755 lines
70 KiB
HTML
755 lines
70 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<title>Benjamite Wolf | JWO</title>
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<table class="contentpaneopen">
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<tr>
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<td valign="top" >"El pobre es rico cuando esta feliz con lo que tiene...Y el rico es pobre cuando nada de lo que tiene lo hace feliz" Benjamin Franklin.</td>
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<h2><a href="http://www.jesuswordsonly.com/" title="Relevant">Relevant</a></h2>
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<ul class="menu"><li id="current" class="active"><a href="http://www.jesuswordsonly.com/"><span>Home</span></a></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/JWO/jesuswordsonly.html" class="haschild"><span>Books</span></a><ul><li class="haschild"><a href="/JWO/jesuswordsonly.html" class="child"><span>Jesus' Words Only</span></a><ul><li><a href="/JWO/jesus-words-only-amazon.html"><span>Purchase from Amazon.com</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/JWOS/jesuswordssalvation.html" class="child"><span>Jesus' Words on Salvation</span></a><ul><li><a href="/JWOS/jesuswordsonsalvationamazon.html"><span>Purchase from Amazon.com</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/Did-Calvin-Murder-Servetus/didcalvinmurderservetus.html" class="child"><span>Did Calvin Murder Servetus?</span></a><ul><li><a href="/Did-Calvin-Murder-Servetus/calvinfreebookonline.html"><span>Download e-Book</span></a></li><li><a href="/Did-Calvin-Murder-Servetus/didcalvinmurderservetusbackground.html"><span>Background Material</span></a></li><li><a href="/Did-Calvin-Murder-Servetus/didcalvinmurderservetusamazon.html"><span>Purchase from Amazon.com</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/Bible/hownottostudythebible.html" class="child"><span>How Not to Study the Bible</span></a><ul><li><a href="/Bible/hownottostudythebible.html"><span>Download e-Book</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/Young-Earth-Science/flawsofyoungearthscience.html" class="child"><span>Flaws of Young Earth Science</span></a><ul><li><a href="/Young-Earth-Science/flawsofyoungearthscience.html"><span>Download e-Book</span></a></li></ul></li><li><a href="/Young-Earth-Science/unintended-disservice-of-young-earth-science.html"><span>Unintended Disservice</span></a></li><li><a href="/Hebrew-Matthew/original-gospel-of-matthew-in-hebrew.html"><span>Original Gospel of Matthew</span></a></li></ul></li><li><a href="/Recommended-Reading/recommendedreading.html"><span>Further Reading</span></a></li><li><a href="/Audio/audio-messages.html"><span>Media</span></a></li><li><a href="/About-The-Author/about-the-author.html"><span>About The Author</span></a></li><li class="haschild"><a href="/Review.list/" class="haschild"><span>Reviews</span></a><ul><li><a href="/jwo-reviews.html"><span>Jesus Words Only</span></a></li><li><a href="/jwos-reviews.html"><span>Jesus Words on Salvation</span></a></li></ul></li><li><a href="/Contact-Us/contactus.html"><span>Contact Us</span></a></li><li><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/jwoogm-20"><span>Amazon Shop</span></a></li><li><a href="/Recommended-Reading/topical-index-of-this-website.html"><span>Topic Index</span></a></li></ul>
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<tr>
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<td id="leftcol" valign="top" width="200">
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<div class="inside">
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<div class="moduleS1">
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<h3>Search</h3>
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<div class="moduleS1">
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<div>
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<div>
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<div>
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<h3>Questions?</h3>
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Please enter your questions, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. As an anti-spam measure, we ask that you re-type the code you see in the box below, prior to clicking "Send Message"<br /><br />
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</form>
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<h3>Recommendations</h3>
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<p><a href="/Audio/music-store-manager.html">Only Jesus</a> (great song by Big Daddy)</p>
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<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/justjesus0ece-20">Just Jesus: His Living Words (2011)</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/jesusonchurchstructure-20">Jesus' Words on Church Structure</a> by S. Rives</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.jesusfocusedpublishers.com/"></a></p>
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<p> </p> </div>
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<h2>Chapter Fourteen</h2>
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<h2>Who Is The Benjamite Wolf In Prophecy?</h2>
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<h3 class="Heading1"><strong>Jesus' Words on the Ravening Wolf</strong></h3>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464095"></a> Jesus several times mentions a wolf or wolves. He says the false prophets will be wolves dressed like sheep. This means they will claim to be followers of Christ, but "inwardly [they] are <em><strong>ravening wolves</strong></em>." The full quote is:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464096"></a> Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are <strong><em>ravening wolves</em></strong>. (Matt. <a href="http://bible.cc/matthew/7-15.htm">7:15</a>.)</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464097"></a> Jesus warns true Christians that they are at risk from these so-called Christians who are truly ravening wolves inside.</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464098"></a> Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of<em><strong> wolves</strong></em>: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt. <a href="http://bible.cc/matthew/10-16.htm">10:16</a>)</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464099"></a> Christian leaders who do not care for the flock will leave the average Christian at the mercy of these ravening wolves. Jesus explains:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464100"></a> He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the <em><strong>wolf snatcheth them</strong></em>, and scattereth them: (John <a href="http://bible.cc/john/10-12.htm">10:12</a>)</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464101"></a> He fleeth because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (John <a href="http://bible.cc/john/10-13.htm">10:13</a>)(ASV)</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464102"></a> Is this imagery of the ravening wolf as the false prophet ever spoken about elsewhere in Scripture? Yes, in fact there is a prophecy in the book of Genesis that the tribe of Benjamin would later produce just such a "ravening wolf." (Gen. <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-27.htm">49:27</a>.)<strong><a name="pgfId=464103"></a></strong></p>
