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Rules of the Road #2: You Can’t Drive Forward Without a Rear View Mirror

Jackson Snyder, July 5, 1995

Luke 24: Now
that very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called
Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem,  14. and they were
talking together about all that had happened.  15. And it
happened that as they were talking together and discussing it,
Yahshua himself came up and walked by their side;  16. but
their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.  17. He
said to them, “What are all these things that you are discussing
as you walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast.  

25. Then he said to them, “You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said!  26. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer before entering into his glory?”  27. Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.  When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; 29. but they pressed him to stay with them saying, “It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. 31. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; but he had vanished from their sight. 32. Then they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?”

Man Was There Snow

   Some
old folks will recall the blizzard of 1978.  In a very
short time, snow drifted up to 15 or 20 feet in some areas.  The
wind chill factor brought the temperature down to 50 below.  Many
highways were closed for weeks.  I was playing the Hammond
organ for a living in those days.  I had finished up a
month’s gig in Muskegon, Michigan and was booked for the next month
in Kansas City.  Although there were winter storm warnings
out, I packed my equipment up late at night and headed southwest,
hoping to get to KC by the next morning, and to bed.

   By
the time I hit the Chicago by-pass, it was snowing like I had never
seen it snow before.  Except for the reflection of my
headlights off the snow, it was pitch black.  Visibility on
the road was nearly zero, then suddenly, it
was zero. 

   I
wanted to get off the road, but I thought there was a ditch to the
right.  I didn’t dare stop in the middle, because if
someone were behind me, they surely wouldn’t see my lights in time
to stop.  And I couldn’t even see the stripe on the road
in front of me.  I began to panic, as I shot forward by
faith and not by sight.  It was like one of those
nightmares where you are driving with your eyes closed, just awaiting
the crash….

   I
prayed a few words in desperation then looked into my rear-view
mirror.  My van was cutting a swath through the snow; in
the mirror,
I could see the stripe on the road behind me.  So I drove
slowly through that blizzard – forward – while looking in the
rear-view mirror for that stripe behind me.  I gauged my
forward direction entirely by where I’d been – a dangerous practice
except in a blizzard.  It was the only thing I could’ve
done.  And thank Yahweh there was nobody in front of me,
for if there had been, chances are I would not be here today.  I
didn’t make much forward progress, but my life was spared, and I
reached my destination late but safe. 

   It
was through my experience on the Chicago by-pass that the second rule
of the road became most clear to me – You
Can’t Drive Forward without a Rear-view Mirror.  And
though my experience demonstrates a most unusual and risky use of the
rear-view mirror, it illustrates two corollaries essential for
Christian living: 1) Trying
to move ahead by looking behind is dangerous,
yet 2) The
past, in its proper perspective, may have a very positive bearing on
what is yet to come.  Let’s
look at the three uses of the rear-view mirror.

Use #1:
Seeing What’s Coming Up From Behind

   Two
disciples of Yahshua are making the seven-mile journey from Jerusalem
to Emmaus.  They’re dismayed and horrified at the literal
fulfillment of Yahshua’s prophecy about himself – that, though he
was without crime, he would die at the hands of sinful men in
Jerusalem.  Perhaps Cleopas and James are driven to Emmaus
by fear – fear that they too, as disciples of Yahshua, might be
caught up in the web of arrests that were to follow.  Maybe
they too might have to face a cruel cross if they didn’t flee.

   As
they’re walking, they’re talking – “How could this have
possibly happened!” they’re saying.  “We know he was
a just and righteous man.  But we thought him to be the
Messiah and King, the Anointed One from Elohim who would save us from
our enemies.  Moreover, we have given all we have for his
cause, and spent all these many years in his service.  How
could this possibly be?”

   They
reflect on the terrifying crucifixion of Yahshua, which has burned an
indelible impression upon their minds, wiping clean both the promise
of Scripture about Yahshua, and Yahshua’ promises to them.  All
they can see now is the awesome specter of a bloody man on a
stake.  They’re blinded to everything else, even to the
message of an empty tomb and visions of angels.  They can’t
see where they’re going, but they’re headed for spiritual
disaster.

