Note, the “summary” of idolatry and paganism referring to “missionaries” – when in reality, if you actually refer to Scripture, nothing is mentioned about “missionaries” and/or having to "hate them" or suggesting Jews MUST hate or “incriminate” them, etc. (Check out an earlier list on The Refiner’s Fire, reproduced years ago, and compare it with the one at AISH.com. The word “missionary” cannot be found there!)
Here is part of AISH.com's list:
Laws of Idolatry and Paganism(Note: In most Bibles, these are verses 8 & 11 rather than 9 & 12)
36 Not to missionize an individual to idol worship - Deut. 13:12
37 Not to love the missionary - Deut. 13:9
38 Not to cease hating the missionary - Deut. 13:9
39 Not to save the missionary - Deut. 13:9
40 Not to say anything in his defense - Deut. 13:9
41 Not to refrain from incriminating him - Deut. 13:9
Did the God of the universe REALLY say these things ... to actually single-out missionaries? NO! These things were added by the rabbis or whoever made up this particular list, for the express purpose to "talking back" to, and ridiculing those who believe that He sent us His Divine Messiah, Y'shua!
It's well-known that Jews do not like missionaries. After all, they see missionaries as trying to lead the Jews to a "false god." The problem is, the commands in Deuteronomy 13 are not about "missionaries"! Verses 6-10 say:
"6 (7) When your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own being, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other mighty ones’– which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 (8) of the mighty ones of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth – 8 (9) do not agree with him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pardon him, nor spare him or conceal him, 9 (10) but you shall certainly kill him. Your hand is first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people, 10 (11) and you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage." (ISR)
None of those mentioned in verse 6 (7) are "missionaries"! But those in rabbinic Judaism are taught they must obey the rabbis and sages. This halachah has as it's source Deuteronomy 17:11 which reads:
"Do according to the Torah in which they teach you, according to the right-ruling which they say to you. You do not turn to the right or to the left from the word which they declare to you." (ISR) ("They" being the cohanim, who sit in judgement and render all manner of rulings.) The fact that the interpretation of Deuteronomy 13 by the rabbis is that the verses are about missionaries, then not only does the Jewish follower have to repeat that and follow that ruling, but they must therefore admit that they have broken Torah. Yes, they have broken Torah and they have called their own people "missionaries"!
Deuteronomy 4:2 clearly reads: "Do not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it, so as to guard the commands of YHWH your Elohim which I am commanding you." (ISR)
But the rabbis have changed Torah in Deuteronomy 13; they have added to the Word, and you are told you must follow their teaching!
What shameful behavior! What makes AISH.com and all other Jewish websites believe it is pleasing to God to CHANGE or TWIST His Word in any way to suit their own agendas? "Missionary" refers to those who believe in Y'shua!
Twisting scripture is nothing new, though. Christians twist scripture to deny Torah, and Jewish rabbis twist scripture to deny Yeshua.
Another blatant example of scripture twisting by the rabbis is found in Isaiah 7:14 in which the rabbis, distancing themselves from any possible acceptance of a prophesied "virgin birth", replace the Hebrew "ha-almah" which clearly means an unmarried, virgin woman, with the English "young woman" - intentionally divesting the requirement of virginity from the prophecy. Rabbis know full well the deep meaning of Hebrew words and the differences between the words for "young woman" and "virgin". And they know of the importance of royal bloodlines to not be compromised therefore they know Isaiah 7:14 must be "virgin" yet they will not allow it and say instead "young woman".
Here are a few questions for those who dare “add to” or “twist” the original 613 commands:
If spreading the Word, i.e., "missionizing", is so bad then why would YHWH not come right out and forbid it? After all, didn’t He scatter His disobedient people INTO the nations to safeguard and preserve His Torah? (Genesis 49:10, Micah 4:2.) And Isaiah 42:6 says "I, ADONAI, called you righteously, I took hold of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the Goyim."
He never said they should hide it/keep it to themselves or make a secret of His Name! Torah is the ONLY blueprint mankind has for holy, set apart living! If Jews are a "light" for the Gentiles, yet withhold Torah from them, what does that gain the Kingdom of YHWH? No, only the sages declared teaching Torah to Gentiles was forbidden!
