AUTHORITY OF THE WORD

Moshe’s doctrine indissolubly connects two events: the execution of what the Lord said and the phenomenon of God’s glory. Moshe does not say that you have to do something what you like or that you consider to be correct, but he says: «And Moses said, This is what the Lord has said you are to do; and you will see the glory of the Lord.» Leviticus 9:6

If we want to live in the glory of  God we must execute exactly what God has told us. Addressing to the people of Israel, at the exodus out of Egypt, the Lord says: «See, I am sending an angel before you, to keep you on your way and to be your guide into the place which I have made ready for you. Give attention to him and give ear to his voice; do not go against him; for your wrongdoing will not be overlooked by him, because my name is in him. But if you truly give ear to his voice, and do whatever I say, then I will be against those who are against you, fighting those who are fighting you» Exodus 23:20-22
So,  the Angel, who carries the Name of God, is sent to lead the people of Israel to the land promised by God. God speaks through Him and demands implicit obedience. Only in the case of obeisance, God guarantees protection and success. It is not difficult to see in this  angel the Son of God, Yeshua. It is Him, Yeshua Messiah, who was with the people of Israel in wilderness. It was Him who brought the New Testament doctrine which inseparably linked with the doctrine of Moshe and which is his logic continuation. Yeshua came to execute all that had been written about Him by the Jewish prophets, including Moshe. And Yeshua gave a mission to his followers to send this doctrine to all people: «Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world. » Matthew 28:19-20. So, in order for Yeshua to be with us, to live in His glory and to have blessings, we need to preach the pure, undistorted doctrine of Yeshua Messiah.

However, when someone proclaims the true doctrine of Yeshua, there are instant opposition to it,  which tries to stop the truth and to substitute it with lies. This did not start today; this problem already existed in the first century of our era. In the Epistle to the Galatians, Rabbi Shaul writes: « I am surprised that you are being so quickly turned away from him… Which is not another sort: only there are some who give you trouble, desiring to make changes in the good news of Messiah. » Galatians 1:6-7.  Rabbi Shaul says (Galatians 1:7) that there were people who have distorted the doctrine of Yeshua and have misled everyone. It seems to be that today, we have the same problems, as in the first century.

Someone might say: but why should we trust Rabbi Shaul? There are a lot of reasons for it. Yes, he is very categorical, when he warns us about an eternal damnation which will comprehend those who will proclaim the perverted doctrine of Yeshua: « But even if we, or an angel from heaven, were to be a preacher to you of good news other than that which we have given you, let there be a curse on him. » Galatians 1:8.

At the same time, Shaul explains that the doctrine which he has given from the beginning is not the human invention, but a revelation which he had accepted by means of direct dialogue with Yeshua Messiah. That means that any deviation from the doctrine of Shaul, cannot bring anything except damnation. But why we should fully trust in the doctrine of Shaul?

• First of all, his life is a graphic testimony of close relations with God.

• Second, Shaul has been invoked for service to Gentiles by Yeshua himself!

• Third, in Galatians 2:9 it is said that Jacob, Kefa and Johanan recognized in Shaul and in Barnabas the envoys of God to Gentiles.

• Fourth Rabbi Shaul testifies about himself: « I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today. And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison. Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment» The Acts 22:3-5
It is obvious that Shaul was a very influential priest in Israel. He was taught all subtleties of the law and held a very high position in the Council. Shaul was learning from Gamliel who was one of the leaders of the Council and was the Supreme Judge of Israel. Shaul was his best student, he speaks about it in Galatians 1:14: «And I went farther in the Jews’ religion than a number of my generation among my countrymen, having a more burning interest in the beliefs handed down from my fathers»

He was a well known teacher of the Law all over Israel. He was promoted to the position of the Public prosecutor and it gave him chance to travel to different countries, accompanied by group of soldiers and to arrest the Jews who believed in Yeshua and to send them to Jerusalem to Court. He was holding a letter of recommendation from the Pontiff to all Jewish communities worldwide. The level of power of this person, was no doubt – very high. He had achieved this position, by the devoted service, strong studying and law observance. Who knows, maybe these exactly qualities were induced by God to put Shaul the apostle for Gentiles. Even till now, in Orthodox Judaism, the founder of Christianity is considered to be Shaul, instead of Yeshua. Of course, it is not true. In the Christian world, Shaul is recognized as the apostle for Gentiles and is not considered as a Jewish Rabbi, the adherent of the law, the keeper of Judaic tradition, the priest who had deeply learned the doctrine of Moshe and Yeshua. Even today Shaul remains to be misunderstood by many of our contemporaries, both by Orthodox Rabbis, and Christian Priests. Returning to the words of the apostle, about the impossibility of preaching «a bad message», here we state that the unique way to blessings lies through knowledge of the doctrine of Shaul, through returning to the roots of the Jewish belief, through refusal of any wind of doctrines brought by people.

Lev Falkovich