OUR DEBT TO THE JEWS? – (4)
A RESPONSE TO A SERMON BY DR. H. PAT ALBRIGHT
“It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble; it’s what we know that ain’t so.” (Will Rogers)
PART FOUR
THE Jews were NOT Responsible for any of the Bible.
The great historian Josephus writes,
“So the Jews prepared the work. Jew is the name they were called by from the day that they came up from Babylon”.
The only books of the Old Testament that were written after the return from Babylon are Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In all of these, the Jews receive rebuke for their wickedness and for their apostasy from the religion of the Old Testament. Recall Rabbi Wise’s statement,
“The return from Babylon and the introduction of the Babylonian Talmud mark the end of Hebrewism and the beginning of Judaism.”
Judaism is Pharisaism. See MARK7:6-13 and MATTHEW 23:23-39 for Jesus’ lecture to the Pharisees.
The prophets who wrote the Old Testament were all pure Israelite stock, from one or another of the 12 tribes:
Moses, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Haggai, and Zechariah were of the tribe of Levi.
It will be helpful to view a chart of the family of Abraham through his grandson Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. Note that the twelve tribes were divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.
The authors of many of the Old Testament books are unknown but the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses. Moses was a prophet of Israel of the tribe of Levi, a great, great grandson of Jacob, and not a Jew. The Prophet Jeremiah was also of the tribe of Levi, a Levite. Other Old Testament books were written by men of the tribe of Judah, Judahites. All the writers of the Old Testament were Israelites and they wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Emphasis is added in the quotes that follow:
EPHESIANS 3:5 “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”
JOHN 9:29 “We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.”
2 PETER 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” {in old time: or, at any time)
2 SAMUEL 23:2 “The.Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”
LUKE 1:70 “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.”
The authors of the New Testament were all Israelites, although the experts are not certain a few authors did indeed write what is credited to them.
All of the original Apostles were Galileans except Judas, who was a Jew of Judea. Paul was born in Tarsus, a Roman province many miles from Palestine and Judea. It is believed all the Apostles, or almost all, except Judas, were Benjaminites like Paul.
ACTS 22:3 “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”
PHILIPPIANS 3:5 “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.”
Paul was a Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee by religion, which made him a Jew in the eyes of other Pharisees.
According to the author of the Book of The Acts many of the Jews who confronted Jesus were Israelites, i.e. Judahites (ACTS 21:28ff), who he was addressing in ACTS 22:3. Some Judah Israelites were proselytes and were with the chief priests and elders, MATTHEW 21:23, to whom Jesus said,
MATTHEW 21:43 “Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”
ACTS 1:11 “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
ACTS 2:22 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:”
It is quite apparent that the people Dr. Albright calls “Jews” were not responsible for any part of the Bible.
JESUS WAS NOT BORN AND BRED A JEW
Jesus was of pure Israelite descent. As was prophesied, he was born in Bethlehem of Judea. After the wise men had departed, Joseph was told to take Christ to Egypt. (MATTHEW 2:13-14). Following the death of Herod. Joseph was directed by God to take the Christ Child to the land of Israel, into a city called Nazareth, which is in Galilee. (MATTHEW 2:19-23) It has been proven that Judea was largely occupied and governed by non-Israelites commonly known as Jews. Joseph and Mary, residents of Galilee, raised Jesus there. The province of Galilee was 70 miles from the province of Judea; the province of Samaria lay
between GaIilee and Judea.
Jesus went once a year to the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem, but otherwise spent very little time in Judea. It was at such a visit that MATTHEW 2:1 records his preaching in the temple.
It was in Nazareth that Jesus was given a title which included the name of a city, a title we know as “Jesus of Nazareth.” He is called “Jesus of Nazareth” 19 times in the New Testament. He was never called “Jesus the Jew” or “Jesus of Jerusalem,” or “Jesus of Bethlehem.” Yet Judeo-Christian ministers call Him a Jew.
Jesus performed His miracles in Galilee. He “manifested forth his glory in Galilee” (JOHN 2: 1) He made known that He was the Light of Israel in Galilee! MATTHEW 4:24-25 relates that Jesus went about all of Galilee, teaching and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing those who were sick.
One asks, “What about when the Wise Men from the East asked about Jesus, born King of the Jews,” in Matthew?
MATTHEW 2:1: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
The prophet Micah had many years earlier spoken of a “king” or “ruler” of Israel who would come from Bethlehem of Judea and there was an expectation in much of the known world of the Messiah coming. The Wise Men, who may have been Israelites from the Northern Kingdom of Israel now residing outside of Palestine, being familiar with the provision DANIEL 9:20-27, had calculated the time of the Messiah’s arrival. Note that the king was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. In the day of the Prophets Micah and Daniel, Judea was peopled by the tribes of Levi, Benjamin, and Judah, all Judean Israelites, not “Jews.”
MICAH 5:2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Note that Micah speaks of a ruler in Israel..
It would. therefore, be more appropriate to call Jesus king of the Judeans (Judahites) or King of Israel.
“The Roman historians, SUETONIUS and TACITUS, bear witness to an expectation, prevalent in the East that out of Judea should arise a sovereign of the world.”
Matthew and Micah speak of a ruler of Israel who was to be born in Bethlehem, as surely Jesus was. In this instance, the Wise Men saying they were come to see the King of the Jews, could have been written
“King of the Judeans” or “King of the Judahites.” For clearly “Jews,” in the common understanding of the word, is not what is meant in MATTHEW 2:2. In all
other uses of “King of the Jews” in the New Testament, “the King of the Jews” is a phrase of derision and used by the Jews in mocking Jesus
MATTHEW 2:5 “And they said unto him. In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Emphasis added)
The people of Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond Jordan had to go to Galilee to hear and see Jesus. It was in Galilee that He taught the people and gave the Sermon on the Mount. MATTHEW 5:1-2
Christ was still in Galilee when He gave His apostles their missionary instructions.
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying. Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” MATTHEW 10:5-6
Question: Was Jesus born and bred a Jew or a Galilean?
Question: Is it more accurate to call Jesus “King of Israel” or “King of the Jews?”
CONCLUSION
The facts of Holy Scripture and secular documents prove that today’s Jews are not related to the Patriarch Judah. the great grandson of Abraham, from whom the word “Jew” is derived; that the Jews did not bring us the Bible or write the Bible; that Jesus was not born and raised a Jew. Jesus was a Judahite by race, being descended from the pure line of Judah through King David, and he was a Nazarene and Galilean from infancy.
Many Judeo-Christians will read and accept these proofs that Dr. Albright is wrong in his notions that Jesus was a Jew and that the Jews gave us the Bible, etc. Yet, there will be some who will deny all truth and, in their blindness to truth. they will continue to deceive and be deceived.
To be continued.
.JPG)
