Jesus As The Prophet Like Unto Moses



Moses' Prophecy of Messiah

Jesus as the Prophet like unto Moses

by John J. Parsons

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you,

from your brothers - it is to him you shall listen. (Deut 18:15)

In this pasuk (verse) we find the only passage in the entire Torah where Moses explicitly identifies himself as a prophet of the LORD. Moreover, this is also the only passage where Moses identifies the coming of the Mashiach as "a Prophet like me" (Deut 18:15; cp. John 6:14).

In the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) we read that the soferim (scribes) had sent a delegation to question Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptist), asking him two questions:

"Are you Elijah?" (John 1:21) - This referred to Malachi's prophecy (Mal. 4:5) that Elijah would come as a messenger before the appearance of the Messiah. To this day Jews around the world still set out a cup of wine for Elijah at Passover - in anticipation of the his arrival as the forerunner of the Messiah.

"Are you the Prophet?" (John 1:21). This referred to Moses' prophecy that God would send "a Prophet like me" (Deut. 18:15-19).

We further read that when Philip encounterd Nathanael, he said, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45). After Jesus fed the five thousand, the people began to ask if this was "the Prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14). Peter identified Yeshua as the Prophet (Acts 3:22-23), and in his apologetic before the Sanhedrin, Stephen the martyr declared that Yeshua was the promised Messiah: "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' " (Acts 7:37-38).

Jesus is the "Prophet Like Unto Moses"

In light of these passages of Scripture, here are thirty (30) ways in which the Lord Yeshua resembled Moses:

Just as there were 400 years of silence before Adonai sent Moses to deliver Israel from her bondage to Pharaoh, so there were 400 of years of silence before Adonai sent His own Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to utterly deliver Israel from her ultimate bondage to sin and death.

Both Moses and Yeshua were sent from God (Exod. 3:1-10; John 8:42).

Both Moses and Yeshua were Jews (Exod. 2:1-2; Matt. 1:1-16; Luke 1-2; Heb. 7:14). (Note: This is no small thing, since Muslims claim that Muhammad is the prophet Moses referred to here; which is obviously incorrect, since the Mashiach must be a Jew - see John 4:24).

Both had faithful Jewish parents (Exod. 2:2; Heb. 11:23; Matt. 2:13-14).

Both were born under foreign rule (Exod. 1:8-14; Luke 2:1).

Both were threatened by wicked kings (Exod. 1:15-16; Matt. 2:16).

Both Moses and Yeshua spent their early years in Egypt, miraculously protected from those who sought their lives (Exod. 2:10; Matt. 2:14-15).

Both rejected the possibility to become rulers in this age. Moses was raised as a son in the royal family and could have enjoyed a lavish lifestyle as a powerful ruler, but he chose differently (Heb. 11:24); Satan offered Yeshua the rule over the kingdoms of this world (Matt. 4:8-9), but rejected that offer and chose to suffer and die for the sake of the people of Israel.

Both Moses and Yeshua were "sent from a mountain of God" to free Israel. Moses was sent from (physical) Mount Sinai in Midian, Arabia; Yeshua was sent from a spiritual "Mount Zion" in Heaven (Heb. 12:22).

Both were initially rejected by the Jews (Exod. 32:1; Isa. 53: 3; Matt. 27:21-2;

Rom. 11:25).

Both were accepted by Gentiles (Moses by the Midianites (Exod. 2:14-22); Yeshua by the world (Acts 10:45; 1 Tim. 3:16)).

Both were criticized by their families (Num. 12:1; Mark 3:20-21).

Both knew God panim l'panim (face to face). God spoke directly to both Moses and Yeshua (Exod. 3:1-10; Deut. 34:10; Luke 9:34-36). All other prophets received their revelation by visions or dreams (Deut. 34:10; John 1:18). Both were authoritative spokesmen for God (Matt. 17:5; John 3:34).

Both were teachers (Deut. 4:1-5; Matt. 22:16; John 3:2).

Both revealed God's Name (Exod. 3:13-14; John 17:6, 11-12).

Both were faithful to God (Num. 12:5-7; Heb. 3:1-2).

Both gave the people bread from Heaven (Exod. 16:14-15; Matt. 14:19-20) and performed various miracles (Exod. 4:21-8; Deut. 34:10-12; John 5:36; 12:37-8).

