Transcription
All right, let me get this up here. There we go. Okay. And then you go to be fixed. Oh, that's what it was. Oh, there we go. I have these, these cute little dots on my monitor that show me what I need, where I need to have my screen cropped to so it fits well and the color works out well. That's what I'm working. Okay. And here in just a minute, I'll say, "Go ahead and start your camera." My camera started, but I won't. I'll un-start it. Okay.
Very nice. Let's get you zoomed in nicely so everybody can see. A peach, wow. That's looking good, looking real good. All right. Ah, there we go. Larger than life. Love it. Okay, boom. Constellation Pegasus. Hello there. Thank you. Um, and if I do this, I, I want to just get my cell phone and turn off the ringer. Sure. If I do this, do you, do you now lost my camera? Right. Yes, sir. That is correct. Okay. Give it just a second. Okay, because I'm just going to get up and turn my cell phone on mute. Okay.
Okay, sounds good. All right. All right. Well, I need to turn my phone chime off. That would be nice. Okay. Oh, okay. There we go. And let's mute this. There we go. Okay. Oh, let me get you back here. Split. Just so you know, I don't see you still. All right. That one's good. Let's make sure the studio phone is off. Okay. Lovely. Just lovely, darling. All right. I am going to grab a water. That's right. I said water. Okay. Think what I need is a coffee. I haven't had a coffee all day today. All right. Let's see. Okay. Sit tight. Be right back. Oh, oh, yeah. I got to get my water steamer going. Hope I got plenty of water in there. That's beautiful. All right. Coffee. The steaming looks like I, I've got you back now. That's awesome. All right. I need to keep this in front of me. I have these. I have three bottles of water sitting in front of me. Last two times I went to go get water, I forgot to open them and drink them. I just noticed that. That's funny.
You think that your conversations are intriguing? You think that this, you actually believe that that's interesting? You've convinced yourself. How do you think I stay sane all these years? Uh, that's funny. Okay. There we go. All right. Okay. Well, from what I can tell. All right. We're ready to go. You tell want turn the camera on and we're, we're in business. Very good. Uh, go ahead with your camera now. All right. Okay. All right. Going to mute the mic and we'll start in about 15 seconds.
[Music]
Welcome, D. The Knock Talk. I'm your host, William Hall, broadcasting live at Kingsland, Texas, USA, with another episode of Rabbi Tovia Singer. Let's get Bial. Q and A. Come to you from. Rabbi, the man, the myth, the legend, Tovia Singer. Welcome back. How are you? Oh, it's such a pleasure to have me back. Such a. Oh, man, you would think that would get old, but it actually really doesn't. I think if anybody else were to do that, they would get old, but you, you've got the signature mark on that. Very good. And thank you for that closeup. Yeah, anytime. These are the kinds of services that I, these are the kinds of services I provide. And I, I just want to look at. Stop. Relax. We're doing this a while now. H, how does it look? How do I look? Look. All right. You look marvelous. Is there any chocolate on my face or anything like that? No chocolate. Cuz that's how I wake up with chocolate on your face. I can only imagine. That's a scary. You think I'm always like peppy? I'm not. I'm not. So there's nothing weird on my face that I'm going to have to hire Hollywood to remove later on. Okay. That's great. There's nothing in the thing. Nothing out of place. You look, looking sharp, sharp as attack. Marvelous. Okay. Yes, sir. All right. Anyway, it's a big pleasure to have me on. It is for sure. And all right. All right. So what do you want to talk about today? All right. Well, let's get right into it. All right. Right hands. It's awesome. Uh, Michael Martell says, "Looks like you have a fresh perm. Your hair is just just fresh." A pingy is it? It's not crazy, right? I don't care if it's like, but there's nothing like like that. No, no, no. It's always like, yeah. If you wake up like that, you're a blessed man. All right. There you go. All right. Well, let's do this. Let's just get right on into this bad boy. Okay. Here we go. Hi, this is Miss Lerner, AA Russ Russell. I have a question about the righteous Remnant, which is found in Micah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, and Isaiah. And I'd like the Rabbi to elaborate on how Paul misapplied this teaching to the church in Romans 9:27. Thank you. Love you guys. Very nice. Very nice. Okay. Bye-bye.
That was, that was a great question. Romans 9 is one of the most, um, argued over chapters in the church. In the, um, Christians use Romans 9 both to, uh, demonstrate reformed theology, like Calvinism, or the kinds of ideas that Augustine and Aquinas advanced, like predestination. It's used by those who oppose it. It's used by those who believe in replacement theology. It's used by those who oppose it. It's used by everybody. And the reason it's so flexible is that, uh, its author, Paul, is all over the place in this chapter, and he's misappropriating passages from the Hebrew Bible. And you're quite right. The Jewish scriptures is very clear that there will be a Remnant that will be preserved, that will be saved. And that's the remnant that, uh, is that performs two things. Number one, has a personal relationship with God, and is loyal to the Torah. This is very important. It's outlined in Deuteronomy 7:9 as an example. Okay. Now, Paul in Romans 9:27, what he's seeking to do is to advance the notion that the people who are saved are those who follow what I'm, what I'm telling you to believe, and that is those who believe in Jesus. That's how Romans 9 ends. Okay. But he's misappropriating this passage. So he says, "In fact, that Isaiah in Romans cries out concerning Israel, though the Israelites would have been as numerous as the sands of the sea, only a Remnant will be saved." Okay. Now, what you want to do is, if you like being a Christian, Christian, you like going to church, you enjoy it a lot, you do not want to go back, uh, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 10:22. That's where it comes from. If you want to remain in the church in good standing, you don't want to look up the source because it's completely misappropriated. As it turns out, Isaiah chapter 10 is very famous. It's a conversation between Isaiah and King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a very righteous king. During Hezekiah's, um, 29-year reign, there was enormous trauma that befell the Jewish people in that the Assyrian Empire carried off the 10 Northern tribes, carried off the, what we now call the Lost Tribes, but there's 10 Northern tribes and three massive waves. Most of Judea, more than 40 cities, including Lachish, was destroyed, and only Jerusalem survived with a remarkable miracle. Okay. So what Isaiah is conveying to you, and what am I going to tell you, my dear brothers and sisters, go to Rabbi Isaiah, really go back to the original text in context. Okay. Even if you use a Christian, uh, study Bible, usually the commentaries will actually set you straight and tell you that Hezekiah is, is becoming aware that a very small part of the Jewish people will survive. Only Jerusalem survives. The spectacular events that are going to occur as Jerusalem is saved after the rest of Israel is carried off by the Assyrian Empire is conveyed in Second Kings chapters 18-19, also in Isaiah 36 and 37, and also, but much more poetry, right here in Isaiah 9 and 10. It's really very, very special. It's also in 2 Chronicles. Listen very carefully because we're going to a very deep place. We're going, so we're going very deep. So the first thing, just understand that the real context of what Paul is quoting from, the context going on there, is that God is going to preserve a remnant of the Jewish people who will survive the Assyrian attack. Okay. So the Assyrian Empire had a policy that when they conquered a nation, they didn't subjugate it as other nations did, but they rather carried off the population to a land unknown and brought other populations in. In fact, I'm not going into this now, that's how the Samaritans got here to Israel. Okay. And the reason for transferring populations, the reason it worked strategically, was very successful, is that if you transfer a population to another land, that nation had no attachment to it and was much less likely to rebel. Whereas if people are in their ancestral homeland, they would fight back, they would do anything. So Paul, however, is completely misusing this passage. As he is other passages, in fact, in Romans 9:25 and 26, he misuses a passage from Hosea. But what Paul wants to convey is that really, it's not just Israel that's going