In the non-Jewish world concerning the Temple, we have all heard that Yeshua cursed the Temple, and that the Temple services were “done away with” for those who believe in “Jesus.” They say he was the final sacrifice and that everything changed from that point on. In this study, we are going to challenge that assertion and give evidences that will show that the Temple and its services were not “done away with” because of the death of Yeshua and that true believers really “picked it up” when it came to the Temple and continued worshiping there, specifically offering the korbanot (sacrifices). If they did, then we are going to have to reevaluate what Christianity has taught and continues to teach.
Now, how can we prove this? We are going to use Acts 21 to do it. Yeshua was slain in 30 AD, so we can date Acts 21. Paul is journeying back to Jerusalem to keep the festival of Shavuot (Acts 20.16). He came out of a Nazarite vow in Acts 18.18 by cutting his hair. Samuel, Samson and Yochanon ha Matvil (John the Baptist) were lifetime Nazarites. In most cases, you can take a Nazarite vow for a period of time that you designate. Most took them for 6 weeks or so. The Nazir is definitely connected to the Temple because you cannot complete it without a Temple. Acts 21.15, 23.26 and 24.27 tell us that the year Paul is coming to the Temple to keep Shavuot is 58 AD as we shall soon see. Paul is arrested due to false charges in Acts 21. He is taken to the Fortress Antonia, where he asks to speak to the people (v 34, 39). He speaks in Hebrew to them (v 40) and continues in Chapter 23. There is a plot to kill him (23.12) so the Romans transfer him to Caesarea (23.23). At Caesarea he is going to speak to Felix, the Roman governor. Caesarea was the Roman headquarters in the region.
The high priest, some elders and a certain lawyer came and brought charges to Felix (24.1). Paul answers these charges in 24.10-21. Felix had an understanding of the Way (another name for the Nazarenes) and put them off (24.22). Two years later, Felix is replaced by Festus as governor and history says this was around 60 AD, so all these events in Acts 21 happen in 58 AD (24.27). Paul was a prisoner for these two years because the Romans were hoping that money would be given to the Roman authorities to have Paul released (24.26). So we know it has been 28 years since Yeshua died and was resurrected. Paul has taken a Nazarite vow and cut his hair (Acts 18.18), thus ending the vow. He is on his way to Jerusalem to keep the festival of Shavuot and to offer korbanot in keeping with ending his vow (Num 6. 13-21; Acts 24.17). He meets with James (Jacob) and the elders, which included the apostles of Yeshua who wrote most of the New Testament.
In Acts 21.15-18 we read about James, whose Hebrew name was Jacob. He is Yeshua’s half brother, and it also says that “the elders were present.” This would include some of the “shaliachim” or “apostles” of Yeshua. Josephus says James (or Jacob, the Lord’s brother) was a Nazarite and a Pharisee from the School of Shammai. Paul was a Pharisee from the School of Hillel (Acts 22.3-5, 23.6). James was later killed at the insistence of a high priest. He had favor among the Pharisees in Jerusalem and was the Nasi (“Rosh Knesset” or president) of the congregation of believers in Yeshua in Jerusalem. So history tells us that the believers in Yeshua had a positive relationship with the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, so they were Torah observant. Now, if Yeshua came to do away with the Torah (Law) and told his disciples that, why weren’t they obeying him? Why were they still keeping the Torah? It’s because he never told them that. The “church” has made up that story and everyone believes it, but it just isn’t true. So, the “elders were present” means that some of the writers of the “New Testament” were present.
In Acts 21.19-20 it says that Paul began to relate to them the things that the Lord had done through his ministry among the Gentiles. And when they heard it, they began to glorify God and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Torah (Law).” Where it says “many thousands” it is the Greek word “myriads.” A “myriad” is 10,000, so there are “tens of thousands” who believe in Yeshua and were Torah observant. This shows that thousands upon thousands of believers kept the Torah zealously 28 years after Yeshua. Somehow, with all the writers of the New Testament there, they were never told that the Torah had been “done away with” like people are taught today.