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<h3><strong>Genesis Prophecies of Messiah and His Enemy from the Tribe of Benjamin</strong></h3>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464104"></a> Paul tells us in Romans<a href="http://bible.cc/romans/11-1.htm"> 11:1</a>, "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of <em><strong>Benjamin</strong></em>." Paul repeats this in Philippians<a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/3-5.htm"> 3:5</a>, saying he is "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of <em><strong>Benjamin</strong></em>."<sup> <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&lpg=PP1&dq=jesus%20words%20only&pg=PA332#v=onepage&q&f=false">1</a></sup></p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464108"></a> Keeping this in mind, Genesis has a very interesting Messianic prophecy. Modern Christians are sadly generally unaware of this prophecy. It may be ignored because the nearby passage about a Benjamite ravening wolf in the latter days hits too close to home. It is better to ignore a clear Messianic prophecy than to risk seeing the Bible prophesied the emergence of Paul and the error he would propagate among Christians.</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464109"></a> In Genesis chapter 49, Jacob, also known as Israel, utters a prophecy of the latter days. In this prophecy, Jacob identifies the role of each son and his tribe. The passage begins:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464110"></a> And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days. (Gen<a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-1.htm"> 49:1</a>)</p>
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<h4 class="BodyAfterHead"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">A</span>. <span style="color: #0000ff;">Prophecy That Judah Produce Messiah</span></strong></h4>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead">Then Jacob delivers a prophecy about his son Judah and the tribe of Judah for the latter days. It is a clear Messianic prophecy.</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464112"></a> The sceptre shall not depart from Judah [<em>i.e</em>., the right to rule belongs to this tribe], Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: And<strong><em> unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be</em></strong>. (Gen <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-10.htm">49:10</a>)</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464113"></a> Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass's colt unto the choice vine; He hath<em><strong> washed his garments in wine, And his vesture in the blood of grapes</strong></em>. (Gen <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-11.htm">49:11</a>)</p>
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||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464114"></a> His eyes shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk. (Gen <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-12.htm">49:12</a>) (ASV)</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464115"></a> The root word for Shiloh comes from Shalom, meaning peace. Shiloh means one who brings peace. Shiloh comes holding the sceptre of Judah. Shilo thus is a prince of peace.</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464116"></a> This passage therefore clearly depicts Messiah, the Prince of Peace, with his garments bathed in the blood of grapes. All obedience will be owed him. The Genesis-Shiloh Messiah is then presented in similar imagery as the Lamb of God in the Book of Revelation. (Rev. <a href="http://bible.cc/revelation/19-13.htm">19:13</a> "garment sprinkled with blood".)</p>
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464117"></a> Ancient Jewish scholars also read this Genesis passage to be a Messianic prophecy. In all three Rabbinic Targums, the Hebrew scholars taught Shiloh was the name for Messiah. This was also repeated by many ancient Jewish writers. (Gill, Gen. <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-10.htm">49:10</a>.)</p>
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<h4 class="BodyAfterHead"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>B. Benjamite "Ravening Wolf" Prophecy</strong></span></h4>
|
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<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464118"></a> So why is this Messianic passage so unfamiliar to Christians? Perhaps because in close proximity we find Jacob's prophecy about the tribe of Benjamin. This Benjamite prophecy follows many positive predictions for all the other eleven tribes.</p>
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||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464119"></a> Of whom does the Benjamite prophecy speak? When weighed carefully, <em><strong>there is very little chance that the Benjamite prophecy could be about anyone but Paul.</strong></em> This prophecy about Benjamin, if it was to be fulfilled and then verified, must have been fulfilled in the time of Christ. At that time, the tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin still had survived. The others were the lost tribes of the Diaspora. (Gill, commentary on Gen. 49:10.) After the time of Christ, any distinguishable tribe of Benjamin soon disappeared. Thus, the prophecy about Benjamin is no longer capable of being fulfilled and confirmed. Accordingly, one must consider the possibility this verse is talking about Paul. In fact, the early Christian church, as demonstrated below, did think this was a prophecy about Paul. Somehow we lost memory of this teaching.</p>
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||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464120"></a> Let's turn now to Jacob's last prophecy about the Benjamites in the "latter days" when Shiloh comes. Here we read of the imagery of a ravening wolf that identifies the tribe of Benjamin.</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464121"></a> <em><strong>Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth</strong></em>: In the morning she shall devour the prey, And at even[ing] he shall divide the spoil. (Gen <a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/49-27.htm">49:27</a>) (ASV)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464122"></a> <a name="22859"></a> Let's analyze this verse--for there is a time-sequence to the ravening wolf's activity. In the morning, he devours the prey. This means he kills his prey. In the evening, he takes the spoils left over after killing the prey. There are many metaphorical similarities to Paul. He starts as a killer of Christians or as one who approves the killing of Christians. (Acts <a href="http://bible.cc/acts/7-58.htm">7:58</a>; <a href="http://bible.cc/acts/8-1.htm">8:1</a>-3,<a href="http://bible.cc/acts/9-1.htm"> 9:1</a>.) However, later Paul claims a right of division among his earlier prey--he exclusively will recruit Gentiles as Christians while the twelve apostles supposedly would exclusively recruit Jews. (Galatians <a href="http://bible.cc/galatians/2-9.htm">2:9</a>.)