Scripturalism vs Judaism #2

At the time of the New Testament God made a distinct and clear break with Judaism and with the temple! What we’re going to do is look at how some of the Jews look at things today and also we’re going to analyze some of their errors and the claims that they have. 

Then we’re going to go back and survey down through time up through Ezra and Nehemiah and see exactly what it was that we can say are the faithful or the Scripturalists, because there was a time when those that had no Scripture, but they were able to talk to God—the One Who became Jesus Christ—and He talked to them! They were called faithful, but you could still say they were Scripturalists, as we will see later in the case of Abraham, because Jesus Christ was the walking, living Word of God. 

I want to cover some fundamental errors of Judaism and the presumptions of their thoughts. 

1. They worship the law

The Jews do not worship God. Some people may get all angry at me concerning that. We will have to say that all the Messianic Jews worship God, because they believe in Jesus Christ, not counting their errors one way or the other. But the only way to God, the only way to worship God is through Jesus Christ! So, their first fundamental error is that they worship the law! They worship the law this way: 

2. They have hedged in what they call The Torah

The Torah in the minds of the Jews is not what we think of—the first five books of the Bible, which is also called the Pentateuch. With all of their traditions they have ‘hedged in’ the Law. They have falsely claimed that the Scriptures of God are their traditions, which is not true. As a result, they do not keep the Laws of God, they keep their own traditions. They do have an outline of the Laws of God, but they keep their own traditions in place of the Laws of God. 

3. They claim to be all 12 tribes of Israel

That is absolutely fundamentally not true. Their claims are very presumptuous, because they are not all 12 tribes. Christianity is claimed to have been built on Judaism. 

4. Christianity is claimed to have been built on Judaism

In a sense that is a true statement inasmuch we will see that in the final analysis that, yes, worldly Christianity did come from Judaism, but true Christianity never came from Judaism!Just like today, most people today are schooled in the things concerning Protestantism and Catholicism. What happens when they are called into the Church of God, they must come out of Protestantism and Catholicism. When the Church was beginning, those Jews who were involved in Judaism had to come out of, forsake and give up, Judaism, just like the Apostle Paul. 

5. They believe eternal life comes through the Old Covenant

Eternal life does not come through the Old Covenant, it comes through the New Covenant. 

6. Gentiles are always classified as inferior to the Jew

Many of them are even classified as animals. They are typically called ‘goyim’ and they are always inferior spiritually, theologically, ritually, and even though they may be proselytized and circumcised, they are always held as second-class citizens. This is why God had to completely separate His Church from Judaism! 

Now let me read a couple of news clippings from the Salinas Californian. We’re going to see the attitude of Rabbi Bruce Kadden, Temple Beth El in Salinas. He talks about a couple of letters written to the Editor of Religion and he answers: 

Thomas H. Hester claims that it was not until God began bringing His children/people to the ‘promised land’ that violence became connected with religious movements. Neither the Bible, which records many previous battles, more historians support this claim. A more serious mistake is placing the responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus on the established religion. This slander against Judaism is contradicted by virtually all contemporary historians and religious leaders who have placed the responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the Romans. 

That is instead of the Jews! We’ll see a little later that is contrary to what the Scriptures teach. 

Mike Amadore echoes a similar thing in his condemnation of the Pharisees, a first century Jewish group. Many theologians believe that Jesus was a Pharisee. 

I’m going to have a sermon showing that Jesus was not a Pharisee, could not have been a Pharisee under any circumstances whatsoever! 

Certainly His teachings parallel more closely those of the Pharisees than any other Jewish group of His day. 

What he’s not telling you is the historical revisionism that the Jews did in the 2^nd Century A.D., which was called the counter evangelistic movement of the Jews, to try and get Jews back out of the Christian church and back into Judaism. They did it by copying and plagiarizing many of the writings and sayings of Jesus. It is not true that His teachings more closely ‘paralleled those of the Pharisees than any Jewish group of His day.’ That is a blatantly false statement! Those are just some of the things that we have to look at, that we have to see. 

We’re going to go back to the book of Genesis and we’re going to see that there were the faithful and the Scripturalists: 

• they are the ones who followed God 
• they are the ones who obeyed His voice in the absence of the written word 
• they are the ones who believed Him 
• they are the ones who operated according to the ways of God 

We have the genealogy from the very beginning with Adam and it comes down from Adam to Abel (Gen. 4)—he was accounted as righteous. Then we have Seth and all the way down to Enoch. 

Genesis 5:22: “And Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he begat Methuselah. And he begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God, and then he was not, for God took him” (vs 22-24). We know that God took him—spared his life—because of the evil circumstances and the environment and the people! 

In Gen. 6 we find, again, evil of the world and in the midst of that evil one man: Noah!.

Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and perfect in his generations, for Noah walked with God” (vs 8-9). We know that Noah was a preacher of righteousness!

I want to show that God always had those people that followed Him, in every generation of mankind, as it was in the case of Abraham, but they still followed God. 

Genesis 12:1: “And the LORD said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house into a land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.’ Then Abram departed…” (vs 1-4). Abraham obeyed the voice of God!

When there’s the absence of the written word, then God is going to make it absolutely clear what He means by coming to the patriarchs, as He did in the case of all the patriarchs down through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to let them know His will! Of course, this blessing here: “…in you shall all families of the earth be blessed” is a direct reference and prophecy of Christ!