Both were appointed as saviors of Israel (Moses as Israel's deliverer from the bondage to Pharaoh; Yeshua as Israel's deliverer from the bondage to Satan).

Both were shepherds of Israel (Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness (Exod. 3:1; Numbers), Yeshua led His followers as the Good Shepherd (John 10:10-11; Matt. 9:36)).

Both were humble servants of the LORD (Num. 12:3; Luke 2:46-7; Phil. 2:8-9).

Both fasted for forty days in the wilderness (Exod. 34:28; Matt. 4:2).

Both were Mediators of a covenant of blood: Moses of the older covenant (Exod. 24:7-8) and Yeshua of the new covenant (Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Heb. 9:11-15; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6).

Both offered to die on behalf of the people's sins (Exod. 32:30-33; John 17).

Just as Moses instituted the LORD's Passover on Nisan 14 as the means by which the Angel of death would pass over those Israelites who trusted in God's promise regarding the blood of the lamb (Exod. 12:11-12), so Yeshua offered Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Just as Moses brought about the "resurrection" of the children of Israel as they passed through the Red Sea; so Yeshua became the Firstfruits of resurrection as He rose from the dead.

Just as the Torah was given to Israel fifty days after the Exodus from Egypt (on Pentecost or Shavuot), so Yeshua sent the Holy Spirit to form the Church fifty days after His resurrection.

Both of their faces shone with the glory of heaven - Moses on Mount Sinai (Exod. 34:34-5) and Yeshua on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:2).

As Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness to heal his people (Num. 21:8-9); so Yeshua was lifted up on the cross to heal all believers from their sin (John 12:32).

As Moses conquered the great enemy of Israel, the Amalekites with his upraised arms (Exod. 17:11), so Yeshua conquered our ultimate enemy of sin and death by His upraised arms on the cross (John 19:18).

As Moses sent twelve spies to explore Canaan (Num. 13), so Yeshua sent twelve apostles to reach the world (Matt. 10:1); and as Moses appointed seventy rulers over Israel (Num. 11:16-7), so Yeshua anointed seventy disciples to teach the nations (Luke 10:1).

How was Jesus a Prophet like Moses? Like Moses, He was a Jew, a Leader, a Prophet, a Lawgiver, a Savior, a Teacher, a Priest, an Anointed One, a Mediator between God and man -- speaking the words of God -- and like Moses, He offered himself to die for the sins of the people.

For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me:

for he wrote of me. (John 5:46)

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Taken from: http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Like_Moses/Printer_Version/printer_version.html

Moses. Catholic Encyclopedia



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Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian, lived in the thirteenth and early part of the twelfth century, B. C.

Name

Moshéh (M. T.), Mouses, Moses. In Exodus 2:10, a derivation from the Hebrew Mashah (to draw) is implied. Josephus and the Fathers assign the Coptic mo (water) and uses (saved) as the constituent parts of the name. Nowadays the view of Lepsius, tracing the name back to the Egyptian mesh (child), is widely patronized by Egyptologists, but nothing decisive can be established.

Sources

To deny or to doubt the historic personality of Moses, is to undermine and render unintelligible the subsequent history of the Israelites. Rabbinical literature teems with legends touching every event of his marvellous career: taken singly, these popular tales are purely imaginative, yet, considered in their cumulative force, they vouch for the reality of a grand and illustrious personage, of strong character, high purpose, and noble achievement, so deep, true, and efficient in his religious convictions as to thrill and subdue the minds of an entire race for centuries after his death. The Bible furnishes the chief authentic account of this luminous life.

Birth to vocation (Exodus 2:1-22)

Of Levitic extraction, and born at a time when by kingly edict had been decreed the drowning of every new male offspring among the Israelites, the "goodly child" Moses, after three months' concealment, was exposed in a basket on the banks of the Nile. An elder brother (Exodus 7:7) and sister (Exodus 2:4), Aaron and Mary (AV and RV, Miriam), had already graced the union of Jochabed and Amram. The second of these kept watch by the river, and was instrumental in inducing Pharaoh's daughter, who rescued the child, to entrust him to a Hebrew nurse. The one she designedly summoned for the charge was Jochabed, who, when her "son had grown up", delivered him to the princess. In his new surroundings, he was schooled "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22). Moses next appears in the bloom of sturdy manhood, resolute with sympathies for his degraded brethren. Dauntlessly he hews down an Egyptian assailing one of them, and on the morrow tries to appease the wrath of two compatriots who were quarrelling. He is misunderstood, however, and, when upbraided with the murder of the previous day, he fears his life is in jeopardy. Pharaoh has heard the news and seeks to kill him. Moses flees to Madian. An act of rustic gallantry there secures for him a home with Raguel, the priest. Sephora, one of Raguel's seven daughters, eventually becomes his wife and Gersam his first-born. His second son, Eliezer, is named in commemoration of his successful flight from Pharaoh.