   And
they can’t see who’s coming up from behind either.  For
if they would only look in their faith’s rear-view mirror for one
moment, they would discover that it’s Yahshua
himself who
approaches — the very one of whom they speak – the very one who’s
the object of their preoccupation with the terror.  And
when he overtakes them, they still can’t see him.  And
when they finally see him, they don’t recognize him, even though
they’d been his followers.

Unloading
Baggage with Peace of Mind

   Instructions
for assembling a certain make of Japanese motorcycle begin with these
words, “Before assembling motorcycle, obtain peace of mind.”  A
person who is “assembling” her own “salvation with fear and
trembling” simply cannot see, hear, taste, or touch the will of
Yahweh for her life unless she first obtains a
measure of peace.  We
can’t go forward in our ministry or our discipleship clinging to
past hurts, resentments and failures no matter how great an
impression these have made.  The Japanese way for putting
together motorcycles is a good way for us to put our lives on track.

   The
Italians, too, have a peculiar custom.  On New Year’s
Eve, at the stroke of 12, the windows of the houses fly open.  To
the sound of laughter, music and fireworks, each member of the family
pitches out old crockery, detested ornaments, hated furniture and
personal possessions that remind them of something in the past year
they’re determined to wipe out of their minds.  We have a
similar custom in the U.S. – only we do the same thing in broad
daylight and call it a “yard sale.”

   We
must
unload this baggage from the past and obtain from Yahweh forgiveness,
deliverance, justification, empowerment, and glorification, before we
can make progress forward.  We must, through the Savior’s
help, extricate ourselves from the Slough of Despondency to walk
through the fair meadows of Yah’s Grace upward to the Celestial
City of Zion. And nobody has a harder time doing this but me!

   We
may only obtain such peace if we change our minds, lay down our
crosses, and pick up His cross, and follow him; for it is His cross
and not yours that he bids you to lift.  I know a man named
McGee in West Pensacola who, at 89 years of age, puts on gym shorts,
a muscle shirt and tennis shoes to run his fifteen
miles every day despite
three bypass surgeries.  We can follow McGee.  Lay
aside troubles, put on our gear, and RUN.  We must meet
Yahshua each morning in the driver’s seats of our hearts, and run
the race with
him.  As
we compete, matching speed for speed, we’ll get to know him: for he
will reveal himself in greater and greater ways as we commit greater
and greater hours and days, mind and body, soul and spirit.  And
we can become like him if we abide with him – if we can keep up
with him – his assurance
we can own – assurance that will more peace than insurance,
especially in the midst of the blinding blizzards of our lives. 

   Do
you want a solution to your inner hurts, worries and
distractions?  Then you need to leave the pack and run with
the King.

Use #2:
Seeing Where One Has Already Been

   In
the text, when Yahshua finally addresses his unsuspecting
Emmaus-bound disciples, he calls them fools!  That gets
their attention – it takes their minds off the past few days and on
to the insult of this “stranger.”  Yahshua exhorts
them, “How slow are your brains to believe what the prophets have
spoken about Messiah.  Don’t you remember what the Bible
says? ‘He must suffer before entering his glory?’”

   With
these words, Yahshua turns their eyes to back,
forcing them to look in the rear-view mirror.  It is not
Yahshua they see there (for he has caught up with them).  What
they see is the Word, which “cannot be broken.”  In
turning their minds toward the Logos and away from their sad
experience, Yahshua helps them to the
big picture of hope rather
than the
little picture of despair.  He
demonstrates the correct use of the past to inform the present and
direct the future. 