Let’s come clear down to the time of Isaac, and this is a basic, fundamental verse that you should memorize, which will be very helpful if you are ever confronted concerning the commandments of God, concerning what Abraham did and what he didn’t do concerning what motivated him by faith. So, He did whatever God told him to do. God appeared to Isaac in a dream: 

Genesis 26:2: “And the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down into Egypt. Live in the land, which I shall tell you of. Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed, I will give all these lands; and I will establish the oath, which I swore to Abraham your father’” (vs 2-3). 

In the absence of Scripture, here is the living Word of God telling the ones whom God is directing what they should and should not do. 

Verse 4: “‘And I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and will give to your seed all these lands. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because Abrahamobeyed My voice…” (vs 4-5). 

If you want a good study sometime, go through the whole Bible and read obeyed My voice; and about the occasions when angels spoke certain things, and what happened to those who did not obey the voice of the angels! They are lesser than God, aren’t they? 

“…and kept My charge… [whatever God told him to do] …My commandments, My statutes, and My Laws’” (v 5). 

We’ve been schooled in the facts how to counter the arguments of the Protestantism and Catholicism that we don’t have to keep the commandments of God, this becomes a very important thing. 

• What were the commandments? 
• What were the statutes? 
• What were the laws? 

It doesn’t tell us here, so: 

• How are we going to do it? 

Since in Heb. 13 it tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever’ and the fact that Jesus Christ was the living Word of God: 

• He was with God
• He was God
• He is the One Who talked with the patriarchs 

Then we have the situation where we have the commandments, statutes and laws that God gave to Abraham had to be substantially identical to those that He later gave to Israel. That would be something for you to think on and study about and so forth. But the long and short of it is that: 

• Abraham was faithful
• Abraham was what we would call a Scripturalist

Now we’re going to see the difference between Jacob and Esau: 

Genesis 27:41: “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand—then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ And these words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, ‘Behold, your brother Esau is going to comfort himself concerning you—for he is planning to kill you. And now therefore, my son, obey my voice—arise, and flee to my brother Laban, to Haran, and stay with him a few days until your brother’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of both of you in one day?’ And Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth…’” (vs 41-46). 

Esau married all the daughters of the land—the Canaanites, the Hivites, the different ones there, and this was a great weary to her. Esau is held out as one who never obeyed God, who didn’t want to follow God’s way! Right in the household of Isaac you have a great division—the love of God and the hatred toward God. That is evidenced in Esau, and of Esau God said He ‘hated.’  

Verse 46: “And Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these of the daughters of the land, what good is my life to me?’” 

Genesis 28:1: “Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him. And he said to him, ‘You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. And take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother…. [here is a blessing that is given to Jacob when he left]: …And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you may be a multitude of people. And may He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, so that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham’” (vs 1-4). 

We know that Jacob had a dream He saw in the dream a ladder and saw angels ascending and descending from heaven. 

Verse 19: “And he called the name of that place The House of God. But the name of that city was Luz at first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying… [I’m going to follow God] …‘Since God will be with me, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, and I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar shall be God’s house. And of all that You shall give me, I will surely give the tenth to You’” (vs 19-22). So, we have the principle of tithing, just in passing, right there!

Jacob also made his whole household obey God; Genesis 35:1: “And God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there. And make an altar there to God, Who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.’ Then Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him… [as they were leaving the land of Padan Aram] …‘Put away the strange gods among you, and be clean, and change your garments. And let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, Who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.’ And they gave all the strange gods, which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem” (vs 1-4). Jacob was also one who followed God! 

We are going to see and emphasize and bring out in this series that the New Testament Church was never built upon Judaism—with all of it’s traditions and ways of men. That the Church was built upon the promises given to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob and the Law of Moses. Jesus said many times, ‘Have you never read in the Law of Moses?’when He was referring to and talking to the Jews who came to confront Him. 

I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul wrote. The Apostle Paul was a Scripturalist! God called the Apostle Paul, who used to be a Pharisee, for the very purpose of making sure that Pharisaism did not come into the Church! Let’s talk a little bit about the Apostle Paul. Let’s see how he viewed Pharisaism. This is important for us to know and understand. I want you to realize that the Apostle Paul was not a Jew by blood. He was of the religion of Judaism; he was a citizen of the nation of the Jews; but his own particular bloodline was not of the tribe of Judah!

Philippians 3:4: “Though I might also have reason to trust in the flesh. If any other thinks he has cause to trust in the flesh, I have much more: Circumcised on the eighth day; of the race of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin…” (vs 4-5)—not Judah! 

We are going to see that God did not call any apostles who were bloodline of the tribe of Judah, with this exception perhaps of Judas Iscariot. 

“…a Hebrew of Hebrews…” (v 5)—not a Jew! Please understand that! Before Paul was converted, he was in the ‘religion’ of Judaism. 

“…with respect to law, a Pharisee; with respect to zeal, persecuting the Church; with respect to righteousness that is in law, blameless. Yet, the things that were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. But then truly, I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as dung; that I may gain Christ” (vs 5-8). 