According to Christian doctrine, James and the elders should have been telling Paul to rebuke these believers because all that was “over in Christ.” But what we read is “and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews (who believe) who are among the Gentiles (in the Dispersion) to forsake Moses (stop following the Torah), telling them not to circumcise their children (according to the Abrahamic covenant) nor walk according to the customs.” To “forsake Moses” means “to forsake the Torah” by telling them not to circumcise their children, nor to “walk according to the customs” which means that they were being told that Paul was telling them not to walk in the “ethos” or “ethics” of the Jewish people, the way to do things. We have the written Torah, but there was a concept called “halachah” or the “way to walk” in the commandments.
In Jewish thought, there are five levels of Jewish law, as defined by rabbinical law today. We have the written Torah, then laws implied in the Torah, then laws found elsewhere in the Scriptures, then rabbinic decrees, and finally customs and ethics. All the 613 commandments have halachah, or explanations, on how to do things. Christianity has “laws and halachah” or oral laws, too, on how Christians are to walk. Paul taught the Jewish “traditions” according to 1 Cor 11.1-2 where it says, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am (an imitator) of Messiah (who kept the Torah all his life). Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.” 2 Thes 2.15 says, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.” Later, he says in 2 Thes 3.6 that “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Yeshua ha Mashiach, that you keep aloof (withdraw) from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the traditions which you received from us.”
Paul didn’t teach all the of the Jewish halachah, but there were some of them that he taught. The word “traditions” is the Greek word “paradosis” and it is Strongs #3862. In the Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, on p. 481-482, it says “so Paul’s teaching (2 Thes 3.6); in plural of the particular injunctions of Paul’s instruction, (1 Cor 11.2; 2 Thes 2.15) is used in the singular of a written narrative; again, of the body of precepts, especially ritual, which in the opinion of the later Jews were orally delivered by Moses and orally transmitted in unbroken succession to subsequent generations, which precepts, both illustrating and expanding the written law, as they did, were to be obeyed with equal reverence.”
The people have been told that he was teaching against these customs and the Torah. In this passage, we have two of the five levels of Jewish law being talked about. No doubt, Paul has taught against man-made traditions, like the 18 Edicts of the School of Shammai, which said a non-Jew must be circumcised to be saved. Paul taught against this particular point of Jewish halachah because it was not from God, but so did James, Peter, and the elders. This particular issue was settled back in Acts 15. This may have been seen by some as forsaking “all of the other customs,” which was not true. Yeshua even disagreed with some of these traditions, but that didn’t mean he disagreed with all of them! Traditions are fine as long as they do not conflict with the written Scriptures. In Acts 21.21, James is saying that some have said that Paul was not teaching the highest level of Jewish law, the written Torah or “Moses”, or even the lowest level of Jewish law, the customs or ethics. James does not believe that these rumors were true about Paul, as we shall see later. What is interesting is, these rumors were saying exactly what Christianity teaches about Paul today, that he taught against the Torah and the customs of the Jewish people. But, as we will see, these rumors are not true, and Paul is going to prove it. That means that Paul taught the Torah and the customs and did not believe that they were “done away with” as many believe today.
In Acts 21.21 he is saying that they have been told that Paul was not teaching the highest level of Jewish law (Moses/Torah) or even the lowest level (customs/ethics). Acts 21.23 says that there were four believers who “are under a vow.” This was a Nazarite vow, just like Paul. So, in other words, now we have five believers in Yeshua who have taken a Nazarite vow. Acts 21.24 says that Paul was to take them and “pay their expenses.” These “expenses” are listed in Num 6.13-15, and these would be the korbanot that went along with coming out of a Nazarite vow. These expenses were paid at the Chamber of Tokens where Paul would have been given a receipt to be given to a Levite who would then go get the following items: 5 lambs for an Olah (burnt offering); 5 ewe lambs for a Chata’at (sin offering); 5 rams for a Shelem (peace offering); 5 baskets of Matzah Solet; Challot for five and Minchah Rekikin wafers for five.
