ANTI-MISSIONARIES
In this exciting episode, you’ll learn what a “straw-man argument” is, and learn
the real motives behind those who want to have an open dialog with you.
This is intended to train future teachers for things they will face, not to
destroy anyone’s reputation or criticize them personally. We must not take
turns throwing one another into a pit over our what they wear, or don't wear, or
their behavior. We must forgive those who mistreat us. We must control our own
behavior, not impose our beliefs arrogantly.
Teach the Truth, and it will stand against the errors.
Recently, I had a dialog with a young man . . . his name is withheld because we
do to others as we would have them do to us.
(This report conforms to Mt. 18, even though he is an outsider and against
Yahusha)
It was mostly curiosity on my part that I agreed to have a discussion with him.
I had never knowingly spoken with a person who believed the sun goes around the
Earth, although one-fourth of U.S. citizens do not know the Earth orbits the
sun. This and much more was part of our discussion.
It is apparent the gentleman is an anti-missionary
working against the Besorah of Yahusha.
Anti-missionaries study what we teach, and try to turn
things against us. They hold their line of reasoning tightly, and
base all of their casuistry on interpretations they choose, and reject all
others as misinterpretations.
The use of case-based reasoning is a deceptive
method of debate commonly employed by Jesuits.
To anti-missionaries, identities and prophetic utterances are highly
interpretive, moving from the extremes of
preterism
(all prophecy has been fulfillied) and
futurism
(future
events
unfulfilled). His statement that Mashiak has not yet come is telling, since
there is no indication of a Mashiak at all in the first 5 books of Scripture –
the word or concept does not exist yet – but he expects Mashiak to come.
The term “Shiloh”
(at Bereshith 49:10) we understand to be a prophecy concerning Yahusha, but
there is no further information about Him being Yisharal’s Redeemer, or other
details.
The term would remain a mystery for the duration of the prophets. The word
Shiloh (tranquil) is still thought by some to refer to the “tranquil land”.
The Ark and the Mishkan resided at Shiloh first, then moved for 20 years to
Kiryath Yarim and a few other sites, until Daud moved it to the City of Daud.
(see Yahusha/Joshua 18:1, 1 Shemual/Samuel 4:4, 2 Shemual 6, YirmeYahu/Jeremiah
7:12)
We who identify the term “Shiloh” with Yahusha our Mashiak think of it as one of His titles.
The anti-missionary’s plan was to pin me down with proof, exclusively from the
first five books, that Yahusha is Mashiak. When I mentioned the
lambskin
covering of Adam & Kuah, the substitution with a ram for Yitshaq on Mt. Moriah,
the prophecy of a future Prophet like Mosheh that was to come, and several other
things from the books of Mosheh, this anti-missionary said they were either
mistranslations or he didn’t interpret their meanings as I did. It was as if
everything he believed was compressed into the period of Mosheh’s lifetime; if
Mosheh didn’t know about it, it’s as if it never happened and has no relevance.
From his point of view, it’s as if he is like one of those who died in the
wilderness without entering the promised land to conquer the Kananites with
Yahusha (son of Nun) and Kaleb. He is in a closed box, and refused to accept
anything outside the walls of the box he
chooses
to dwell in.
The Scripture that holds him in that position is:
“Do not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it, so as
to guard the commands of Yahuah your Alahim which I am commanding you.”
Dt. / Debarim 4:2.
I explained this precept pertained to the instructions we are to obey that
guided us in how to love Yahuah and our neighbor (Torah). It was not stating
there would be no further oracles made by Yahuah through prophets in the future.
Based on his interpretation, all Scripture outside of the first 5 books of
Mosheh are demonic inventions, and many of the writers never even existed.
In
his belief system, Yahusha did not exist, but was invented by Christians and
Constantinian conventions.
When I stated the concept of “resurrection” was not in the mind of those who
followed Mosheh in the wilderness for 40 years, he went to great lengths to say
that Yusef’s bones being taken back to the land of Kanan was evidence of a
belief in the resurrection.
He missed the point I was making; the TEACHING of a
resurrection of the body did not
fully develop
until we encounter the Prophets, Psalms, and the Natsarim Writings. I was not
allowed to explain, but talked-over. The discussion was quickly steered to be
more about my ignorance of Scripture, since he did not want the topic of
“resurrection” to go in the direction of the Prophets, Psalms, and Natsarim
Writings. Yahuah does not teach on the subject of the resurrection of the
body through the prophet Mosheh because it is an embedded mystery to unfold
later, fully revealed through the understanding of the 7 festivals, the
Redemption Plan of Yahuah.
The understanding of the Redemptive Feasts has occurred only since around 2008
among the Natsarim, and we now know why
(2730 years / Lev. 26 / Ezek 4). “Knowledge” is increasing, not remaining
stagnant.
