From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: Friday, June 06, 1997 1:34 AM
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Is Yeshua Messiah or G-d ?
From: "David Lyon" <dlyon@photon.hotwire.net.au>
To: <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Is Yeshua Messiah or G-d ?
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 10:27:12 +1000
Eddie Shalom,
I recently had a discussion with a number of Christians who are insistant
that Yeshua is G-d.
I can find only a few scriptures by John which could suggest this, and a
large number of scriptures that say that Yeshua, before becoming a man,
was G-ds highest Angel (Exodus 23:20 and others) or Heavenly being. I take
this to mean that Yeshua is G-ds true divine Son, the Messiah.
This would mean that Yeshua is a dependant entity from the Father, the
One True G-d of Isreal, but not G-d himself.
If you could throw any light on this subject, I would appreciate it. For
me, I don't mind if people say that Yeshua is G-d, because there is little
practical difference as far as I am concerned anyway. It only makes
a difference when one talks with the Jewish, for them, there is a BIG
difference.
Regards
David
From Eddie:
***************
By understanding WHAT you are reading, the Bible tells us OVER
and OVER and OVER that Yeshua/Jesus is God manifested in the flesh.
God is ECHAD and ECHAD means a "compound unity".
Regarding this being an issue among religious Jews ... this is
because as a CORPORATE people they have rejected Yeshua/Jesus as
Messiah and therefore also rejected that HE was/is God manifested in
the flesh. So, this is understandable. The religious Jews are in
error in not realizing that Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah and are therefore
in error in not recognizing that Yeshua/Jesus is God manifested in
the flesh.
Let me try to explain SOME scriptures that allows us to
understand that Yeshua/Jesus is God.
To begin with, Yeshua/Jesus was born of a virgin. This is
SUPERNATURAL. A normal man cannot be born of a virgin. Secondly,
Yeshua/Jesus was/is SINLESS. It Hebrews 4:14-15 it is written:
"Seeing that we have a great high priest that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God ... for we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities: but was
in ALL POINTS TEMPTED like as we are YET WITHOUT SIN"
This is in contrast to mankind in Romans 5:12 it is written:
"Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sinned entered into the world an
death by sin and so death passed upon ALL MEN, for that ALL have
sinned"
Since ALL MANKIND sins and Yeshua/Jesus NEVER sinned, He
COULD NOT be "just a man". Because He was born of a VIRGIN, He COULD
NOT be "just a man". Yeshua/Jesus was 100% man and 100% God.
In I Timothy 2:5 it is written:
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus".
In I Timothy 3:16 it is written:
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD was
manifest in the FLESH (Yeshua/Jesus) ... received up into glory"
So, Timothy tells us that Yeshua/Jesus was a man and He also
tells us that Yeshua/Jesus is God.
You CANNOT mediate a "dispute" unless you understand BOTH
sides. Man cannot understand the depth and fullness of God because
he is not God. However, Yeshua/Jesus can understand God because He
is God and He can understand man because He came and lived as a man.
Therefore, being 100% God and 100% man, Yeshua/Jesus can be a
PERFECT MEDIATOR and UNDERSTAND both sides of the dispute.
There is only one Messiah and HE is GOD. Man cannot be our
salvation. Only GOD is our salvation.
God is our salvation and He is our redeemer. In Isaiah 12:2:
"Behold, GOD is my SALVATION (Yeshua) ..." This says that God is my
Yeshua.
Consider Isaiah 60:16:
"... I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer (1350), the
mighty One of Jacob"
Isaiah 59:20:
"And the Redeemer (1350) shall come to Zion, and unto them that
turn from transgression in Jacob saith the Lord"
So, in Isaiah 12:2 ... GOD is my Salvation (which means
YESHUA which is the name of Jesus ... Matthew 1:21)
In Isaiah 12:2 ... God is my REDEEMER
In Isaiah 59:20, the REDEEMER comes to Zion (this speaks
about Jesus coming to redeem us of our sins by dying on the tree).
In Isaiah 45:21-23 it is written:
" ... there is no God else beside me: a just GOD and a SAVIOR, there
is none beside me ... I have sworn my myself, the word is gone out of
my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me EVERY
KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL SWEAR ..."