This, as you can see, would have been very expensive. All of these were being offered in the Temple by believers 28 years after Yeshua. How can people believe the nonsense that Yeshua cursed the Temple? How can people believe the nonsense that the Temple was “done away with” and that Yeshua was the “final sacrifice” for a believer? Paul, James, the elders (who wrote the New Testament), the four other believers in Yeshua didn’t believe that. The fact is these animals, bread offerings and wine never took away sin in the first place. They were ceremonies. In fact, Paul payed for the four others to show that he was Torah observant and that the rumors about him “forsaking Moses” and the “customs” were untrue. In fact, that is exactly what Christianity teaches and says Paul is teaching in his writings. That is nothing but a lie. Paul went to great expense to show that these rumors were untrue. Paying for the expenses of these four others made a point to establish that fact. Yet churchmen teach it about Paul today. To what extent do you think he would go to to prove it otherwise? Maybe people don’t really understand the korbanot (sacrifices, which actually means “to draw near”) because they have been taught wrong from the beginning.
Acts 21.24 goes on to say that these believers went on to “shave their heads” which immediately tells you this was a Nazarite vow. They were coming out of their vow just like Paul cut his hair in Acts 18.18, coming out of his vow. Paul was asked to do this “to show that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you also walk orderly (keeping the customs/halachah), keeping the Torah (did not forsake Moses).” This proves that Paul and every Jewish believer kept the commandments. Peter says in Acts 10.14 that he ate kosher food so that he would not be ritually unclean and could enter the Temple. So, Paul went the next day and purified himself (immersed in the mikvah on the Temple Mount), along with the four others. They went into the Temple and gave notice to the kohanim (priests) that he was there because he was coming out of a Nazarite vow, and the sacrifices were offered.
Paul said in Acts 24.17 that offering the korbanot was one of the reasons he came to the Temple. The word “offerings” in that verse is #4376 and “prosphora” in Greek. This can be bloodless (bread, wine) or bloody (lambs, ewes, rams, birds, bullocks, goats). Korbanot is the Hebrew equivalent. Believers continued in the Temple until 70 AD. We read in Acts 6.7 that many kohanim (priests) became believers, and they served in the Temple.
Did Yeshua ever become unclean? Yes! To be ritually unclean does not mean “in sin.” A woman that has a baby is ritually unclean but not in sin. The woman with an issue for 12 years (Mark 5.25-34) is ritually unclean, and she touches the tzitzit of Yeshua’s garment, and that would make Yeshua unclean. A 12 year old girl died, and Yeshua takes her by the hand and raised her from the dead (Mark 5.35-43). That made Yeshua unclean for several reasons, and that would go for anyone that he raised from the dead. Did Yeshua ever offer korbanot? Yes! He couldn’t be the Messiah with all the different commandments if he didn’t obey all the commands, including the korbanot.
Will Yeshua ever bring a chata’at (sin offering) for himself in the future? Ezek 37.24-25 says “And my servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in my ordinances, and keep my statutes, and observe them. And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.” Now, the terms “David my servant” and “prince” are idioms for the Messiah. With that in mind, let’s go to Ezek 45.22, where it says, “And on that day the prince (Messiah) shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering (chata’at).” A sin offering can be offered by someone who has sinned, but it doesn’t always mean that. Again, a woman who has had a baby has fulfilled the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, a mitzvah or a “good work.” But, she also brings a sin offering during her purification ceremony (Lev 12.6). Why does she bring a sin offering? Because sin and death entered the world. Lev 17.11 says that the life is in the blood. A birth sheds blood, or a “loss of life” because sin came into the world. So, as a remembrance (a “zekor”) that sin entered the world, she brings a sin offering (chata’at). In Lev 15.25 we learn about a woman with a discharge not at her monthly time. She is called a “Zavah.” When she becomes ritually clean on the eighth day, after seven days of separation, she offers a sin offering (Lev 15.30).