Brethren, Christianity did not come out of Judaism! We’re going to see in Galatians that the Apostle Paul came out of Judaism. He corrected Peter for the things that he was practicing in the way of Judaism, and Paul reminded Peter of the foundation of Abraham. 

Galatians 1:6: “I am astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.” 

We’re going to analyze what was that other gospel when we have fully come through the situation concerning Scripturalism. 

Verse 7: “Which in reality is not another gospel… [any other gospel is not a gospel] …but there are some who are troubling you and are desiring to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But if we, or even an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you that is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!” (vs 7-8). 

We’re talking about a very serious thing here, brethren. We are going to see in the final analysis what the Apostle Paul is talking about here was he was making sure that Judaism didn’t come into the Church! Yet, that’s the whole thing that is trying to be done in the Church of God today! To drag it back into Judaism or paganize it and New Age it! You need to realize and understand it. 

Verse 9: “As we have said before, I also now say again. If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED! Now then, am I striving to please men, or God?….” (vs 9-10). 

• Do we now seek to persuade men or God? 
• What is it that you’re trying to do? 
• What is that I’m trying to do? 
• What is that God has called us to do? 

“…Or am I motivated to please men? For if I am yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (v 10). Doctrinally speaking, every minister needs to take heed to that warning!

Verse 11: “But I certify to you, brethren, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not according to man; because neither did I receive it from man… [it didn’t come out of Judaism] …nor was I taught it by man rather, it was by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you heard of my former conduct when I was in Judaism…” (vs 11-13)—how he separated the Jew’s religion! In the Greek it is ‘Judaism.’ Judaism is the Jews’ religion. 

“…how I was excessively persecuting the Church of God and was destroying it; and I was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (vs 13-14). 

There you have it! God made a break with Judaism. Paul was a Scripturalist! Paul did not teach people Pharisaism at all, under any circumstances. 

Galatians 3:7: “Because of this, you should understand that those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham. Now in the Scriptures, God, seeing in advance that He would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ It is for this reason that those who are of faith are being blessed with the believing Abraham” (vs 7-9). 

Verse 26: “Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek…” (vs 26-28). 

That means there is neither Judaism nor paganism, that neither of those things count. There are also Jewish philosophers and pagan philosophers, and the two met and that’s how the Catholic Church came about. 

“…there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to thepromise” (vs 28-29). We’re going to see that is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

Galatians 4:28—concerning Isaac: “Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are the children of promise. But as it was then, so also it is now: he who was born according to the flesh… [Esau] …persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit” (vs 28-29). 

Let’s continue on with this theme of faith and Scripturalism. Heb. 11 is the chapter of the example of the faith that the patriarchs had, and how absolutely important this is for us to understand. If you are going to be Scripturalist, you are going to have faith. That’s why the ‘traditions’ of Judaism are so wrong. They have legalism, they don’t have faith! They worship an idol of the law and tradition, whereas, we worship God and have faith in Him! Paul in writing this is explaining exactly the same thing that I am covering here, that is before the Scriptures came there was faith. 

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance…”—the spiritual substance that comes from God, from His Holy Spirit! 

The Holy Spirit is a substance, a spiritual substance “…of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen. For by this kind of faith the elders obtained a good report” (vs 1-2). 

In other words, they were faithful to the living Word of God. If there would have been Scriptures in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they would have been Scripturalists because they were faithful!

Verse 3: “By faith we understand that the worlds were created by the Word of God, so that the things that are seen were made from things that are invisible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…” (vs 3-4). 

Cain, Esau and Edom are all examples of those men who wanted to form their own religions to force God to do what they demanded! That’s what the sin of Cain was, brethren. That is exactly is what the sin of Judaism today is! They do what they do to force God to do what they want God to do! 

• that is not faith 
• God is not doing it 
• God is not going to do it 

“…by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it, though he died, he is yet speaking. By faith Enoch was transported so that he would not look upon death, and was not found… [by those seeking his life] …because God had transported him; for before his departure it was testified of him that he pleased God” (vs 4-5). 

Let’s focus in on this statement pleased God. Is that not the whole purpose of what we are doing, brethren? 

• To please God? 
• Can we please God if we try and please men? 

Remember what the Apostle Paul said: If I seek to please men, I should not yet please God! That’s the difference between: 

• Scripturalism and Judaism 
• Scripturalism and Catholicism 
• Scripturalism and Muslimism 

—whatever other ‘ism.’

If you are Christ’s you are Abraham’s seed. You have His Spirit and you live by every Word of God, and you conduct your life as a Scripturalist. We’re going to see that’s exactly what God did beginning with John the Baptist and made a clean break and separation from the religions of men.

Verse 6: “Now without faith it is impossible to please God. For it is mandatory for the one who comes to God to believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” 

• the whole emphasis is toward seeking God 
• the whole emphasis is on the Word of God 
• the whole emphasis is on the faith 

     which produces action 

     which produces obedience 

     which produces love 

     which produces the descendants of Abraham 

We are all Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise, because of faith!

     v 7: “By faith Noah…” 

     v 8: “By faith Abraham…” 

     v 9: “By faith he sojourned…” 

     v 13: “All these died in faith, not having received the promises…”—and neither have we received the promise!

     v 17: “By faith Abraham, when he was being tried, offered up Isaac…” 

     v 20: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob…” 

     v 21: “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph…” 

     v 22: “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, spoke of the coming exodus of the children of Israel…” 

     v 23: “By faith Moses…” 

Moses had to be a Scripturalist! Not only was he faithful, he was a Scripturalist! Why? Because he wrote the first five books of the Bible! 

