Post by disciple4life on Oct 17, 2017 9:49:57 GMT -6
Great answer! I'll let you answer Cage's latest question. But just wanted to ask what you meant by "the sacrifices were altered or affected, for 40 years up until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD." I'm not sure I've heard about this.
Hello Linda,
I'm very very fascinated with this. ***I don't have a firm opinion about this, but it definitely warrants more study and research, - hhhmmmm. Wow, what an interesting thread that would be.
Disclaimer ** I think it was mike and ?? yardstick, or MissusMack08 who mentioned that many (not all Jews) are very hostile to Christians and Christianity. Many of them feel that we perverted their faith.
This is why in the thread, this possible connection is considered a "hostile witness" -- the person giving testimony is hostile to you or your cause,/ agenda, and they have nothing to gain from testifying - in some cases, it may even undermine them.
With that said, we never use the Talmud as a Basis for theology. It can be used to confirm or corroborate something else in scripture.
Just as many Christians, and secular Historians, alike recognize Flavius Josephus as a credible and reliable source. He is listed by countless writers, and Historians as one of the Extra-Biblical sources that confirm the Crucifixion.
Just as the Roman Emperor and Pliny the Younger.
I'm certainly not an expert - but this is what I'm learning -
The Talmud is the "commentary to the Tanakh" - what we call the Old Testament - the Hebrew Scriptures. Jews reject all the NT, ***and the Apocrypha. It Not part of the cannon, and was never considered part of the Tanakh.
There are two versions of the Talmud - the Jerusalem Talmud, and the longer, more authoritative Babylonian Talmud. **Both versions of the Talmud confirm the same miracles that affected the sacrifices, for 40 years - from 31 AD to 70 AD, when the Temple was destroyed. Hmmm.
We know for certain, that at the Crucifixion, there was a huge earthquake - confirmed by extra- Biblical sources.
We also know that there was 3 hours of darkness - ***Not an eclipse. You can never have an eclipse at a full moon. Someone please jump in and explain this. ;-)
We know that in a Total solar eclipse, - Great American Eclipse, the totality of darkness is about 4-7 minutes max.
***This was not any ordinary astronomical event. Something blocked the sun for 3 hours.
The veil in the Temple that separates the Holy of Holies, was torn from top to bottom. This was a massive curtain, and the spiritual and prophetic implications are huge. The ark of the covenant - representing the direct presence of God was here, and this literally opened up access for everyone.
These two events above caused the sacrifices to cease midweek. "Giant-curtains-R-US" had not set up their Ebay site, or their guaranteed next month delivery service.
One of the miracles was that the doors to the temple opened by themselves every day. 40 years x 360 - yardstick what are the odds of that. ??
The most amazing of all, to me at least, as it relates to the fulfillment of prophecy - was the red thread and lots for Day of Atonement.
There were two goats chosen for Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish Year - literally where we get the term "scapegoat". The priests took two stones from the High Priest's breastplate, and these were used like dice. The stones determined which goat was the Lord's - which would be sacrificed, and the other was released out into the wilderness.
Every year for 40 years, the Lot fell to the Lord. Three years in a row is odd, seven in a row is incredible, and 40 years is Miraculous - Twilight Zone.
The other miracle was the scarlet cord. There was a scarlet piece of wool that was tied to the temple doors, and it would quickly be bleached in the Middle Eastern Sun, and become white, a visual representation that the sins had been atoned. For 40 years, the scarlet thread didn't turn white - Christ had already paid the penalty as the Passover Lamb, atoning for the sins of the whole world.
This is mind-numbing- "If this doesn't light your fire, - Your wood's wet" - As we say in the South.
Christ's last words/ utterance on the cross was 'Tetelestai'. This has been translated as "It is finished", but it doesn't fully express the meaning of this word.
Tetelestai was a term from accounting that was widely used and understood by everyone - Greek and Jew, in the region. It literally means "Paid in full".