Vocation and mission (Exodus 2:23-12:33)

After forty years of shepherd life, Moses speaks with God. To Horeb (Jebel Sherbal?) in the heart of the mountainous Sinaitic peninsula, he drives the flocks of Raguel for the last time. A bush there flaming unburned attracts him, but a miraculous voice forbids his approach and declares the ground so holy that to approach he must remove his shoes. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob designates him to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptian yoke, and to conduct them into the "land of milk and honey", the region long since promised to the seed of Abraham, the Palestine of later years. Next, God reveals to him His name under a special form Yahweh as a "memorial unto all generations". He performs two miracles to convince his timorous listener, appoints Aaron as Moses's "prophet", and Moses, so to speak, as Aaron's God (Exodus 4:16). Diffidence at once gives way to faith and magnanimity. Moses bids adieu to Jethro (Raguel), and, with his family, starts for Egypt. He carries in his hand the "rod of God", a symbol of the fearlessness with which he is to act in performing signs and wonders in the presence of a hardened, threatening monarch. His confidence waxes strong, but he is uncircumcised, and God meets him on the way and fain would kill him. Sephora saves her "bloody spouse", and appeases God by circumcising a son. Aaron joins the party at Horeb. The first interview of the brothers with their compatriots is most encouraging, but not so with the despotic sovereign. Asked to allow the Hebrews three days' respite for sacrifices in the wilderness, the angry monarch not only refuses, but he ridicules their God, and then effectually embitters the Hebrews' minds against their new chiefs as well as against himself, by denying them the necessary straw for exorbitant daily exactions in brick making. A rupture is about to ensue with the two strange brothers, when, in a vision, Moses is divinely constituted "Pharaoh's God", and is commanded to use his newly imparted powers. He has now attained his eightieth year. The episode of Aaron's rod is a prelude to the plagues. Either personally or through Aaron, sometimes after warning Pharaoh or again quite suddenly, Moses causes a series of Divine manifestations described as ten in number in which he humiliates the sun and river gods, afflicts man and beast, and displays such unwonted control over the earth and heavens that even the magicians are forced to recognize in his prodigies "the finger of God". Pharaoh softens at times but never sufficiently to meet the demands of Moses without restrictions. He treasures too highly the Hebrew labour for his public works. A crisis arrives with the last plague. The Hebrews, forewarned by Moses, celebrate the first Pasch or Phase with their loins girt, their shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands, ready for rapid escape. Then God carries out his dreadful threat to pass through the land and kill every first-born of man and beast, thereby executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh can resist no longer. He joins the stricken populace in begging the Hebrews to depart.

Exodus and the forty years (Exodus 12:34 and after)

At the head of 600,000 men, besides women and children, and heavily laden with the spoils of the Egyptians, Moses follows a way through the desert, indicated by an advancing pillar of alternating cloud and fire, and gains the peninsula of Sinai by crossing the Red Sea. A dry passage, miraculously opened by him for this purpose at a point today unknown, afterwards proves a fatal trap for a body of Egyptian pursuers, organized by Pharaoh and possibly under his leadership. The event furnishes the theme of the thrilling canticle of Moses. For upwards of two months the long procession, much retarded by the flocks, the herds, and the difficulties inseparable from desert travel, wends its way towards Sinai. To move directly on Chanaan would be too hazardous because of the warlike Philistines, whose territory would have to be crossed; whereas, on the south-east, the less formidable Amalacites are the only inimical tribes and are easily overcome thanks to the intercession of Moses. For the line of march and topographical identifications along the route, see ISRAELITES, subsection The Exodus and the Wanderings. The miraculous water obtained from the rock Horeb, and the supply of the quails and manna, bespeak the marvellous faith of the great leader. The meeting with Jethro ends in an alliance with Madian, and the appointment of a corps of judges subordinate to Moses, to attend to minor decisions. At Sinai the Ten Commandments are promulgated, Moses is made mediator between God and the people, and, during two periods of forty days each, he remains in concealment on the mount, receiving from God the multifarious enactments, by the observance of which Israel is to be moulded into a theocratic nation (cf. MOSAIC LEGISLATION). On his first descent, he exhibits an all-consuming zeal for the purity of Divine worship, by causing to perish those who had indulged in the idolatrous orgies about the Golden Calf; on his second, he inspires the deepest awe because his face is emblazoned with luminous horns.

