Is Yeshua God?
by Rav Mordecai Silver
Is Yeshua God? Is He God in the flesh? There are some in the Messianic Jewish Movement who believe that Yeshua was only a man and not God. Their belief follows after a traditional Jewish view put forth by Rabbi Abraham Maimonides, also known as the Rambam, a rabbi and physician during the Middle Ages. Modern Jewish thought and belief is based, for the most part, on the teachings of Rambam but that it should be noted here that there are those in traditional Judaism, especially among the Chassidic or Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who believe in a multiple God that they describe as being the three pillars.
What I hope to accomplish from this article is to present from Scripture, both Hebrew and the Apostolic Scriptures, that Yeshua is God. Now I know that some will not accept the writings of Rav Shaul-Paul as authoritative but we are instructed to take the whole counsel of Scripture not just bits and pieces. So to you who reject the writings of Rav Shaul I can only say that you are no better than those in Christianity who reject the authority of the Torah based on the writings of Rav Shaul and not on the authority of the Messiah.
To you I can only quote from the Book of John-Yochanan 14:15:
“If you love me, you will keep my commands…”
And again in John-Yochanan 14:21:
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
And if your gut reaction to this is that I follow what Yeshua taught in the Apostolic Scriptures, then I say to you what you are following is the Torah.
We begin our journey towards the truth with the Book of Ruth-Rut. Let’s look at Ruth 4:4 and 4:6.
“I resolved that I should inform you to this effect: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you are willing to redeem, redeem! But if it will not be redeemed, tell me, that I may know; for there is no one else to redeem it but you, and I am after you.” And he said, “I am willing to redeem.” The redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I imperil my own inheritance. Take over my redemption responsibility on yourself for I am unable to redeem.”
The first concept that we need to understand is the idea of what redeem means in these two verses of Scripture. There are two uses of the word redeem here and one applies to the person referred to as the redeemer and the other refers to the actual act of redemption.
lag (gaal) redeem, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman
ylwag (giulay) redemption
hlag (giulâ) redemption, right of redemption, price of redemption, kindred
lag (goel) redeemer
The act of redemption or to redeem as used in these passages of Scripture is ga-al. The person who is performing the redeeming is the go-al. As you can see these are both words that originate from the same root.
1350 lag ga'al {ga-al'}
to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman, to act as kinsman, do the part of next of kin, act as kinsman-redeemer, by marrying brother's widow to beget a child for him, to redeem from slavery, to redeem land, to exact vengeance, to redeem (by payment), to redeem (with God as subject), individuals from death, Israel from Egyptian bondage, Israel from exile, to redeem oneself, to be redeemed
We need to understand the concept of the kinsman redeemer as practiced in the Hebrew nation of Israel and probably other nations in the Middle East. The kinsman redeemer was a blood relative who had the right to redeem, avenge, revenge, ransom, etc. We see this role played out between Abraham and Lot when Lot and his family were taken captive. Abraham goes and frees his nephew. In the case of Ruth, Boaz was a relative to her deceased husband and her mother-in-law Naomi. But in this case it turns out that there is one relative who is closer than Boaz and therefore he has the first right of redemption. What happens here is that the relative realizes that in accepting the role of kinsman redeemer he will have to give up his right to inherit the property of Ruth and Naomi as his own because he would have to purchase the property from both Naomi and Ruth and Ruth’s name would remain attached to the inheritance. Why is this important in the context of what we are studying here?
The concept of the kinsman redeemer applies to the Messiah Yeshua because He is the only begotten Son of the Father so therefore He inherits the right to the role of kinsman redeemer through His Father God. So how would that affect us? It affects us because if we grasp the concept of the kinsman redeemer we realize that if we were created by God through His Son Yeshua then we are ALL, each and every one of us, related by blood to Yeshua. And if that were not enough in and of itself each and every one of us who accept Yeshua as Messiah become further entwined with Yeshua through the Ruach of God in that we become spiritually connected to Yeshua. So this extends the idea of the kinsman redeemer right on down from Yeshua to you and me and everyone who will ever be or has been. It is only through the rejection of Yeshua as Messiah which causes us to then reject Him as our kinsman redeemer. When we do this we are acting just like the relative in Ruth who rejected the role of kinsman redeemer because he did not want to forfeit his own inheritance.
