Sunday, October 28, 2018

TALMUDIC JUDAISM AND THEIR DISREGARD OF THE SCRIPTURES




Today’s Orthodox Jews are Talmudic Jews in contrast to Biblical Jews. This means that they esteem the Talmud - a vast collection of ancient rabbinic writings compiled around 550 AD - above all other writings, even Scripture.

The Talmudic writings represent a departure from the Hebrew Scriptures in many ways. It has also superseded the Scriptures, according to its own statements. For example:

·       "Those who devote themselves to reading the Bible exercise a certain virtue, but not very much; those who study the Mischnah exercise virtue for which they will receive a reward; those, however, who take upon themselves to study the Gemarah exercise the highest virtue." (Babha Metsia, fol. 33a)

·       "The Sacred Scriptures is like water, the Mischnah wine, and the Gemarah aromatic wine. (Sopherim XV, 7, fol. 13b)

·       "He who transgresses the words of the scribes sins more gravely than the transgressors of the words of the law." (Sanhedrin X, 3, f.88b)

Not only does this constitute adding to the Law, something that God had forbidden (Deut. 4:2; 12:32), it also involved replacing the Law - something that Moses had warned repeatedly against. Isaiah had denounced Israel for teaching commandments of men in place of those of God:

·       Isaiah 29:13-14 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their [faithfulness] fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Regarding “commandment taught by men,” the Talmud teaches many things counter to what is found in the Scriptures. For example, it teaches the superiority of the Jew, something that Moses had repeatedly warned against believing:

·       Deuteronomy 9:4, 6 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you… Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”

Moses also warned our people to not take credit for their successes:


·       Deuteronomy 8:17-19  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

Sadly, our people have gone after a very different god – a Talmudic invention. Instead of being the light to the world, we have covered it with the darkness of the Talmud. And the dreadful promised consequences have continually followed. Moses warned that we would be hated by the world. This prophecy has become a persistent fact of history, always accompanied by the disobedience of our people in turning from Scripture.

Jesus attempted to turn Israel back to their G-d. However, He observed that there was no way that they would hear Him since they even refused to believe Moses (John 5:44-47).

Meanwhile, the greatness and restoration of the Jewish nation has always accompanied a return to our G-d. (Adherence to the Talmud has only brought despair and dispersion.) God built Israel into a great nation because of the faithfulness of King David. This greatness continued through much of Solomon’s reign. It was restored, in great measure, under the faithful reigns of the great kings of Judah - Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. All of these kings had revived Israel by returning to the very Words of God and not to the traditions of the elders or to their learned rabbis.

Even the modern rebirth of Israel had nothing to do with the Talmud. Instead, the Talmud has been a blight upon our people. Yet our G-d promises that He will open the eyes of disobedient Israel:

·       Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me [Jesus], on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

What does our G-d require of us? Return:

·       Jeremiah 3:12-13 “Return, faithless Israel,” declares the Lord. “I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God.”

How are we to return to God? By returning to His Word as the ancient Kings of Judah had done. For example, King Josiah was notified by Hilkiah the priest that he had found “the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses” (2 Chronicles 34:14). Evidently, it had been missing for so long that no one noticed its absence until it was found.

The godly King Josiah immediately understand the importance of this Book and directed the priest:

·       “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:21)

How did the Lord respond? Did He agree with Josiah’s sentiments?

·       Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. (2 Chronicles 34:24-27)

According to the Lord, when Josiah had humbled himself before the Lord it was the same thing as honoring the seriousness of His Words, the very thing that the rabbis fail to do.

According to the prophecies of Jeremiah, the Prophet Daniel knew that the time of Israel’s return to their promised land was approaching along with another chance to prove their faithfulness to God’s Words, His covenant. He, therefore in love, confessed the sins of Israel before the Lord:

·       We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. (Daniel 9:5-7)

We too must never sugar-coat sin by disregarding God’s Words or by placing our traditions on equal footing with Scripture, as the Pharisees of Jesus’s day continued to do. However, Jesus denounced them, quoting Isaiah:

·       “…So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:6-9)

I grieve that little has changed today among Talmudic Orthodox Jews. May God here our prayers!

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