After instituting the priesthood and erecting the Tabernacle, Moses orders a census which shows an army of 603,550 fighting men. These with the Levites, women, and children, duly celebrate the first anniversary of the Pasch, and, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, shortly enter on the second stage of their migration. They are accompanied by Hobab, Jethro's son, who acts as a guide. Two instances of general discontent follow, of which the first is punished by fire, which ceases as Moses prays, and the second by plague. When the manna is complained of, quails are provided as in the previous year. Seventy elders — a conjectural origin of the Sanhedrin — are then appointed to assist Moses. Next Aaron and Mary envy their brother, but God vindicates him and afflicts Mary temporarily with leprosy. From the desert of Pharan Moses sends spies into Chanaan, who, with the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb, bring back startling reports which throw the people into consternation and rebellion. The great leader prays and God intervenes, but only to condemn the present generation to die in the wilderness. The subsequent uprising of Core, Dathan, Abiron, and their adherents suggests that, during the thirty-eight years spent in the Badiet et-Tih., habitual discontent, so characteristic of nomads, continued. It is during this period that tradition places the composition of a large part of the Pentateuch. Towards its close, Moses is doomed never to enter the Promised Land, presumably because of a momentary lack of trust in God at the Water of Contradiction. When the old generation, including Mary, the prophet's sister, is no more, Moses inaugurates the onward march around Edom and Moab to the Arnon. After the death of Aaron and the victory over Arad, "fiery serpents" appear in the camp, a chastisement for renewed murmurings. Moses sets up the brazen serpent, "which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed". The victories over Sehon and Og, and the feeling of security animating the army even in the territory of the hostile Balac, led to presumptuous and scandalous intercourse with the idolatrous Moabites which results, at Moses's command, in the slaughter of 24,000 offenders. The census, however, shows that the army still numbers 601,730, excluding 23,000 Levites. Of these Moses allows the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasses to settle in the east-Jordan district, without, however, releasing them from service in the west-Jordan conquest.

Death and posthumous glory

As a worthy legacy to the people for whom he has endured unparalleled hardships, Moses in his last days pronounces the three memorable discourses preserved in Deuteronomy. his chief utterance relates to a future Prophet, like to himself, whom the people are to receive. He then bursts forth into a sublime song of praise to Jahweh and adds prophetic blessings for each of the twelve tribes. From Mount Nebo — on "the top of Phasga" — Moses views for the last time the Promised Land, and then dies at the age of 120 years. He is buried "in the valley of Moab over against Phogor", but no man "knows his sepulchre". His memory has ever been one of "isolated grandeur". He is the type of Hebrew holiness, so far outshining other models that twelve centuries after his death, the Christ Whom he foreshadowed seemed eclipsed by him in the minds of the learned. It was, humanly speaking, an indispensable providence that represented him in the Transfiguration, side by side with Elias, and quite inferior to the incomparable Antitype whose coming he had predicted.

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Taken from: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm

So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, ⁵ sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said:

“A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. ⁶ Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Is there any evidence to prove the existence of the prophet, Balaam?