<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464125" class="footnote"> </a><sup><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&lpg=PP1&dq=jesus%20words%20only&pg=PA334#v=onepage&q&f=false">2</a></sup></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464129"></a> <a name="24613"></a> In fact, in the early Christian church, this entire verse of Genesis 49:27 was read to be a prophecy about Paul. However, the second part was then spun favorably to Paul. An early church writer, Hippolytus (200s A.D.), said Paul fulfilled Genesis 49:27 because Paul started as a murderer of Christians, fulfilling the first part of Genesis 49:27. The second part about `dividing the spoil' was interpreted by Hippolytus to mean Paul made Christian followers predominantly among Gentiles. However, this was read positively. Hippolytus believed Paul divided the spoil in a manner God intended. However, <strong><em>dividing the spoil</em></strong> means<strong><em> plundered</em></strong>. It does not have a positive connotation. This spin by Hippolytus on dividing the spoil as a good deed was wishful thinking. God instead was sending a prophecy of the evil that would be done by this Benjamite, not the good.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464130"></a> <a name="34690"></a> Here is the quote from the early church writer Hippolytus (estimated to be 205 A.D.) wherein he saw God prophesying of Paul in Genesis 49:27:</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464131"></a> `<em><strong>Benjamin is a devouring wolf.</strong></em> In the morning, he will devour the prey, and at night he will apportion the food.' <strong><em>This thoroughly fits Paul</em></strong>, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravaging wolf. However, when he believed, he `apportioned the food.' (Hippolytus, W 5.168.)[quoted <em><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0502.htm">Catholic Encylopedia</a></em>.] See also footnote<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464134" class="footnote"> <sup><strong>3</strong></sup></a> below.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead">[Update: Many other sources in early church also said Paul was the fuflillment of the Benjamite Wolf prophecy. See <a href="/JWO/benjamite-wolf-research.html">our webpage</a> on that "Benjamite Wolf Research" material. There we discuss Hippolytus was relying upon the Septuagint mistranslation, which simply has 'distribute the food.']<a name="pgfId=464135"></a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead">These writings from the early church demonstrates two things: (a) early Christians were more familiar than ourselves with the Shiloh Messianic prophecy in Genesis 49:10-12; and (b) if one knew the Shiloh prophecy, one could not avoid seeing in close proximity the prophecy of a Benjamite wolf (Genesis 49:27) whereupon one would realize it is unmistakably talking about Paul. As Hippolytus says, "this thoroughly fits Paul."</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464136"></a> What do modern Pauline Christian commentators do with the Benjamite wolf prophecy? While some admit Genesis 49:27 is about Paul, and spin the divide the spoils aspect of the prophecy favorably toward Paul as a good deed,<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464139" class="footnote"> 4</a> the leading commentators take an entirely different approach. Gill, for example, adopts the ancient Jewish explanation of this prophecy of the latter days. Because Benjamin's territory was where the Temple was located, it was said the offering of the morning and evening sacrifice fell to his lot, i.e., territory.<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464348" class="footnote"> 5</a> Thus, this verse was supposedly intended to be talking about Benjamin's indirect role in the killing the sacrifice in the morning and evening. The performance of the sacrifices, of course, are positive God-serving actions if attributable to Benjamin's actions. Thus, rather than a ravening wolf being an evil beast who attacks innocent sheep, modern Christian commentators say Benjamin was being complimented for possessing wolf-like "fortitude, courage, and valour." (Gill.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464140"></a> Gill ignores many key flaws in this application. First, the role of Benjamin's tribe in the killing was entirely passive, i.e., its territory was ceded to help locate the temple where sacrifices later took place. This passive role cannot evince any kind of courage or valour. It is a poor solution.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464369"></a> More important, Gill ignores the context of the passage itself. The word prey, raveneth, wolf, spoils, etc., all are forebodings of evil acts, not courageous valor in good deeds. A ravening wolf is a wolf that is prowling and eating voraciously. Furthermore, the sacrificed animals in the temple are hardly prey. Also, technically, Benjamin's land-lot was used to kill the sacrifice in both the morning and evening. However, if prey means sacrifice, this prophecy was about killing prey only in the morning. Thus, it is incongruous to read this prophecy to be about Benjamin's land-lot being used in the evening and morning sacrifice.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464141"></a> Furthermore, Gill also overlooked the motivation behind these Targum explanations. The other tribes were probably mystified why their father Jacob warned them about Benjamin's tribe in the latter days. Gill fails to realize the Hebrew scholars who wrote the ancient Targums were engaged in good politics. The other eleven tribes were reassuring Benjamin that he was trusted. What else could they say to keep peace?</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464142"></a> As a result, we are not beholden to that ancient polite resolution of this latter days prophecy. We now can see the clear fulfillment of this prophecy in the deeds of Paul.</p>
|
||
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|
||