So having laid out the premise for understanding the concept of the kinsman redeemer and the role he plays let’s get on with showing how this role ties in Yeshua to God and in doing that we can show that God and Yeshua are entwined and that one cannot exist without the other and that they are joined ‘at the hip’ as they say.
Exodus-Shemot 15:13: With Your kindness You guided this people that You redeemed; You led with Your might to Your holy abode.
This passage of Scripture lays out that it is God who redeems. He has redeemed His people and His people is Israel. Now what we need to consider at this point is who is Israel? Is Israel just the Jewish people? Many would have you think so because the House of Ephraim was scattered to the four corners of the earth and only Judah returned from their exile intact. But let us look at Deuteronomy 29:13-14.
Not with you alone do I seal this covenant and this imprecation, but with whoever is here, standing with us today before the LORD, our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.
The covenant that was established between Israel and God involved each and every person that was standing before God that day and each and every person who was not there that day. What does that mean? The implication is very strong that all who joined themselves to Israel would become part of Israel and entitled to the covenant that God made with Israel. That means you and me!
Job 19:25: But I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He will be the final one remaining upon the earth.
Once again the concept of the Redeemer but in this instance it is reaffirmed that the Redeemer is a direct reference to God. Why? Because even in the Orthodox translation of the Tanach the word Redeemer is capitalized indicating that the Redeemer is God.
This idea is re-enforced in Psalm 78:35: They would remember that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.
And again in Isaiah 41:14: Fear not, O worm of Jacob, O men of Israel, [for] I help you—the word of the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 44:6: Thus said the LORD, King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD, Master of Legions: I am the first and I am the last, and aside from Me there is no God.
He is the Redeemer and God! This is from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah put there by God Himself. Could it be made any plainer than this? God is the Redeemer and He is God.
Isaiah 49:26: And I will feed your tormentors their own flesh, and they will become drunk on their own blood as on sweet wine; then all flesh will know that I am the LORD, your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
In this passage we see God referring to Himself as not only the Redeemer but as Savior. This is very important because the Hebrew used in this passage is:
$[yXwm Moshiach which is the Hebrew word for anointed one and while it can be used to identify a king, prophet, etc., it is used in this passage to identify the LORD, God, as both Savior and Redeemer and this is from the Orthodox Jewish translation of the Tanach. The concept of a Savior was not a foreign idea to the Israelites of old. It is a foreign idea to the Jewish people of today in the sense that it relates to Yeshua but in Orthodox Judaism the idea of the Messiah is one that is prayed for daily. So in their own Scriptures the LORD identifies Himself as both Savior and Redeemer taking on the aspects of the kinsman redeemer (blood relative) and Savior, the Messiah. Can it be shown any plainer than this that the LORD is God and as God He has chosen to take upon Himself both aspects of the requirements for redeeming His people and saving them. But I know that you might be saying at this point that he has not shown us that Yeshua is God. Is not Yeshua accepted as the Messiah and if so then is not God identifying Himself as the Messiah in this passage of Scripture?
Isaiah 60:16: You will nurse from the milk of the nations and from the breast of kings will you nurse; then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 63:16: For You are our Father; though Abraham may not know us and Israel may not recognize us, You, the LORD, are our Father; “our Eternal Redeemer is Your Name.
5769 ~lw[ `owlam {o-lawm'} or ~l[ `olam {o-lawm'} long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world 1a) ancient time, long time (of past) 1b) (of future) 1b1) for ever, always 1b2) continuous existence, perpetual 1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity
God has always been and will always be. He is our Father and Eternal Redeemer forever. This idea of forever means what has been, is and will be which perfectly describes the nature of God. He has always been. As He said Himself—I AM! So from this we must conclude that Yeshua has always been because He is the Moshiach, the anointed One. He has not simply been chosen by the LORD for a purpose but He has always been the same as God has always been. So they are one and the same yet different. Now please do not jump on me for that statement. You are probably saying to yourself, if he is saying that they are one yet different, then he is saying that there is more than one God and if he is saying that then he buys into the trinity concept.