What is the difference between the five korbanot? What is the difference between a sin offering and a guilt offering? What does korban mean? Sins against heaven are sins against God, so they required a sin offering. Sins against man required a guilt offering. Korban means “to draw near” and it is related to the word “karav” which can mean sexual intimacy with a husband and wife (Isa 8.3). So, the korbanot were ways to “draw near” to God in an intimate way. Believers continued in the Temple after Yeshua and attended the daily services (Acts 2.46, 3.1). Priests who became believers continued to serve in the temple (Acts 6.7); they offered korbanot (Acts 21.24-26, 24.17) and attended the festivals (Acts 20.16).
To properly understand the subject of this teaching, we need to go to Acts 10 and look at the story of Peter and the Roman centurion Cornelius. The synagogues at that time were full of what was called “the God-fearers” or in Hebrew “Yiray ha Shamayim” or “fearers of Heaven.” In Greek they were called “Phoubemenoi” or “Sebemenoi” (“worshipper”). In Acts 10.2 we learn that Cornelius “feared God” or was a “God-fearer” and in Greek the word “phoubemenos” is used. These non-Jewish God-fearers weren’t members of the synagogues, but they believed in the God of Israel and followed the Jewish halachah as far as they wanted to go and attended the synagogues.
Right before Yeshua was born, a man named Hillel was president (Nasi) of the Great Sanhedrin. The Vice-President (Av Beit Din) was a man named Shammai. These two men were the head of two very prominent schools, the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai. These two were over the Sanhedrin, but the Sanhedrin was made up of mostly Sadducees, not Pharisees like Hillel and Shammai. A descendant of Hillel was usually the Nasi of the Sanhedrin. The two “houses” or “schools” called Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai were Pharisees, but not all Pharisees are the same. This is a crucial point when trying to understand the New Testament. There are classic arguments between the House of Hillel and Shammai. For instance, Hillel said you could heal on the Sabbath and carry a pallet, but the House of Shammai said no. So, obviously it was someone from Beit Shammai arguing with Yeshua after he healed the paralytic and Yeshua told him to carry his pallet and go home (John 5.1-47). But that doesn’t mean Yeshua was against all the Pharisees everywhere. They were engaging in some of the classic halachic arguments that are discussed in the Talmud and other Jewish writings between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai.
Beit Shammai passed what was called the 18 Edicts before Yeshua was born. These edicts restricted contact between Jews and non-Jews. We do not have a copy of these edicts because between 55 and 70 AD the Pharisees from Beit Hillel gained control of the Sanhedrin, but there is a list of them in the article “Houses of Hillel and Shammai” on Wikipedia, and some are referenced in the Mishnah and some are even mentioned in the Brit Chadasha (renewed testament). The Sanhedrin ruled that these laws from Beit Shammai were not faithful to the Torah and were disregarded. However, they were in existence during the time of Yeshua and up to 55 AD to 70 AD, when the New Testament books were written. That means in Acts 10, these laws were being applied in Jewish life. Some edicts said that Jews could not go into the home of a non-Jew, do business with a non-Jew or even eat with a non-Jew, even if the non-Jew was a God-fearer and followed what commandments applied to him.
In Acts 10.23-28, the Ruach ha Kodesh has fallen on Cornelius and he is saved. But, he isn’t circumcised, which is another way of saying he isn’t Jewish. In Acts 11.1-3 believers accused Peter of going to uncircumcised men and even eating with them. Peter says to them that it was indeed “unlawful” (according to the 18 Edicts) to be associated with these non-Jews or to even visit them, but the Lord told him to go and has even shown him something different. The sheet and animals in Peter’s vision dealt with people and the 18 Edicts of the School of Shammai. In Acts 10.34-35 it says, “I most certainly know now that God is not one to show partiality but in every nation, the man who fears him (the God-fearers) and does what is right (walks in the Torah) is welcome to him.” James 2.17 says that “faith without works is dead.” The Hebrew word for “works” is “mitzvot” which is another name for the commandments. Faith and commandments are not separate (Matt 7.21-23; 1 John 2.3-4), but they go hand in hand. However, we are not saved by works. God gives us faith, it is a free gift, and God gives us a way to walk (the commandments, the mitzva’ot).