<h3 class="Heading2"><a name="pgfId=464143"></a> <strong>Gill Also Overlooks the Bible's Portrayal Later of the Tribe of Benjamin</strong></h3>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464144"></a> The Bible also gives us later an adequate depiction of the tribe of Benjamin and its members so that it is impossible to believe Genesis 49:27 was meant at all positively. It was a portent of gloomy evil by the Benjamites. The Bible has utterly unflattering stories about the Benjamites.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464145"></a> First, at the same time the tribe of Benjamin's territory served its supposedly noble role in the morning/evening sacrifice, the Benjamites were fighting a war against the other eleven tribes. In two days, the Benjamites killed 40,000 members of the other tribes. However, the Benjamites were later lured into leaving their city, and lost their war. The tribe of Benjamin was virtually annihilated. (Judges chs. 19-21). In this episode, there is a particularly distasteful event. The men of Gibeah were Benjamites who the Bible describes as "a perverse lot." They cruelly tried to abuse a visitor and then they raped an old man's concubine. (Judges 19:14, 22, 25.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464146"></a> Certainly, to this point in the Bible, the Benjamites are depicted as quite evil and even as anti-Israelites.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464149"></a> The next and last Bible story of Benjamites is more of the same negative portrayal of Benjamites. This story also has uncanny parallels to Saul-Paul.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464150"></a> The Bible tells us King Saul was a Benjamite. (1 Sam. 9:21.) He is at one point an inspired true prophet, given a "new heart"--you could even say born again. (1 Sam. 10:9-10.) Yet, later King Saul pursued the man named David to kill him. Saul did so despite knowing God decided David would replace Saul as King. (1 Sam. 18:8-10; 19:10.) Saul became so depraved that he wanted to kill his own son Jonathan because of his loyalty to David. (1 Sam. 20: 30-34.) Thus, Saul is an example of a true prophet from the tribe of Benjamin who later turned false by virtue of defying God's anointed (messhiach).<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464153" class="footnote"> 6</a> Unfortunately, Saul also would not be the last Saul from the tribe of Benjamin to begin apparently as a true prophet but who later defied the messhiach.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464154"></a> Incidentally, it is reassuring to remember that Saul, the Benjamite, did not triumph over the house of David. Eventually David took the throne from Saul. Initially, King Saul would not yield the throne to the House of David despite Saul prophetically knowing God's will to choose David. Saul made a desperate stand to hold onto raw power even after he realized he lacked God's true blessing. Nevertheless, the House of David eventually triumphed anyway over the Benjamite Saul. (1 Samuel 9:1-2; 10:1; 15:10, 30, 16:1.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464155"></a> Thus, if Pauline Christians are the modern followers of the Benjamite wolf, then we know they are resisting following Jesus' words just like King Saul resisted letting David have the throne. Despite all their efforts to kill off Jesus' words by means of strained interpretations of various dispensations, God's anointed from the House of David will eventually triumph.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464156"></a> Regardless whether King Saul's story was intended to serve as such a parable, we can see in King Saul another Benjamite whose actions were evil in the last analysis. Prior to Paul's arrival, the Bible never depicts the Benjamite tribe as doing any good. Instead, the Bible portrays this tribe and its members as fighting the rest of Israel and God's anointed from the House of David. Thus, Gill's notion that Genesis 49:27 was intended to compliment the valor of the Benjamites is completely baseless. It is solely a verse portending gloomy evil by members of this tribe, of which the Bible documents every step of the way right up to the point Paul is himself helping murder Christians.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464157"></a> Next we shall see how to discern the wolf by his deeds. The Bible, in Ezekiel, is highly specific. There is no question that Paul in his post-conversion teachings fits the traits of the time of the ravening wolves depicted by Ezekiel.</p>
|
||
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|
||
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|
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|
||
<h3><strong>Ezekiel's Warning About the Ravening Wolves</strong></h3>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464159"></a> Jesus said we would know the false prophets who are ravening wolves in sheep's clothing by their "deeds." (<a name="marker=464160"></a> Matt. 7:16.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464161"></a> How could we know who the wolf is by their deeds? Does this mean their deeds are merely wicked? Or does it mean their deeds are precisely described elsewhere in Scripture so you could not possibly mistake who are the wolves in sheep's clothing? In light of Ezekiel's description of the ravening wolves, it is likely the latter. God made a highly specific description of the deeds of the ravening wolves so we would "know them by their deeds." (Matt. 7:16.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464162"></a> The picture in Ezekiel chapter 22 of the time of the ravening wolves is startling in its parallel to Paul and Pauline Christianity. This description tells us what God thinks about the descent of Christianity into church-going that disregards the true Sabbath and the Law, dismisses the teachings of Jesus as belonging to a by-gone dispensation, and instead follows Paul because he claims a vision and boldly claimed to speak in the Lord's name. Ezekiel described the time of the ravening wolves in an uncanny parallel to Paulinism:</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464163"></a> Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made <em><strong>no distinction between the holy and the common</strong></em>, neither have they caused men to d<em><strong>iscern between the unclean and the clean</strong></em>, and <strong><em>have hid their eyes from my sabbaths</em></strong>, and I am profaned among them. (Eze 22:26)</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464164"></a> Her princes in the midst thereof are like <em><strong>wolves ravening the prey</strong></em>, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. (Eze 22:27)</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464165"></a> And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, <strong><em>seeing false visions</em></strong>, and divining lies unto them, saying, <em><strong>Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken</strong></em>. (Eze 22:28)</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464166"></a> The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully. (Eze 22:29)</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464167"></a> And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. (Eze 22:30)(ASV)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464168"></a> Thus, those leading the people are ravening wolves. They are called the princes (leaders) in the people's eyes. They are buttressed by those having false visions and claims to have the right to speak in the name of the Lord. Their leaders seduce the people from following the Law. They teach them they are free to ignore the true Saturday Sabbath. They say all food is pure, and none unclean. Their teaching also leads to the vexation of the poor and the foreigner. There will be a time when no one is left who stands against these principles.