to be saved, it's really all those who have, who believe in Jesus. And the, the same idea is conveyed, but more clearly, in the book of Galatians. Galatians is easier to understand than Romans. It's less flexible than Romans. Very easy when you read Galatians, it's just very straightforward. The reason is that Paul in Galatians is speaking to a somewhat monolithic audience. He's speaking to churches in Asia Minor that he had set up. So he's speaking to non-Jews. So it's just very, it's very easy to understand what he's saying here. Paul is speaking to a, in, in the Book of Romans, his most, um, influential epistle, he's speaking to a church he hasn't visited yet. He had not yet visited Rome, and to an audience that's frankly mixed of Jews and non-Jews. So he's speaking very differently here. But what Paul is, the message he wants to get through is twofold here. Number one, you're saved only by believing in Jesus. And if you're not a Jew and you believe in Jesus, you're all one in the body of Christ. That's how Galatians 3. And so that's what's happening here. So he's misappropriating a passage that's speaking about the remnant of the Jews that are saved. That's what's going on in Isaiah, and he's applying that to that Gentiles could be saved. Now, I want to be very clear about this one point, that is that, you know, the oldest book in the Bible is a book about a Gentile who was faithful and loyal to God, and he was saved. His name was Job. Okay. So the reason why Jews don't proselytize is not because we think ourselves as some elite group, it's because you don't have to convert to Judaism to be right by God. Okay. So, uh, so it's, it's not that, uh, Gentiles, only Jews could be saved, and Gentiles or not. This is all nonsense. It is true that someone reading the Christian Bible would think we think that, but we don't at all. On the contrary, if anything, the role of the Jew is to be a light to the Gentiles, a, to bring the Torah to the world. And in fact, at the end of days, the non-Jews will come to the Jew and say, "Take us with you, because we have heard that God is with you." Now, we need to go to the most important piece here. Okay. We are told very specifically of what it takes. What does God want from us? God wants two things: to have a right relationship with him, because we are all, Jew or non-Jew, are creating in the image of God. Hashem wants, in order for you to be preserved as a Jew, you, number one, have to have a personal relationship with God, to love him, to have, uh, with him, which is an intense to cleave to him, because after all, a, a spark of God resides in us, we're created in the image of God, right? Okay. And number two, is to be loyal to his Torah. If Jewish people choose to turn away from, from a relationship with God, or stop keeping the mitzvot, the commandments, the Torah, so what happens? They're lost. They're just lost completely. Do you follow? So you may meet many Jewish people today who are not religious at all, but if you ask them, 120 years ago, were your great-grandparents religious or secular? And please don't be offended, or were they Reform Jews? Okay. And I, if you're a Reform Jew, please don't be. I don't, I don't, you know, I don't mean this in a bad way, but there's just so much assimilation going on there. In almost all cases, people Jews will tell you that my great-great, my great-grandparents were all Orthodox religious Jews, and something happened in, in the, in the interim. What's God is telling us is that he only preserves those Jews that hold, that hold to the truth of a belief, that means faithful belief in God, and keep the Torah. And those who do not, do not remain a part of the eternal nation. Why? Why do the Jews have to be an eternal nation? Why are we such an ancient people? Because we have an eternal message. But if you're saying, "I don't want to carry that message, I don't want to convey that message," you will cease to be a part of the children of Israel. You just assimilate out. So make no mistake about it. There were many Jews for thousands of years who opted out, who said, "I don't want to be a part of that message. I don't want to have a personal relationship with God. I don't want to keep the Torah." Joined many other religions or disavowed religions altogether. What they all have in common is their great-grandchildren are no longer with us. Do you understand that? Okay. Now, here is the powerful punchline. Here's the point that you must really take to heart. We're going very, very high now. Every Christian has to ask this question: If Christianity, or belief in Jesus, or however you want to, whatever name you want to assign to that, is the truth, Jesus was the Messiah, and believing in him was the best thing you can do, then why didn't God preserve any of the Jews who did believe in Jesus? Their grandchildren are not here as Jews. All the Jews you'll meet today are the grandchildren of people who don't believe in Jesus. God only preserves those Jews who believe in the written and oral Torah, who are loyal to it, and have a personal relationship with God. And the monumental question is, of course, there were Jews who opted out and joined many religions, including many of them were baptized. Now, many Jews were baptized because of persecution. There were many Jews who were baptized because of opportunities they had in education, all kinds of professional fields, which Jews, unbaptized Jews, were not. Like Mal, why did he convert to Christianity? He was born a Jew. He wanted, he wanted, you weren't going to run the, you weren't going to conduct the orchestra if you weren't a Christian. A lot of people like that. Okay. What they all have in common is they're gone. So here's the question for you, the Christian: If Jesus is the Messiah, why does God only preserve those Jews who utterly reject and are completely aware of the fact that Jesus is not the Messiah? That means all the Jews, granted, so many Jews converted to Christianity or became baptized, whatever you want to call them, what they all have in common is their grandchildren are gone. Peter was a married man, had kids. Where are his grandchildren today? They're gone. So the remnant, and always look at Zephaniah 3:12-16. It's very beautiful about the remnant. So Paul is completely, in Isaiah 10:22, out of context. Now, I could just say, "Well, look what Paul's doing. He's completely misapplying this passage." Romans 9:27, very famous, is wants to show that there's this Remnant that only those who believe in Jesus. You'll see there, the actual context, nothing to do with that at all. It's Isaiah bringing into view for Hezekiah that only a remnant of the Jews will survive the Assyrian Empire. Has nothing at all to do with what Paul is doing. So Paul's misappropriating the text. But I think the larger question here is not how, look how Paul, um, was disingenuous, misappropriated passage, Hebrew Bible. There's a bigger picture here, and that is, why didn't God preserve any of the Jews who believed in Jesus? They're all gone. Who are, even if you meet Jews today who became Christians, who joined, uh, to Jesus, the old, my great-great-grandparents didn't believe in Jesus. It's only something I did or my father did. Why is that? Well, the answer is because they lose the covenant. Jews who convert to another religion, adopt Christianity, or become Sadducees and reject the oral Torah, they're gone today. Or become atheists, they're all gone. They all disappeared. We are again, please don't be offended. I don't mean this in any bad way, but where are the Reform Jews of the 19th century? Largely assimilated out. You know, so I hope if you're a Reform Jew, please don't be offended by that. I, I know there are some Reform Jews and Reform rabbis out there that are really becoming very aware of a problem that's facing their community, and only through love and teaching Torah could light be brought there. Everybody knows there's a problem going on. So Paul misappropriates it, but more importantly, the bigger picture is the message is, wow, look at this. If you follow Hashem, Hashem will preserve you. Okay. See again, Deuteronomy 7:9 as an example. Thank you for your question.
All right, let's see what we got here. Joseph, here we go. Joseph, you're live on the air. Go ahead with your question, sir.
Okay, so my question is about Adam and why he's referred to as the Son of God in both genealogies of Jesus, but he's not considered a divine being by the church like Jesus was, right? So I think you probably mean, uh, Luke. That's what I think you mean when you, um, uh, Matthew's genealogy doesn't have Adam. Matthew's genealogy doesn't go back as far as Abraham. But anyway, thank you for your question. I appreciate that, Joseph. Go and hang on down there for your answer. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.