Please keep in mind that just because a concept or idea has become tainted with paganistic trappings that it does not mean that the whole concept of idea is bad. Remember that the Torah has existed from the beginning and that paganism has its birth in Babylon with Nimrod. The truth of who God is preceded the paganistic ideas that came later. Why does the nature of God have to line up with our thinking? Why do we find it necessary to put God into a limited box or confine just so that we can be comfortable with our thoughts or beliefs? God is God and can do whatever He desires.
1 Corinthians 1:30: It is His doing that you are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He has become wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and holiness and redemption as well!
629 apolotrwsiß apolutrosis {ap-ol-oo'-tro-sis}
1) a releasing effected by payment of ransom 1a) redemption, deliverance 1b) liberation procured by the payment of a ransom
This is the same concept as the Hebrew word for redeemer or redemption. That one has bought the redemption for a price.
Ephesians 1:7: In union with Him, through the shedding of His blood, we are set free—our sins are forgiven; this accords with the wealth of the grace.
859 afesiß aphesis {af'-es-is}
1) release from bondage or imprisonment 2) forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty
Now I am beginning to present the concept that along with redemption and saving comes the idea of forgiveness. This forgiveness is for sin and only God can offer that forgiveness. So if the LORD refers to Himself as Savior, Redeemer and the Forgiver of sins and Yeshua took this upon Himself then is this a mere empowering on the part of God of a mere mortal or is this that part of God that is the Messiah?
Colossians 2:9: For in Him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is.
Isaiah 43:25: I, only I, am He Who wipes away your willful sins for My sake, and I shall not recall your sins.
Only God can wipe away our sins. So if only God can remove our sins and Yeshua can do the same then Yeshua cannot be a mere mortal empowered by God for this purpose but must be without a shadow of a doubt God! I am not making this assumption based on my interpretation of Scripture but I am basing my belief on the word of God. And who is the Word of God?
John-Yochanan 1:1-5: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.
Deuteronomy-Devarim 32:15: Jeshrun became fat and kicked. You became fat, you became thick, you became corpulent—and it deserted its Maker, and was contemptuous of the Rock of its salvation.
Interesting enough the title of this Book of the Torah is Devarim, which in the Hebrew means words. Where the word Maker is used here in the Hebrew it actually says Elohah, which means God or god. Who is the Rock of its salvation? Here in the Orthodox Jewish translation the word Rock is capitalized indicating that Rock in this passage is referring to the Messiah. The Messiah is a Jewish or Hebrew concept not a concept unique to Christianity alone. Christianity draws its roots, its nourishment from Judaism and Hebraic customs, traditions, beliefs and teachings. So the idea that Yeshua is God is a Jewish or Hebraic one not just a Christian one.
2 Samuel 22:2-3: He said: The LORD is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Rescuer. God, my Rock in Whom I take shelter, my Shield, and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold and my Refuge. My Savior, You save me from violence.
6697 rwc tsuwr {tsoor} or rcu tsur {tsoor}
1) rock, cliff 1a) rocky wall, cliff 1b) rock (with flat surface) 1c) block of stone, boulder 1d) rock (specific) 1e) rock (of God) 1f) rock (of heathen gods) Rock4043 !gm magen {maw-gane'} also (in pl.) fem. hNgIm. m@ginnah {meg-in-naw'}
1) shield, buckler4498 swnm manowc {maw-noce'}
1) flight, refuge, place of escape 1a) flight 1b) refuge, place of escape3467 [Xy yasha` {yaw-shah'}
1) to save, be saved, be delivered 1a) (Niphal) 1a1) to be liberated, be saved, be delivered 1a2) to be saved (in battle), be victorious 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to save, deliver 1b2) to save from moral troubles 1b3) to give victory to
This passage just about sums it all up about who God is. And after reading this passage you don’t come to the same conclusions that I do that God and Yeshua are the same or share the same attributes then nothing much beyond what I am saying will sink in. We need to drop our preconceived notions about God and accept what He says about Himself in Scripture. He could not make it any clearer that God is Yeshua and that He and He alone can forgive sins and is Salvation and our Redeemer
1 Chronicles 16:23: Sing to the LORD, everyone on earth, announce His salvation daily.
wt[wXy Salvation in this passage is in the Hebrew Yeshuato which is translated as His salvation. His is capitalized once more to indicate that this is referring to God. Once again the translation that I am using in all the Old Testament or First Testament Scriptures are from an Orthodox Jewish translation from Artscroll. Clearly in this passage we can see the Name of Yeshua being used here. If we are instructed to sing to the Lord and to announce His salvation daily what are we being instructed to do here? Are we being told to announce the salvation of the LORD in terms that this salvation is something separate from the LORD and He is just the Source of it or are we being instructed that the salvation is God and we are to praise Him every day for it? Well to my mind and understanding whether or not it is the LORD or God’s salvation it still comes from Him and its Source is contained in Him. So Yeshua is the salvation of God and is God.