<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464171" class="footnote"> 7</a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464172"></a> Now look at the<em><strong> parallels between these wolves and Paul</strong></em>.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464173"></a> First, Paul claimed a vision of Jesus. (Acts chapters. 9, 22, 26.) Based on this vision experience, Paul wanted us to accept that he was speaking directly from the Lord. (E.g., 1 Cor. 14:37; <a name="marker=464174"></a> 1 Tim. 2:11; 1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thess.4:1-2,8; 1 Thess. 2:13; Eph. 4:17. cf. 1 Cor. 7:25, 40.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464175"></a> Second, Paul's view that the Law is entirely abrogated is well-established. (2 Cor. 2:14; Gal. 5:1; Rom. 10:4; 2 Cor. 3:7; Gal. 5:1; Col. 2:14-17; Rom. 3:27; Rom. 4:15; 2 Cor. 3:9; Gal. 2:16; Gal. 3:21; Col. 2:14.)<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464181" class="footnote"> 8</a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464733"></a> Third, Paul's view that we are free to ignore the Saturday Sabbath or any Sabbath-principle is undeniable. (Rom. 14:5; Col. 2:14-16.)<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464739" class="footnote"><sup><strong> 9</strong></sup></a> (Paul's followers typically behave like Jeroboam who offended God by moving God's set day to a "day he invented in his heart." (1 Kings 12:33 RV.))<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464761" class="footnote"> <sup><strong>10</strong></sup></a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464740"></a> Fourth, Paul's view that we are free to eat any food we like, including eat meat sacrificed to idols, is likewise plain. (1 Tim. 4:4, `all food is clean'; Romans 4:2.)<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464743" class="footnote"> <sup><strong>11</strong></sup></a> Paul taught we only refrain from eating idol meat when others are encouraged to do what they believe is wrong even though we know such food is clean. (<a name="marker=464744"></a> Romans 14:21;<a name="marker=464745"></a> 1 Corinthians 8:4-13, and 1 Corinthians 10:19-29.)<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464751" class="footnote"> <sup><strong>12</strong></sup></a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464198"></a> Fifth, did Paul give instructions to Christians which vex the poor? Some believe the following quote vexes the poor with a criteria for assistance never found in the Hebrew Scriptures.</p>
|
||
<p class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464199"></a> For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat. (2Th 3:10) (ASV)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464200"></a> How many people have resisted giving food to a poor person simply because they are unemployed and they do not pass a Pauline-inspired interview about their willingness to work for it? This work requirement sometimes will stall the urgent help that a poor person has for food. Nowhere in Hebrew Scripture is there any such barrier to God's command that you are to feed the poor. In fact, Scripture specifically intends for us to generously provide food for the poor to eat even if we have no idea whether they are willing to work.<a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2014html.html#pgfId=464203" class="footnote"> <sup><strong>13</strong></sup></a> Thus, Paul's principle that if any will not work, neither let him eat has served as a punitive vexation on poor people by Christians who follow Paul's dictum. (Many Christians, of course, do not follow Paul's dictum, and follow instead the Bible's rule of open-handed provision of food to the poor.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464204"></a> Alternatively, we also now realize the early church at Jerusalem was known as the Poor which would be, as an Hebraism, the name Ebionites. Paul was a vexing problem to them as well, as Acts chapter 21 clearly shows. Perhaps that is what vexing the poor means. It fits Paul any way you examine it.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464205"></a> Sixth, what about oppressing the foreigner? Did Paul and his followers do that too? Yes, in two distinct ways. By Paul saying all people born in Crete are liars, he forever slurred a whole nation of people. To be born a Cretan became synonymous with being born a liar, thanks to Paul. This is what Paul wrote:</p>
|
||
<p class="Quote" style="padding-left: 30px;"><a name="pgfId=464206"></a> One of themselves, a prophet of their own said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true (Titus 1:12).</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464207"></a> Besides slandering all Cretans, Paul in another passage also slandered all Jews. He first labelled them as foreigners and then said they are enemies of all mankind. Let's review this with care.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464208"></a> One might at first think Jews cannot be viewed as foreigners in Judea. However, Paul in Galatians chapter 4 redefines Jews as foreigners in Judea. How did he do this? In our prior discussion, we saw how Paul said the Jews of Jerusalem no longer correspond to the sons of Abraham and Sarah. Instead they are now seen as Ishmael--the son of Abraham and Hagar. (Gal. 4:22-31.) Paul then says "cast out the handmaiden." This means Hagar and her children. In effect, Paul is saying the Jews in Jerusalem no longer hold the rightful position as owners of the land of Israel. They are Ishmaelites and foreigners to the covenant promise that gives them the right to the Land of Israel.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464209"></a> Second, after labelling Jews, in effect, as foreigners in Israel, Paul denigrates their entire race. Paul wrote "the Jews...both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are the enemies of the whole human race." (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464210"></a> The Greek in this verse means Jews oppose face-to-face every human being on earth. The various versions hold the essential meaning in tact:</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464211"></a> <em><strong>Jews</strong></em>...who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and have persecuted us. They are displeasing to God and <em><strong>are the enemies of all people</strong></em>....(1Th 2:14-15)(ISV)</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464212"></a> <em><strong>Jews</strong></em>...both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and <em><strong>are contrary to all men</strong></em>: (1Th 2:14-15)(KJV)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464213"></a> According to James, a different group is responsible for the death of Jesus: "Go now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you.... Ye have condemned and killed the just [one]; and he doth not resist you." (James 5:5-6.)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464214"></a> Regardless of Paul's accuracy on who killed Jesus, Paul redefines Jews to be foreigners in Judea, equivalent to Ishmaelite sons of Hagar. He then denigrates Jews as the enemies of the entire human race. Paul's words of denigration aimed at Jews later inspired Martin Luther in Germany to promulgate a doctrine of harassment of the Jewish people who were by then foreigners in Germany.