In an unprecedented discovery, an ancient text found at Deir Alla, Jordan, in 1967 tells about the activities of a prophetnamed Balaam. Could this be the Balaam of the Old Testament? The text makes it clear that it is. Three times in the first four lines he is referred to as “Balaam son of Beor,” exactly as in the Bible. This represents the first Old Testament prophet to be dug up in Bible lands—not his tomb or his skeleton, but a text about him. The text also represents the first prophecy of any scope from the ancient West Semitic world to be found outside the Old Testament, and the first extra-Biblical example of a prophet proclaiming doom to his own people. Balaam with Balak’s messengers Balaam was not anIsraelite. He was hired by Balak, kingof Moab, to curse the Israelites. They were camped on the east side of the Jordanriver, about to make their historic entry into the promised land. Through God's intervention, Balaam was obliged to bless the Israelites rather than curse them (Num 22-24). Afterwards, Balaam seems to have been the cause of the Israelites' sin inNumbers 25 when they took Moabite and Midianite women and worshipped the Moabite god Baal-peor (Num 31:16). Balaam was eventually killed when Moses sent the Israelites against theMidianites (Num 31). He is further condemned in Scripture in 2 Peter 2:15(he loved the wages of unrighteousness), Jude 11 (ungodly men ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward) and Revelation 2:14 (he taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eatthings sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication). The remarkable text found at Deir Alla consists of 119 fragments of plaster inscribed with black and red ink. It was among the rubble of a building destroyed in an earthquake. It seems to have been one long column with at least 50 lines, displayed on a plastered wall. According to the excavators' dating, the disaster was most likely the severe earthquake which occurred in the time of King Uzziah (Azariah) and the prophet Amosin about 760 BC (Amos 1:1; Zec 14:5). The lower part of the text shows signs of wear, indicating that it had been on the wall for some time prior to the earthquake. Written in Aramaic, the text begins with the title "Warnings from the Book of Balaam the son of Beor. He was a seer of the gods." It is in red ink, as are other portions of the text where emphasis is desired. The reference to the "Book of Balaam" indicates that the text was part of a pre-existing document and therefore the original date of the material is much earlier than the plaster text itself. Balaam goes on to relate a vision concerning impending judgment from the gods, and enters into a dispute with his listeners. There are a number of similarities between the text and the account ofBalaam in the book of Numbers. To begin with, the events described inNumbers 22-24 took place in the same general area where the text was found. At the time of the Numbers 22-24 incident, the Israelites were camped on the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan river from Jericho. Deir Alla is located about 25 miles north of this area, where the Jabbok river flows into the Jordan valley. Balaam was from Pethor, near "the river" (Num 22:5), in "Aram" (Num 23:7; Dt 23:4). The reference to Aram has led most scholars to conclude that Balaam was from northern Syria, in the vicinity of the Euphrates river. That does not fit well with the Biblical account, however, since Balaam's home seems to have been close to where the Israelites were camped (Num22:1-22; 31:7-8). In view of Balaam being revered at Deir Alla, one would expect that Deir Alla was his home. This is exactly what William Shea has proposed, based on his reading of the name Pethor in an inscribed clay tablet found at Deir Alla (1989:108-11). In this case, the river of Numbers 22:5 would be the Jabbok river and the naharaim (two rivers) of Deuteronomy 23:4would be the Jabbok and Jordan rivers. With regard to the references to Aram, Shea suggests that the original place name was Adam, with the “d” being miscopied as “r,” since the two letters are nearly identical in ancient Hebrew. Adam was a town about eight miles southwest of Deir Alla, on the east bank of the Jordan river, where the Jabbok meets the Jordan. Balaam evidently was well known as a "cursing prophet," for Balak specifically summoned Balaam for the purpose of cursing Israel (Num 22:6). Much of the Deir Alla text was given to curses uttered by the prophet. The term “shadday-gods” is used on two occasions in the text.Shadday is one of the names for God in the Old Testament, used mainly in the book of Job. Since the account of Job is set in Transjordan (Job 1:1-3), it seems that Shadday was a name used for deity in this region.Balaam used the name twice in his blessing speeches where it is translated “Almighty” (Num 24:4, 16). The Deir Alla text presents a problem to those who dismiss the Biblical account of the Exodus, Wilderness Wanderings and Conquest as legendary, as is the trend in scholarship today. It is clear that Balaam was a real person who operated on the east side of the Jordan river. He was known as a cursing prophet and continued to be revered hundreds of years after his death. His persona as revealed in the Deir Alla text precisely matches that of the Balaam of Numbers 22-24. If Balaam was a real person, what about Balak, Moses, Joshua and all of the other persons named in the Biblical narrative? They must have been real as well, and the events described authentic. Recommended for further reading Dijkstra, M. "Is Balaam Also Among the Prophets?" Journal of Biblical Literature. 1995. 114: 43-64. Shea, W.H. "The Inscribed Tablets From Tell Deir `Alla". Andrews University Seminary Studies. 1989. 27: 21-37; 97-119. Wood, B.G. "Prophecy of Balaam Found in Jordan". Bible and Spade. 1977. 6: 121-24. Related issues About Balaam Prophecy Prophet Miracle Archaeology and the Bible Author: Bryant G. Wood of Associates for Biblical Research Copyright © 1995, Associates for Biblical Research, All Rights Reserved - except as noted on attached“Usage and Copyright” page that grants ChristianAnswers.Net users generous rights for putting this page to work in their homes, personal witnessing, churches and schools. www.ChristianAnswers.Net Christian Answers Network PO Box 200 Gilbert AZ 85299         Submit your Questions