In Philippians 2:10-11, it tells us that this is JESUS as it
is written:
"That at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of things in
heaven, and things in the earth and things under the earth: and that
EVERY TONGUE should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD (YHVH in
Hebrew) to the glory of God the Father"
God the "Father" and God the "Son" describes a
RELATIONSHIP and AUTHORITY within the Godhead. In Colossians 2:9 it
is written:
"For in him (Jesus) dwells the FULLNESS of the GODHEAD
BODILY"
This scripture tells us that the GODHEAD manifested
itself BODILY.
The SHEMA teaches us that God is a compound unity and
that Yeshua/Jesus is God.
The Shema states:
"Shema Yisrael Adonai (YHVH) our God (ELoheynu). YHVH is our EL.
YHVH decribes the characteristics of Yeshua/Jesus. EL describes the
characteristics of God the Father.
Is Yeshua/Jesus active in the Old Testament? The answer is YES!
Scripture? How about Psalm 40:7:
"Then said, I, Lo, I come: in the VOLUME of the BOOK, it is
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea thy TORAH is
within my heart"
Hebrews 10:5, 7
"Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and
offering you would not, but a BODY have you prepared me .. Then said,
I , Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do
thy will, O God"
Here we can see that "the volume of the book" (The Torah,
Prophets and Writings ... the TeNaKh ... the Old Testament) speak
about Yeshua/Jesus.
Yeshua/Jesus said in Luke 24:44:
"And he said unto them, These are the words which I speak unto
you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the TORAH of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in
the Psalms, concerning ME"
Every reference in the Old Testament to YHVH is a reference to
Yeshua/Jesus. God the Father is referenced as El or Elohim. Let us
consider that Yeshua/Jesus is YHVH.
In Acts 1:6-12, Yeshua/Jesus answers a final question of the
disciples (Talmidim/Students). After answering the question, He
ascends into heaven FROM the MOUNT OF OLIVES. Acts 1:9-12:
"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel: Which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same JESUS which is taken up
from you into heaven, SHALL COME IN THE SAME MANNER as you have seen
him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from THE MOUNT
CALLED OLIVET (Mount of Olives)".
So, this tells us that Yeshua/Jesus will return at his
second coming and set His feet on the Mount of Olives. Is this
mentioned in the TeNaKh? In Zechariah 14:3-4,9
"Then shall the LORD (YHVH) go forth and fight against those
nations as when he fought in the day of battle and HIS feet (YHVH)
shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives ... and the Lord
(YHVH) shall be KING over all the earth: in that day shall there be
one Lord (YHVH) and his name one"
Was it God the Father who ascended into heaven from the Mount
of Olives? No, it was Yeshua/Jesus. Is God the Father going to set His
feet down on the Mount of Olives in Zechariah 14:4? No, according to
Acts 1:6-12, it is Yeshua/Jesus and in Zechariah 14:3 it tells us that
the one who is setting His feet down on the Mount of Olives is the
Lord (YHVH). Therefore, these passages are quite clear that YHVH is a
reference to Yeshua/Jesus because "in the volume of the book it is
written of me". Then, in Zechariah 14:9, the one who sets His feet
down on the Mount of Olives (the Lord (YHVH) is the one who is KING in
Zechariah 14:9.
The Kingship of Yeshua/Jesus (YHVH) as stated in
Zechariah 14:9 is repeated in Philippians 2:10-11.
"That at the NAME of Jesus (Zechariah 14:9 ... in that day the Lord
shall be one and His NAME shall be one) every knee should BOW (to the
King of the Univers) of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is LORD (In Hebrew this is YHVH) to the glory of God the
Father"
Once again, in Revelation 19:15-16, Yeshua/Jesus is KING of
kings. The KING of kings is the Lord (YHVH).
"And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite
the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads
the winepress of the wrath of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God. And he has on his venture and on his thigh a name written, KING
of kings and LORD (YHVH) of lords"
In Exodus 3:13-15, it tells us that "I AM" is YHVH.