Beit Shammai said that a God-fearer/non-Jew cannot be saved or enter the Kingdom of God unless they became a Jew through ritual circumcision (Acts 15.1). Beit Hillel said that non-Jews could enter the Kingdom of God (be saved) and become a righteous Gentile. Today, we have basically the same thing going on. People will say that if you are a non-Jew, you don’t need to keep the commandments, or that you should just keep the “moral” laws. The Torah was never divided up into moral or ritual laws. It was seen as one. But, that is how some get around it. We have returned right back to Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. But the story of Cornelius changed all that. He entered the Kingdom of God, and he wasn’t Jewish, but he followed the commandments as they applied to him and continued to do so, as did the Jewish believers.
Non-Jews began to be active in synagogues. People will quote Galatians 3.26-29 and say “See, there is no Jew or Greek anymore. All that has been done away with.” But it also says there is no male or female, and we know there is a difference. Did people stop being male or female when they became a believer? The answer is “No.” It is not saying that. It means a Jew is not higher than a non-Jew, a male is not higher than a female, a master is not higher than a slave in the Kingdom of God. They have the same status but different roles. In Acts 11.3 we read that Peter ate with Cornelius, and we know Peter ate kosher (10.14), so that means Cornelius did.
In Acts 21.20, we read about all the Jewish believers who kept the Torah, including kosher. Peter was there in Mark 7.1-23 and he never heard Yeshua say that “all foods are clean” because he continued to eat kosher. However, the statement “all foods are clean” can be looked at several ways. In the context of Mark 7, just because you don’t wash your hands in a ritual manner before you eat doesn’t make the food you eat unclean in a ritual manner (that is one of the 18 Edicts). The other alternative to that statement is that Yeshua never said it, and it was added for clarification by a translator because it is written in many Bibles in parenthesis. It was added to give the impression that the kosher laws in the Scriptures were done away with.
The point is, believers with Yeshua and after Yeshua did not eat food that would have made them ritually unclean so that they would not be able to enter into or participate in Temple worship. The level of kosher for Jewish believers was the same for a non-Jewish believer or they could not have eaten together, go to the Temple, keep the festivals there and so on.
Another misunderstood Scripture is Eph 2.11-22, and we are going to look at what Paul is saying in light of the 18 Edicts. In the Temple there was a wall going around the inner courts called the Soreg. The word comes from the word “sarug” which means “a net.” This is because the Soreg had lattice work that looked like a net. The Soreg had some signs on it that warned non-Jews from going beyond that point, or they would be responsible for their own death. This admonition is based on Scripture. Paul was accused of bringing a non-Jew into the inner courts in Acts 21.28. These were false charges, but the wall being referred to in Eph 2.14 is not the Soreg. Some say “the law of commandments” in v 15 is the Torah, but that is not being referred to either, and we can disprove that over and over again. What Paul is referring to is the 18 Edicts of Beit Shammai and other unscriptural, man-made laws that separated the Jew from the non-Jew. Yeshua abolished in his flesh the enmity contained in the Law of commandments, in ordinances, or the 18 Edicts that separated Jew and non-Jew. That’s why it goes on to say he united the two (Jews and non-Jews) into one new man. His death abolished these differences.
These ordinances contained in the 18 Edicts went out in the Body of Believers long before they went out in the “Judaisms” at large. But eventually, the Jews threw them out. Just like in the United States, we threw out laws that were not “constitutional.” In Acts 15, we have this issue come up, and it is referenced again in Acts 21.25. The issue was whether a non-Jew needs to be circumcised (become a Jew) to be saved (Acts 15.1). It was determined in Acts 15 that they did not, however, there were minimal standards that they needed to do in order to have fellowship between the two groups.