Not too long ago a brother in the faith wrote an article about the oneness of the LORD. In it he stated that God is one and that Yeshua comes from God. I have no problem with that concept. He went on to say that if accept that Yeshua is separate from God then we are invoking the belief in a triune God or the trinity of three separate Gods which is a pagan concept. I love my brother dearly but who are we to say that we understand the nature of God so clearly that we can make statements that to believe in three separate Gods is to believe in a paganistic belief. Are we so sure of ourselves that we are infallible to the point of making judgments about our fellow brothers and sisters. I would be very careful about making statements that condemn our brothers and sisters while lifting ourselves up as the absolute source of the truth associated with understanding the nature or composition of God.
Only God knows His nature. He allows us glimpses of it now and again but leaves room for speculation within a Scriptural boundary. Whatever way we want to envision the nature of God we have to assume that because He is omnipotent and omnipresent that He can darn well do whatever He chooses to do and we are the last ones He has to explain Himself to. Whatever way we choose to approach the concept of the nature of God is there an absolute right way and an absolute wrong way?
Luke 1:69: By raising up for us a mighty Deliverer who is a descendant of His servant David.
Acts 4:11-12: “This Yeshua is the stone rejected by you builders which has become the cornerstone [Psalm 118:22]. There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!”
How can it be said any plainer than this. There is salvation in no one else! If there is no salvation in anybody except Yeshua then is this not a statement that Yeshua is God. Think about it. If Yeshua is not God then would He not be blaspheming and breaking His own commandments, His own Torah, by making this claim? Of course these words being spoken here are not direct quotes from Yeshua Himself but are accepted to have been written by Luke a talmid (student) of Rav Shaul-Paul. But in an accepted teaching style of the rabbis of old it was allowed that one could quote from the Scriptures and then offer an opinion on that passage of Scripture. Yeshua did this Himself when He went to the synagogue in His home town and read from Isaiah and then made the statement that He was the fulfillment of that prophetic passage. Could a man have said that? Would not have a man or a false Messiah been proven wrong in that? Have not false Messiahs risen up throughout the millenia and been proven false time and time again?
Many say that the death and resurrection of Yeshua was a plot by His talmidim to affirm His statements about Himself and their intent to confirm Him as Messiah. Some say that he did not really die on the tree that He just passed out and that His followers took Him away and He lived His life in seclusion. And people believe this! How amazing is the delusion that haSatan can place upon us. The only one that can benefit from this lie straight from the pit of hell is Satan! How can we benefit from a lie of this magnitude except to deny who Yeshua is and what His purpose was and is.
Revelation 7:10: and they shouted, “Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Now, of course, you can make the claim that in this passage it is referring to God, the LORD, sitting on His throne and to Yeshua, the Lamb, standing at His right hand and if so then Yeshua could not be God because He is separate from God.
It says this in Psalm 110:1: Regarding David, a psalm. The word of the LORD to my master, “Wait at My right, until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.”
In other translations it is commonly rendered as The affirmation of Jehovah to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.'