Okay, so your question is in, um, Luke 3:38. So Luke's genealogy is entirely different from Matthew's genealogy. You have no idea how different they are. They're just totally different. It, it's shocking. Now, it's shocking because even who Joseph's father was, is it Jacob or Heli? Depends if you read Matthew or Luke respectively. It's the, there's so many problems with them, I can't begin to tell you. But let's ignore that. Let's just put that on the side. Um, whereas Matthew's genealogy goes back to Abraham, Luke's genealogy goes all the way back to Adam, who he says was the Son of God, right? So, um, so the question is, why would Luke refer to Adam as a Son of God? After all, Adam wasn't divine. So the reason is that Luke is just applying this term in a way that is, um, is just quite different. What he means by Son of God there is that Adam was created. He wasn't generated by human parents, but rather he was created by God in Genesis 1. And we have more detail on his creation because Genesis 2 zooms in. It's not interested in fish and, and, and birds and water, all not interested in that. It's interested in Adam. Okay. So, so there we have, you know, God gathers the clay of the earth, breathes into Adam's nostrils, uh, the spirit of God. That's why we're all creating the image of God through Adam HaRishon. Okay. And the term Son of God in Tanakh is also used variously. It's used as, uh, somebody who's, uh, could be referring to an angel, someone who is performing the will of Hashem. Um, we are called upon to be children of God in Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 1. Banim atem l'Adonai Eloheichem. You are children of the Lord your God. So Luke is using this term Adam as Son of God, uh, because Adam was created by God, he didn't have parents, and that's how he's applying it. Does Luke mean here at the, this is the very end of Luke 3, last passage, does Luke mean here that like that something sophisticated, that Adam was the Son of God who failed, and that Jesus was the Son of God who was the second Adam? I don't think so. I don't think Luke is using it in that way. I don't think he's using it in, in that sort of sophisticated way. There are people who suggested it, that Adam, the Adam, Adam HaRishon, the first Adam, failed, and in, in Pauline Christology, Jesus is the second Adam who succeeded, who undid what Adam did. So that, that's why you have that different terminology, that the use of that terminology in the Book of Luke. Now, one more second. Lot. There are many people who think that Luke wasn't Jewish, and therefore Luke is tracing back to Adam because he's trying to find the father of all mankind, rather than just the father of the Jewish people. Okay. Anyways, thank you for your thoughtful question.
Okay, let's see what we got here. One moment. Julie is 726. All right, Miss Julie, you are live on the air. Go ahead with your question.
Rabbi, an honor. Thank you, Julie. You're, you're dear from Boston. Thank you. Rabbi, dear Dad, I hope he's well. Um, I'm so grateful for you. I'm so, so grateful for you, for the Jewish people, so, so grateful for you. Thank you, dear Rabbi. So my question to you, dear Rabbi. So I have my Christian friend, professional. She comes in. But she's way more learned than I am in her scripture, in her, um, scriptures, excuse me. So she last left me with the statement that, uh, our, uh, Torah is just the foretelling of Jesus. And so I, like, I can't. What? I don't know how to professionally reply to her.
Why not listen to me? Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. Why not ask her, "What is the evidence of that?" It's really very simple. Saying that Jesus is in the Torah is a rather fantastic claim, right? Saying that anybody is in the Torah is a, anybody is mentioned or is a fantastic claim. Fantastic claims require fantastic evidence. So what I would say is the following: If she says there is no evidence for it, then you could ask her, "Then why don't you believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" If you have such an elastic methodology approaching the Bible where everything is a foreshadow of whoever it is you believe in, then what Abrahamic religion could be dismissed? Do you follow? Do, do you follow what I'm saying? I follow what you're saying. Don't be afraid. Just ask, "What is your evidence?" Listen to me. Don't be afraid to ask, "What is your evidence?" Thank you for your question.
Okay, I just want to make this very clear, and I, I've had a few of these questions asked of me today at other times from other people. When people make a claim, you just ask. Don't be afraid to ask. Just, "What is the evidence?" Don't, you have nothing to worry about if you, if, if you have the truth on your side. Don't be afraid. Just ask, like, "What is the evidence of that?" Okay. Now, if someone says, "Well, this religion has changed my life." Well, guess what? People in every religion experience life-changing, uh, experiences, experience the numinous connection to God, are healed in the name of their God or gods. Every religion, of course, they do. And are willing, there are people in every religion that are willing to die for what they believe, have given up, uh, drugs, smoking, and drinking because of their religion. In fact, I remember years ago when I, when I studied substance abuse, which we have to do when studying, uh, social work, that, and social work is a discipline that's not particularly religious. They're not particularly religious, but the professor conceded, he was not a religious person at all, but he conceded, and for him, it really was a concession, that religion is far more successful getting people off drugs and alcohol than other methods are. It really works well. Now, it was a long time ago, so I'm, I, I don't remember exactly the words he used, but it was very, what he was saying is, what religion people join, they can get off drugs and alcohol very quickly. It doesn't mean they all, but it's very, very effective. Okay. But what you want to do is you want to, when someone makes a claim that's fantastic, you need, you need fantastic evidence. Now, what's very, um, delightful here is that we have the Torah, which all Christians agree with the word of God. What is your evidence for it? And now, if you're saying, "There is no evidence," but there are scales over your eyes. Paul tries this. Paul does this, and it's led us to Corinth. He talks about the Jews have a veil and scales on their eyes and therefore they can't see. But then what religion then can be dismissed? Then you can, you know, you can become, join the Branch Davidians. Well, why should I believe that David Koresh, who was killed in a confrontation with federal agents years ago outside of Waco, Texas? You, you, there are blinders over your eyes. You wouldn't accept that, would you? Right? So what happens is Christians are making fantastic claims. Then when you ask, "What's the evidence of this?" The evidence isn't even mediocre, it's terrible. It's scandalous. And one of the things, you know, I demonstrate for you, I demonstrate for you is that these responses are not only a stretch or torturous, they're actually scandalous, they're criminal. The Christian Bible deliberately mistranslates, alters Jewish scriptures. So what you always want to do is look at Tanakh alone. Literally. I mean, Christians bring you, especially Protestants, that they believe Sola Scriptura, only the Bible alone. Okay. Then let's apply that rigorous method. And what's the reason why you Southern Baptists and the Church of God Christians, those are Protestant denominations, different in some, in a very striking way, like, why don't you accept the claims of the Roman Catholic Church? You say, "It's not in the Bible." Right? And that's why the Roman Catholic Church, but you know, Mary is to be venerated, and we believe in the Immaculate Conception. That means that Mary was born without the stain of original sin, which Protestants reject. Why do you reject it? Because you're using a rigorous method of saying, "There's nothing in the Bible." It says that. But there is a foreshadowing. Catholics will say, "Certainly, if you look at Luke chapter 1, you have the Annunciation. Mary is spoken of quite nicely. The angel Gabriel speaks to her. That's the highest, um, praise of Mary in anywhere in the Christian Bible." But you would go, "But it doesn't say that she was born without the stain of original sin." Okay? That's what you do, right? You, if, if a Christian would say, "Oh, the Bishop of Rome has authority," meaning the Pope, right? And you'd go, as a Protestant, "Go, why? What do you believe?" They go, "Matthew 16." Well, it doesn't say that there's going to be popes all the way down the line, they're going to be able to, uh, make pronouncements ex cathedra from the. You'd go, "It's not there, right?" So what I'm really asking you, the Christian, to do is to use the same rigorous methods you do in rejecting all these other religions and apply that to Christianity. Be ready to challenge your cherished beliefs. But the, the evidence you need has to be fantastic. Because if you ask a religious Jew, I'm going to cough. If you ask a religious Jew, "Why do you keep Shabbat?" It's very explicit in the Torah. It's explicit that when Mashiach comes, we're going to keep Shabbat. We're going to bring sacrifice. Explicitly, explicitly. Everything about our lives is explicitly in Tanakh. And some, everything to do with Jesus is a shadow. Why shadows? Now, this idea, inherently, that all the Hebrew Bible is foreshadowing the New Testament is very potent. Paul is going to use that kind of language. So is the book of Hebrews. That is all hint, but the essence, you know, it's all foreshadowing the future. Okay. Now, because he's got to sell you Christianity, the thing about Christianity is just not a different orientation, it's a completely a different teaching, a different claim of revelation. That's how the book of Hebrews opens. Read Hebrews 1:1-3. So you can't, these are dubious methods that will only work on those who don't know any better. But I do ask you, whenever a Christian makes a claim, don't be afraid to say, ask the question, "What is your evidence for this claim?" Because if someone were to ask you, "Why do, why do you pray to Hashem? Why do you live your life in a certain way as a religious Jew?" You'd have no problem showing the evidence for it, right? That's all. Look at the plain meaning of the text. That's all. And don't be afraid to challenge these things. Because if it's a fete, then you can believe anything you want to, and that's what people do. They believe what feels good rather than looking back at scripture. Okay. Thank you for your question.