The
two shall be one, says the book, and that certainly proves true when
you lose a spouse. For the last seven years I haven’t felt whole.
…. My struggle with my future. I knew these verses before, but I
had to look back to claim them for what’s ahead. “Therefore I
tell you,
whatever you ask
in prayer, believe
that you have received
it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

   Yahshua
must’ve carefully explained the various forms of sacrifices in
Scripture and related them to his sacrifice – the burnt offering of
the bull without blemish, the cereal offering of fine flour, oil and
frankincense, the peace offering of a perfect lamb, the sin offering
of a young bull, the guilt offering of two spotless turtle doves, or
of a ram without blemish, along with many shekels of silver. 

   He
surely reminded the disciples there on the road of the willingness of
Abraham to sacrifice his son if it was necessary; and the willingness
of Yahweh to sacrifice his
son,
as well.  In the light of unbroken Scripture, he must have
recalled the words of the prophet concerning the
final sacrifice,

Isaiah
53:6,10.We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned
to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
{10} Yet it was Yahweh’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though Yahweh makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his
offspring and prolong his days, and the will of Yahweh will prosper
in his hand.

   Later,
after these disciples reach Emmaus, they will proclaim one to the
other, “Weren’t
our brains burning
while
he talked with us on the road and opened the Logos to us?”  For
the very one who was led like a lamb to slaughter showed them
step-by-step, event-by-event, record-by-record, exactly how the past
had led to the present, and was leading to the future, Yahweh’s
future, for them and for us – Yahshua’s little flock.  Turning
their eyes back to something greater than their sadness, they became
converted to a new way of thinking – a
higher way
and a wider vision.

   The
rear-view mirror of my car has a little decal pasted on it.  It
says, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”  It
often seems that the promises of Scripture and the evidences of its
fulfillment are far from the daily grind of our lives.  They’re
antiquated or, as Hebrews says, obsolete. Yet, when we set our eyes
and “minds on things anew, above, again,” we realize despite
ourselves that He’s real, his power strong, and his future for us
bright – even though we might currently be driving through the
suburbs of Pyriphlegethon. 

   In
looking to the promises of the word we find Yahshua the focal
point.  Yet Yahshua’ coming did not fulfill Scripture
entirely – only in part.  Those unfulfilled prophecies
are promises that He has not yet been able to bring forth in our
lives due to our blindness and lack of faith.

   These
unfulfilled promises are powerful indicators of what he wants for
each of our lives – of which direction he wants us to
go.  Unfulfilled promises may include: “You shall receive
power,” “You shall be my witnesses,” “You shall speak with
new languages,” “You shall pray for the sick, and they will
recover,” “You shall love one another, as I have loved you,”
“You shall receive peace, my peace.”  “You shall
receive the words you must say,” “You shall never see death.” 

   How
do such words speak to us today within the contexts of the various
dilemmas we face, within those situations that’ve caused the
blinding of our forward vision?  How do we measure up to
what he wants us to be?  How do our future hopes compare to
his perfect destiny for us?  How do we who are operating
our vehicles in his permissive will,
“now looking into the rear-view mirror dimly,” plan to navigate
toward his perfect will?  Are
our “hearts burning within us” as the Word of Elohim convicts us
of short-sightedness and convinces us of eternal worth?

   “Objects
in mirror are closer than they appear.”  Sometimes you
just have to abandon the rear-view mirror to get the true picture of
what all is behind you.  Sometimes you just have to take
your eyes off the road and crane your neck around to see the true
picture of what the Almighty wants to do with your life.  Sometimes
it is valuable to reflect on the many difficult, even impossible,
situations and circumstances in which He intervened in a miraculous
way to bring you through.  If such reflection doesn’t
convince you that you are worthwhile and precious to him, and that he
wants to do more with you and for you, then nothing will. 

DO YOU REALLY
BELIEVE? THEN WHY DON”T YOU PRACTICE?

   Looking
back in this way, seeing Yahshua’ love for you, will propel you
into your future for him.  And the past, now in its proper
perspective, may have a very positive bearing on what is yet to come
in your life, and also in our corporate life as Yahad.  Just
as both fulfilled and unfulfilled promises of scripture encouraged
these Emmaus disciples to see Yahshua in the broken bread, we, in the
here and now, who hold such promises dear and move ourselves toward
their fulfillment, will see Yahshua face to face, and recognize him
as our own.  But that’s down “the long and winding road
– on ahead”: a destination to whence we’ve yet to arrive.

