“Seek Yahweh while He may be found.  Call upon Him while He is near.”

Isaiah 55: 6

דרשו יהוה בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו קרוב׃

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The Messiah is Yahweh

Many people who call themselves “Christians” will have a hard time with this SnyderTalk editorial.  It won’t be because I’m presenting incorrect information.  They have been so well-indoctrinated (churched) that they can’t even entertain an idea that challenges erroneous Christian/church traditions.

I won’t attempt to present all of the details in this editorial.  They are presented in my books The Trilogy and His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition.  You can download them for free in PDF format, or you can buy them in paperback or eBook:

• The Trilogy in paperback or in eBook.
• The Trilogy in PDF format.  This one is free.
• His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition in paperback or in eBook.
• His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition in PDF format.  This one is free.

Fact 1: The Messiah didn’t attempt to create a new religion.

The Messiah (Mashiach, משיח) came to restore the faith of Abraham that Yahweh revealed in the Torah and confirmed in the Prophets and Writings.  Collectively, the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings are called the “Tanach”.  Christians call it the Old Testament.

During the Babylonian Captivity, Jewish religious leaders developed what we call Judaism today.  Judaism is based on the Mishnah and the Talmud, not the Tanach.  Today’s Jewish religious leaders like to say that they are “Torah scholars”.  They are not.  They are Mishnah and Talmud scholars.

It is a serious mistake to believe that the Mishnah and the Talmud were sanctioned by Yahweh, because many of the teachings in them contradict Yahweh’s explicit commands.  You don’t have to be a scholar to know that Yahweh doesn’t contradict Himself.

When the Messiah talked about traditions, He was referring to Judaism. Below are 2 examples.

Example 1: Matthew 15: 1-9

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to the Messiah from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

“Teachers of the law” means teachers of Halacha.  It is the Oral Law that is the foundation of Judaism.  It stems from the Mishnah and the Talmud.  It does not refer to the Law of Moses, i.e., the Torah.

The ceremonial washing of hands referenced by the Pharisees had to do with explicit commands in the Mishnah and Talmud.  In Judaism, they have the force of law.  They are man-made traditions and nothing more.

The Messiah replied, “And why do you break the command of Elohim for the sake of your tradition?” 

The Messiah distinguished between Yahweh’s commands in the Torah and Halacha, i.e., the Oral Law or Jewish traditions.

“For Elohim said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to Elohim,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus, you nullify the word of Elohim for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.  They worship Me in vain.  Their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15: 1-9)

The Messiah said, “You nullify the word of Elohim for the sake of your tradition” which he called “human rules”.  He called the Pharisees “hypocrites” for doing it.

The “word of Elohim” is the Torah.  “Your tradition” is Halacha.  Again, the Messiah distinguished between Yahweh’s commands and Halacha.

Example 2: Matthew 23: 2-12 and 15

“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.  Therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men.  For they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, the Messiah. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

The Messiah’s reference to “the chair of Moses” is a reference to the Torah.  Moses had authority from Yahweh.  So did Yahweh’s prophets. They spoke for Him.  The Messiah made clear that the Jewish religious leaders did not speak for Yahweh, but they had placed themselves in “the chair of Moses”.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23: 2-12 and 15)

When the Messiah said, “You travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte”, He was referring to the Jewish religious leaders’ attempts to convert people to Judaism. He called the Jewish religious leaders “sons of hell”.  Again, He is distinguishing between the faith of Abraham that’s presented in the Torah and Judaism that’s based on Halacha.

Fact 2: The Messiah’s disciples didn’t attempt to create a new religion.

Catholics say that Peter was the first pope.  That’s nonsense.  Peter wasn’t a pope.  He was a believer and an apostle of the Messiah.  His job was to convey the truth about Yahweh that is revealed in the Tanach.  Fundamental to that truth is the fact that Yahweh is our only Savior and our Mediator/Advocate before the Father.

“I, even I, am Yahweh. There is no savior besides Me.” (Isaiah 43: 11)

The Office of the Pope is a human invention.  He is elected by the College of Cardinals, not appointed by Yahweh.

The Catholic Church is a human invention, too.

Peter made clear in Acts 2 that the Messiah is the Person referred to in the Tanach by the prophet Joel:

“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Name of Yahweh will be saved.  Men of Israel, listen to these words: Yeshua the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by Elohim with miracles and wonders and signs which Elohim performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of Elohim, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But Elohim raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2: 21-24)

For a complete explanation, read His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition.

Popes didn’t enter the picture until the 300s AD when the Roman Emperor Constantine started the Catholic Church and made “Christianity” a religion.  He did that to solidify his hold on political power.

Constantine wasn’t a believer.  He was a sun god worshiper.  He is the father of the Catholic Church, not Peter.

Have you ever wondered why there is always a sun over the Messiah’s head in Catholic icons?  Now you know why.  For a complete explanation, read The Trilogy.

A Typical Catholic Icon

Fact 3: The first believers were Jews.  They were called Nazarenes.  They didn’t try to start a new religion.

The first believers were Jews.  They were considered a sect of Judaism called “the sect of the Nazarenes”, or “Nazarenes” for short.

The word “Nazarene” derives from the Hebrew word “netzer” (נצר).  It means a sprout or a shoot from the root of a tree:

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.  And He will delight in the fear of Yahweh, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.  Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.  And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them.  Also, the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.  They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea.  Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious.” (Isaiah 11: 1-10)

The Messiah is the Root of Jesse.  His followers, Nazarenes, didn’t attempt to create a religion.  They were restored to the faith of Abraham that is presented in the Tanach.

The Messiah is also called the Branch (ענף).  He is the Branch from the root of Jesse:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His Name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness (tsidkenu, צדקות).’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)

The Messiah is Yahweh.  That’s what Nazarenes believed, and that’s what they told the world.

Fact 4: Faith in Yahweh is not about religion.

Religion is man-made.  That’s true for Judaism and Christianity.  Yahweh requires faith, not religion.  He calls it “the faith of Abraham”.

Fact 5: The Messiah paid the price for our sins.

More than anything else, the purpose of the Messiah’s first coming was to pay the price for our sins or to redeem us.  He is our Sacrificial Lamb, our Scapegoat, our Savior, and our Redeemer.  That’s what the Passover celebration commemorates.

“Who has believed our message?  And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?  For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of Elohim, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53: 1-6)

When He returns, the Messiah will be Yahweh without disguise.  He is no mere mortal.  He is Yahweh.

יהוה

The Messiah is also called El Elyon (אל עליון), El Shaddai (אל שדאי), and El Gibbor (אל גיבבור).  He is called “the Lion of Judah (Yehuda, יהודה)” as well.

The Messiah is the Creator and the Judge.  His return will be an awesome thing.  His enemies have no idea what is in store for them.  This is how C.S. Lewis explained it in Mere Christianity:

“God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.”

Fact 6: With the exception of Revelation, the New Testament isn’t Scripture.

This is hard for most church-goers to accept.  With the exception of Revelation, the New Testament isn’t Scripture.  The proof is in the New Testament, but most church-goers haven’t read it.  Those who have read it have read past it without thinking.

In other words, that’s not my opinion.  It’s a fact that’s spelled out in the New Testament.  See The Trilogy.

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SnyderTalk Comment

HalleluYah is a Hebrew word.  It means “praise Yahweh”.

It is not Hallelujah.  There are no Js in Hebrew.  The letter “J” didn’t enter the English language until about 1630 AD.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)

See “His Name is Yahweh”.