All right, we got right on from DC back on the line. Go ahead with your question, sir.
Hello, Rabbi. We talked before about, uh, possible contradictions between Jesus and the commandments given to us by Moses. And when I'm reading through the Bible 31, 32 years ago for my first time, I get to Deuteronomy 23:1, which says, "If a man, uh, is wounded in the stones or has his privy member cut off, he shall not enter the congregation of the Lord." And I get to the Book of Matthew, where Jesus is giving on his Sermon on the Mount, and he's going through a whole list of commandments that he is, um, basically showing either a lack of knowledge of Deuteronomy 22 and 23, or he is, uh, unclear. He doesn't know this, or he, he is contradicting what Moses has said on divorce. Could you give me?
Okay, that's, that's, that's important. So you mean the adultery thing? Yes. Okay. That's a good question. You talk about Matthew, uh, 5:27-28. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's a brilliant question. I like it a lot. And you probably don't realize how important your question is. Okay. Anyways, thank you. So I understand. Do you want me to clarify that? Is that what you're asking? Yes, he wants you to go and discuss the whole point. It's deeper than you think. It's deeper than you think.
So the Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5-7. And the Sermon on the Mount, by the way, we have a, the correlating passages, not framed the same way, not organized the same way, in the Book of Luke. They're not all there, but let's concentrate on. There's no Sermon on the Mount, by the way. There's no mount in Luke. Matthew wants Jesus to be Moses-like. That's why there's a mountain. There's no mountain in Luke. Matthew is always portraying Jesus as an Uber-Moses. A, okay. Now, people usually look at Matthew 5, famous chapter, as Jesus affirming the law. "I didn't come to break the law, to abolish it, but to fulfill it. Anyone who breaks one jot of the law will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes." So people often view these passages as pro-Torah versus anti-Torah, meaning supporting the observance of the Torah, ritual commandments here. Okay. And in opposition to Paul. Okay. That's typically how this is viewed. And in fact, people who think that you don't, Christians who say you don't have to keep ritual commandments anymore, really have to turn themselves into a pretzel to rewrite Matthew 5:17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Okay. Okay. This is all pretty straightforward. But it's interesting that what's happening in Matthew is he is essentially amping up a commandment in order to make it impossible to keep, falling in line with Pauline theology. And this is what people miss. So, and it's being, we're told that Jesus is saying this. So I'm just going to say now, the Jesus actually historically, the real, if you had been there with a video camera, would you have picked this up? I don't believe that. But let's just, we're going to go with that as though he said it. Have to listen to this very carefully because what the, the literary method that Jesus is employing here is that, look, this is what you heard from Moses, but I'm saying something new to you. Okay. This is very important. When I tell you that Matthew is seeking to portray Jesus in Uber-Moses, I'm not just throwing that out. That's why there's so much stuff going on, including Jesus having to go down to Egypt, just like the Jews and Moses come out of Egypt, all that stuff. Okay. That's a motif. That's an M, an M source. That's a motif that's very unique to Matthew. Okay. That's why there's no mountain in Luke. Okay. Like you have the Beatitudes, not an exact same formula in Matthew 5 as you'll find in Luke in a different place, but the mo, this now. So it's very important to, I want to just look at Matthew 5:27. So what the, what Jesus is saying here is, "You've heard it said that you shall not commit adultery." Okay. As an example. Okay. So that's pretty clear because that's in the Ten Commandments. It's Exodus chapter 20, what, like verse 14 or there, right? But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Okay. This is an astonishing statement. So Jesus, or the author, is conceding that Moses doesn't say that, but Jesus going beyond that. Now, this is precisely the opposite of the Jewish faith. In the Jewish faith, if a, a married woman is somewhere far away from home, and she's a, sees a fellow who's a very handsome fellow, her husband is far away in Florida while she's in Las Vegas at a convention, and she is very attractive, or there's a fellow who's very attractive, some lady, and he says, "I, that she's a very pretty girl," or he's a very handsome man, but I know Hashem says it's forbidden, and therefore I won't do it. So in the Jewish faith, that person is much more praiseworthy. If a person is tempted but resists that temptation, says, "You, but I'm not going to follow up. No one would ever know, but I'm not going to do it." That person is greater, right? So what Matthew is doing, what Matthew Jesus is doing, is he's flipping it around. Matthew Jesus said, "If you even feel a desire, then you've already committed adultery in your heart." What? Well, that means we're finished. Like, no one could pass that unless you're a stone, you understand? So what's happening there in these passages, I'm just using this as an example. See, we could have conversations about, well, this contradicts that, you know, but this is really, this is really pretty tight because what essentially that's the case. If I want to eat bacon, but I don't, because God said it's forbidden, so I've already sinned in my heart. No, that's even more praiseworthy. I, I have, I, when I see lobster anywhere, even like in, in Israel, you wouldn't see it, maybe you'd see it on television, I don't know, but in the United States, you see people, lobster, whatever they have in the, in the, in those tanks, it's disgusting to me. Sure. I don't think I'm going to be rewarded after I'm 120 for resisting the temptation of lobster because it looks disgusting to me. I'll tell you a crazy story. Years and years ago, I was sitting down with a Jew who was in the Messianic movement, and late, late, late at night, when he realized that Christianity wasn't the true religion, he realized it was a mistake to be a Messianic. He said to me, "Rabbi, I have a problem. I'm attracted to other men." So I told him, "I'm very jealous of you. What a great reward you have that you feel same-sex attraction and you're able to resist that." Will I be rewarded for that? I don't think so, because it doesn't make sense to me. I know there are people who are attracted to the same sex out there. I don't understand it, but I'm, it's very clear to me they're not making this up. And if a person says, "You know what? I'm attracted to men as well," and they go, "But Hashem, I know Hashem doesn't want me to have that relationship, that kind of relationship," and I know people like that, and I'm going to be loyal to my wife. Wow. You know what your reward will be? You know how praiseworthy you'll be. Now, I, I just know what somebody's thinking. I know what some of you are thinking, but isn't there a commandment that is a, a thought crime in the Ten Commandments? It's the 10th commandment, to not covet, right? So that's a little different. This is where a person could, the case is, you should not covet your neighbor's house, his wife, his ox. You know, it's not lust. And that's very important. So the prohibition, because I know I'm going to get 500 questions on this, the prohibition, toward the end of Exodus, the 10th of the Ten Commandments, is that you shall not covet. And it says, "your friend's house." You're not, it's not talking about lust there. It means what you're doing is you're saying, "It's not, I want to have my friend who I grew up with, he has such a nice house and such a nice neighborhood in Jerusalem. You know what? I'm going to work hard too, and I'm going to have a nice house too." You understand? There's nothing wrong with that. "Look at my friend. My friend, he worked hard, he married a terrific girl, and she's a wonderful wife, and she's a fabulous mother. I also have to work diligently so I could find a wonderful wife and a terrific friend and a fantastic mother." That's not what the person, the iser, the prohibition is not that. The prohibition is, "I want my friend's house. I want his house. I want his wife. I want his ox. I want his donkey." That's user. Okay. So be very, very careful. It's, it's a little subtle. But I always get that. What Matthew is conveying, and it's not, I'm not reading this in, I'm not straining this literally. We are told Jesus says this. Did he really say this? Let's just presume that he did. Okay. What he's saying then is, then you might as well go home. And what he's saying is essentially, Romans 3, he's saying that you can't save yourself. If the prohibition is that you can't follow through on your desire, that's fine. You know, but if he's saying that even having the desire is if you did it, so then everybody is condemned, which is very, very potent. And that's what's really happening there. So you, this happens in the Christian Bible in the Sermon on the Mount. That happens in a more subtle way. You got to watch for it, but that's what's emerging there. It's like, "Oh, then we're all." And then, you know, the other part, I just need to go to this. This is going to sound weird in the beginning, but I want you to just, I don't think I've ever mentioned this on there. What's the big deal that you didn't sin if you were born to a virgin? You're the Son of God. Like, so what? It does the whole thing doesn't make sense. I mean, if Jesus is the Son of God, I mean, he's God in some way, born to a virgin, and he's God, so he can't sin. Then, big deal. Look, if I were the Son of God, born to a virgin, and I was a God, I also wouldn't sin. What makes people great is that they are tempted and resist that temptation. That, that's what makes great people great. Is that they're not born of virgins, like you. So what? That's why the whole thing with that you find only in synoptic gospels of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness 40 days by the devil is a complete sham. You can ask any Christian, "Could Jesus in fact have, um, been, you know, sinned?" And a Christian would have to go, "No." Then what, what the whole story doesn't make sense. So, only virtue is only possible when you really can choose one or the other. And God says, "Before I place life and death, good and evil, choose life." Deuteronomy 30:15. So that's what I'm encouraging you to do is to look a little deeper there, and you could see how, why Christianity, um, is so attractive to people, because there are many people who feel like, "There's nothing I can do. I'm hopeless. I'm lost. I'm a sinner." And today is Sunday. This is what's being preached in churches all over the world. More than a billion people are getting this message as I'm speaking. So this fits perfectly with the low self-esteem person who says, "I'm really a mess, and there's nothing I can do." You can do it. Don't listen to that. If you feel that sense of temptation, you're able to resist the temptation, you're a greater person. Anyway, thank you for your thoughtful question.