3068 hwhy Yehovah {yeh-ho-vaw'}
Jehovah = "the existing One" 1) the proper name of the one true God 1a) unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of 01360113 !wda 'adown {aw-done'} or (shortened)
!doa' 'adon {aw-done'}
1) firm, strong, lord, master 1a) lord, master 1a1) reference to men 1a1a) superintendent of household,of affairs 1a1b) master 1a1c) king 1a2) reference to God 1a2a) the Lord God 1a2b) Lord of the whole earth 1b) lords, kings 1b1) reference to men 1b1a) proprietor of hill of Samaria 1b1b) master 1b1c) husband 1b1d) prophet 1b1e) governor 1b1f) prince 1b1g) king 1b2) reference to God 1b2a) Lord of lords (probably = "thy husband, Yahweh") 1c) my lord, my master 1c1) reference to men 1c1a) master 1c1b) husband 1c1c) prophet 1c1d) prince 1c1e) king 1c1f) father 1c1g) Moses 1c1h) priest 1c1i) theophanic angel 1c1j) captain 1c1k) general recognition of superiority 1c2) reference to God 1c2a) my Lord, my Lord and my God 1c2b) Adonai (parallel with Yahweh)
The Jewish interpretation here is that the second reference to Lord is to mean not Lord by master, a secondary meaning to imply that the LORD, who they acknowledge, is the first reference is not the second reference because if they acknowledged that the second Lord was the same as the first then they would have to be acknowledging that God is more than one and they will not do that.
2 Samuel 22:32: For who is God besides the LORD, and who is a Rock besides our God?
The LORD is God and the Rock is God.
Matthew-Mattityahu 16:18: I also tell you this: you are Kefa” [which means ‘Rock’], and on this rock I will build my Community, and the gates of Sh’ol will not overcome it.
Is this Rock Peter? Not in the context of 2 Samuel 22:32. The Rock is God and therefore Yeshua and Yeshua is making a statement about Himself to Peter in this passage from Matthew based on this passage from 2 Samuel and many other passages in the Tanach that speak about the Messiah being a Rock and that Rock being God.
It says this in Colossians 1:14-17: It is through His Son that we have redemption—that is, our sins have been forgiven. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with Him were created all things—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities—they have all been created through Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and He holds everything together.
If this is not a description of God then you tell me what it is. Of course, once again, if you want to disregard this passage, because it was written by Rav Shaul-Paul then by all means please be my guest. People, just open yourselves up to the truth of what God’s Word has to say to you. How God manifests Himself is His concern alone. He does not need any help from us to describe just who God is and how He chooses to show Himself. If this passage of Scripture has one thing in common with the Tanach (Hebrew Scriptures) it is that they acknowledge and accept that God is the Source for all things in creation. All that this passage is going further with is to say that Yeshua is that manifestation of God who existed in the beginning as God, who created all things because He is God and that we have redemption, forgiveness for our sins because He is God and only God can offer that.
If Yeshua were not God then how could He have forgiven sins? Because if He were not God how could He offer Himself as the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world when only God can do that. If He were only a man His sacrifice would have been meaningless no matter how perfect He was because He would have only been a man and if the blood of animals could not remove sin how more so could the blood of man? Only the shed blood of God could remove sin once and for all!
Acts 5:31: God has exalted this man at his right hand [Psalm 110:1] as Ruler and Savior, in order to enable Israel to do t’shuvah [repent, turn from sin to God] and have her sins forgiven.
747 archgoß archegos {ar-khay-gos'}
1) the chief leader, prince 1a) of Christ 2) one that takes the lead in any thing and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter, pioneer 3) the author4990 swthr soter {so-tare'}
1) saviour, deliverer, preserver
The name was given by the ancients to deities, esp. tutelary deities, to princes, kings, and in general to men who had conferred signal benefits upon their country, and in more degenerate days by the way of flattery to personages of influence.
Though the title was used to denote pagan deities, I would have to believe that the Greeks lacked a suitable word to describe Yeshua in their language and used the terminology on hand to show that Yeshua was a deity. To claim that because of this, this becomes a pagan belief and not a Biblical truth, is ridiculous and brings shame down on the head of the accuser.
The Greek word ‘archegos’ is perfect to describe who Yeshua was. He was the model from whom all else would look to as their example much in the way of a ruler. But the difference was He was the chief or head and all else descends from Him.
Psalm-Tehillim 25:18: See my afflictions and my toil, and forgive all my sins.
Matthew-Mattityahu 9:6-7: But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mattress, and go home!” 7 And the man got up and went home.
In the Psalm David is pleading with God to forgive his sins, something only God can do. In this passage from Matthew-Mattityahu, Yeshua is demonstrating to the people that He has been given the power to forgive sins, something that only God can do.
Mark 2:7: “How can this fellow say such a thing? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?”
This passage from Mark ties in directly with the passage from Matthew. It establishes Yeshua’s right to forgive sins thereby proving that He is God, with God’s authority, to do and say the things that He is doing because only the Messiah, the Son of God, could do these things.