   One
skin salve calls itself: “Future Perfect Micro-Targeted Skin
Gel.”  The ad promises to give your skin what it needs –
luminosity – light.  The ad reads:  “The past
forgiven.  The present improved.  The Future
Perfect.  Future Perfect Micro-Targeted Skin Gel!”  That’s
quite a claim for a product that is only skin deep!   The
fact is, such is the promise of a Yahweh who can’t lie!  “The
past forgiven.  The present improved.  The Future
Perfect.”  Make these promises yours and you will see
them fulfilled in this life. That is a good product description.

Use #3:
Seeing To Drive In Reverse

   When
Cleopas and his friend recognized Yahshua in the breaking of the
bread, they also recognized their error and changed their
direction.  They turned from their despair and
misunderstanding, and set their course back – back to Jerusalem –
back to the excitement – back to the danger – back to the place from
whence they’d just come.  Back to the City of Gold, where
there was an upper room furnished for miracles.  For it was
in this upper room where they would eventually receive their Baptism
with the Holy Spirit, a precious promise fulfilled, and new direction
for their life’s journey.  And in the fulfillment of this
promise, the found assurance.

   I
was the pastor of a church in the woods called Wildwood Chapel. I
used to make the trip down the long Wildwood Chapel Lane in my truck
just about every day, backwards.  As I drove in reverse, I
watched very closely in my rear-view mirrors so that I don’t crash
into the wildwood.  I learned that reverse gear is for
limited distances, and a rear-view mirror used in the process of
backing up is a very limited tool.  I suppose that’s why
automakers went from one rear-view mirror per vehicle to three.

   But
when I get out on the road, I can see my way clear to take my vehicle
out of reverse and shift it into drive.  Driving to Winn
Dixie in forward gear is so much more convenient and less hazardous
that trying to drive the whole way in reverse.

   Our
Emmaus disciples didn’t walk backward to Jerusalem.  If
Yahweh wanted them to walk backward, he would’ve created them with
eyes on the back of their heads instead of on the front.  No
– now that their minds were turned around by the witness of Yahshua
himself, it was only fitting that they turn their bodies around for
the return trip.  They changed their direction to follow
the promises rather than their own fears and designs. 

   And
we all should, too.  We need to turn around and face
Yahweh’s promises and our destiny in the kingdom.  If you
will put the cause of the Messiah first in your life instead of last,
if you will shift your powerful vehicle from reverse into “drive,”
if you will look forward to your Jerusalem and your Yahweh — then He
will move on your behalf – you will “live long and prosper,” and
your assembly will, as a fringe benefit, grow in faith, hope, and
love. 

Before I step
into my truck, Let me open your door.
Then bless me, Father and
we’ll be on our way.

If I should meet with misfortune on the highway,
steer me through my times of trouble.
Be the first driver and map our way.
Guide me through the fog into the next day.
Be that light that shines at the top of the hill; and help me get there
without any pills, but by way of your will.
Let my eyes foresee the dangers and I’ll lend a helping hand.
Touch me to lift my spirits I pray in Yeshu’s name.
Direct me on the right roads and keep me between the lines
Till we get where we are going.
Don’t leave me behind! (anonymous)

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The Story Behind the Jesus Family Tomb | The Genealogy of Jesus | His Racial Inheritance

The Shocking True Story Behind the “Jesus Family Tomb”

Link to PDF of the Entire Story

This is the Summarized & Anglicized Version of the Original found at this link
Jackson Snyder October 11, 2011.  I would suggest you read over the Discovery Channel site before delving into the historical fiction below.  The Lost Tomb Video on YouTube You will want to return here after you see the video program. If you didn’t know this already, the very Channel aired “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” (the Talpiot tomb) years ago (March, 2007). Genealogy of the Brother-in-Laws Yosef b. Alfai & Cleopas b. Alphaeus