All right, very good, very good. Let me make sure I get the right one here. 26, 27. A lot of colors. Okay. We got Scott. Scott from Texas. You are live on the air. Go ahead with your question, sir.
Well, thank you for having me and, uh, Rabbi, it's an honor to to speak with you. Um, I was wondering, um, I'm a former Christian, um, um, and I'm still wrestling with some of the leftovers of the ethics of the New Testament, the things that we're told to do and not to do, uh, because of what Jesus said. And a couple of those items that I wanted to, to get your opinion on, uh, from an Orthodox, um, Jewish view, is, um, like the place where, where Jesus said, like, "If you're forced to carry someone's pack for one mile, go an extra mile with them." And if somebody strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. You know, the relationship to submission, uh, to violence, you know, essentially, are you going to, are you going to hold off the offending yourself? Or do you consider these, uh, rules from Jesus to be good or distortions of the Torah and the Tanakh? Where do they sit with you? And, um, how would you respond to somebody, a soldier wanting to force you to carry his load? How would you respond to somebody who hits you in the face? What would you do in return? What do you think the right way to do it is?
That's a great question. Can I just ask you a question? Of all the things Jesus says in the Christian Bible, and don't think this badly, is that the best you can come up with? If I may just indulge me for a moment, like this. Let me, let me go. Jesus actually, we are told, said in John 14:6, that "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." That's complete idolatry. Like, what I'm suggesting is so. It is. I could sit here and tell you that, well, the Torah tells you that if you're attacked, you respond. Someone comes to kill you, you have to defend yourself. Of course, of course we could do that. Are there true teachings in the Christian Bible? Of course. But anything true in the New Testament, is it new? There's a lot of te, there are many teachings in the Christian Bible that are true, but anything true in the New Testament isn't new, and anything new in the New Testament just isn't true. Okay. So I, I thank you for your question. Okay, Scott, go hang on there for your answer. Thank you.
So I would say to you that, of course, you know, the, there's this homeless fellow who, who, he's probably a troubled fellow who lives not far from R do, right? He's obviously troubled, as many people who live on the streets are. And he holds out his hands and he wants a just a few shekels, meaning he's got two shekels, which is worth about 60 cents. He'd be very happy. So if I bring him dinner, which I, whatever I don't want to talk about what I do, but more than he expects, he's really happy, right? That's a good thing, right? But the, the, the idea of giving charity, and that the amount of charity we can give varies to a point. You don't want to impoverish people with wealth, or else they can't give. But that, that's really, that's not really very significant to me. The one intriguing thing about the church is it, it produced, uh, Christians who are the most violent people on the planet. The bloodiest religious war in human history was fought between Christians. So it, it somehow never translated itself into the followers of Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic. And, and in fact, the, the Christians who refuse, who, who were like the Amish, who are Anabaptists, who are pacifists, they, or, or many Anabaptist groups. Anabaptist really means those who believe in adult. It doesn't literally mean that, but it means people who believe that you have to be baptized as an adult. But these people also oppose going to war, whatever. Okay.
They were slaughtered by Christians, so somehow this like didn't filter down. So I would say this to you: When you have time and you're speaking to a Christian, I wouldn't be dealing with those kinds of passages. I don't think it's valuable. I think what is important is who is the God you worship. If Jesus is saying that you can't get to God except through me, that's complete blasphemy. That's idolatry. I do not believe that those words were uttered by the historical Jesus. And I mean, because it's, it doesn't even begin because it's not found in the synoptic gospels. I just think I think you should look at it that way.
One other point I want to share with you very quickly. I don't know if you were a smoker. Well, when people quit, it's not like the next day they're gagging over the scent of tobacco. It takes a long time. It's like, you know, if you have a folder and the folder is called "Messiah Folder" on your desktop, and Jesus used to be there. If you delete it, it just goes into this trash bin, but it's still there. And people really don't know what to do with him. Like, "What do I do with him, Rabbi? Like, I used to love Jesus and pray to Jesus in Jesus' name. I know now he's not the Messiah. I know it's ungodly. But maybe he was just a nice Rabbi, right? Maybe he was just a good guy." So what's really important to understand is, you, what's really happening is you just don't know. "What do I do with this guy? Do I have to hate him? Can I think of him as some hippie Rabbi?" Well, what's important is you need to cleanse yourself, to wash yourself.
To touch on that means there's a, you're right, there's this residual memory. Like, imagine for a moment that you're sitting with your wife and you're holding arms, holding each other at a nice, intimate, quiet moment. But if she were there thinking about a fellow she dated before you, and you came to know that, it would really bother you a lot, wouldn't it? Right? If you imagined that your husband was still thinking about his ex-girlfriend, if you found even one text message, listen, if you discovered that your husband is still writing a text message to his ex-girlfriend, what would you do? How would you feel? You'd feel sick, wouldn't you? Would you get divorced? I don't know. You would, it would be very hard to overcome that. And that's what's happening. It's very important to ask Hashem for wisdom. There's a reason why I say it calls upon us to wash yourself and touch nothing unclean, because there is this residual smell, stench of idolatry with Christianity. It takes some time to clear out. And there's only one way to clean yourself, and that's through Torah. The only way. If you're sitting idly by, your mind will wander. If you open up Torah, wherever you look at it, you'll immediately feel the spirit of Hashem filling you and pushing out those memories of your last boyfriend, right away. You won't want anything to do with it.