Luke 5:21: The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim began thinking, “Who is this fellow that speaks such blasphemies? Who can forgive sin except God?”
You see, the crime that Yeshua was accused of before the Romans was one of claiming to be a king. He was not accused by the Jewish leaders of being a false god because they knew that this would not carry any weight before the Romans because the Romans believed in many gods. To the Jewish leaders Yeshua forgiving sins and claiming to be God was the real crime in their eyes, but they needed charges that would stand before Pilate and those charges would be that He had claimed to be a king. In the Jewish mind God could not be before them since He was above them and supposed to be an invisible being, a spirit. They did not grasp the meaning of the Scriptures where God is defined as being one but yet this oneness is in a plurality. When we say this today we are immediately branded as being heretics and no longer entitled to be part of the Jewish people because we now worship the Christian God. But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of Israel, not just of the Jewish people. He is the God who created all things and all mankind.
Don’t you find it interesting that the LORD is always referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a threesome. Why cannot God manifest Himself as He chooses? To declare it as a pagan belief is to brand a Godly belief as being wrong. Why? Because since hasSatan cannot create anything on his own he counterfeits what God has created. So if it is a pagan belief could it not have its basis in Biblical truth? God brought it about and Satan twisted it for his own purposes. Think about it!
Luke 11:4: Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive everyone who has wronged us. And do not lead us to hard testing.’”
Here we see Yeshua teaching the people how to pray. This is not a new prayer but has its basis or foundation in the Torah. We are instructed to forgive those who have wronged us. This is not to forgive them for the purpose of receiving salvation but this is to teach us how God forgives us for the wrongs we have done to Him. But in the case of God the wrongs that we have done to Him can be forgiven to the point that He can extend salvation to us for transgressing His Torah. But this can only be done through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua through whose shed blood we have received cleansing from our sins.
Colossians 2:13-14: You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin”’ your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins. 14 He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake.
I just could not resist including verse 14 along with verse 13 because verse 14 is one of the main passages that Christians use as a basis for claiming that the ‘law’ is no more. And I couldn’t agree more! It was the ‘law’ that was nailed to the tree along with the Messiah. It is the Torah that we follow as the Messiah followed it. The penalty that was in the Torah or ‘law’ for sin was death. So what was nailed to the tree that day along with the Messiah was not the Torah or law but the death penalty that comes from transgressing the Torah! Yeshua said that He came to fulfill the Torah and until every jot and tittle and until heaven and earth pass away the Torah stands. Even Rav Shaul-Paul said that the Torah was holy, just and good. Why do we seek to find a way to get around what God has declared to be His teachings to us?
If it comes from the mouth of the LORD and therefore it comes from Yeshua then it stands forever. That is what He said. Not me, not Paul, not any Church scholar. Yeshua said it and the LORD confirmed it. It came from God!
Psalm 32:1-2: By David. A maskil (wise man). Praiseworthy is one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered over. 2 Praiseworthy is the man to whom the LORD does not ascribe iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
[Xp, noun common masculine singular absolute
1846.0 [Xp (p¹sha`) rebel, transgress, revolt.
(1846a) [Xp (pesha`) rebellion
2401 hatx chata'ah {khat-aw-aw'}
1) sin, sin offering 1a) sin 1b) sin offering
The Hebrew word ‘pasha’ means to transgress, rebel or revolt. What are we transgressing, rebelling against or revolting against? The Torah! So what is sin? Sin is the transgression of the Torah, plain and simple. No needed explanations here. Sin is sin in the eyes of God and no one sin is more important or greater in His eyes because all sin is a transgression or rebellion again God and His word Yeshua.
Psalm 85:3-14: 3 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered up their entire sin, Selah. 4 You have withheld Your entire fury; You have retreated from the fierceness of Your anger. 5 Return us, O God of our salvation, and annul Your anger with us. 6 Will you forever be angry with us, allowing Your wrath to endure for generation to generation? 7 Will you not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? 8 Show us Your kindness, LORD, and grant us Your salvation. 9 I can hear what the Almighty, the LORD, will speak; for He speaks peace to His people and to His devout ones, and they will not revert to folly. 10 Surely His salvation is close to those who fear Him, that [His] glory may again dwell in our land. 11 Kindness and truth have met, Righteousness and Peace have kissed; 12 Truth will sprout from earth, and Righteousness will peer from heaven. 13 The LORD, too, will provide what is good, and our land will yield its produce. 14 [The man of] righteousness will walk before Him, and set his footsteps on the way.
