[This is the sequel to the opener post: Discourse: Sinaite and Christian Pastor– 1 referred to as “CP.” Please read that if you haven’t yet done, so you can understand Sinaite VAN’s response here. A discussion between two ‘friends’/colleagues where each one shows respect for the other’s opinion while defending each one’s faith/belief is educational for those of us on the sidelines.—Admin1.]
Dear “CP” —
Meeting with you after a long, long time, has brought us many pleasant memories and inexpressible joy. Nakakataba ng puso (better expressed in Tagalog)!
It was truly an expression of love and concern on your part to invite us to a get-together, to dialogue with us to consider returning to the faith we once knew.
You were the one who invited us to the 1st Billy Graham Crusade. I accepted your invitation because of your promise to treat us to a ‘good Chinese dinner, remember? And, you were the one responsible for my accepting faith in Jesus Christ. After that, everything else is history.
So, why did I make the change?
It has been a long journey. I grew up a Catholic Christian, then became an evangelical Christian, then a messianic Christian.
In Messianic Christianity , the main theme is that the roots and foundation of our faith in the Messiah (Yeshua/Jesus). This connects us with the Land, the People, and the Scriptures of Israel.
The New Testament of the Christian Bible, tells us that Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) was a Jew, believed in the God of the Torah, taught from the Torah, and lived a Torah life-style.
We in the Messianic community therefore, celebrated the Sabbath, the biblical festivals, and studied and taught from the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanach).
We were involved with this group from year 2003 and left in the year 2010 when we began to notice some inconsistencies, vagueness, and at times the doctrinal teaching is not fully supported by scripture.
Doctrinal teaching in Christianity is drawn out from specific and isolated passages and not from an understanding of the totality of scripture. This approach is usually taken to support the position that ‘the New Testament is a fulfilment of the Old Testament’. When you find some inconsistencies, vagueness in the message of scripture it becomes unacceptable. These discrepancies made me question my Christian faith.
And so, I asked myself these questions:
- If I believe in God, who is this God?
- Is this God who I (a man) say He is, or, who He (God) says He is?
- Does He have a name?
- What is His name?
- What is the source of my faith or belief?
- Is the source of my faith or belief trustworthy?
Who is my God?
- I believe in the God of the Scriptures, the Torah, who has revealed Himself at Mt. Sinai.
- He is the God in the Book of Genesis as Creator, Governor, Provider, Lawmaker, and Ruler.
- He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- The God of Israel and the Nations, whose name is YHVH, in the Book of Exodus and Deuteronomy and, consistently addressed to, in the rest the Hebrew Scriptures (OT Testament in the Christian Bible).
- He introduced Himself in the manner in which He established His relationship to humankind through Israel,the chosen people.
- This revelation was God’s way in teaching us whom to worship and who not to worship (Deut. 4).
- The Scriptures , in its totality, give us a clear message to worship only the God who has revealed Himself in Mt. Sinai. It follows, therefore, that any teaching which deifies a human being is clearly to be precluded. Any deification of a human is idolatry, plain and simple.
- Scriptures also teaches that God has no form (Isaiah 40:17, 25) , and no representation of Him is to be worshipped (Deut.14:15).
You claim under item 3 of your letter that a tribal affiliation and succession could come from a woman if the father is not around or has passed away (Numbers 36).
Numbers 36, which you have quoted refers to the inheritance and not to lineage.
“Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for the tribes of of the sons of Israel shall its hold to his own inheritance. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, the daughters of Zelophehad did: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father. These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses I the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho”(vs, 9-13).
You also claim that Jesus was a descendant of David through Mary, and therefore, succession could come from a woman according to the genealogy in Luke’s Gospel (3:23ff.) A New Testament passage to support the claim that Jesus is the Messiah who comes from the line of King David.
In Luke and in Matthew, both tried to show that whether Jesus comes from Mary or Joseph, he is the rightful heir to the throne of David. However, there seem to be some discrepancies in both genealogies, as written. If you trace the line of Jesus through Mary in Luke’s genealogy, although it says from Joseph (3:23), there seems to be a notion that Joseph passed on the lineage through adoption, although such rights does not exist. This makes Luke’s genealogy irrelevant. Furthermore, Luke’s list proclaims Jesus the descendant of Nathan and not Solomon, his brother (1 Chronicles 22:9) which disqualifies Jesus from the line of succession.
In both genealogies Jesus is disqualified from being a Messiah. This Christian teaching that Jesus is the coming Messiah is crucial to all other prophesies as this supports their position that the New Testament is the fulfilment of the Old Testament.
For now allow me to give you my reply to your item 7 on my next letter for reasons of time and space. As I understand this issue involves “sacrifices” and “atonement” which is quite a lengthy topic.
I would close with a Scripture verse from Jeremiah 9 : 23,24 which I believe you are familiar with:
“Thus says YHVH, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and not let a mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am YHVH who exercises loving-kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares YHVH.
May YHVH the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless you and your loved ones .
From an old friend,
VAN@S6K
