Sunday 18 May 2014

Defense of Paul of Tarsus: Response to a Muslim 4

I am continuing with my response to the Muslim fellow whom penned an article on his obsolete blog. Carrying on:
"21.

"...and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour"
(1 Cor. 3:8)

"God will render to every man according to his deeds...."
(Rom. 2:6) and (2 Thess. 3:10)

versus

"And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat"
(Joshua 24:13)."
Let's read Joshua in context:

"8 “‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

11 “‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’

14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”"

The context of Joshua has nothing to do with end time scenarios, it is talking about the Land being given to the Israelites without having to build their economy and country from scratch, namely the building of certain vineyards and buildings. Paul is referring to the Day of Judgement where every man is judged according to his deeds. They are different contexts.

"22.

"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?"
(1 Cor. 11:14)

versus

"For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head...."
(Judges 13:5),

"All the days of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow"
(Num. 6:5), and (1 Sam. 1:11)."

The Old Testament passages quoted are referring to the NAZARITE VOW, where you undertook certain obligations and were set apart for the Lord for a function and a purpose. Paul is NOT addressing the Nazarite vow, He is addressing how men and women should differentiate their sex within the church. A complete misuse of the Biblical text. This is Osama Abdallah kind of methodology, abuse the text to construct something that is not there.

"23.

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...."
(1 Cor. 14:33),

"Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace...."
(2 Thess. 3:16),

"Now the God of peace be with you all"
(Rom. 15:33) and (Heb. 13:20)

versus

"The Lord is a man of war...."
(Ex. 15:3),

"Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight"
(Psalm 144:1),

"For our God is a consuming fire"
(Heb. 12:29), and (Judges 9:23, 1 Sam. 16:14, 2 Thess. 2:11)."

God is both a just and merciful God. He can be both a loving comforting God, but also he is just and holy and hates sin with a passion. He can be a God of peace as well as allow disorder to occur for his purpose.

"24.

"And every priest stareth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin"
(Heb. 10:11)

versus

"...and the priest shall burn them upon the altar...and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him"
(Lev. 4:35),

"And one kid of the goats for a sin offering to make an atonement for you"
(Num. 29:5),

"And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself"
(Lev. 17:11), and (Lev. 4:26).
"

Like Hebrews 10:4 as I have stated in the past, The point the writer is making is the animals were insufficient in taking away sins completely and all they could do is cover a person until the Messiah came to take away their sins, that's all it is saying. The author is saying that Christ's death is a far superior atonement than the animal sacrifices because it actually takes away our sins. The New Testament states that the sacrificial system was replaced by something better or rather fulfilled in Christ.
Read this article for more objections on blood atonement: http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/quick-examination-of-hebrews-922-104.html
No contradiction between the passages in the Torah and the book of Hebrews.

"25.

"The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee (Tyre); thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more"
(Ezek. 27:36),

"...and shall set thee (Tyre) in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old...that thou be not inhabited....thou shalt be no more; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God"
(Ezek. 26:20-21) and (Ezek. 26:14)

versus

"Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre"
(Acts 21:3)

"when we had finished our course from Tyre...."

(Acts 21:7)."
The issue of Ezekiel 26 I need to look into more detail. An addendum may be done in the future if the Lord wills.

"26.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners...his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper"
(Psalm 1:1-3)"

versus

...some (the judges and prophets) were tortured.... Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated...."

(Heb. 11:35-37)."

Let's read the context:
"32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground."

The people in the context of Hebrews are being persecuted for righteousness sake, they are not being killed due to being ungodliness, they are being killed for the opposite reason, doing what is right in the sight of YHWH and never compromising. There is even a tradition in Judaism (Correct me Rabbinic Jews if I am wrong) that Isaiah was sawn in two by Manasseh.

"27.

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come...."
(Gen. 49:10)

versus

"And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul...."

(Acts 13:21)."

Different contexts. Genesis 49:10 is a promise for the Messianic king to come from Judah. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, so the application of Genesis 49:10 doesn't apply to him.

"28.

"And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river"
(Ex. 1:22)

"the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months"
(Ex. 2:2)

versus

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment"
(Heb. 11:23).

If the she was not afraid, then why did she hide Moses (pbuh)?"

Jochebed was not afraid of the king's command regardless of hiding Moses from the king. We may not know what was going on in Jochebed's mind but certainly she had no hesitation in disobeying the king by getting her son to safety.

"29.

"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac...offered up his only begotten son...."
(Heb. 11:17)

versus

"For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman"
(Gal. 4:22)

"Abram was 86 when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram" plus "Abram was 100 when his son Isaac was born unto him"

(Gen. 16:16 & 21:5)."

No contradiction, When it says only son, it is referring to that particular time AFTER Ishmael was sent away, not while Ishmael was around.

Answering Islam has made a good point on this issue in this article: http://www.answering-islam.org/BibleCom/gen22-2.html

"30.

"...if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law"
(Gal. 3:21)

versus

"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord"
(Lev. 18:5)

"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them"

(Rom. 10:5)."

The law itself didn't bring righteousness to men and was there to show how bad man really is. Keep also in mind that the Torah wasn't kept to get out of Egypt in the TANAKH, but what does transpire is the people kept the Torah out of gratitude to God for getting them out of Egypt, not to keep it to get out of Egypt. 

The law is pure and good and holy, but man cannot be justified by observance of it and it is by God's grace that they can be saved. The obedience was prepared in advance for the righteous whom YHWH has drawn.

Paul is referring to forensic justification before God, whereas Moses and God are not addressing that particular subject. The reason for a Jew keeping the Torah was gratitude to God for saving him from Egypt and his oppressors. God tells the Jews in Leviticus 18:5 what he expects of his people after their liberation.

More arguments to address on the way if the Lord Wills.

Answering Judaism.

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