The approach this anti-missionary used was highly scripted, based on a short
list of straw-man arguments. For example, the offering of a human life for
sacrifice is hated by Yahuah, and therefore Yahusha’s death would be offensive
to Him.
Another straw-man he posed was that Miryam was betrothed to another man,
and yet it is claimed Yahuah caused
another man’s wife
to become pregnant. It was as if all the points he wanted to make were laid out
in a manual for anti-missionaries to debunk one thing:
the existence and relevance of Yahusha.
It was incredible to witness how he claimed I did not use Scripture;
and when I did,
he said it did not prove Yahusha is Mashiak.
Using Scripture to prove Yahusha is
NOT
Mashiak is a common anti-missionary tactic, but futile.
Yahusha is not a straw-man to be knocked-down.
When I used Scriptures
he did not accept (such as anything past the first five books) he interrupted
and claimed I was “preaching.”
Talking-over the person you are having a
discussion with is rude and belligerent, but this could be simply due to
nervousness or a feeling he needed to steer things more toward his audience’s
beliefs. He would understandably not want to expose them to “outside” teachings
(like my “preaching” when I used other Scriptures he did not recognize).
The
doubting of Yahuah’s Word
was what led to the fall of mankind, so a spirit that says,
“did Yahuah really say . . .”
might probably be a spirit that tests “positive” for being demonic. Anyone who
would
deny
the writings of all the prophets except one (Mosheh) is certainly in a
thought-prison (stronghold). The excuse “We don’t need anything except the 5
books of Mosheh” is an irresponsible statement in light of the fact that YaAqob
gathered his sons together to tell them what would befall them in the
“last days.”
What is recorded for us through later prophets matters a great deal, since these
prophets spoke in the Name of Yahuah;
“This is what Yahuah says . . .”
Therefore, we are responsible for all the Writings and must not reject any and
all utterances of Yahuah.
SNAKEBITE!
WHAT I LEARNED FROM HANDLING SNAKES
Anti-missionaries are very much like snakes.
Anyone can be "bitten" through attacks in the spiritual realm; the
venom is in their words.
We don't have to die from the poison if we if we are joined to the Heart of
Yahusha, and learn from our experience.
I was convicted last night in prayer to put myself in the position of an
anti-missionary with whom I recently had a discussion. We do not fight against
flesh and blood, but against spiritual principalities and powers arrayed against
us. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.
The lost are the ones we are sent to seek and find. If I have said anything that
wounded the heart of the anti-missionary, I hereby apologize with all my heart.
We wrestle against teachings of error (doctrines of demons), but we are not to
bring open shame on one another.
Yahusha's love dwells in our vessels, and this bears the fruits of His Spirit:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and
self-control. Without Yahusha, we could not bear good fruit. We would bear the
fruit of jealousy, malice, hatred, scorn, slandering, hypocrisy, pride, and
bitterness. We can determine the tree by its fruit. May we always be sensitive
to the pain of others, and never become the source of that pain. Wounding one
another, we also wound Yahusha; we are His body.
ANTI-MISSIONARIES ARE ANTI-MASHIAK
Anti-missionaries are most commonly men committed to counter the Besorah of
Yahusha.
Their mission is to refute “Messianic” prophecies, and
protect Rabbinic Judaism. This particular anti-missionary was also against Rabbinic
Judaisim,
which could be due to Jesuitism, or the individual is taking off on his own
tangent to gather adherents.
The average anti-missionary seeks to malign and harass any teachers who are
perceived to be a threat to Rabbinic Judaism. They perform for their audience as
they pose straw-man fallacies through dialogs with other groups and individual
teachers. They create the illusion they have refuted their opponent’s position
by ‘knocking-down” the “straw-man” they invented, instead of their original
position. This is the heart of “casuistry”, or case-based reasoning that sounds
plausible, but is deceptive.
The disciple whom Yahusha loved, Yahukanon, wrote to a chosen lady, Kuria, and
her children concerning those not believing Yahusha to have come in the flesh,
and about those who do not confess Him as Mashiak. Knowing that this individual
is currently an anti-missionary, we are not to have any further dialog with him.
Anti-missionaries have been around since the first Natsarim:
“And now I ask you, Kuria, not as though I wrote a fresh command to you, but
that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
And this is the love, that we walk according to His commands. This is the
command, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
Because many who are leading astray went out into the world who do not confess
Yahusha Mashiak as coming in the flesh.
This one is he who is leading astray and the anti-mashiak.
See to yourselves, that we do not lose what we worked for, but that we might
receive a complete reward.
Everyone who is transgressing and not staying in the teaching of Messiah does
not possess Alahim. The one who stays in the teaching of Mashiak possesses both
the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into
your house nor greet him,
for he who greets him shares in his wicked works.”