Jesus as the New Moses

 

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[Sir Colin] Humphreys analyzed a variety of religious calendars — Jewish and Egyptian, solar and lunar — and reached his own conclusion that ties up the loose ends. It turns out that Passover began at sunset on Thursday, April 2, in the year 33, according to the calendar adopted during the Jews' Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C. But a different religious calendar, dating back to the Jews' time in Egypt, would have Passover beginning at sunrise on Wednesday, April 1. That means Matthew, Mark and Luke could make a case for Wednesday's evening meal being part of Passover (by the pre-Exilic reckoning), while John would be justified in saying it happened before Passover (by the more recent reckoning). If his timeline is true, the Last Supper would have taken place on April 1. Jesus' main trial before the Sanhedrin would have been on April 2. The confirmation of his sentence and his appearances before Pontius Pilate would have occurred on the morning of Good Friday, April 3, followed by the crucifixion. All this would lead up to the first Easter Sunday on April 5 of the year 33. Cambridge U. Press "The Mystery of the Last Supper" analyzes the timeline of the Passion story. Many in the scientific community might see Humphreys' work as an empty exercise. They might even doubt whether Jesus was a historical figure at all. But Humphreys hopes that his analysis will be useful to scriptural scholars as well as rank-and-file believers. "For biblical scholars, it resolves the discrepancy," he told me. "We now have just the right amount of space that we need for the Gospel events." Humphreys also believes that Jesus and his followers were trying to send a theological message by celebrating the Passover on a schedule that goes back to a time before the Babylonian exile, to the era of Moses and the Exodus. "It mirrors the covenant that Moses announced," Humphreys told me. "It's cementing the message of Jesus, that he's the new Moses."

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Taken from:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/19/6497928-did-jesus-eat-an-early-last-supper?lite











No Plagiarism of P J Wiseman

On Plagiarism:



Damien Mackey rebuts Sungenis' attempt to pin the blame on him in regard to one case of plagiarism

Bill Cork's page demonstrating the plagiarism in Sungenis' original 2002 "Conversion of the Jews Not Necessary?" article

Side-by-side comparison showing almost 1500 words plagiarized from white supremacist Mohr in Sungenis' 2002 article

Sources, Schoeman, and Sungenis (02/17/07; in this and others below, search for "plagiarism" or "plagiarize" in the body of the article)

Sixteen Proofs of Sungenis' Anti-Semitism (03/29/07)

Sungenis' Definition Difficulties (04/19/07)

More Sungenis Dishonesty and Plagiarism with Ben Douglass? (05/19/07)

Sungenis and the CASB 2 (Apocalypse of St. John): More Source-Reference Problems (07/11/07)

The Theology of ADL Conspiracy Theories (02/21/08)

Sungenis Comes Full Circle (07/14/09; more side-by-side examples provided)
 
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See: http://sungenisandthejews.blogspot.com.au/2010_09_01_archive.html

What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Taken from: http://www.gotquestions.org/Sodom-and-Gomorrah.html

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Question: "What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?"

Answer: The biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah is recorded in Genesis chapters 18-19. Genesis chapter 18 records the Lord and two angels coming to speak with Abraham. The Lord informed Abraham that "the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous." Verses 22-33 record Abraham pleading with the Lord to have mercy on Sodom and Gomorrah because Abraham's nephew, Lot, and his family lived in Sodom.

Genesis chapter 19 records the two angels, disguised as human men, visiting Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot met the angels in the city square and urged them to stay at his house. The angels agreed. The Bible then informs us, "Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'" The angels then proceed to blind all the men of Sodom and Gomorrah and urge Lot and his family to flee from the cities to escape the wrath that God was about to deliver. Lot and his family flee the city, and then "the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities..."

In light of the passage, the most common response to the question "What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?" is that it was homosexuality. That is how the term "sodomy" came to be used to refer to anal sex between two men, whether consensual or forced. Clearly, homosexuality was part of why God destroyed the two cities. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to perform homosexual gang rape on the two angels (who were disguised as men). At the same time, it is not biblical to say that homosexuality was the exclusive reason why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were definitely not exclusive in terms of the sins in which they indulged.