Verse 24: “By faith Moses, after becoming a great leader, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy thetemporary pleasure of sin; for he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking intently to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as if he were seeing the one Who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover…” (vs 24-28). 

That’s how we are to keep the faith: faithfully keep the Passover in a faithful, loving and obedient attitude toward God!

     v 29: “By faith they passed through the Red Sea…” 

     v 30: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell...” 

     v 31: “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who disobeyed…” 

Then he goes on say of all of those, v 32: “Now what more can I say? For time would fail me to relate the accounts of Gideon, Barak also, and Samson and Jephthah, David also, and Samuel, and the prophets; who by faith were victorious over kingdoms…” (vs 32-33). 

Let’s see how that beginning with Moses, after the writing of what we call the first five books of the Law or the Pentateuch. The Jews call it Torah, which is law, but their view of Torah is that it encompasses everything that they purport to be the Law of Moses, which also includes all of their traditions!

Let’s notice what God says concerning the Scriptures. Let’s notice what God has done, and we can project this clear out to today, that God has provided His Word in almost every language of the world. That’s absolutely fantastic to understand, brethren. We also need to realize one other thing that is true: in every translation, with the exception of perhaps one or two—but perhaps even in them—the basic knowledge of salvation is contained! God made sure that His Word was given so that those of every language could understand it. It began with the children of Israel. 

Deuteronomy 30:11: “For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven that you should say, ‘Who shall go up to heaven for us, and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us to bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?’ But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it” (vs 11-14). 

What does that mean? This means that God has written His Word in their language, which is in their mind and heart, so when they read the Scriptures they may hear it and they may do it! It’s not in a language that they didn’t understand. So, we have the same thing today. 

It’s going to come as a tremendous and amazing surprise to a lot of people when God asks them: 

• Why didn’t you obey My Word? What Word, Lord? What do You mean?
• Did you have a Bible in your house? Yes!
• Was it My fault that you never read it? I sent it to you in your language so you could know it, hear it, read it, obey it, but did you do it? No, you didn’t! 

Verse 15: “Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply. And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it” (vs 15-16). 

That’s the same thing that we’re confronted with today in obeying God and doing the things that He wants us to do. 

Notice that we have: love God, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, statutes and judgments contained in the book of Moses. That is the foundation, along with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Jesus Christ, since Jesus is the foundation of everything that is contained in the Old Testament that pertains to Christ, because He is the One Who gave it and inspired it as the Lord God of the Old Testament!

Verse 17: “But if your heart turn away so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live” (vs 17-19). God lays the responsibility upon each one of us to choose!

The whole purpose of all of this is, v 20: “That you may love the LORD your God, and may obey His voice…”—which is written and recorded for us!

Do we have the Words of God—Old Testament and New Testament? Yes, we do! Not only do we have it recorded, we don’t have depend just upon the sound of a voice, we have the written and preserved Word of God! In a sense, we are much more accountable than they are, aren’t we? We have the Word of God!

“…and may cleave to Him; for He is your life…” (v 20). 

John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life…’”—Jesus is our life!

Deuteronomy 30:20: “…and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them.” There we have it right there. Scripturalism shows us exactly what it needs to be! 

We have the time of David—the judges, the kings—go through all the kings; we’ll look at one of the last kings of Judah. You can read about David, all the Psalms that he wrote; Samuel and all the things that he wrote and how together they setup the temple worship system and gave it to Solomon so when he built the temple they could set all the priests in their courses and everything. Those extra instructions are part of the ordinances of God on how to obey Him. The Jews call that their traditions. NOT SO!

Let’s see that God always, always, always had a remnant of people that followed Him. I’ll call your attention the incident with Elijah. When he did what he did, he figured he was the ‘only one left.’ But God said that there were a ‘remnant of 7,000 people that had not bowed the knee to Baal. All the way down through history—and this becomes very important for us to understand—God always had a small remnant that were obedient and were faithful!

(go to the next track) 

I want to emphasize that God always had the Scripturalists! Let’s review one verse concerning the father of John the Baptist[transcriber’s correction], Zacharias and Elizabeth his wife. 

Luke 1:6: “Now, they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.” 

Doesn’t say that he walked according to the ‘traditions of the fathers.’ Remember what Paul said? That before his conversion he was ‘blameless in the traditions of the fathers.’ Here they were “…righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.” 

We’re going to see that all the way down through time, God has always had His people somewhere: 

• that sought Him 
• that obeyed Him 
• that worshipped Him 
• that had faith in Him 

It’s called in Isaiah 1:9: “Except the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant…” Those were the ones who obeyed God!

We will see that God used priests who were faithful, following the commandments of God. In the case of Jeremiah, also the son of a priest, God made a clean break with Jeremiah because Jeremiah didn’t practice anything concerning the priesthood. Just like John the Baptist didn’t practice anything concerning the priesthood. God was making a clean break with the temple and with Judaism. 

Jeremiah 1:1: “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah… [the high priest who found the book of Law during the days of Josiah] …of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.” 