In Acts 15 we have an issue come up, and it is referred to again in Acts 21.25. The issue was whether a non-Jew needs to be circumcised (to become a Jew) to be saved. It was decided in Acts 15.19-21 that they did not, however, there were minimal standards that they needed to do in order to have fellowship and be “one body” in the faith. These minimal standards are listed in Acts 15. 20 as abstaining from things contaminated by idols (idolatry); from fornication (sexual immorality); from things strangled (carrion) and from blood. In a “much overlooked” verse in Acts 15.21 we learn that, “For Moses (Torah) from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” In other words, they were to go to the synagogues and learn the Torah. That is strange counsel if we are to believe the Torah has been “done away with” as many teach! This counsel is in line with Matt 28.19-20 where Yeshua tells his talmidim (his students, apostles) to go out to the nations (Gentiles/non-Jews) of all nations and make talmidim out of them, teaching them to observe all that he has commanded them (the Torah).
So, these minimal standards in a nutshell are: to avoid idolatry, blood, things strangled and sexual immorality. There are many other laws in the Torah that go along with these four things. For instance, instead of just one “idolatry” there are many types and many laws concerning idolatry in the Torah. There are 613 laws in the Torah according to some. Is there just one law concerning idolatry? There are many commandments that deal with it directly, like horoscopes, mediums, sacred pillars and trees, omens and so on. In fact, there is a whole tractate in the Mishnah called called “Avodah Zarah” that deals with idolatrous practices. If you read that, you will learn about all kinds of idolatry, even things you didn’t think was there, and you will find judgments on them.
Now, these laws applied to non-Jewish believers in Yeshua in the Torah. Rather than just one law in Acts 15.20, there are many laws. Let’s look at the next one. Fornication is another way of saying sexual immorality. Leviticus has two chapters on sexual immorality, Chapters 17 and 18. The next one says that they were to abstain from “things strangled.” In the Koran, what James says here is reproduced almost word for word, so it gives insight into how this was understood. When he says “things strangled” it was understood as “carrion” which is when something is killed by an action on the windpipe, like when a big cat kills its prey. Nahum 2.12 says, “The lion tore enough for his cubs, killed (“strangled” literally) enough for his lionesses, and filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh.” Ezek 44.31 says, “The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces (carrion).” In the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies it says that Peter taught others to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, dead carcasses from an animal that has been strangled or caught by beasts” (from the book “James, the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls” by Robert Eisenman). The last one is to abstain from blood (Lev 17.16). That includes not having sexual relations with a wife who is in her monthly cycle, and when she has a discharge not at the period of her menstruation (Lev 15.19-30). She is called a “Niddah.” Abstaining from blood also includes not eating it and also the shedding of blood. Now looking at these four, how many laws are there in the Torah that deals with these things? That’s why the non-Jews were told to go to the local synagogues once they became a believer and to learn the Torah, what Moses taught.
So, we have these four “minimal standards” which in reality weren’t so minimal. You have idols, fornication, things strangled and blood. In Ezek 33.25-26 it says, “Therefore, say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, You eat with the blood, lift up your eyes to your idol as you shed blood, should you possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbors wife, should you possess the land?'” In these verses you have all four mentioned, and it was probably one of the verses that came to the mind of James through the Ruach ha Kodesh as he was making the ruling on this matter in Acts 15.20,28 and Acts 21.25.
