Deity of Messiah

Introduction

by Brad Scott

I had already made up my mind before starting the series of teachings on Numbers that I was going to return to "Frequently Asked Questions". After all, we should all be prepared to give a scriptural answer to every man who asks us about the hope that is in us. Little did I know, however, that I would be returning to the whole deity issue concerning the Messiah.

Many of you may have noticed that the article I wrote a while ago concerning this same issue has been pulled from the archives. I decided to revisit this issue, because it is back in the headlines as an issue that is currently scattering the sheep. After rereading that teaching, a subject I initially wanted to avoid, I had concluded that it is an important subject that deserves some comprehensive attention. I felt that my opinion on this subject was more of an issue of semantics than substance concerning the nature of the Messiah Yeshua'. I have now spent some considerable time perusing the theological views of the 'anti-deity' crowd. I have concluded that, although I may lose a few supporters of this ministry, it is none the less time to take a demonstrative, outspoken stand on this issue. It is my humble opinion that the controlling focus of the 'Messianic Movement' should be our commission to reach out to the world with the Messiah of Israel and His Torah. The adherents of this truth are infinitesimal compared to the multitudes that stand in darkness before us. We all still have an overwhelming task confronting us with respect to the mass followers of Christianity, alone. This mission races toward the unachievable if we continue to divide rather than multiply. The Christian religion, in it's early stages it seems, has set the pattern concerning this issue for the Messianic movement as well. We shall now aim our guns at each other as we dissect the Messiah with the skill of ecclesiastical surgeons. This is all very sad, but must be undertaken for the sake of the call.

I have planned for this particular series of teachings to stretch out to about seven sections. We will begin with what I believe to be the scriptural evidence that Yeshua‘ the Messiah is precisely what He claimed to be, the manifestation of the Word of God, YHVH the Creator of all that there is. Yeshua‘ claims attributes that God alone claims to have. We will see that either Yeshua‘ is the manifestation of the one true God, or He is, at worst, a lunatic, a liar and a deceiver, or at best, He is slightly overrated and has demonstrated grand delusions about Himself. It is my contention that the core of this issue does not lie with an erroneous view of the nature of the essence of the Messiah, but rather it lies in a somewhat narrow view of the ubiquitous nature of God. I also plan to address many of the so-called prooftexts that are used to show that Yeshua‘ could not possibly be God Himself. I intend to show that this conclusion is a far too typical result among many who come out of a traditional Christian background. This evolutionary process has fallen into a well known pattern. We begin with a typical Christian attending a typical Christian church all of their life. They are then confronted with a teaching on the sabbath or one of the feasts and they are quickly placed into a religious and social dilemma. They come to the conclusion that they have been following a lie and soon begin consuming all the Messianic material they can swallow. After some maturity has set in, they begin reading and absorbing material from orthodox Judaism themselves. They discover lie after lie and are now becoming frustrated, and are quickly becoming skeptical and suspicious of virtually every thing they hear. Christians and Christian teaching, instead of being the goal to reach out to, have now become the target to aim at. All Christian teaching is a lie, and everything Christian is the anti-Christ. The New Testament now becomes an unreliable document at best, and a product of the Greek god Zeus at worst. The New Testament becomes a direct result of the work of Constantine and the early church father's desire to make Jesus God, and out the window goes the Messiah's claim to be the Word of God in the flesh. Thus, it is now incumbent upon us all to embark on a whole new paradigm.

As I have perused the articles and writings of the "he is Messiah, but not God" crowd, I have noticed the scattered use of clever media and advertising techniques. I will address these while answering many of the objections of Yeshua‘’s claims. I am already well aware of the fact that many will react to what I stated by saying that from their point of view, Yeshua‘ never claimed to be anything other than a sinless man, an agent of God, or the ambiguous Son of God title. I will also show that this is not true. I have chosen to begin this series of teaching by addressing the nature of God according to the Scriptures, for this is where I believe the parting of ways takes place.

Shalom Alecheim! ◊