So, you know, instead of analyzing every text and going, "Well, we can find this an idea that maybe somebody should give a little more charity or help a person out more." That's fine. I mean, Jesus did say the Shema, you know, in Mark 12. If you're looking for something that's complete blasphemy, there are a lot of chapters to look at. I wouldn't be looking at carrying it. So, but I would say to you, 'cause I'm like listening to your heart, and I know you're not angry at me, Scott. I'm listening to your heart, and what's happening is that that ex-girlfriend, you think about her. What is she doing now? Oh, man, it's her birthday. What happened? Can I just send her one Facebook message wishing Kathy a happy birthday? Wow. If your wife found that out, she'd, she'd be really hurt. It would break her soul. It would break her little heart to know. So you should know that it's very bad for you. It's very bad for your relationship with to, to engage in that. But Hashem doesn't want to break it. Hashem loves you. Look, you've done something I never could possibly do. I was never a Christian for a second. Not only wasn't, wasn't a Christian, I always found Christianity to be repulsive. When I wasn't really familiar with Christianity, I found it repulsive because of sociological reasons, because I knew it had nothing to do with Judaism. When I studied it, it was much worse than I even thought it was. Right? So it's, you know, for me, you know, it's it's very, very different. But you have such a way to say, you know, "Hashem, my lips are just for you. My knees will bow to you. My tongue will only praise you alone. Would you wash me, Hashem? I love you because I know you don't want me, me thinking about my old girlfriend. You don't want me thinking about my old boy. You want a complete relationship with with you alone, and you alone that I praise, and only in your name do I worship. And if you bow before the God of Israel, you fear no one." Okay. My prayers are with you. Thank you for your question.
So, just for the sake of answering that question, is there something in Torah that states that you, that if somebody slaps you on one cheek, you can't defend? There's nothing like that. I just think it's not valuable. There's nothing like that. It's quite the contrary. In the Torah, it's told if nations come to attack you, you have to destroy them. Someone come? No, you don't find it. But you have to understand that the idea in the abstract, even though Christians don't live that way, that's true. They don't. Look, I don't want to tell you how often I'm threatened, you know, how many times a day I'm threatened in different ways. And from, you know, and I don't mean nasty comments, but there, my life has been threatened. On, I wish it was only on. It's a lot. And they're Christians. They're not other religions. It just happens, you know? So, so Christians don't look. And if you look at, while Christians attack me every day, they're not those people not attacking. How, how grotesque, how, um, the, they, they sound like petulant adolescents. It's like they're challenging our faith. And I go, "Okay, that's who, really great question. Let's address it." Then when I answer it, I'm the worst person in the world. You know, like, "Why are you doing that? Why are you attacking me?" Well, it's an ad hominem attack, uh, where they go, "Well, if Rabbi S is the worst person in the world, then Jesus is the Messiah," which is a complete fallacy. We know how the whole thing works. You know, you're attacked as well, not as much as I, I imagine, but just the way it is. So I don't think Christians, I think it's just a bad idea. Two things. I think it's a bad idea to say, "Well, it doesn't say that in the Torah." Okay. I just don't think it's an approach that will create any transition. I think it's important to pray for God to heal you, to cleanse you, to wash you completely. That, I do think is a good idea. To know where that question really is probably coming from. If you're looking for things in the Christian Bible that are inconsistent with Torah, oh my gosh, worship the Messiah. That's complete idolatry. So you're getting caught up on something that's really distracting but not very significant at all. Okay. Anyway, thank you for the question.
All right, very good. All Sonic, you're live on air. Go ahead with your question. Hey, glad to have you. Can you guys hear me? Yes, sir. Go ahead. First of all, I want to say thank you both for, uh, for all that you do, man. I've been listening to you guys for a while, for a few months now. I just found the show on, on YouTube. But, um, so, um, and I am praying for the Rabbi's, um, father, my daughters, and myself. Pray for you, pray for your safety, and your father, um, on a daily basis. Um, so I don't necessarily have a question per se, but, um, I just wanted to get your a take on something that I, I had come across. Um, I heard this term, uh, "Messianic Secret," and apparently it stems out of Matthew 16, verse 20, where one called, one called Jesus is basically telling his, um, disciples, you know, not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah, basically. So he's keeping this a secret. And this is what they call the Messianic Secret. And, um, um, Moses, you know, he tells us in Deuteronomy Chapter 13, Deuteronomy 13:7-2, "If your brother, your son of your mother, or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, friend, very close friend, would entice you in secret or secretly saying, 'Let us go and worship gods of others that you did not know,' or your father or that your fathers did not know." They said that you should not. I, than I, thank you. Your question. I want to run with this. I love what you're asking. And I, and you're a very sweet man, whoever you are. I hope I get hugged one day. You're, you're sounding like a really sweet person. Hang up now. Thank you for your answer. Thank you, brother. Yeah.
Okay, this is a very clever question, and I'd like to take it in this direction. And no one's ever asked on air about Matthew 16:20, where Jesus instructs his disciples not to tell anyone he's the Messiah. Like, how did that get in there? Now, those of you who like study the Gospels would sniff this out as a relic of the Book of Mark. In the Book of Mark, what is, I think, most striking about the second Gospel, which is really the first chronologically, is that for the first half of the book, meaning the first eight chapters, it's a grand secret of who Jesus really is. And that's one of the very striking features of Mark. Nobody knows who he is. And if anybody like figures it out, don't tell, tell anybody. Why? Why would Jesus say, "Don't tell anyone that I'm the Messiah"? As it turns out, when the coming, when the, when the true Messiah comes, the knowledge of God will cover the world as the water covers the seas. Isaiah 11:9. It's that the whole world will know. It's never supposed to be a secret. But this is very much in that mystery cult. This is very much in that Gnosticism. That's what's really going on here. And you're going, "What's that?" So the idea that, uh, we're living in a very damaged world, the physical world is sinful. Celibacy is in, in the Gospels, is not encouraged, but it is portrayed as virtuous. In the same Book of Matthew, not that much further on, celibacy is virtuous. Where did you get that from? So that anytime you hear that celibacy is virtuous, now that's big in, in Paul's letters. 1 Corinthians 7. Sniff. You're sniffing at Gnosticism. This world's a, a broken world. Everything physical is grotesque. This is very much the Manichean world of Augustine. That's why he found this all very attractive. The idea that this world is broken, the celestial world is what's fantastic. So, but you need to know how to escape this terrible, wretched world. You needed secret knowledge. That's what Gnosis is. Knowledge. That's what the Gnostics believe in. To escape the physical, you have to have secret knowledge. And this is that's what's really happening here. Two, this kind of a passage, and what we find in Mark is also an apologetic, but not in the way that you think. An apologetic means it's a defense. What does that mean? During the life of Jesus, during his actual lifetime, I'm almost certain that he never claimed to be the Messiah. But it was later on, at some stage, that people began to believe he was the Messiah who died. That happened. Some say. And then we could speculate and come. But this is certain, that during his life, people really had no clue that they were supposed to believe he's the Messiah. So when people are making the claim later on, his after he's dead, that he was the Messiah, people are going, "But why didn't he say anything?" Right? So they had to respond, "Well, it was a secret, you see." And that's this notion of the occult, this notion of the esoteric knowledge. It means hidden knowledge that only a few people have access to. And if you go a little bit further, you see that Jesus then reveals to his disciples. That's what this comes, very famous chapter in Matthew 16 for many reasons. Jesus says to them, "I'm going to have to go to Jerusalem, and I'm going to suffer many things and so on, right, in the hands of the Jews, and I'm going to be killed. But on the third day, I'm going to be raised up." Peter doesn't go, "Oh, yeah, of course you're going to suffer and die. I've got Isaiah 53." Of course not. He says, "Lord, you know, um, that never let that never happen to you." And Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan." So this whole thing is a secret. And this idea that the whole salvation program of Christianity is a secret or mystery is totally baked into Paul, who was much older. His writings are much older than the Gospels. Paul claims that he has special revelation that's a mystery that no one knew about. Only he knows. And I'm here to tell to you. What do you mean? But I, Jew for Jesus website says there are 365 prophecies. No, it's a mystery. Please see if Ephesians 3. What you have done is Ephesians 3:3-4-5. Paul says, "This whole salvation program is a complete mystery. No one knows about. I've got it, and I'm here to share with you." 1 Corinthians 2:7 and 8. Whole thing is a mystery. In fact, that word "mystery" is very much Pauline. If you search the word "mystery," it's all of Paul's letters. It would not be like the word, the word "mystery" in a Concordance or some sort of software search, we just come up all over the place. It's very, it's, it's Pauline.