Notice again we have the ‘land of Benjamin’ not in the land of Judah. Jeremiah was the son of a priest, which means that he was of the house of Aaron, and even though he was a Levite in that particular sense, he was of the priesthood, which was the higher level of priests of the sons of Aaron rather than just the descendants of Levi. He was very young when he started. 

Verse 2: “To whom the Word of the LORD came…”—and Jeremiah had the responsibility and blessing and privilege to write some of the Word of God, which we call the book of Jeremiah. 

Verse 2: “To whom the Word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It also came in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the exiling of Jerusalem in the fifth month. And it came to pass, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak; for I am a youth’” (vs 2-6). 

He must have been well below 20 when God called him; maybe even 15-16 somewhere around there. A person didn’t come to age as a citizen in the land until he was 20; so he was less than 20. But God works with those who are willing to follow and willing to obey Him, and to be as it were Scripturalists. Was Jeremiah a Scripturalist? Yes! Read all the way through, he talks about the commandments of God. He wrote the Word of God. He was a Scripturalist in the very real fashion, he helped write the Word of God. 

Let’s see some of the preaching that he did. We’ll see some of things that he wrote vs those who were the false prophets, 

Jeremiah 23:26: “How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies…”—vs Scripturalism!

Let’s see something very important for us to understand concerning Scripturalism, v 21: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words…” (vs 21-22). 

• even IF the false prophets were not sent of God 
• even IF they prophesied—although God didn’t send them 
• even IF they would have stood in God’s counsel 

In other words, instead of playing prophet; instead of bringing their own ideas, if they would have picked up the Word of God and:

“…caused My people to hear My words then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God Who is near,’ says the LORD, ‘and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?’ says the LORD. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and earth?’ says the LORD. ‘I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My name…’” (vs 22-25). 

They weren’t Scripturalists. God said, that IF they would follow His Word, though He didn’t originally send them, He would cause that to prosper and help the people understand how to get themselves out of the predicament of sinning. You talk about a principle of God that is absolutely fantastic. We need to really understand that! How much does God lay stress: 

• on Scripturalism? 
• on faith? 
• on following God? 
• on listening to His Word? 

Absolutely plenty!

Verse 26: “How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart? They scheme to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams…” (vs 26-27). You can take this same principle and you can substitute for the word ‘dreams’: 

• cause My people to forget My name by theirtraditions
• cause My people to forget My name by theirdogma
• cause My people to forget My name by their religion

“‘…which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully…. [Scripturalists] …What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the LORD. ‘Is not My Word like a fire?’ says the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’” (vs 27-29). 

God is saying that if you follow Him, love Him and serve Him that He will be with you. But if NOT, it’s going to be “…like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” and like the fire coming after the chaff. God didn’t send them. God is far more interested in Scripturalism and His Word than anything else. 

We’ll see about Josiah now, because we’re going to find this thread of Scripturalism all the way down through the Bible, and that is so important. Here again, God chose someone young. It said that Jeremiah began in the 13^th year of Josiah. This means that Jeremiah began to prophesy when Josiah was approximately 21-years-old. Jeremiah was below 20, but Josiah was just 21. You can go through all the book of the Kings and all the book of Chronicles and you will see there was good king/bad king; one that followed David’s example/one that didn’t; one that obeyed God’s Word/one that didn’t. It shows the choices. 

I want to make something absolutely clear here as we’re going along: There are a lot of people in various Churches of God that see the problems, see the difficulties, see the things that are going on and are waiting for God to do something or change it. Believe me, God is not going to do something to change it, because they are not choosing to do what God has said! God is going on their choices. God is not going to intervene and make them do right. They must choose to do right. If you see things going on that are wrong, you must choose: 

• Are you going to follow God or not? 
• Are you going to be like Josiah and do that which is right in the sight of the Lord? 
• Did God stop any of the kings from doing evil? No!He punished them for it, but He didn’t stop them!
• Did God force them to do what was right? No! God never forces anybody to do what is right!

You must choose to do what is right, and we’ll see how here in the case of Josiah, because he’s a tremendous example for us. 

2-Chronicles 34:1: “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right nor to the left” (vs 1-2). 

Now let’s see what happened with Hilkiah, the father of Jeremiah: 

Verse 14: “And when they were bringing out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest… [the father of Jeremiah] …found the Book of the Law of the LORD written by the hand of Moses.” Scripture! Scripturalism!

Verse 15: “And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.’ And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king and brought the king word back again, saying, ‘All that was given into the hands of your servants, they are doing. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and delivered it into the hands of the overseers and to the hands of the workmen.’ And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes” (vs 15-19)—in anguish and repentance! 

Why? Because Josiah could see that according to the Scriptures of God they were living contrary to God!

Things were so bad that the king said, v 21: “Go inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found, for great isthe wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us because our fathers have not kept the Word of the LORD… [they were not Scripturalists] …to do according to all that is written in this book”—the Scriptures of God!

Verse 23: “ And she answered them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its people, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. And My wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched.’ And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words you have heard, “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have even heard you also,” says the LORD’”’” (vs 23-27). 

Verse 28: “‘Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, nor shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon its people. ’ And they brought the king word again. And the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small. And he read…” (vs 28-30). 