God is the One who will forgive sin and He is the One who judges sin. David is talking about God withholding His wrath or His anger from His people and this is exactly what God does until the Book of Revelation. The tribulation precedes the time of God’s wrath being poured out upon the earth. God’s judgment upon the earth comes upon those who have rejected Him. I believe that even as Believers we will not be spared from the tribulation period but we will be spared from His wrath. When His anger is ready to be poured out upon those who have rejected Him those of us who have held faith in Him and His Messiah Yeshua and have followed His Torah as best as we can will be caught up into the clouds not only as the Apostolic Scriptures speak about it but as Daniel first tells us about it.
Exodus-Shemot 32:32-34: 32 And now if You would but forgive their sin! - but if not, erase me now from Your book that You have written.” 33 The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I shall erase him from My book. 34 Now, go and lead the people to where I have told you. Behold! My angel shall go before you, and on the day that I make my account, I shall bring their sin to account against them.”
1 Kings-Melachim 8:34, 36: 34 May You hear from Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and return them to the land that You gave their forefathers. 36 May You hear from Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, when You teach them the proper path in which they should walk…
The LORD is the One who forgives sin. Only He can forgive sin so when Yeshua took it upon Himself to forgive sin He was only doing that which His Father allowed Him to do as He was God as the Father is God. If that concept sounds pagan to you because I am referring to Yeshua and God as opposed to God alone I am only following the way the Scripture puts forth who God is. God is One and everything that comes forth from God is God given. If He chooses to do it through the Ruach so be it. If He chooses to do it through His Son, so be it. As God He can do whatever He wants to. If we cannot understand how God presents Himself to us that’s our problem and the reason that everything is so mixed up.
Jeremiah 36:3: Perhaps the House of Judah will hear of all the evil that I intend to do to them, so that they will repent, each man from his evil way, and then I can forgive their sin and transgression.”
Jeremiah 31:34-36: Thus said the LORD, Who gives the sun as a light by day and the laws of the moon and the stars by night; Who agitates the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD, Master of Legions, is His Name; If these laws could be removed from before Me—the word of the LORD—so could the seed of Israel cease from being a people before Me forever. 36 Thus said the LORD: If the heavens above could be measured or the foundations of the earth plumbed below, so too would I reject the entire seed of Israel because of everything they did—the word of the LORD.
God cannot change. That is what He is saying here. He is confirming His covenant with Israel by declaring that He is the Creator and that the laws that govern His creation would have to be set aside in order for Him to remove His promises from Israel despite their sin. And He confirms this twice in this passage by saying it is the word of the LORD. Who is the word of the Lord? Yochanan-John tells us in the beginning of his gospel.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
The Greek for word is logos and the Hebrew word that is its equivalent is davar. The logos and the davar are the same thing and that is word and the word of God is Yeshua and Yeshua is God! So if the word of God is Yeshua and He is God then He has the right to forgive sin as that is the right of God.
All of creation stands as a witness to the word of God and God swears by His creation that all He says is true. So if we say that Yeshua is only an “essence” of God or is only a man empowered by God then how in the Name of the LORD could He forgive sin if He were not God? An “essence” of God could not forgive sin and have that sin removed. A man, no matter how perfect, could not forgive sin as he is only a man. So, since God is the only One who can forgive sin and blot it out of His book then Yeshua has to be God and if He is not then He can not be the Messiah and we would be worshipping a false god and that would make us idolaters.
But I have presented enough Scripture in this article to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yeshua is the Redeemer and Savior and that because He is the Redeemer and Savior He is God. The God of Israel IS Yeshua who is God made flesh by God. Is anything too hard for our God? I think not.
ETZ CHAYIM-TREE OF LIFE MESSIANIC CONGREGATIONS
of Las Cruces and Alamogordo
PO Box 467, Organ, NM 88052
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TREE OF LIFE MESSIANIC MINISTRIES