Are you an idolater?

Are you an idolater?; Parashat Hashevua Bo / Enter; By Yacob Farber, CMY

http://www.cmy.on.ca/toraportions2000/shemot/bo.htm (Online version)
Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada
Shabbat Shevat 8, 5763, January 11, 2003
http://www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net

This week's Reading list:
* Shemot / Exodus 10:1-13:16
* Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 46:13-28
* 1 Korint / Corintians 11:20-40

Shemot {10:3} Moshe and Aharon went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "This is what HaSHEM, the G-D of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?

The Mitzrayim (Egyptians) worshipped many gods they were polytheistic. In fact Pharaoh was worshipped as a god. HaShem in the above Scripture was now telling Moshe and his brother Aharon to introduce Pharaoh to the One True G-d, the G-d of the Hebrews. What follows in this Parasha is the battle of the gods, the G-d of the Hebrews vs. the gods of Mitzrayim.

When you think about polytheism it might feel historical and very far removed from reality today, but I would not be so sure. A new wave of thinking has come on to the scene as of late and it smacks of what went on in Mitzrayim during Pharaoh's day. This new wave of thinking is called ecumenicalism. What is ecumenicalism? It basically says that all religions worship the same god; they only worship him in different ways and call him by different names. That however is not what our Bible says. Nowhere in Scripture does our G-d call Himself anything other than the G-d of Yisrael (Israel), G-d of Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yaacov (Jacob) or the G-d of the Hebrews. He has also told us in His Word, exactly how He wants us to worship Him. Refer to Him by any other title or worship Him in any other manner than He specified, means you might as well be worshipping the gods of the Mitzrayim.

Now you would think that worshipping other gods would be limited to religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam to name just only a few, but it also involves Christianity. Yes Christianity! Many denominational and nondenominational churches have forgotten whom they are worshipping. Our G-d does not call Himself the G-d of Rome, nor does He call Himself the G-d of England, He has always been know as and will forever be know as the G-d of Yisrael. The problem is you would never know it sitting in on some churches and listening to what is being taught.

Nowhere in Scripture are we told to pray to Yeshua. He Himself told us how to pray to the Father in His name (Luke 11.1-4). In fact if you are praying to anyone other than the Father in the name of Yeshua, our kaporah (sacrifice), you are praying amiss. It is not uncommon to hear people praying to Yeshua, Mary and even the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). In my opinion this is nothing less than a Christian form of idolatry. Yes some Christian sects have made Yeshua an idol.

If our G-d is the same yesterday, today and forever then we can count on the fact that He never changes, that what He said in the Hebrew Scriptures would fully and completely correspond and be consistent to what He says in the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant). With that in mind I would like to discuss the following passages:

Romim / Romans {11.17} And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree; {11.18} Do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Efesim / Ephesians {2.12} That at that time you were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: {2.13} But now in Yeshua the Messiah you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Messiah.

The root that supports the branches, both the natural ones and those that are grafted in, is the patriarchs. It was to them that the promises referred to above, were made. You and I are not saved today because of our good deeds or our good looks. We have access to salvation strictly because of the promises the G-d of Israel made to the patriarchs.

So what the above Scriptures are saying, is that in order to be saved Jews need to be grafted back into, and non-Jews needed to be newly grafted into the promises made to the patriarchs through Messiah Yeshua. In doing so we all become part of the Commonwealth of Yisrael (for a better understanding of the Commonwealth principle see my news letter on the Commonwealth), able to call ourselves part of Yisrael thus worship the G-d of Yisrael.

I am not comfortable with the terms Trinity or Tri-unity when referring to G-d, it gives the impression that G-d is three, thus opening up the possibility (which has already occurred), of worshipping the parts instead of the whole. Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6.4 says: "Sh'ma Yisrael HaShem Elohaynu HaShem echad." We cannot get away from the fact that G-d is One. Not a Trinity of one, not a Tri-unity of one but just One. We do not worship three gods! Nor is He one G-d with three different personalities. The fact that He manifests Himself as the Av (Father), Ben (Son) and Ruach HaKodesh, does not change His Oneness.

Our G-d is the G-d of Yisrael; the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov; the G-d of the Hebrews and if you are worshipping Him by any other name or if you are worshipping any of His manifestations instead of the whole, then you are an idolater!

**********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Jack (Yaacov) Farber


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