The Genealogy of Jesus’ Family, out of Egypt

The claims made by the filmmakers were that they were certain they had found the tomb of the family of Yahshua / Jesus, that they had his DNA, that Mary Magdalene was in there, and that they had a son who was in there, too, little Yahuda, as well as other biblical characters (WHO?).Disco As a long-time student of archaeological findings and Christian origins, I found the discovery fascinating. What I couldn’t agree with was the direction in which the filmmakers took the discovery.  Their rock-solid conclusion was that Mary Magdalene was the mother of ‘Jesus’s’ son and that she took their son to safety in Europe. When the Magdalene died, she was then sent back to Palestine and interred in the Jerusalem tomb.  . . . . 

The Enigmatic Facade of the Talpiot Tomb 1

READ THE WHOLE STORY AT THIS LINK (18 pages, pdf)

It Is the Real Thing
For the sake of my presentation, let’s temporarily believe that the “Jesus Family Tomb” is the real thing. I don’t have time to define all the terms or tell all the history behind what I am presenting to you. Rest assured what I’m writing is based in fact, not the incredulous presumptions of the DaVinci Code crowd. You may easily verify most of what I write by simple internet searches, reading Josephus, Philo or Eusebius, or purchasing or any modern scholar’s book of the subject. I have several excellent books listed here. Or I can offer you references or sources if you are really interested. Contact me here or at this email address.

READ THE WHOLE STORY AT THIS LINK (18 pages, pdf)

Related: Jesus was not Jewish; he was Druzish.  According to DNA tests on the blood of the shroud of Turin and the Mandylion, the Savior was Druze, as are the majority of inhabitants today in the area of Nazareth.  Here is the video.

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From Testicles to Immortal Souls

I have been considering my colleague’s ideas about spiritual entities.  We both borrow heavily from ancient literature to understand concepts like “spirit,” “soul,” “nefesh,” “pneuma” etc.  As for the “immortal soul” of man, we disagree.  She says humans have this, and continue to live after they die.  I say that humans do not possess and immortal soul; rather, in Hebraic context, the soul (mind) and body are one, and this mind / body unity is what the Hebrews called “nephesh” – and the nefesh is not immortal.

She goes on to say that, after the death of the body, the immortal soul is somehow implanted in another body, and this is called reincarnation.   I, on the other hand, believe in the total resurrection of the dead, as is stated in the Creed; and I do not believe in reincarnation.

But this entry is not really about the soul, but what the ancients believed about the testicles.  Yes.  As I was pondering the beliefs of my colleague, I also started to read a very good book by Aline Rousselle titled Porneia: On desire and the Body in Antiquity (1983, 1988).   Porneia is Greek, and it means immorality, and especially sexual immorality.  I wanted this book because it promised a collection of medical essays from ancient times, and of course I am interested in such histories.  From the beginning of the book, pages 14,15, we find a translation of an essay from Galen of Pergamum (150 – 210 AD), a world-renowned physician in his time, that describes the function of the testicles.  (I don’t mean to offend, but this is the first primary source in the book.)

The testicles are even more important than the heart, since, besides the heat and strength they give to animals, they are responsible for the continuance of the species, for they impart to the whole body a power similar to the sensory and motor power which the brain communicates to the nerves, and to the pulsatory power that the heart communicates to the arteries, and this power causes the male’s vigour and virility … When, as a result of continual sexual excess, all the sperm has been lost, the testicles draw seminal liquid from the veins immediately above them. These veins contain only a small quantity of this condensed liquid; so when they are suddenly deprived of it by the testicles, which are stronger than they are, they in turn drain the veins above them and so on. This draining process does not stop until it has involved every part of the body, so if it is constantly repeated and if all the vessels and all the parts of the body are forced to give up their supplies until the strongest part is finally satisfied, the result will be that all the parts of the animal (or the living creature) are drained not just of seminal fluid but also of their vital spirit for this is taken from the arteries along with the seminal fluid. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that those who lead a debauched· life become weak, since the purest part of both substances is removed from their body. As well as this, pleasure itself can dissolve vital tension to such an extent that people have died from an excess of pleasure. We should therefore not be surprised if those who indulge moderately in the pleasures of love become weak.

