir does not make anyone the messiah. To be the messiah you must also fulfill the actual messianic prophecies includeing returning all Jews to Israel (the Romans exiled the Jews shortly after Jesus' death), world peace (see any?), global knowledge of the one true G-d, and rebuilding the Temple... Jesus did not one of them. But back to the question raised by R' Skobac: is it impossible to find a Davidic heir alive today who could be the messiah? The rabbi brought up the missionary claim that: "if Jesus wasn't the messiah Jews have no way of identifying a future messiah because all the lineage records of the Jews were stored in the Temple and were lost when the Temple was destroyed." This is false of course -- and we have discussed this topic here previously. Uri discusses this in his article Genealogical Scams and Flimflams. Were all the records lost when the Temple was destroyed in 68 CE? No. No, not "all" the lineage records were kept in the Temple 2000 years ago -- and the lineages of Davidic heirs (and the priestly line) were not lost. Some were, no doubt -- but a huge number remain known to this very day. Two famous heirs include רבי שלמה יצחקי Solomon Yitzach, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105 (aka "Rashi") and שלמה לוריא Solomon Luria, 1510 – November 7, 1573. Some of the family trees (researched by Chaim Freedman) include: 1) Ancestry of King David 2) David Monarchy 3) Principal lines descended from King David 4) Exilarchs, Gaonim and Rabbis – descendants of Zerubavel 5) Descent of Rashi from Hillel and King David 6) Rashi’s Family Circle 7) Rashi Key Chart 8 ) Treves, Shapira, Luria links 9) Shealtiel.com 10) Treves Family 11) Luria Family 12) Katzenellenbogen Family 13) Ancestry of the Vilna Gaon 14) Shapira 15) Everels Altshuler 16) Shrentzels 17) Isserles 18) Meizels 19) Lipshitz The point being that "son of David" does not = messiah. There have been, and still are, many sons of David alive in this world, but to date none of met the messianic prophecies. No one ever seems to think to ask the Jews! Maybe they don't want to know the answer? The key take away is to consider that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines -- there were many children and even though some were killed there are many Davidic heirs alive even today. . . there is a long list of criteria by which we will know the messiah, and his lineage is only the first on the list which includes world peace, global knowledge of G-d, return of all Jewish exiles to Israel and so on. . . Jesus accomplished none of the messianic prophecies -- including being a "son" of David. The rabbi mentioned that a majority of Jews 2000 years ago lived outside of Judah, and there were more Jews in Babylon (as they had never left there after the exile). It is a Christian myth that all lineage records were kept in the Temple. True enough -- and I've posted images of some "family trees" going back to King David of Jews alive today in the past. But I'm not sure I've ever discussed the Exilarch. The Resh Galuta / רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא / Exilarch / "Head of the Exile" was a Davidic ruler in Babylon. There were three different dynasties -- all descendants of Kings David and Solomon. The last recorded Exilarch, Shalom, (1365 - 1401 CE) was deposed by the Tartar King Tamberlane. It is estimated that they ruled until the 15th century of the common era. Even after he was deposed the Jews of the exile recognized his descendants as their Exilarch (king in exile) until the death of Pasha in the Baghdad ghetto in 1825. Even when the Exilarchs stopped ruling the Babylonian Jewish community in exile (forced to stop) they still had descendants and their lineages have been maintained. See the image of exilarch descendant in the top left corner of this post. The image is one of the descendants in the Musaphia Family. This family descended from the Exilarchs. Here is a link to a page which currently takes the line through the 20th century. Link. There is also The ibn Yahya (Yachya) Family which traces the descendants currently through the 16th century. Link. Of course the Resh Galuta / Exilarch was only one man in one family descended from King David and King Solomon. Keep in mind that Solomon alone had 1000 wives and concubines! There are many, many more Davidic heirs who have the potential to be the messiah when the time comes. Keep in mind that having the right lineage is a requirement but it does not guarantee a specific man is actually the messiah. To be the messiah a man must have this lineage and he must fulfill all the the actual messianic prophecies. In his lifetime all the Jews must return to Israel. There must be world peace. The entire world will come to know the one true G-d and the final Temple will be built...
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