Eclectic Topics in no Particular Order
Various Topics Discussed
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Paul claims that the Jews been broken off. -- the gentiles have not been grafted in "with" the Jews, but rather in place of the Jews. Romans 11:5-7, 17, 23 and 19 tries to say that Christians are the "remnant", that they are “grafted in” to the covenant G-d made with the Jewish people. False claim. The remnant is defined in the Hebrew Bible as the righteous Jews. Paul claims that the Jews been broken off. -- the gentiles have not been grafted in "with" the Jews, but rather in place of the Jews. False claim. Yet many missionaries seem to think that a Christian can “graft themselves” into the Jewish covenant -- some think they even replace it. One verse they will say supports Christians replacing Jews is Jeremiah 31:4, but this is also false. Read Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31: "Yet again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, indeed planters shall plant [them] and redeem [them]." Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:4. Jeremiah's use of "yet again" destroys Paul's claim that non-Jews (Christians) are grafted in (or in place of) the Jews. Again the Jews will plant vineyards. . . not some Roman who converted to Christianity. The so-called "spiritual Israel" and "grafted in'' of Romans 11 never did plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria -- and, therefore, the "yet again" excludes them from Jeremiah's and Isaiah's prophecies. False claim. It is hard to imagine a less appropriate metaphor than "grafting" (or "grafted in"), because G-d specifically forbids Jews to graft any plants or trees. Moreover, the prohibition is not "just an invention of the Rabbis" but is written explicitly in the Torah in plain language: "Keep My decrees: Do not crossbreed your livestock with other species. Do not plant your field with different species of seeds." שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרַע כִּלְאָֽיִם (Vayikra / Leviticus 19:19) and "Do not plant different species in your vineyard. [If you do so] the yield of both the crops you planted and the fruit of the vineyard will be forfeit." לֹא תִזְרַע כַּרְמְךָ כִּלְאָֽיִם (D'varim / Deuteronomy 22:9). It is noteworthy that the word scion, which properly means a shoot or twig that has been cut for use in grafting, can also be used in English to designate the illegitimate child of a member of the nobility. In other words -- a graft is not legitimate. When a missionary tells you that they love the Jews, and have been grafted in "with us", they are misrepresenting Paul's message. Paul's message is that Jews observant and faithful to G-d and to His Torah have been replaced for "unbelief" in Jesus, in total violation to the words of the bible itself. Why on earth would a Christian think they could “join themselves” to the Jewish covenant without becoming Jewish? Because the Christian bible tells them that they have done so -- time and time again, even though this claim is baseless. Missionaries will point to their mistranslations of Isaiah 56:6 and insist they have “joined themselves” to the covenant. Read a few Christian translations of this verse: “And the foreigners who join themselves to the L-rd...And holds fast My covenant.” NASB translation. “And foreigners who bind themselves…” NIV translation. “that join themselves to the L-RD…” KJV translation. A minor “nit” but even the use of “foreigner” is a mistranslation. The text says בֶּן־הַנֵּכָר (ben hanéchar) literally means “son of a foreigner.” If you cannot trust in a minor thing -- how much more in an important one? If you check Studylight, a Christian website, you will find the following ‘explanation’ of Isaiah 56:6: “Who shall enter into the Christian covenant by baptism and faith in Christ, as the Jews and proselytes did by circumcision.” Do you think Isaiah ever heard of Christianity? Of course not! Yet this is a very common Christian explanation -- based on mistranslation and encouraged by lies about “grafting” in the Christian bible. Can you join a club by simply saying you “belong” or “join yourself” or “bind yourself” to a club, or must you ask to become a member of said club? Of course not -- and becoming part of a people, a nation -- particularly one who has a contract with G-d Himself -- is not done by simply claiming to be a member! These mistranslations may have stemmed from an innocent ignorance of Hebrew -- or they could be on purpose. I have no way of knowing, but they are WRONG. They misinterpret the verb הַנִּלְוִים /ha-nilvah in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 56:6. The verb נִלְוִים / nilvah (the הַ / heh is a prefix meaning “the”) is the נִפְעַל nif'al (passive) present participle. This changes the verse from the mistranslation of: "those gentiles who join themselves" as found in all those Christian versions listed above. It should be translated as "those gentiles who HAS BEEN JOINED to us” [by the proper Jewish religious authorities as a conversion to Judaism]". It isn’t an “active” phrase of “join themselves” but rather a past (passive) inflexion that means “[who] has been joined [to Hashem]”. Since “who joined” is an active inflexion, it cannot be the correct translation. Isaiah is speaking of the messianic age where there is world peace and global knowledge of G-d. If you read Y’shayahu / Isaiah 56 in context you will see that G-d is speaking of converts to Judaism (and eunuchs btw!) that are Torah observant -- that keep the mitzvot including Shabbat and the Torah will be brought to the Temple in the days of the real messiah. There those who have converted to Judaism from the other nations will surpass the mightiest of those nations. Not Christians. Legal Jewish converts who have joined our nation. “Has been joined” means legally, by a Jewish court of law. "Join themselves" makes no sense whatsoever. The word הַנִּלְוִים is also found in Ester / Esther 9:27 and is so typical -- where it isn’t being used to “prove” Jesus Christian translations are much more accurate! In Esther 9:27: “all who became Jews” New Living Translation; “all who joined them” English Standard Translation; “as joined themselves unto them” King James Version. Folks: this is the exact same word as is found in Y’shayahu / Isaiah 56 but in Esther 9:27 they are far more accurate in their translations! The Christian bible was trying to prove to followers (it is estimated that 1 in 4 in Rome was Jewish 2000 years ago) that they could be Christians, get rid of the “pesky” rules and still be part of the Jewish covenant. It lied. You can’t claim to be “joined” or “grafted” anywhere -- not a club, not a country, not a race -- nothing! Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if every person was able to determine his own status! Perhaps you would like to be a king? Just declare yourself to be a king! Perhaps you would like to be Japanese? Go to Japan and simply take up residence, declaring yourself to be Japanese. Anyone can see the insanity of such a claim -- yet when it comes to being Jewish (or "inheriting the covenant") many a missionary will declare that he is "of Israel" because he is "grafted in" or he "joined himself to Israel." No amount of logic or explanation will budge them from this insanity. There are rules to be a Jew -- both to people born to the covenant and to others who want to be part of our nation -- and YES we are a nation. I’m not speaking of the state of Israel (although it is a Jewish state) but the people of Israel, the Jewish people. A non-Jew may elect to become Jewish by following Jewish law. A potential convert must prove to a Jewish court of law that they are sincere and will follow our mitzvot. Only after a person knows how to learn to live as a Jew and what that means -- only then will a Jewish court permit them to become one of us. They then must immerse in a mikvah -- a ritual bath, symbolically leaving their past life behind them. A Jewish court determines who is a convert to Judaism, and once converted that person is as Jewish as one born to the nation. That is the critical distinction that they are joined to our nation by a Jewish court of law not that they themselves make a decision and say that they have joined when they haven't been accepted… When a person converts to Judaism they ARE joined to our people. They are as Jewish as any other Jew. That is why you cannot “graft yourself” or “join yourself” to the Jewish people, to our covenant with G-d. That is why I made the point of explaining that the word נִלְוִים is the נִפְעַל nif'al (passive) present participle -- changing the entire sense of the verse from the intended "those gentiles who HAS BEEN JOINED [to Israel by the proper Jewish religious authorities]. You cannot “join yourself” and you cannot “be grafted” as that is specifically forbidden in the Hebrew Bible, too.
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