The king is the one who did the reading in this case. He is the one who took the scroll, the Book of the Law, and he read the Scripture—Scripturalist!

“…in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant, which are written in this book. And he caused all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem, to stand to it according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers” (vs 30-32). 

Was Josiah a Scripturalist? Yes! God has preserved Scripturalists all the way down through time; those who are willing to follow God!

We know that after Josiah died, all the plagues and everything came upon them, and they were carried off into captivity to Babylon. During the captivity, God gave certain blessings to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I want to cover a very important thing here in Daniel. We are going to see that Daniel was also a Scripturalist. He also helped write the Word of God, so he had to be a Scripturalist. He had to follow God by faith!

Daniel 9:1: “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books… [the writings of God] …the number of the years, which came according to the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years” (vs 1-2). 

Daniel was reading the book of Jeremiah and it dawned on him right then the 70 years of the desolation. This was right toward the end of the 70 years of captivity. 

Verse 3: “And I set my face toward the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.” 

• He turned to God in faith!
• He turned to God in humility!
• He turned to God with prayer!
• He turned to God with supplication, which is intense prayer! 
• He turned to God with fasting, furthermore, with sackcloth and ashes! 

Verse 4: “And I prayed to the LORD my God and made my confession, and said, ‘O LORD, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments.” 

Here is the full confession of their transgressions and departing from God’s Word (vs 5-15). 

Verse 16: “O LORD, I pray You, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your Holy mountain. Because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those who are around us. And now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate for the LORD’S sake. O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name. For we do not present our supplications before You on account of our righteousnesses, but because of Your great mercies. O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do. Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (vs 16-19). 

And while he was speaking, the angel Gabriel came and gave him the prophecy of the coming Messiah. All the way down through history, we have the situation of those who were Scripturalists. Let’s see when they came out captivity the same thing. 

Ezra 7:6: “This Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a ready scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given….” 

Was Ezra a Scripturalist? Yes! We’re going to read a little bit about what Ezra did: 

Verse 10: “For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it… [Scripturalist] …and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” 

Let’s see what Ezra did. He did not come back from Babylonian captivity and teach Judaism! He was a ready scribe in the Law of the Lord, not the traditions of the elders. We need to comprehend that. 

A lot of people say that Ezra was the father of Judaism—not true! They made, by proclamation after he died, by saying all the things that Ezra gave were the traditions of the Jews including the Law of God now becomes the tradition of the Jews, therefore, he is the father of Judaism. It’s not true!

• Ezra taught the Word of God! 
• Ezra taught the commandments of God! 
• Ezra did give instructions on how to worship Him in the synagogues! 
• Ezra did give instructions on how the Scriptures were to be read, in a cycle called the ‘triennial cycle’ 

Which were to be read: part of the Law, part of the Prophets, part of the Psalms every Sabbath. But that, brethren, was instructions on how to keep the Laws of God!

Nehemiah 8:1: “And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the Water Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it in the open square in front of the Water Gate from daybreak until noon in front of the men and the women…” (vs 1-3). 

Notice that he wasn’t reading out of the Code of Jewish Law. He wasn’t reading traditions. Ezra was not a traditionalist. Ezra was a Scripturalist! 

Let me give you a little summary of what Ezra did and then I’m going to read some accounts from Everyman’s Talmud by Aaron Cohen. I want to read to you what I wrote: 

The Christian Passover book by Fred R. Coulter {afaithfulversion.org} The summary of what Ezra did: 

Here is a summary of Ezra’s work, which was a monumental step in the development and preservation of the Old Testament for the Jewish people, and eventually for the world. 

“According to Jewish tradition, five great works are ascribed to him: 

1)     the foundation of the ‘Great Synagogue’ [the Great Assembly] 

That was to be able to have the men of the Great Synagogue run the nation of Judah according to the words of God, according to the Laws of God. 

2)     the settlement of the canon of Scripture, with the threefold division into Law, Prophets, and Hagiographa [the Psalms and other Writings] 

3)     the substitution of the square Chaldee characters for the Hebrew and Samaritan 

4)     the compilation of Chronicles, possibly Esther, with the addition of Nehemiah’s history to his own 

5)     the establishment of synagogues 

That’s what Ezra did. Later that is called the tradition of the Jews. Later, the Jews became so involved in trying to hedge in the Law—the Laws of God with all of their traditions—making myriad of extra laws. 

How many have read the Constitution of the United States? How many thousands of volumes of laws are written, which have become the law of the land, supposedly based on the Constitution? How many of those laws are actually contrary to the Constitution? You have the same thing with the Law of God and Judaism! They made thousands and thousands of laws and rituals that God never intended!

from Everyman’s Talmud by Aaron Cohen: 

Foremost among this class of teachers was Ezra who is characterized as the ‘ready scribe’ of the Torah of Moses (Ezra 7:6) i.e. an expert sofer. 

A sofer was one who copied the Laws of God, the ‘soferim’ is plural for ‘sofer’ which later were called the scribes. 

It was he who worked out the solution of his predecessors to its practical conclusions. The Talmud… 

Now we’re going almost a thousand years later. You see the great leap that is made here. What is written in the Talmud is actually the ‘religion’ of the Jews, and it gets down into the fact that those who are in on the inner teachings of the Talmud are Cabalists or the worshippers of Satan. 

