In Matthew 7:15, Yeshua (Jesus) says, “Beware of the false prophets! They come to you wearing sheep’s clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves!”
This warning is stated throughout the Bible, often by Shaul (Paul), mainly as a warning against false teachings. Yet, because so much of Christianity is based on Shaul’s letters and rejects most of God’s commandments, I sometimes wonder if Shaul was a sheep or a wolf?
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
Shaul is a very confusing fellow: he is at once a Pharisee, boasting about his Jewish heritage and training, and he always taught in the synagogues before going to the Gentiles. On the other hand, he also said so many things that appear to be against the Torah, such as regarding food and circumcision (two often repeated issues), one has to wonder where his loyalties really lie.
For the most part, Christian holidays, tenets, canon and ceremonies do not come from the Torah, but are rebranded pagan holidays and man-made traditions. And, because so much of Christianity is based on what Shaul wrote in the letters to his congregations, which were having issues of faith and interpersonal relationship problems, I have come to wonder if the Gentiles were misled by Shaul to form a new religion that goes against God. Is it possible that one of the most world-shattering events in Christianity- Shaul’s revelation of Messiah Yeshua- was really Satan pretending to be Yeshua?
You know, that wouldn’t be something the Prince of Lies wouldn’t do. And, because at that time many of the paganist Gentiles were learning the proper worship of God, sending someone like Shaul to confuse and misdirect them would be a smart thing to do.
After all, look at how successfully his letters have been used to misdirect millions to reject God’s Torah!
Of course, this thought borders on blasphemy, doesn’t it? And the last thing I would ever want to do is insult the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), but we are told to be as wise as serpents, which (to me) means not to avoid questioning anything or anyone who does anything, in any way, to redirect us from obedience to God’s instructions in the Torah.
So, after thinking it over, and asking for guidance from above, I have come to the conclusion that Shaul was, indeed, called by Yeshua to bring the Good News of salvation through Yeshua to all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, alike. BUT…although Shaul was not a wolf, he made it possible for the wolves to easily infiltrate and control the congregations he formed.
And they didn’t start to redirect the sheep away from God’s instructions, which Shaul was trying to get them to learn (at a pace they could handle), until well after Shaul and most every other Jewish disciple and leader of what was (initially) a Jewish sect, was dead and gone.
By the end of the First Century, Jews accepting Yeshua as their Messiah was tapering off, and more and more Gentiles were coming into this sect, and some were wolves who decided that, for both political and (in my opinion) personal reasons, redirected the people into a more casual worship. This new religion they created rejected many of the rules and regulations God gave to us through Moses, and redefined salvation from accepting Yeshua as their Messiah and living a Torah-observant lifestyle to a new religion whose only requirements are to believe in Jesus and love each other.
They turned Yeshua’s teachings from a God-fearing Torah observant lifestyle into a “come-as-you-are” party.
Remember that Shaul told the Corinthians he would be whatever he had to be in order to get the Good News out to people (1 Corinthians 9:20). We see this in his Epistles, each one directed to a specific congregation, addressing their specific problems. This ended up with what was said to one congregation may have been stated differently to another, adding to the confusion his letters usually caused (see 2 Peter 3:16), creating the opportunity for his letters to be misused by the wolves in sheep’s clothing, hiding in his congregations and secretly working for Satan.
Shaul was not the wolf in sheep’s clothing, but in his zeal to get the Good News out to everyone and by “playing to his audience”, he wasn’t consistent. And that inconsistency left the gate open for the wolves to infiltrate and eventually lead his flock away from Yeshua and towards destruction.
Thank you for being here and please remember to subscribe and share.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