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464215"></a> The renown scholar, William Shirer, in his classic 1400 page tome <em>The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich</em> (1960) at 236 explains what Martin Luther did. Shirer writes:</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464216"></a> It is difficult to understand the behavior of most German Protestants in the first Nazi years unless one is aware of two things: their history and the influence of Martin Luther. [At this point, Shirer writes in a footnote "To avoid any misunderstanding, it might be well to point out here that the author is a Protestant."] The<em><strong> great founder of Protestantism was both a passionate anti-Semite</strong></em> and a ferocious believer in absolute obedience to political authority. He wanted Germany rid of the Jews and when they were sent away he advised that they be <em><strong>deprived of "All their cash and jewels and silver and gold</strong></em>" and furthermore, "that their <em><strong>synagogues or schools be set on fire</strong></em>, that their houses be broken up and destroyed... and that they <strong><em>be put under a roof or stable, like the gypsies... in misery and captivity </em></strong>as they incessantly lament and complain to God about us"--advice that was literally followed four centuries later by Hitler, Goering, and Himmler.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464217"></a> Paul's words about Jews, when taken literally by his pupil Martin Luther, bore their inevitable fruit: the oppression of the foreigner including God's special people--the Jews.</p>
|
||
<div>
|
||
<h3 class="Heading2"><a name="pgfId=464218"></a> <strong>How Ezekiel's Depiction of the Deeds of Wolves Identifies Paul</strong></h3>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464219"></a> Thus, we can see how the Ezekiel description of ravening wolves fits precisely Paul and his followers. They did violence to the Law by attributing it to angels who `are no gods.' They taught we are free to disregard the Sabbath Law entirely. They tore away all food laws, including the laws on eating meat sacrificed to idols. They vexed the poor with the necessity that they must be willing to work for aid. They also oppressed the foreigners, as they defined them. This includes a slur on the people of Crete. It is a slur that has become part of our vocabulary. A Cretan is synonymous with a liar. Also, Paul oppressed Jews by redefining their status in Jerusalem as foreigners as well as enemies of all mankind. Centuries later Martin Luther of Germany, inspired directly by Paul, outlined a plan of denigration of Jews. By that time, Jews were in fact foreigners in Germany. Pauline Christianity thereby inspired wicked men in our recent memory to follow Luther's plan to utterly oppress the Jews as foreigners.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464220"></a> Hence, Paul and Pauline Christianity satisfies every criteria for Ezekiel's depiction of the ravening wolves. So when Jesus tells us about wolves in sheep's clothing in Matthew 7:15 and then says we will know them by their deeds in Matthew 7:16, Ezekiel chapter 22 tells us precisely what deeds mark the time of the ravening wolves. Those deeds fit Paul like a glove.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div>
|
||
<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464222"></a> Let's now pull all these Biblical references together, and see if the Bible identifies Paul as the Benjamite wolf.</p>
|
||
<table>
|
||
<caption>
|
||
<h6 class="TableTitle"><a name="pgfId=464225"></a> Who is the Benjamite Wolf?</h6>
|
||
</caption>
|
||
<tbody>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<th>
|
||
<p class="CellHeading"><a name="pgfId=464229"></a> <em> Verse</em></p>
|
||
</th> <th>
|
||
<p class="CellHeading"><a name="pgfId=464231"></a> <em> Characteristics</em></p>
|
||
</th>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464233"></a> Matt. 7:15</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464235"></a> "ravening wolves" are "false prophets"</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464237"></a> Matt. 7:15</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464239"></a> "ravening wolves" appear as "sheep," i.e., claim to be Christians.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464241"></a> Genesis 49:27</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464243"></a> In latter days, Benjamin shall be a "ravening wolf."</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464245"></a> Genesis 49:27</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464247"></a> This "ravening wolf" from Benjamin's tribe first shall kill its "prey" in the morning.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464249"></a> Genesis 49:27</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464251"></a> Later this "ravening wolf" from Benjamin's tribe will "divide the spoil" <em>i.e.</em>, plunder and divide its prey.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464253"></a> Rom. 11:1 Phil. 3:5</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464255"></a> Paul is of the tribe of Benjamin.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464257"></a> Acts 7:58 8:1-3</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464259"></a> Paul starts out participating in murders of Christians.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464261"></a> Gal. 2:9</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464263"></a> Paul later divides the church along Gentile-Jew lines, reserving for himself the right to recruit Gentiles, claiming the Jerusalem church relinquished the Gentile-mission exclusively to Paul.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464265"></a> Ezek. 22:26-32</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464267"></a> The "ravening wolves" will come who do "violence to the Law," and who teach the people to "hide their eyes from the Sabbath," and to no longer discern clean food from impure food, etc. These wolves are associated with those who "have false visions" and "divine" lies in the Lord's name.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464269"></a> Rom. 14:5; Col. 2:14-16</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464271"></a> Paul, a Benjamite, came claiming visions of Jesus, and taught the Sabbath rule was a shadow of things to come, and no one can any longer judge another on failure to keep the Sabbath.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464273"></a> 2 Cor. 2:14; Gal. 5:1; Rom. 7:1 et seq.; Rom. 10:4; 2 Cor. 3:7; Gal. 5:1; Col. 2:14-17; Rom. 3:27; Rom. 4:15; 2 Cor. 3:9; Gal. 2:16; Gal. 3:21; Col. 2:14</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464275"></a> Paul, a Benjamite, came claiming visions of Jesus, and on that authority taught the Law was abrogated, abolished, done away with, nailed to a cross; it was against us, etc. This same Paul said Jews are released from the Law and if they follow Christ instead, He has set them free from the Law which is death and bondage. This same Paul taught the Law was given by angels who are no gods, and Paul asked `why would anyone anyway want to submit to the weak and beggarly angels (elements)' who are no gods?</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464277"></a> Romans 14:21;1 Corinthians 8:4-13; 1 Cor. 10:19-29; 1 Tim 4:4.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464279"></a> Paul, a Benjamite, came claiming visions of Jesus, and on that authority taught all foods were pure, including meat sacrificed to idols.</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