Now, we have already mentioned that the Soreg comes up in Acts 21.27-30. He has been falsely accused of bringing someone past the Soreg that shouldn’t have been there. In Acts 22, Paul mounts his defense and he begins to tell his story. He talks about Yeshua and his salvation. He mentions that he participated in the death of Stephen, an event everyone was familiar with. He also talks about how Yeshua sent him to the non-Jews. Up to this point in his story they listened. They didn’t have much to say when he told them about how the resurrected Yeshua appeared to him, and that Yeshua was the Messiah. But when he got to the point where he was sent to bring the good news (the Basar, or “gospel”) to the non-Jews, they raised their voices and said “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live.” This is an important point that is never taught in the churches or Christianity. The biggest issue in the first century was not whether Yeshua was the Messiah or not, but the status of the non-Jews coming into the Kingdom of God without becoming Jews first as we see in Acts 15.1 and the Book of Galatians.
The Book of Hebrews is one of the worst translated books in the so-called “New Testament” because it is translated based on Christian theology, which is way off the mark. You can find this problem in every book when you are translating Hebrew into Greek, then Greek into any other language, then mixing in replacement theology. However, when this book was translated into English, it had already become immersed in “replacement theology.” In Hebrews 9, Paul is talking about the Temple services. Heb 9.9 says in most English Bibles, “which was (talking about Yom Kippur) a symbol for the present time (the Olam Ha Zeh).” But in Greek it says, “which is a symbol a symbol for the present time” (present tense). He is talking about the “present time” so it should be “is” not “was” because “was” is past tense. The translator is implying that all of this has “passed away” due to his belief in “replacement theology.” Heb 9.10 says, “Since they are concerned only to food and drink and various washing’s, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.” The phrase “concerned only” or “which stood only” is in italics, which means it was added into the verse by translators, implying that these things don’t matter (food, drink, immersions, regulations for the body, etc). So, in other words, dismiss these things because it has no value or relevance to a believer in “Jesus.” But that isn’t what these things are saying. We have a whole chapter showing us it does have meaning.
Heb 10.4 says that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (the word there means the “sin nature”), and the context is Yom Kippur. They could never take away sin and nobody said they could in the Torah. They never took away the sins of Abraham, Adam, David, Moses, the Prophets, Peter, Paul, or anyone. They were never meant to because they taught something else; they were to instruct us. They were part of the ceremonies to instruct us about many, many things. We need to understand so many things, like the Temple and the ceremonies, the Korbanot, the Messiah and we need to know about deception. We are not free of it just because we are believers in Yeshua.
The key to understanding the Book of Hebrews is to understand the concepts of the Olam Ha Zeh (this present age) and the Olam Haba (the World to Come). In Christianity, you will have different ages like the “Age of Law” and the Age of Grace.” However, these concepts as they are presented by Christian teachers is not true. The Torah and grace are compatible and go hand in hand (John 1.17), they always did. Biblically, we have the Olam Ha Zeh, or this present age (Matt 24.3). Then we have the Atid Lavo, or the Future Age of 1000 years, which is also called the Messianic Kingdom, the Day of the Lord and also the Millennium. The Olam Haba is the World to Come, also referred to as the “Eighth Day” which comes after the Atid Lavo, or eternity future. There is no more time, earth and man have been restored, also called the “age to come” in Heb 6.5.
Hebrews was written with the phrases, idioms and concepts of the Jewish people., not with English/western concepts of Christianity. These phrases, idioms and concepts were given by God to Israel. They are the Lord’s in reality. As believers, the New Testament is a continuation of the Tanach, starting in Genesis. Heb 10.1 says that the Torah is a “shadow” (the pattern, blueprint or “tavnit” in Hebrew) of the good things to come. We need to understand the concept of kedusha. The Lord brings Israel out of Egypt and brings them to Mount Sinai and “holy ground.” He commands them to build a Mishkan (tabernacle) so that they can take the kedusha with them when they move away from Sinai. Why? Man lost the kedusha, so the Lord had to teach them, and us, again, in levels through ceremonies found in the Temple especially. The Temple is called in Hebrew the “Beit Ha Mikdash” which means “the House of Kedusha.” Hebrews tells us to look at these things.
For a more detailed study of this subject see two teachings on this website called, “Torah and NewTestament Foundations-Was Paul Torah Observant” and “Torah and New Testament Foundations-The Real Paul.”
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