Ezekiel 16:49-50 declares, "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me..." The Hebrew word translated "detestable" refers to something that is morally disgusting and is the exact same word used in Leviticus 18:22 that refers to homosexuality as an "abomination." Similarly, Jude 7 declares, "...Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion." So, again, while homosexuality was not the only sin in which the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah indulged, it does appear to be the primary reason for the destruction of the cities.

Those who attempt to explain away the biblical condemnations of homosexuality claim that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were certainly being inhospitable. There is probably nothing more inhospitable than homosexual gang rape. But to say God completely destroyed two cities and all their inhabitants for being inhospitable clearly misses the point. While Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of many other horrendous sins, homosexuality was the reason God poured fiery sulfur on the cities, completely destroying them and all of their inhabitants. To this day, the area where Sodom and Gomorrah were located remains a desolate wasteland. Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a powerful example of how God feels about sin in general, and homosexuality specifically.

Recommended Resource: Coming out of Homosexuality by Bob Davies and 101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality by Mike Haley.

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Related Topics:



What does the Bible say about gay marriage / same sex marriage?



Why was Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt?



Why did Lot offer up his daughters to be gang raped? Why did God allow Lot's daughters to later have sex with their father?



What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Is homosexuality a sin?



What does the Bible say about bisexuality (bi-sexuality)? Is being a bisexual (bi-sexual) a sin?









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What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Clearing Up Some Misconceptions Re Early Genesis

From a reader ....



Dear Damien,



Thank you for taking the time to share with [us] your notes on the 19th dynasty! We really appreciate it.



Your approach and ours will yield different results, particularly with regard to stratigraphy because we start with some differing assumptions (presuppositions) that drive us to different answers.



From reading your materials, I gather the following starting assumptions:



A. The earth is millions of years old, and the Creation of Mankind or Creation Week, followed long epochs of geological history of life on Earth (dinosaurs and such).



B. The Deluge of Genesis was a local event in Mesopotamia, which laid down the "flood deposits" in Ur and elsewhere.



C. "Eden" was in the Levant and archaeology in the Levant begins with the cities built by the Predeluvial generations.



D. The Babel Culture is therefore likely to be found after said flood deposits.



Our quite different assumptions are as follows:



1. The entire geological column was deposited in recorded history (since the creation of Adam) and 99% of the sedimentary strata on Earth were deposited by the global cataclysm called "the Deluge".



2. The face of the pre-deluvial world was completely destroyed and re-arranged. The 8 survivors renamed the major geographical features after the places of their old home - thus we have Tigris and Euphrates, but the four rivers originating from one location is not to be found. Some predeluvial cities may be buried under sedimentary rock in certain locations around the world. However, there is no indication that the Garden of Eden was located in what is now the "Middle East". For all we know it could be buried under the Pacific, or could have been completely pulverized.



3. The entirety of archaeological deposits in the Levant were made by people who lived after the Deluge, the Babel culture will be the layer at the very bottom of the oldest sites - which in most cases has not been excavated due to high water table. The sites of the age of Babel will be very few, probably less than 20.



4. Genesis has internal evidence that alphabetic writing existing before the Deluge and the toledoth tablets were written in alphabetic script.



5. The invention of Middle Eastern pictographic writing (from which came cuneiform, hieroglyphics & hansi) was probably an immediate adaptation to the confusion of languages at Babel in 2192 BC. Pictures could be understood by everyone, even if alphabetic words could not. ( I realize that the oldest post-flood alphabets found are based on pictographs of animals/objects that start with said letter in proto-semitic and this was probably the original pre-Flood writing system. After the confusion of tongues, those who were literate would remember that writing was pictures, and having lost the ability to read the alphabetic script, would make up a new pictographs that was initially language neutral. Though later, they evolved into specialized scripts in each civilization's culture area. Hence Thoth [Heth close relative of Osiris (Nimrod)] was the re-inventor of writing in recorded history.)



6. The discovery of the original sites of any of the 6/8 cities mentioned in Genesis 10 would allow a precise calibration of archaeological dating methods, particularly Rehydroxylation dating, which measures the rate of rehydration of ceramic and brick.



Because of our different presuppositions, we will probably arrive at substantially different interpretations of archaeological finds.



Damien, we have greatly enjoyed your writings and learned a great deal from you. We may not always agree. But we hold you in highest respect.