So what's happening is this functions a number of ways in the ancient world. The idea that the world about us was inexplicable is understandable. People died and suffered for reasons they didn't understand. I mean, imagine just people just knew nothing about what they didn't know. There was a thing called oxygen. I mean, that's a fairly recent discovery. They didn't know that the heart pumps, um, blood that's now rich with oxygen throughout our bodies. The, it was actually a Christian Unitarian that figured that out, and he was executed because he was a Unitarian by Calvin. Michael Servetus is the one who discovered, um, pulmonary circulation. They didn't know anything. They just knew that there was, for inexplicable reasons, people suffered and died. Why? Like, what's going on? Why is, I just married this girl, now she's dead? What, what happened? You understand? I mean, imagine antibiotics didn't exist. There are people who dodged bullets. My grandmother, blessed memory, I don't know, I guess it was in the, I, I, I think it was in the 19 late 1930s, she got tuberculosis. And, uh, yeah, I'm sure it was in 1930. She had to, so they sent her to Colorado. My father was already born, and she was a young woman, and she was on some mountain where the air is fresh, and she survived. She beat it before the antibiotics. She beat it. I think she lost a lung in the process, but she lived. She survived. People, people, you know, dodged the bullets. They, whatever. So the world about us was mysteriously horrible. Just, they didn't understand any of this stuff, right? You might feel really good now, but when something goes wrong, right, and your leg is swollen and hot, and you're going, "What's wrong with me?" And you're pounding on the doctor's door, "Help me out." Well, that, the ancient world was full. So the idea that there were mysteries that were inexplicable was all over the place. The mystery religions, that's what Christianity is. It's simply a collection of all these ideas that were pervasive in the Greco-Roman world and far beyond, and then synchronize them with Judaism. So the idea that the Messiah is supposed to be a mystery is a kind of mystery religion thing. It's very, very prominent in Mark. Matthew gets rid of a lot of that, but not all of that. And it also explains, way to the generation following Jesus' death, of why didn't he go around saying he's the Messiah if he was? Oh, it was a big secret. Oh, I get it. And that's how Mark, it's a very clever book. Of all the four Gospels, Mark, in a sense, is the most clever because it's the least embellished. So it's a big secret. But what do we find at the end of the Book of Mark? At the cross, you have the Roman Centurion who figures out, "Ah, he is the Son of God." You know, it's, it's a nightmare because it makes the Jews look terrible, you know. And the Roman Centurion, that's a very high level. It's not a soldier. You know, Centurion is way, way up there. Centurions have their own slaves and homes. So it's like he represents the empire, in understanding. So it's the mystery that the Roman figured out, but those Jews, they couldn't. Right. So that's what's really going on there. Any, it was a great question. Thank you for whoever you are. Thank you.
Very good. Let's see here. We got Michelle, I believe, is next. Miss Michelle, you're live on the air. Go ahead with your question. Hi, my question is, hi, my question is about, let me turn my thing off, sorry. About, sure, no problem. Okay, sorry. Our question is about, um, unleavened bread. Um, in our Christianity, the, the leaven represents sin. And that's in First Corinthians chapter 5, I think it's, um, 6, 6 through 8, verse where it's talking about that. So I was wondering, does, um, yeast in the Hebrew scriptures have any, um, meaning to it? Because when I was looking for it, the only thing that I can find, because I have the, um, AO, I, I get what you're asking. I get what you're asking. Okay. You can go and hang up now, too, if you answer. Thank you for your call.
These are very striking passages. They're very striking when studying, uh, Christianity and its development in its early stages. Is you have Paul, um, as a precursor to the Fourth Gospel, to John. That the idea that Jesus is our Passover is not in the synoptic Gospels, but it is in Paul, right here in 1 Corinthians 5, which is very intriguing. So 1 Corinthians, written during the 50s. See, have all the synoptic Gospels are written, let's say, Mark is written 70-75, Luke and Matthew written about 85, let's say a decade later. We have nothing in those three Gospels, Jesus being a Passover lamb or anything like that. And then bingo, in the Book of John, the Fourth Gospel is sort of a throwback to Paul, which is very unusual, how that skip occurred. And this is the subject of a lot of study. So going back to the context of 1 Corinthians 5, is Paul just saying this? Which I don't think I've ever said, but I was thinking about today. When Paul wrote these letters, he didn't think he was writing a Bible. He he thought he was writing letters to churches. That's all. He he wasn't viewing what he's writing as the, that something that would wind up in the Bible. He was, in, in the case of his letters to Corinth, he was trying to tell, he was solving problems in churches that churches did not handle. Like, "We got this problem of whatever is going on in the church or boasting and so on." Okay? So these letters are there to tell all the churches that he's traveled to, you know, how to behave, what to believe, what's the proper way to believe, and so on. That's what he's writing. Like the writers of the Gospels are thought of themselves as like writing a Bible. Paul didn't. He didn't view it that way. But nevertheless, he is using the, the Passover lamb. But the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 has nothing to do with the Messiah. Now, I know for many Christians, that's very surprising. But the Passover lamb has bears no resemblance to Messiah or sin or any of those things. Just the Passover lamb was, uh, was eaten on the E, on the first night of Passover. And the lamb was sacrificed because it was an, it was a god to the Egyptian sea. Exodus chapter 8. And therefore, you demonstrated that you were loyal to God by sacrificing a lamb, which was a god in the Egyptian world, and saying, "I fear the God of Israel more than the Egyptian soldiers." So if you were willing to risk eating an animal that was an abomination, remember that story in between Pharaoh and Moses where Pharaoh is going, "Why can't you just bring your sacrifice here? Why if they go somewhere else?" So Moses says, "Because if we do, you'll kill us. This is your abomination to them. You're not allowed to." It's like in India, right? So like cows are sacred, like you're not allowed. Well, that's how the lamb was in the ancient, in ancient Egypt. So, so the, the point is, so what I'd like you to focus on is not whether the leaven, yeast. No, you would, there was no, uh, yeast in the matzah, in the bread. It was, it was unleavened. See, of course, Exodus 12. Why is that important? Why did it matter? Well, because you had to leave so quickly that we just, there wasn't enough time for it to rise. That was the point. And the point of eating the lamb was to demonstrate that you were faithful to God, not that it was a sin offering. And you have Christians always asking you the question of, "Where is your Passover lamb?" Well, the Passover lamb was not an offering brought because you were a sinner. It was an offering brought because you were faithful and loyal to God. And if you were loyal to God, that means you, you follow the commandments of Moses, despite that you were committing a crime against the Egyptians. So that's what comes into view. Does Paul apply that, um, the leavening, the yeast produces, as an example of sin and immorality? Yeah. Is it consistent with the Bible? No. Is the idea of the Messiah being a lamb in the Bible? No. But is the lamb connected to Passover? Very much so. So if A equals B, it does not follow that C equals D. These are non sequiturs. Paul misappropriated ideas that are in the Hebrew Bible in the way, in his way of of conveying his Christologies, were a a thoroughly, um, not only unbiblical, but were opposed by the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish scripture tells that the innocent person can die for the sins of the wicked. Cannot. Torah says it openly. Ezekiel says it openly. Right? So, this idea that the Messiah died for your sins. No. The Messiah is not dying for anybody's sins. Okay? So Paul is, you, you, I don't want you to get caught up on this little thing when there's like, there's an elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is, Messiah is not a Passover lamb, and he's not to die. No one could die for anyone's sins. Why would you, would you want to live in a society where innocent people were punished for the crimes of criminals? No. I don't care who you voted for. If you're an American, I don't care who, whoever you voted for. You don't want innocent people languishing in prisons while guilty people are exonerated. You don't want, you don't want your grandmother going to jail for a crime that someone else committed. So you, why do you have that sense of justice, which animals don't have? The reason is because you're creating the image of God. You want the guilty to be, uh, held accountable. You want them to confess and so on. We, because we're creating the image of God. So Paul's misappropriating Passover ideas. Okay. Thank you very much for your question.