</tbody>
|
||
</table>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464280"></a></p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464281"></a> Thus, God prophesied a wolf from the tribe of Benjamin would emerge who would start out killing its prey but end up plundering and dividing its prey. Jesus said to<em><strong> look out for a wolf </strong></em>who would claim to be a Christian but is a<strong><em> false prophet</em></strong>. Paul repeats twice that he is of the tribe of Benjamin. Like the Genesis Benjamite wolf, Paul started out killing or participating in killing of Christians. Paul, as Jesus prophecied about the wolf, later claimed he was a Christian. Subsequently, this Benjamite Paul sought to split off the Gentiles from the main church so they would follow exclusively Paul's doctrine. God further prophesied the time of the ravening wolves would involve false prophets who would claim visions but they would be divining lies; these wolves would do <em><strong>violence to the Law</strong></em>, teaching it was<strong><em> permissible to disregard Sabbath </em></strong>and to <em><strong>disregard the food laws on unclean food</strong></em>--all of which we find precise fulfillment in the post-conversion letters of Paul.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464282"></a> When this mass of evidence is assembled as clearly as it is above, Paul must be the target of these prophecies. What we have done in the name of Christ to the teachings of Jesus in reliance on the Benjamite wolf warrant our expulsion from the kingdom. (Pray for mercy.) It is not merely that we have followed a false prophet from the tribe of Benjamin. (We should have known better because he first killed us and then divided us Gentiles from the mother-church.) Rather, what is so deplorable is we even followed the wolf's teachings when they contradicted the words of Jesus whom we claim is our Lord. It is astonishing, frankly, how we ever rationalized this behavior: claiming the name Christian but refusing to follow teachings of Jesus when we realize Jesus is incompatible with Paul such as:</p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="Quote"><a name="pgfId=464283"></a> Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments [of the Law of Moses], and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:19)</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464284"></a> All we can do now is repent and obey.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div>
|
||
<h1 class="Heading1"><a name="pgfId=464299"></a>
|
||
<div></div>
|
||
Another Prophecy Aimed At Paul?</h2>
|
||
<table>
|
||
<caption>
|
||
<h6 class="TableTitle"><a name="pgfId=464288"></a> Do Not Follow The One Who Says The Time Is At Hand</h6>
|
||
</caption>
|
||
<tbody>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464293"></a> <a name="marker=464292"></a> Luke <a href="http://biblos.com/luke/21-8.htm">21:8</a></p>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="t;pgfId=464294""></a> "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying,... `The time is at hand!' [<em><strong>ho kairos eggiken</strong></em>] Do not go after them."</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
<td>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464297"></a> <a name="marker=464296"></a> Rom.13:12</p>
|
||
<p class="CellBody"><a name="pgfId=464298"></a> "the night is far gone, the day is at hand [<em><strong>hemera eggiken</strong></em>]"</p>
|
||
</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
</tbody>
|
||
</table>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464300"></a> <a name="32862"></a> In addition to the Benjamite prophecy, it seems likely Jesus in Luke 21:8 additionally prophesied about Paul. Jesus warned us to beware of the one who would lead us astray. This deceiver would be a Christian preacher ("[he] will come in my name") who would tell you the "<em><strong>time is at hand</strong></em>." Those very words are in Paul's mouth in Romans 13:12, warning us "the day is at hand." The prophecy of a "time" is inclusive of the word<em> day</em>. Thus, Paul's phrase matches Jesus' prophecy exactly. This allows us to deduce that Paul (and Paul alone) is the Christian preacher who fits Jesus' prophecy in Luke 21:8.</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead">[<span style="color: #ff0000;">2011 ADDITION</span>] Please note also how precise Jesus was being. He himself taught the "kingdom is at hand." (<a href="http://bible.cc/matthew/3-2.htm">Matt 3:2</a>.) The word is the same, from "engiken." (See "<a href="http://biblos.com/matthew/3-2.htm">Greek</a>"). The difference between a false teacher and true treacher is Jesus uses the word "kingdom" and the false teacher will use the word or concept of "time" being "at hand." Thus, the message of the kingdom's coming soon is not the same as saying the "time" is coming soon. And it is the latter which is the false gospel.]</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464301"></a> To repeat, what Jesus said would be the identifying mark of the deceiver was he will say "the time is at hand." Paul precisely matches this, saying "the day is at hand," in exactly identical Greek. Thereby, Jesus tells us Paul is one who comes in Jesus' name to "lead [you] astray." Jesus' warning was "do not go after them."</p>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead"><a name="pgfId=464302"></a> Will we obey Jesus?</p>
|
||
<h3>FURTHER RESEARCH</h3>
|
||
<p class="BodyAfterHead">After publishing JWO in 2006, we found further confirmation, and detail this in an article "<a href="/JWO/benjamite-wolf-research.html">Benjamite Wolf Research</a>."<a name="pgfId=458247"></a></p>
|
||
<h3>FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEEN</h3>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<hr />
|
||
<div class="footnotes">