Kyrie Eleison,

....







Damien Mackey's Reply



Dear ....



You have read me completely wrong on matters relating to early Genesis, as have others. See e.g.: http://genesis1.blog.com/2010/10/20/robert-sungenis-adventures-in-blogland-or-wonderland/



I have never once claimed, nor do I personally believe, that: “The earth is millions of years old …”.



Nor have I ever claimed that: “… the Creation of Mankind or Creation Week, followed long epochs of geological history of life on Earth (dinosaurs and such)”. See my article, “Book of Origins”, at the same site: http://genesis1.blog.com/2008/04/21/book-of-origins/



Nor do I believe that: “The Deluge of Genesis was merely a local event in Mesopotamia, which laid down the "flood deposits" in Ur and elsewhere”. My Flood model extended way beyond Mesopotamia, e.g. to Egypt and Ethiopia. See my article, “Just How ‘Global’ Was the Great Flood?”: http://genesisflood.blog.com/2008/04/07/just-how-global-was-the-great-flood/



As to your own research, I suspect that you may be doing methodologically, at least in part, what the theoretical scientists do, conceiving an elaborate a priori mathematicised model and then force that model on the data, whether biblical, historical or scientific. Force the real data to fit the artificial model – and then declare that this is how things are. For a wonderful study of this type of methodology, see Gavin Ardley’s Aquinas and Kant: http://brightmorningstar.blog.com/2008/10/21/gavin-ardleys-book-aquinas-and-kant/



That is probably why you are reluctant to include archaeology (stratigraphy) in the mix, as it will not yield to allowing a long separation of Egypt’s 19th dynasty from its 18th dynasty, as according to your Velikovskian (in this case) based model.



My best regards
Damien Mackey.

Reader replies ....




Damien, I apologize for misjudging you!





"That is probably why you are reluctant to include archaeology

(stratigraphy) in the mix, as it will not yield to allowing a long



separation of Egypt’s 19^th dynasty from its 18^th dynasty, as



according to your Velikovskian (in this case) based model".





Actually [we are] in the process of going back to the drawing board on the 19th Dynasty, and we have no a priori committment to separating it from the 18th. We are happy include archaeology as part of the puzzle when said archaeological evidence is concretely connected to inscriptions that allow firm identification of exactly what we're looking at - such as the Apis bull tombs. Egypt and Chaldea are rich in inscriptions, thankfully.



Unfortunately, much of the archaeology of Palestine, for example, is of bronze age material with no preserved writing. By correlating the pottery in these finds to excavations in Egypt and the Greek Isles, the erroneous chronology of Egypt led professional archaeologists to false conclusions. For example, Kathleen Kenyan's excavation of Jericho showed the fallen wall and burned city, but she concluded it is "much too old" to be from Joshua's invasion because it was an Early Bronze Age layer - and she is trapped by the assumptions and mistaken chronology of academic archaeology that the Early Bronze Age was in the second and third millennium BC.



Another example, Ugarit and Ebla apparently fluoresced during the era of David and Solomon and were therefore under Israeli hegemony, which explains all the Hebrew names - and also explains why Cyrus Gordon - a Jew - was able to decipher Ugaritic back in the 1950's. The languages of those cities have been mislabeled as "Canaanite" based on the assumption that they are 1-2 thousand years older than they really are. Given that all the written material from Palestine has real dates from after 1400 BC, it is unlikely that we have any written samples of the real Canaanite languages. Phoenecian was simply the coastal dialect of Hebrew, and the Phoenecian people were probably 90% or more Israelite under the kingship of the old Canaanite families and religion.



In other examples, archaeologists tend to calibrate their dating methods, such as thermoluminescence, based upon their erroneous chronological assumptions. This leads to field results that seem to confirm their chronology, but this results from circular reasoning.



Given the extremely poor track record of Archaeology at correctly identifying the cultural remains they are looking at - even for literate cultures like Ebla and Ugarit - we can accept archaeological evidence, but are loathe to accept the conclusions of archaeologists, particularly for sites that have not yielded any inscriptions.



The witness of written history must guide and interpret archaeology, rather than vice versa.



God bless ....



Damien Mackey





That all makes a lot of sense, and I am glad to hear that you ... are prepared to look objectively at the archaeology.



You would do well to focus on the 18th dynasty synchronisms - a modified Velikovsky, including now Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim.



All the best

Damien M.