The Talmud, with justification, compares the work that he did with his people with that which was accomplished by Moses. As the great lawgiver, created out of the nation of released slaves by bringing them the Torah, so did Ezra renew the vitality of a more abundant community both in Babylon and Judea by restoring the Torah as the guide of living. 

Which he did; he established the Laws of God as the guide of living.

In admiration of his achievement, the rabbis declared “Ezra was worthy that the Torah was given to Israel by his hand were it not that Moses had forestalled him.” 

In other words, the Jews and the Talmud, the Mishnah and the other writings of the Jews hold Ezra in higher esteem than Moses. What they’re actually saying here is that had Ezra been born first he would have given the law instead of Moses. 

When the Torah had been forgotten by Israel, Ezra came up from Babylon and re-established it. The Jew was to be demarcated from his neighbors. 

We will see that that’s a policy that Ezra setup. He did not setup all kinds of laws that were replacing the Laws of God. He did, however, setup the whole synagogue system. He did, however, understand that the only way that the Jews would be preserved was that they stayed with the Scriptures. 

The policy of Ezra has been elsewhere described by the present writer in these terms: Sangweld once said, “History, which is largely a record of the melting of minorities into majorities, records no instance of the survival of a group not segregated in space, or not protected by a burning faith as by a frontier of fire. This lesson of history had evidently been learned by Ezra. He understood that the Jews could not be utterly segregated in space. Not only were the branches of the national tree in Egypt, Babylon and Persia to be taken into consideration, but contact between the Jews and Judea and their neighbors could not be avoided. 

If then the Jewish nation was to be preserved, it must be ringed about by a burning faith as a frontier of fire, a most opposite metaphor since the Bible itself speaks of itself as a fiery law. The Jews must have a religion, which would not only continually distinguish him from the heathen, but would likewise be a constant reminder to him that he was a member of the Jewish race and faith. The Jews was to be demarcated from his neighbors not merely by a creed, but by a mode of living. His manner of worship would be different. His home would be different, even the common acts of daily life would be distinguishing features, which would constantly recall his Jewishness. 

What they’re doing, they’re saying that Ezra started all of this, which we will find later in the Code of Jewish Law—but he didn’t! So, this is how everything is blended into what we call the ‘religion’ of Judaism. 

His life and every detail was controlled by Torah, by the written enactments of the Mosaic code, and their development in the corporate life of the people as the altered conditions demanded change. 

In other words, now they have a justification for all of the extra laws that they added in for their tradition. 

 Unless this viewpoint is thoroughly grasped, there can be no possibility of understanding the mentality of the rabbis, the trend of their activities, or the method of Bible exegesis. It is the seed out of which the Talmud grew. 

In other words, they relegated the Scriptures of God and the work of Ezra to just being a tiny seed, totally surrounded all of God’s way; totally surrounded by what the Jews later did and form what is called the Talmud. The Talmud is actually the Bible of Judaism. 

If we have mentioned it very distinctly in the account of Ezra’s work… Starting from this axiom that the Divine will is revealed in the Torah, Ezra taught the daily existence of the Jew must be regulated in every phase of its precepts. Since the Torah had to be the complete guide of living, it must be capable of helpful guidance forever circumstance of human life. A prerequisite to the achievement of this aim was the knowledge of the Torah. Before they could be expected to perform the commandments, the people had to be educated in them. 

He, therefore, introduced into Judea the public reading of the Pentateuch in order to make the masses familiar with its contents. 

This is the ‘triennial cycle’ that I mentioned before of reading through the entire Old Testament within three years. 

According to tradition, Ezra found the Great Assembly or the Great Synagogue a synod of teachers who received the corpus of doctrine that had been preserved to their day. Adapted it and developed it to suit the new conditions of the their age and then transmitted it to the pioneers of the Talmudic Rabbis. 

So, you see how they slide from Scriptures right into the Talmud, right into Pharisaism, right on into the religion of the Jews, which is not Scripturalism. 

The chain of authority is thus described: Moses received the Torah on Sinai, handed it down to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Synagogue. The leading three axioms are attributed to this assembly: 

1.      Be delivered in judgment 
2.      Raise up many disciples 
3.      Make a fence about the Torah. 

To make a fence around the Torah was a corollary of the desire to live by its precepts. If a person kept too close to letter he might inadvertently led into transgressing. As a cultivated field had to be hedged about to prevent even innocent trespass, so the sacred domain of the Torah had to be enclosed by many precautionary measures for the purposes of avoiding unintentional encroachments. 

Accordingly, the purposes, which actuated the members of the Great Synagogue, created the type of study to show teachers of later generations the conformity of it. Theirs was the sowing of which ultimately produced the extensive harvest of the Talmud. When the Great Synagogue ceased to exist, either toward the middle of the third century or its end, it was followed by another organization known as the Sanhedrin, which took charge of the affairs of Judea. 

Here’s what they say concerning the Sadducees and the priests: 

Modern historical study has come to a different conclusion. The Sanhedrin was a composite body of priests and layman presided over by the high priest. In the deliberations, which took place at its session, a cleavage soon occurred resulting in the formation of two distinct parties. The priests favored the policy of compromise with Hellenistic thought, even at the expense of complete loyalty to the Torah. 