I cannot argue with the last sentence, for “I am sick with love” says the groom (Canticles 5:8 ESV).  However, the rest of Galen’s assessment is based on something other than investigation, for at that time, there were no dissections of humans allowed.  So we might say that Galen’s ideas about the testicles and sperm (being squeezed as it were out of blood in the adjoining veins) are antiquated and totally incorrect.

Now let me make a connection here to the ideas of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas on the soul.  The notion that a human being has/is a soul, spirit, immortal soul, living soul, absent spirit, as laid down by these ancients, as well as their ideas of immortality, resurrection, resuscitation, reincarnation, heaven & hell  – that WE of the 20th century have accepted as valid – may be  (and probably are) just as antiquated, obsolete and illogical – even absurd – as Galen’s baseless conception on the more humble parts of a human male.

Is my comparison valid?  And if so, what might I consider to be a more reliable model for these possibly invalid terms and systems of human spirituality?  I have been looking at the concept of Morphic Resonance in the last couple of years – a very quantum-oriented system developed by a fellow believer and scientist, Rupert Sheldrake.  Perhaps after hearing this interesting lecture, we may corporately recognize a more modern and certainly more accurate conception of the human psychenome (spiritual system).   August 1, 2018

Listen to Sheldrake here.

 

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Can You Believe This? Redemption by Blood Sacrifice?

Nazarene Acts (Kefa) on the Sacrifice of Animals
Is the Sacrificial Blood of Yahshua Necessary for Salvation?
Nazarene Acts of the Apostles – Enhanced Edition – Entire Book

Hebrews 9:
11 But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to El, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim.

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that Elohim commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Messiah has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of Elohim on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

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Gifford Lectures

The 2018 Gifford Lectures are now available on YouTube.  The overall title is Discerning the Dawn: History, Eschatology and New Creation.  Lecture 1 The Fallen Shrine: Lisbon 1755 and the Triumph of Epicureanism Lecture 2 The Questioned Book: Critical Scholarship and the Gospels Lecture 3 The Shifting Sand: The Meanings of ‘History’ Lecture 4 The End of Lecture 1 Continue reading “Gifford Lectures”

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The Royal Law

It’s a great treat to be back here again and to sense that I am among friends both old and new. And it’s good for me, after some years of intensive work on St Paul, suddenly to be plunged into the Letter of James; a bit like the kind of Turkish bath where you get hotter and hotter and then suddenly somebody dumps a bucket of icy water over you. Continue reading “The Royal Law”

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CHARISMATA IN A WESLEYAN FRAMEWORK

Thesis, Outline & Table of Contents

Thesis: The beliefs and practices of charismatics and pentecostals may be organized along the lines of the Wesleyan doctrines of justification (salvation, new birth #1, regeneration), sanctification (new birth #2, baptism of the Holy Ghost, entire sanctification), and holy life (fruits and gifts).

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The Ancient Nazarene Commentaries

The Ancient Nazarene Commentaries on Isaiah as Interpreted by Jerome

Jerome (347 – 440 AD) was an ecclesiastical historian best known for his many translations of scripture into Latin, including his best-known work, the Vulgate.  He may well have been in contact with the ancient sect of the Nazarenes, which he speaks of in favorable terms, and we suppose the following commentaries proceeded from common discourse with them.  If so, these commentaries may well be one of the most important and most neglected sources of Nazarene lore in our possession.  For commentary on these notices and the Latin text, see Ray Pritz, Nazarene Jewish Christianity, 2010.  I have edited slightly for clarity. [jhs]