Okay, this will be the last one. And this is a question I have for you. Uh, we don't have any more callers. Have I've been waiting to get this in. So in Mark 9:39, let me turn this up a little bit. In Mark 9:39, it says, um, there was somebody who was doing miracles and signs and casting out demons, um, but it says he didn't follow after them. You know, a lot of Christianity will say, "Well, it's the miracles that, you know, this is how I know Jesus is real because, you know, he healed my baby girl of cancer," or, you know, "one grew this other person's friend's dog's foot grew it out three inches to be full length." You know, I mean, you hear miracles like this. But there's signs, there's things in the New Testament where other people are doing signs and wonders also, who apparently don't follow after, uh, their way. So in Tanakh, how is it that you would say, uh, if, if you used Tanakh to prove whether somebody was, like today, for example, they would say, "Prophet Jonas is coming to our church, and he's going to prophesy." So they get all these people in there, and he goes around making prophecies over everything. How is this even possible? Is there no way for them to, uh, see a red flag that, "Prophet, I thought the prophets were, you know, in, in the Hebrew scriptures." So a lot of conflict there. I'm kind of curious how you approach with explaining all that.
I think it's all chicanery. What's going on today, and I've observed that. Um, but the Torah is not as sardonic as I am. The Torah says explicitly in Deuteronomy 13 that false religions will be able to perform miracles. False prophets who can do signs and wonders will, but then tell you, "Don't keep the commandments. Don't follow other gods that your fathers didn't know. Do not follow that prophet or dream of dreams. I didn't send them," sayeth the Lord. Well, why God, did you then let this guy do this miracle? I mean, when I watch these healers, I find it just torturous even to watch. This scam is so transparent. It's like watching three-card monte being played on the streets of London. But in any event, as far as the Torah says, because I'm only testing to see if you love me, right? So, so it happens to be that you're quite right on this, that in the Christian Bible, the authors of the New Testament said that the Jews are able to do the same miracles that the Christians are able to do. You're right. A very famous example of this is Luke 11:19, with the author of the third Gospel. Adds in a little bit more that the charge against Jesus is like, "How do you cast out Beelzebub, meaning the devil? You must be a devil yourself." Right? So in, like Mark, you have one answer. But Luke is thinking, "Isn't it true that your own people, your own sons, could do that miracle of casting out demons?" So that's Jesus's response. But it's conceded in the Christian Bible that non-Christian Jews could do this as well, can cast out devils. So what is the Torah? It's very clear that, uh, religions that are false can do miracles. After all, when Aaron threw down the staff and it turned to a serpent, which would be an incredible miracle. I mean, it sounds like a magic trick. But if someone could turn a staff into a snake, that's a sign. I mean, a virgin theoretically could conceive. We haven't observed that in humans, but we have in Komodo dragons, as an example. But Pharaoh's magicians were able to replicate and duplicate it. And the Torah says, "Here's the deal. If anyone says, 'Follow gods that your fathers never knew,' do not follow that prophet or dream of dreams. I'm only testing you to see if you love me." And remember, the Torah has a, a safety guard in there, that your fathers didn't know. Like, my father didn't know about the doctor. Neither did his father. Neither did his father, after whom I was named. So it's alien. It's foreign. So the Torah is, um, not suspicious about this. Now, in truth, when they bring healers down to churches, as you describe, they somehow always healing people in a way that that anyone could. They're healing people of cancer, like, I don't, you know, different cancers, 5% survival rate, whatever it is. Like, why aren't they going to hospitals and just, you know, restoring eyes that have been blown out in in the battlefield? They can't do that because they're not doing miracles. So that means why are Christians claiming to be healed of things that everyone else is healed of? Right? So it's very transparent that it's all chicanery. Now, you're going to ask me a question, why did the Torah say it? Because in that time, we were doing miracles. I know what you're asking yourself. But in the time, why would the Torah then say this if this is all chicanery? Because in the time of the Torah, the, the Jews, I'm using the term, the children of Israel, were, and moreover, the prophets of Israel were performing miracles. Real miracles. So that's a problem. It's a problem. Why? Because if the, the leaders of the children of Israel are performing miracles, but those who follow false gods are not performing miracles, false prophets are not performing miracles, that would completely interfere with your free will. So there always has to be that exact balance. Just like you see in the natural world. The gases we breathe, a perfect soup of oxygen, 21%, nitrogen, 78%, those other trace gases. Guess that's perfect. It's perfect for everybody. The plants, for us. I mean, we can breathe 100% oxygen, but, you know, other life would not enjoy that very much. And number two, is you never put out a fire. Number three, number, there's 10 reasons why it would be a terrible idea. But the key is, so everything has to be a perfect balance. So the reason why in Tanakh, false religions are performing real miracles, defying, is because the Jewish people are. And therefore, there has to be free will. If only Moses was performing miracles, but but Pharaoh's magicians couldn't replicate that, that would interfere with free will. Now, today, or not just today, but really after Purim, really Purim on, that's 20. The miracles that are happening of delivery are largely not defying the laws of nature. There's the exception of Chanukah, but they're not. We can say that the prophecies we're observing today are miraculous. They are. But Hashem has given you an escape hatch. Maybe the Jews got lucky. And maybe these aren't prophecies fulfilled, and the Jews somehow got lucky. You can, there's a way out. There's always an escape hatch. It has to be. Why? Because or else there's no free will. And that's why God's name is never mentioned in the Book of Esther. Why? Because God is, is coming, is presenting himself through these people. Ahasuerus wasn't the first person, king in history, or the last to kill his wife. Right? I'm sure Esther was a knockout beauty. I'm sure it was a very beautiful girl. Mordecai was a person who spoke many languages. He overheard the assassination plot. The Jews got lucky. We just got lucky. You know, the whole beauty of the poor of Purim, the reason it's so holy is because the Jews realized that God was behind it all. And that's what's happening today. So it is true that the Christian Bible concedes that non-Christian Jews are performing miracles. Okay. Um, it is true that the Torah says that false religions will perform miracles, and we have many examples of this. The most famous, Deuteronomy 13. Because their God unpacks why false religions perform miracles. In our time, there isn't real supernatural going on. I don't think there is, from what I've observed. It's all the stuff you see out there is complete chicanery. And the reason is because right now, everything is not hidden, but nothing is defying. Not on our side, or on their side, is defying the laws of nature. And therefore, it would interfere with our faith, with our opportunity for free will, for that to be so. I think it's all chicanery today. I don't think one thing that Benny Hinn does in large stadiums, where Sai Baba did in India, all that stuff is all nonsense and chicanery and transparent. But the Torah, I want you to know, the Torah does not view it the way I've just expressed it. From the Torah's vantage point, they're doing miracles, and just don't follow it if they teach you anything that's not consistent with scripture. Okay. Thank you for your question.
William, great show. Yes, sir. Very good. Well, thank you all for tuning in. Be sure to hit that like button, subscribe to the YouTube channel, turn on all notifications so you don't miss anything. And same for Rabbi Singer's, uh, YouTube channel. How far along are we now on your sub? We're almost at 100,000. So that much closer. Subscribe. I'm almost, we're very, very close now to 100,000 subscribers. So would be very grateful if you, if you punch that in. That's wonderful. Okay, guys, thank you all for having, uh, having us in your living room today. Rabbi, we'll talk to you soon. Shalom, everybody. Shalom, my dear friends. Hope this message finds you well. If you like the way this channel is going, and the channel has been a blessing to you, please consider supporting the channel by going to the website, TanakhTalk.com. T A N A C H T A L K dot com. Thank you once again for your time and for supporting Tanakh Talk. [Music] Shalom. For [Music]