" And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me
unto you: and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say
unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM (YHVH) and he said,
Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel I AM (YHVH) has sent me
unto you"
YHVH comes from the Hebrew verb "to be". YHVH is the future
tense of the verb "to be". YHVH is the Strong's word 3068. In the
explanation of the meaning of the Hebrew word (YHVH) which is derived
from the Hebrew word "to be" in the Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon paperback
edition on page 337 it says:
"To this origin, allusion is made (Exodus 3:14) to (YHVH) "I
(ever) shall be (the same) that I am (today)". So, Gesinius tells us
that (YHVH) meaning is "I (ever) shall be (the same) that I am
(today)"
Now consider Hebrews 13:8:
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever". The
way this would be understood in Hebrew as explained by Genenius (Jesus
Christ the (YHVH)).
In Revelation 1:7-8:
"Behold, he comes with clouds and every eye shall see him and
they also which pierced him (this is talking about Yeshua/Jesus) and
all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen. I
am the Alpha and Omega (in Hebrew the ALEPH and the TAV) says the Lord
WHICH IS, and WHICH WAS and WHICH IS TO COME".
He who "which is and which was and which is to come" is the
Hebrew meaning of YHVH. The Lord (YHVH) who is and which was and which
is to come is the one that was pierced.
So, very clearly these scriptures are telling us that
Yeshua/Jesus is YHVH.
In John 8:58 Yeshua/Jesus says:
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I AM (YHVH)"
If you can grasp what I am explaining and that the
scriptures show very clearly that Yeshua/Jesus is YHVH, you won't get
Leviticus 23 confused concerning who is speaking.
"And the Lord (YHVH) / Jesus spake unto Moses saying ...
Concerning the Feasts of the Lord (YHVH) which you shall proclaim to
be holy convocations, even these are MY FEASTS"
Then it describes among others ... Passover, Unleavened
Bread and First Fruits. It wasn't God the Father who died on Passover
and was in the ground on Unleavened Bread and was resurrected on First
Fruits. It was Yeshua/Jesus. These are the feasts of the LORD
(Yeshua/Jesus). HE kept the feasts because these are HIS feasts.
So, shouldn't Christians keep the Feasts of Yeshua/Jesus
when He said that these were HIS feasts? He has yet to fulfill the
Fall Feast so they still are appropriate to be kept for today or
Yeshua/Jesus couldn't fulfil the Fall Feasts at His second coming.
So, we can see very clearly from these scriptures that the
Bible describes Yeshua/Jesus as being YHVH and being King.
God is one God. He is a compound unity (ECHAD). Why did he come
down and become flesh? In Exodus 25:8-9, God said:
"And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell with them".
It is the desire and heart of God to dwell with His people. He did
this when YHVH became flesh (we call him Yeshua/Jesus) because he
desired to dwell with man. In Revelation 21:1-3, when God creates the
new heaven and the new heaven, he will then "dwell with man".
Consider Hebrews 2:8,13
"But unto the Son he says, Thy throne O God (the SON is called GOD),
is forever and ever: a sceptor of righteousness is a sceptor of thy
kingdom (Psalm 45:6-7) ... But to which of the angels said he at any
time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool
(Psalm 110:1)"
These scriptures tell us that Yeshua/Jesus has a heavenly
throne. He is sitting on the heavenly mercy seat of God the Father in
the Heavenly Holy of Holies.
So, David, the Bible is VERY CLEAR that Yeshua/Jesus is God
manifested in the flesh and to answer your question, Yeshua/Jesus is
MESSIAH AND GOD !!!
We have to be careful and BALANCED to understand that just
because SOME of the practices in Christianity come from paganism that
NOT ALL of what Christianity teaches is in error. All too often I
have seen people who have embraced their Hebraic Roots and begin to
be taught and understand Christianity replaced the Sunday with
Sabbath and Christmas / Easter for the Biblical Holidays and all of a
sudden become "anti-Chriistian" and begin to question and doubt ALL
Christian teachings and begin to "throw out" some very fundamental
doctrinal truths such as Yeshua/Jesus being God manifested in the
flesh and HE is our SAVIOR. We must remember that it is only the
BLOOD of a SINLESS Messiah who was/is God that saves us from
our sins.
Eddie Chumney