On Isaiah 8:14. And [YHWH Tviot] will be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The Nazarenes, who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old law, explain the two houses as the two families, viz. of Shammai and Hillel, from whom originated the Scribes and the Pharisees. (Akiba, who took over their school, is called the master of Aquila the proselyte, and after him came Meir who … succeeded … Joannes the son of Zakkai and after him Eliezer and further Telphon, and next Joseph Galilaeus and Joshua up to the capture of Jerusalem.) Shammai then and Hillel were born not long before the Master; they originated in Judea. The name of the first means scatterer and of the second unholy, because he scattered and denied the precepts of the Torah by his traditions and deuter?seis[1]. And these are the two houses who did not accept the Savior who has become to them destruction and shame.

On Isaiah 8:20. For Torah and for testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21. And they will pass through it, greatly distressed and hungry; and it will come to pass, that when they will be hungry, they will be enraged, and curse their king and their gods, and look upward.

For the rest the Nazarenes explain the passage in this way: when the Scribes and Pharisees tell you to listen to them, men who do everything for the love of the belly and who hiss during their incantations in the way of magicians in order to deceive you, you must answer them like this: “It is not strange if you follow your traditions since every tribe consults its own idols. We must not, therefore, consult your dead about the living ones. On the contrary. Elohim has given us the Torah and the testimonies of the scriptures. If you are not willing to follow them you will not have light, and the darkness will always oppress you. It will cover your earth and your doctrine so that, when you see that they have been deceived by you in error and they feel a longing for the truth, they will then be sad or angry. And let them who believe themselves to be like their own gods and kings curse you. And let them look at the sky and the earth in vain since they are always in darkness and they cannot flee away from your ambushes.”

On Isaiah 9:1. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; they who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined. 2. You have multiplied the nation, and increased the joy; they rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the plunder. 3. For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the days of Midian. 4. For every shoe of the stormy warrior, and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel of fire.

The Nazarenes, whose opinion I have set forth above, try to explain this passage in the following way: When Messiah came and his preaching shone out, the land of Zebulon and Naphtali first of all were freed from the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees and he shook off their shoulders the very heavy yoke of the Jewish traditions. Later, however, the preaching became more dominant, that means the preaching was multiplied, through the Good News of the apostle Paul who was the last of all the apostles. And the Good News of Messiah shone to the most distant tribes and the way of the whole sea. Finally the whole world, which earlier walked or sat in darkness and was imprisoned in the bonds of idolatry and death, has seen the clear light of the Good News.

On Isaiah 29:20. For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scorner is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off; 21. Who, by a word, make a man an offender, and lay a trap for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for nothing.

What we have understood to have been written about the devil and his angels, the Nazarenes believe to have been said against the Scribes and the Pharisees, because the deuter?seis passed away, who earlier deceived the people with very vicious traditions (and they watch day and night to deceive the simple ones), who made men sin against the Word of Elohim in order that they should deny that Messiah was the Son of Elohim.

On Isaiah 31:6. Behold, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; which will pierce the hand of a man who leans in it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7. But if you say to me, We trust in YHWH our Elohim; is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar? 8. Now therefore make a wager, I beg you, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders upon them. 9. How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

The Nazarenes understand this passage in this way: Sons of Israel, who deny the Son of Elohim with a most vicious opinion, turn to him and his apostles. For if you will do this, you will reject all idols that to you were a cause of sin in the past, and the devil will fall before you, not because of your powers, but because of the compassion of Elohim. And his young men, who at a certain time earlier fought for him, will be the tributaries of the assembly and any of [his] power and stone will pass. Also the philosophers and every perverse dogma will turn their backs to the sign of the cross. Because this is the meaning of YHWH that his will take place, whose fire or light is in Zion and his oven in Jerusalem.

[1] Pritz maps deuter?s- to hn#m (mishna).  This is a technical term (from the Greek) left untranslated in the Latin text.  I see in the word second (deu-) and torah (-ter?s).