Follow the Leaders
Moshe Ben-Chaim
Reader: We have corresponded in
the past, and I have not really kept up my end by asking you questions
regularly. I am on the road from Christianity to Moses and slowly making
my way. Exodus 19 saying that we should believe Moses forever is a pretty hard
one for us ex-Christians...but nonetheless, truth is truth.
I meet with a group of guys to study the Torah
Portion each week...All we have is Reform Judaism in this area, and no Orthodox
Rabbis around that I can find, so we ex mainstream Christians get together to
try to figure things out by arguing theology with the Torah as the center
point. Having said that, I used
to be a Trinitarian[1], but the
Tanach has proven to me that this idea is nonsense. On to my
question...
We came across Isaiah 49 in a HafTorah a couple
weeks back, and one of the guys, (who is a Trinitarian) shows me in his Chumash
that the verse says the “LORD MOSHIACH” in the Hebrew text, I know those two
particular words by sight. My NAS and KJV says “savior” which would be “yasha”
I think in Hebrew.... I can't find an English translation that says the LORD is
Messiah and Redeemer, and I would think that Trinitarians would be all over
this scripture to prove that Hashem is Moshiach.
Any ideas as to why the Chumash shows MOSHIACH and
the Hebrew in the NAS and KJV show YASHA? Are there any Rabbinic thoughts
or commentaries on what this would mean.
You comments are appreciated.
Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim: Chad, good to hear back. The word here in Isaiah
49:26 "moshiache" simply means, I am the Lord “who saves you”...a
verb, and not a savior's title as the Trinitarians imagine. Thus, this word
"moshiache" does not suggest God is also the Messiah (Trinitarian
theology).
It
must be appreciated that Torah and all religious truths can not determined by
anyone, other than the original recipients and teachers, i.e., the Sages. In
Deuteronomy 17:11, God commands the Jews – the only recipients of the Torah on
Sinai – that they alone act as Torah teachers. So I wonder why the Trinitarians
reject this clearly stated verse from their studies, choosing to rely on a
wrong and convoluted interpretation of Isaiah 49:26 instead.
An
individual or group, who have no training in Torah, to suggest they better
understand God’s words than the Rabbis, is foolish. I always use the example of
Henry Ford: just as I cannot tell that original inventor of the Ford that I
know better what a Ford is, so too, all others cannot teach the Jews what Torah
is, or what it means.
Reader: Thanks for the reply. That is where knowing the
difference between verbs and nouns in Hebrew comes in handy. I found it strange
that God would be referred to as "an anointed one" since He is
greatest of all, and who could anoint Him?!
Thanks again, I
will be back with more questions I'm Sure...
Chad