That’s not exactly correct, because he contradicts himself a little later saying the Sadducees were high bound by the by the Torah. Now they quote what Josephus says about the development, which the Pharisees brought in: 

The Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the Law of Moses. And for that reason it is that the Sadducees rejected them. We are to esteem those observances to be obligatory, which are in the written word, but not to observe those which are derived from the traditions of our forefathers. And concerning those things it is that great disputes and differences have arisen among them. 

So, the controversy over the validity of the oral law or Torah stimulated its defenders to a fresh study of the Scriptural text. They set out to demonstrate that the oral Torah was an integral part of the written Torah, that they were wrapped in woof of one fabric and developed methods of exegesis previously employed by which traditions rejected by the Sadducees could be shown to be contained in the wording of the Pentateuch. Exhibition of the Torah now entered a new phase and led directly to the creation of the Talmud. 

In other words, a nice way of saying they perverted the Scriptures of God! 

With the Sadducees, Judaism was a high bound system fixed for all time by the code of the Pentateuch. It was also inseparably bound up with the ritual of the temple. Consequently, when the sanctuary ceased to exist, the Sadducees very soon afterward disappeared. The Pharisaical theory of the oral Torah received remarkable vindication at the time of crisis. It unquestionably kept the religion of the people alive by adapting to new conditions which had arisen. 

That’s how Judaism was formed. I know that is a very quick summary. 

Now I want to bring to you something concerning the Galileans and why God called those who were in Galilee. Mary lived in Nazareth, she was a virgin of the line of David who lived in Nazareth. Could not God have called a virgin who lived in Jerusalem, who was of the line of David? Yes, He could have, but He didn’t! Why? Because we will see that those in Galilee were Scripturalists, and they rejected the Pharisees, and they rejected the traditions that they had. 

from: Young’s Bible Dictionary: Galilean: 

A native or inhabitant of Galilee. The Galileans were generous and impulsive, of simple manners… 

Sounds a little bit like Peter—doesn’t it? Remember, Jesus did not call any priests. He called those who were not Jews of the house of Judah. He called those who were Benjaminites, who lived in the area of Galilee and who had no connection with the Pharisees or the religion of the Pharisees; very important reason. 

…earnest piety… 

What does piety mean? A word that means Godliness! They had an earnest, unhypocritical piety. They were worshipping God correctly. 

…intense nationalism; they were also excitable, passionate and violent. The Talmud accuses them of being quarrelsome… 

Why? Because they quarreled against the traditions of the elders!

…but admits that they cared more for honor than money. 

Judas didn’t! He wanted money rather than honor.

Their religious observances were differing in several points from those of Judea. The people of Galilee were especially blamed for neglecting the study of their language. 

They didn’t write in Aramaic. They did in Greek.

Charged with great errors in grammar and especially with absurd mal-pronunciation, sometimes leading to ridiculous mistakes. 

That’s why God preserved the Bible or the New Testament in Greek rather than in Aramaic. Greek is much more precise. But that’s what they spoke up in Galilee. 

Thus there was a general contempt in rabbinic circles for all that was Galilean. 

That’s why God called them!

The Galileans were easily recognizable by their dialect and tone, as seen by the detection of Peter as one of Christ’s disciples. It was a name applied by way of reproach to early Christians. 

They were called Galileans as a sign of contempt!

from the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Religion: Concerning the Galileans—Question of a Jewish Party

Second century Christians are also mentioned as Galileans among the religious parties of Judaism, along with Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and other more obscure groups. 

They had quite a bit to do in formulating the church that was called Christian, but wasn’t!

There is rabbinic evidence that in the First Century A.D. customs prevailed in Galilee, which were not current in other parts of Palestine. In Galilee a newly married person could be together the first night. There were differences in regard to the rights of a widow, in regard to the Day of Atonement. In Galilee, no work was done the day before the Passover and the festival may actually been observed a day earlier. 

Hence, we have the 14^th Passover!

The Pharisees considered Galileans olive oil richly impure. And the Galileans refuse to accept Pharisaical rule. 

That is why Christ was raised in Nazareth of Galilee, because there was the remnant of Scripturalists who were there.

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Genesis 5:22-24
• Genesis 6:8-9
• Genesis 12:1-4
• Genesis 26:2-5
• Genesis 27:41-46
• Genesis 28:1-4, 19-22
• Genesis 35:1-4
• Philippians 3:4-8
• Galatians 1:6-14
• Galatians 3:7-9, 26-29
• Galatians 4:28-29
• Hebrews 11:1-9, 13, 17, 20-33
• Deuteronomy 30:11-20
• Luke 1:6
• Isaiah 1:9
• Jeremiah 1:1-6
• Jeremiah 23:26, 21-29
• 2 Chronicles 34:1-2, 14-19, 21, 23-32
• Daniel 9:1-4, 16-19
• Ezra 7:6, 10
• Nehemiah 8:1-3

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 4
• Hebrews 13
• Daniel 9:5-15

Also referenced:

Article: The Salinas Californian
Books:

• Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried and Goldin
• Everyman's Talmud by Aaron Cohen
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• Young's Bible Dictionary
• Illustrated Encyclopedia of Religion

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1-12-12
Reformatted/Corrected: 2/2020