Torah and New Testament Foundations-Understanding the Redemption-Part 19

There are many today who believe that the Shroud of Turin held by the Catholic Church is the burial cloth of Yeshua. It has an image of man who has been crucified on it. But, this can be refuted in many ways, but this image has affected many artists on how they portray “Jesus” in art and movies. There was a movie that came out in 2017 called “A Case for Christ” that uses the shroud as evidence to prove Christianity. Little do they know they are being deceived.

The truth is, it is not Yeshua because he was not bound in a shroud, but wrapped like a mummy, like Lazarus, according to the Jewish burial customs (John 19.40). They also had 100 pounds of myrrh aloes to put on those wrappings. Once that hardened, it became like plaster, forming a hardened “cocoon” around his body. The only area that was open was his face, so he had a separate face cloth to cover that (John 20.7). When the talmidim entered the tomb, they saw the wrappings and the face cloth lying separately. They could see the outline of the body but when they looked at the open space where the face was, it was hollow. It was then that the Scriptures say, “and he saw and believed” (John 20.8). The Shroud of Turin should have no face on it. The image on the shroud does not match up with the biblical description of what happened to Yeshua (For example, they found coins over the eyes on the man in the shroud. In an article by Dr. Alan Whanger, Duke University, written in 1997 called “A Reply to the Doubts Concerning the Coins Over the Eyes”, he discusses this and gives the case that the coins were first century coins. However, rather than proving this was the burial cloth of Yeshua, it disproves it. Coins were a pagan ritual that would never have been allowed to play a role in the burial of the Lord’s Messiah. He didn’t need coins to pay the boatman as he crossed the river Styx. That is Greek paganism. Scripture has already stated that he was buried according to Jewish custom).

The following article appeared in the Beaumont Enterprise called “Shroud of Turin provided model as early as 31 A.D., expert says.” The article goes on to say, “A Shroud of Turin scholar says new research indicates the facial image on the shroud, considered by some to be the burial cloth for Jesus Christ, provided the model for the depictions of god-like figures as early as 31 A.D. These findings date the shroud to the time of the Crucifixion, set by many historians and theologians at 30 A.D., and refute claims that the controversial cloth is a 14th century fraud, said Dr. Alan D. Whanger, A Duke University professor of psychiatry and a member of the Association of Scientists and Scholars International for the Shroud of Turin. He said he believes they also indicate that the facial image on the shroud was well known and represented the deity to the people of the time. Whanger said he and his wife and co-researcher, Mary, found 79 points of similarity, or congruence, between the shroud and a carved relief of Zeus Kyrios dated by its own inscription to 31 A.D., when he compared them through the polarized image overlay technique developed in 1981. “In a court of law, 45 to 60 points of congruence are sufficient to establish the identity or same source of facial images,” Whanger said (The Tyndale Commentary says that every statue image of Zeus Kyrios from 167 B.C. had the face of Antiochus Epiphanes, a person the Bible says is a picture of the false messiah). He said there is excellent evidence that the facial image of Zeus Kyrios was based on that of the Shroud of Turin, lending support to the belief “that the face on the Shroud was available, either directly or through excellent detailed copies, to the artist carving the relief.” Whanger added that history indicated the shroud would have been geographically accessible to the artists of the area. There are historical referenced to the transfer of the shroud, folded into a frame showing only the facial image and called the Mandylion, from Jerusalem to Edessa. The shroud remained there, on public display, until 945 A.D.”

There are several things that we disagree with in this article, but the main thing we need to understand is the face on the Shroud of Turin is the same face on statues of Zeus Kyrios, and history tells us it was the face of Antiochus Epiphanes on those statues. Therefore, the face on the Shroud of Turin is the face of Antiochus Epiphanes, a person the Bible says is a picture of the false messiah.

It is our belief that the idol being described in Isa 40 through 46 is a crucifix, and we will have more on that later. In biblical terms, a crucifix is an Asherah/Asherim. The face on the shroud, according to this article is the face of Antiochus Epiphanes, and Antiochus is a picture of the false messiah. Satan uses paganism to keep people away from learning the truth and to deceive many. He tries to draw people into a false worship and into a form of godliness in order to keep us ignorant. He has fashioned paganism over the ages to accept the false messiah in the last days. The shroud was allowed by God as part of a deception to make people think that was what Yeshua looked like.

Why would God do that? Why does God allow miracles through false prophets? What is the purpose of a miracle? It is to see if you will follow the miracle or listen to what the person is saying. A false prophet will come along and there is a sign, and people think because there was a miracle that person is from God. No, it was allowed to see if you will follow the miracle or use it to draw attention to what that false teacher is saying. If what he is teaching does not match up with Scripture, than he is false, no matter what miracle or sign has occurred (Deut 13.1-5; Isa 8.20; Acts 17.10-11). God has already spoken about images of God, and we are not to worship them, possess them or have anything to do with them. He would not have an image of Yeshua left behind for people to worship, make copies of, carve, paint or possess. So, this is not Yeshua because it goes against the Torah. For those who don’t follow God or the Torah, all that doesn’t matter. They will believe the lie and the deception associated with it.

The Shroud of Turin is there to prepare the way for the false messiah. Pictures of “Jesus” today are very close to what Antiochus looked like. We have pictures of Antiochus without a beard, then pictures of him with a beard. Movies, art, pictures and a crucifix all look like the shroud. People say they have “visions” and they say that “Jesus looked like the Shroud of Turin.” But, we know that the article we just quoted said that shroud is believed to have been used as a model for statues of Zeus, which we know had the face of Antiochus. According to Whanger, this face was “well known” in the first century.

The point is, Isaiah 40 through 46 (among the Servant Passages) describes an idol and we know that this will be the message of not only John, but the Two Witnesses and the 144,000 during the Birth-pains, who will see this image being set up in the Temple. This idol being set up in Isaiah is being contrasted with the greatness of God in the passages. Briefly, the image in Isaiah 40 through 46 is being described as in the image of a man (44.13); the beauty of a man (44.13); sits in a house (44.13); fashions chains of silver (40.19); carried on the shoulder (45.20, 46.7); fastens it with nails (41.7); called an abomination (44.19); compared to God (40.18, 40.25); called God (44.17, 45.20) and wooden (40.26, 45.20).

In Part 20, we will pick up here and we are going to begin by discussing Isa 45.20. This verse was censored out of a prayer called the “Oleynu” meaning “it is our duty” around 1700. The Catholic Church said that this verse, that is quoted in the Oleynu, was an attack on the crucifix and that was very offensive to them. The Oleynu is called one of the noblest prayers and one of the oldest, predating the destruction of the Temple. We will begin discussing this and will be quoting from a commentary on this. The point is, the Catholics saw these verses in the Oleynu as an attack on the crucifix, giving us more reason to believe that the idol being described in Isaiah 40 through 46 is a definite allusion to the crucifix, which we believe will be the Abomination of Desolation.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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