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 1.</span> <a name="pgfId=464107"></a> We discussed elsewhere the Ebionite charge that Paul was not a true Jew. Then could he still be a Benjamite? Yes, Paul could be a descendant of a tribe without being a true Jew. For example, if one of Paul's grandparents were a Benjamite, then he can be of the tribe but not a true Jew.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 2.</span> <a name="pgfId=464125"></a> The unlikelihood that this was consensual from the twelve is discussed in <a href="e:/Jwo%20#1/es6e.#15088" class="XRef"> </a> .</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 3.</span> <a name="pgfId=464134"></a> Notice incidentally that the positive spin was manufactured by Hippolytus changing the verse's meaning from divide the spoils to apportion the food.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 4.</span> <a name="pgfId=464139"></a> See, e.g., http://cgg.org/index.cfm/page/literature.showResource/CT/ARTB/k/1007 (last accessed 8/19/05).</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 5.</span> <a name="pgfId=464348"></a> Louis Ginzberg, <em>The Legends of the Jews</em> (1909) Vol.2 Part VIII; Gill ("the temple which stood in the lot of Benjamin"). This rationale to apply the prophecy to a role for the tribe of Benjamin in the sacrifices is extremely weak. Just because the Temple apparently occupied part of Benjamin's territory does not mean that the morning and evening sacrifice was this tribe's responsibility. The duty of performing the sacrifice belonged to the Levites. It is a stretch of the wildest proportions to say a Benjamite in latter days would kill an animal by the mere passive role of having its tribal land under the feet of a Levite priest.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 6.</span> <a name="pgfId=464153"></a> Kings in those days were anointed with oil. The word anointed was messhiach. Thus, King David sometimes refers to himself as messhiach--anointed one. In Daniel, this title took on the characteristic of a future world ruler.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="footnote">
|
||
<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 7.</span> <a name="pgfId=464171"></a> This point in 22:30 destroys the Paulinists' claim that the sovereignty of God would prevent such apostasy. Paulinists cannot imagine apostasy by nearly everyone would be tolerated by God. Thus, they reason that our last four-hundred years of emphasis on Paul is proof that God predestines such an emphasis. This assumption, however, is fed by a circular deduction from Paul's false teaching about predestination. (On proof of its falsity, see <a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%2016.#10879" class="XRef"> </a> pages <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&lpg=PP1&dq=jesus%20words%20only&pg=PA412#v=onepage&q=predestination&f=false">412</a> et seq .) God repeatedly shows, however, that wholesale apostasy is possible. He does nothing to stop it short of warnings in Scripture that He expects us to read!</p>
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<div class="footnote">
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 8.</span> <a name="pgfId=464181"></a> <a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%205.#19182" class="XRef"> </a> .“Did Paul Negate the Law’s Further Applicability?” on page <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&lpg=PP1&dq=jesus%20words%20only&pg=RA1-PA71">71. [Link to books.google version].<br /></a></p>
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 9.</span> <a name="pgfId=464739"></a> See <a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/chapter%205.#30478" class="XRef"> </a> page 75 et seq.</p>
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 10.</span> <a name="pgfId=464761"></a> For further discussion on this passage, see <a href="file://///tsclient/C/Writings%20in%20Process/JWO%20Redo%20Formatting/Final%20Framemaker%20Archive/Appendix%20C%20Sabbath%20&%20Easter.#11783" class="XRef"> </a> Appendix C.</p>
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<div class="footnote">
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 11.</span> <a name="pgfId=464743"></a> Some claim Jesus taught all kosher food laws in the Law of Moses are abrogated. They base this on the account in Mark 7:2 et seq. However, it is a misreading to say Jesus abrogated the laws of kosher foods. First, Jesus is discussing the Rabbinic tradition that food was unclean if you did not ritually wash your hands first. (Mark 7:2,4, 5.) Jesus' disciples ate without ritual washing of their hands. Jesus' point then is to show the Pharisees that they make up rules that (a) are not in the Bible and (b) which make of none effect what the Bible does teach. (Mark 7:7-13.) Jesus so far is tightening the reigns of the Law, not loosening them. Then Jesus says "nothing without the man that going into him can defile him." (Mark 7:15; cf. Matt. 15:11.) If it defiles you, Jesus means it makes you a sinner. This does appear to reach as far as the question of non-kosher foods. What Jesus is saying, however, is that food laws, even the valid kosher laws, are health rules of what is "clean" and "unclean." They are not rules if violated make you a sinner. Jesus was trying to give the rationale of God behind the food laws so we would know how to interpret them. The food laws are good for your health. Thus, if you violate these rules, you are not thereby a sinner. God does not want to hear prayers of repentance over violating food laws. (The idol-meat rule, however, implicates moral wrong; it was not part of the clean-unclean food laws.) Thus, a Rabbinic rule on handwashing, even if valid, could not taint you morally if you happen to violate it. What corroborates Jesus did not intend to abrogate kosher is that while Jesus' disciples ignored the hand-washing rule for clean foods created by Rabbis, his disciples always ate kosher. In Acts 10:14, when Peter in a dream is presented non-kosher foods to eat, "Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean." This tells us indirectly that Jesus ate kosher. The dream story incidentally was simply God's message to Peter to regard Gentiles as clean and disregard the Rabbinic teaching that Gentiles were unclean. There is not the slightest hint the food laws were abrogated. If either Jesus or Peter teach against the food laws, then they are implicated as apostates under Deut. 13:1-5. One must tread carefully when they try to prove Jesus or his true apostles abrogated any portion of the Law given Moses -- a Law "eternal for all generations." (Ex. 27:21.)</p>
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 12.</span><a name="pgfId=464751"></a>See “Paul Contradicts Jesus About Idol Meat” on page <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3VFnsDuxBPcC&lpg=PP113&dq=jesus%20words%20only&pg=PA113">113 (books.google link).</a> <a href="e:/Jwo%20#1/es18.#36987" class="XRef"> </a></p>
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<p class="Footnote"><span class="footnoteNumber"> 13.</span> <a name="pgfId=464203"></a> Exodus 23:11 says "but the seventh year thou shalt let it [your land] rest and lie fallow; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat." The field owner was also not supposed to glean the field in ordinary harvests but leave the "fallen fruit" for the "poor and sojourner." (Lev. 19:10.) Thus, Scripture always depicts food being provided to the poor without Minutemen standing at the border of the farm to be sure the poor are willing to work for the food they picked up from the orchard. The proof that Paul has affected the poor negatively is there is no custom among Christians for the last 2,000 years to comply with Exodus 23:11 or Leviticus 19:10.</p>
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