2 Yahukanon 1:5-11
At Acts 17 we learn Paul is pursued by anti-missionaries from Thessalonike to
Berea, and finally arrives in Athens.
His announcement of the Truth of the resurrection (of which they had never
heard) made them responsible to repent, and believe Yahusha is appointed to
judge all men:
“And having stood in the midst of the Areopagus Paul said,
‘Men of Athens, I see that you are very superstitious in every matter.
For passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an
altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN MIGHTY ONE. Not knowing then whom
you worship, I make Him known to you:
Yahuah, Who made the world and all that is in it, this One being Master of
heaven and earth, does not dwell in dwellings made with hands.
Nor is He served with men’s hands – as if needing any – Himself giving to all
life, and breath, and all else.
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of
the earth, having ordained beforehand the times and the boundaries of their
dwelling, to seek the Master, if at least they would reach out for Him and find
Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and
exist, as also some of your own poets have said, “For we are also His
offspring.”
Now then, since we are the offspring of Alahim, we should not think that the
Alahim is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by the skill and thought
of man.
Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Alahim now commands all
men everywhere to repent, because He has set a day on which He is going to judge
the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed, having given proof of
this to all by raising Him from the dead.’ And hearing of the resurrection of
the dead, some indeed mocked, while others said, ‘We shall hear you again
concerning this.’”
Acts 17:22-32
“Everyone, therefore, who shall confess Me before men, him I shall also confess
before My Father who is in the heavens.
But whoever shall deny Me before men, him I shall also deny before My Father who
is in the heavens.”
- Mt. 10:32, 33
Let’s confess our belief in Yahusha before all men and women, and obey His
Covenant.
Remember to be kind to all, even unbelievers, and those who persecute you.
Return kindness to those who insult you. Keep their feelings ever present in
your mind, so they will never recall you wounding them with your words. We have
all failed at this, including myself recently in the dialog I had with this
gentleman who is an anti-missionary. Our goal is not to win debates, but sow the
Torah, so it will bear the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The Torah teaches love for Yahuah, and love for our neighbor. Missing the goal
of love, having Torah, shows a person to be without empathy for others' pain.
Yahuah's primary character-trait is love; those who know Him exhibit His
character. Yahusha explained it using "fruit."
As a witness to the unbelievers, let’s especially love one another, and bear the evidence
that we are the true followers of Yahusha, His Natsarim!
Lew White
Torah Institute
POB 436044, Louisville, KY 40253
502-261-9833
www.torahzone.net
THE
POWER OF LOVE
Yahusha wants to teach us how to love.
The Word of Life contains the power to change a hard heart.
The greatest example of love is to lay down one’s life for
another.
Psalm 22 reveals how Yahusha was to suffer for us. Reading it aloud is one of
the most powerful examples of how
GREAT His love is for us.
We are to
share the instructions of love, and tell the next generation how much they are
loved.
They have a Shepherd that laid down His life for His sheep.
Below is the last verse of Psalm 22, speaking of how we declare His
righteousness (Torah), followed by Psalm 23:
PSALM 22
31 They shall come and declare His
righteousness to a people yet to be
born, For
He shall do it!
PSALM 23
1
Yahuah is my Shepherd; nothing do I need.
2
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me
beside still mayim.
3
He returns my breath; He leads me in paths
of
righteousness For His Name’s sake.
4
When I walk through the valley of the
shadow of
death, I fear no evil.
For You are
with me; Your rod and Your
staff, they
comfort me.
5
You spread before me a table in the
face of my
enemies; You have anointed my
head with
oil; My cup overflows.
6
Only goodness and lovingkindness follow
me all the
yomim of my life;
And I shall
dwell in the House of Yahuah,
for the
duration of yomim!
-BYNV
Some of these Hebrew words may be unfamiliar to some readers. This translation
restores the transliteration of the Name to the English text. The Hebrew word
“BAAL” means “LORD” in Hebrew, yet most translations have removed the true Name
(Yahuah), and inserted the word “LORD” (BAAL) in place of it. His Word (Torah)
and Name (Yahuah) are above all (Psalm 138:2).
Every translation should interpret the meaning of the words and context as
simply as possible. The objective is to transmit the thoughts and presence of
Yahusha’s Mind, and His identity (His Name), to every passage of Scripture.
The idea of the last verse of Psalm 22 is repeated again in another Psalm:
“This is written for a generation to come, so that a people to be created praise
Yah.”
Psalm / Tehilim 102:18
I hope the generation to “praise Yah” is your generation. Let’s call on His real
Name, and shun human traditions that hide it.
Lew White
Torah Institute
POB 436044, Louisville, KY 40253
502-261-9833
www.torahzone.net