How else do we explain Father Yah calling Jonah to Nineveh - a city of Gentiles? (Jonah 3). It's completely ironic that some Orthodox seem to bear Jonah's original attitude that got him into a "boatload" of trouble in the first place. Tanach and “the rest of the story” called the “New Testament” which reveals His Divine Messiah Y’shua, were never meant to remain secret!
After all, Yah chose the pagan Chaldean Avram to come to Him! And last time anyone checked, Noah wasn't a Jew. Neither were Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel or anyone else until Jacob had a son named Y'hudah...Yet Yah reached out to ALL of them! (Good thing the "anti-missionaries" weren't around then, or else Bible history would have been completely unknown!)
They also seem to have also forgotten this...
(Deuteronomy 4:1) “And now, O Yisra’l, listen to the laws and the right-rulings which I am teaching you to do, so that you live, and shall go in and possess the land which YHWH Elohim of your fathers is giving you. (2) “Do not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it1, so as to guard the commands of YHWH your Elohim which I am commanding you. See also Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-19.
(Deuteronomy 4:3) “Your eyes have seen what YHWH did at Ba'al Pe'or, forYHWH your Elohim has destroyed from your midst all the men who followed Ba'al Pe'or. (4) “But you who are clinging to YHWH your Elohim are alive today, every one of you. (5) “See, I have taught you laws and right-rulings, as YHWH my Elohim commanded me, to do thus in the land which you go to possess. (6) “And you shall guard and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these laws, and they shall say, ‘Only a wise and understanding people is this great nation!’
(Deuteronomy 4:7) “For what great nation is there which has Elohim so near to it, as YHWH our Elohim is to us, whenever we call on Him? (8) “And what great nation is there that has such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this Torah which I set before you this day? (9) “Only, guard yourself, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the Words your eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children and your grandchildren. (ISR)
So how are the nations going to marvel at us if the Orthodox get their way and we don't teach Torah to show ourselves as "a wise and understanding people?”
By the way, Micah also confirmed teaching the nations Torah as a key part of Israel's future:
(Micah 4:1) And in the latter days it shall be that the mountain of the House of YHWH is established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. And peoples shall flow to it. (2) And many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH , to the House of the Elohim of Ya'aqob, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths. For out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the word of YHWH from Yerushalayim.” Footnote: Isa. 2:3.
(Micah 4:3) And He shall judge among many peoples, and reprove strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks – nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither teach battle any more. (4) But each one shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of YHWH of hosts has spoken. (5) For all the peoples walk, each one in the name of his mighty one, but we walk in the Name of YHWH our Elohim forever and ever. See: Zechariah. 10:12.
(Micah 4:6) “In that day,” declares YHWH “I gather the lame, and I bring together the outcast and those whom I have afflicted.
Different Scripture...same question: How will Gentiles know to gather to the House of YHWH if no one tells them about and teaches them Torah? The Orthodox are wrong, and this is why even Y'shua used this quote against this whole idea:
(Isaiah 29:13) And YHWH says, “Because this people has drawn near with its mouth, and with its lips they have esteemed Me, and it has kept its heart far from Me, and their fear of Me has become a command of men that is taught! See: Matthew 15:8-9, Mark 7:6-7.
To deny the Gentiles Torah is to deny Torah itself! It should not be attempted. And to deny the Messiah Yeshua by twisting scripture just shows how right the New Testament is regarding the rabbis. 2 Corinthians 3:15-16 reads: "And to this day, when Moshe is read, a veil is thrown upon their hearts. But when any of them is turned to Master YHWH, the veil is taken from him." It is not Torah which makes them blind. It is the veil on their heart.
Each of us, Jew and Gentile alike need to seek to remove that veil which prevents us from seeing. That's done by turning our hearts to YHWH for understanding rather than by twisting scripture to suit our own desires.
This is so right on! Good article. It really is ad that they allow the veil to cover their hearts that they can not see the Truth & Light of YHWH/Y'SHUA.
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