A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

What are the Oracles of God?

What are the Oracles of God committed to the Jews? What are Oracles anyway?

“What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there in circumcision? ² Much in every way; chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. ³ For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ⁴ God forbid! Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” Romans 3:1-4a

One minister says “the Bible doesn’t require extra-biblical interpretation nor do we need any from the Oral Law,” or another who claims “we believe in the original Protestant declaration, Solo Scriptura — that is we only need “the Scriptures only!”

Really? What does it mean when they claim, “the Scriptures only?”

To answer this question, let’s start with the writing of Moses:

Exodus 24

¹ And He said unto Moses, “Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off.

² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him.”

³ And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” — this they readily and hastily promise, because they were not aware of their own weakness, and because they did not understand the comprehensiveness and rigidity of God’s law.

⁴ And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. — notice: the phrase “Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” but he wrote them at that time, in paleo-Hebrew

— the words Moses wrote were in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet; not modern Hebrew; and Moses wrote them without vowels, without spaces, and without any punctuation.

⁵ And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.

⁶ And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

⁷ And he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” — the book of the covenant; that is, the book which he had written overnight, the collection of laws, commandments and all the judgments.

⁸ And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” — and sprinkled it on the people; thus symbolising sealing the covenant between God and the people;

⁹ Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel;

¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

¹¹ And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand. Also they saw God, and ate and drank.

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Come up to Me onto the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” — notice: this was the original tablets of stone, created or made by God and given to Moses;

¹³ And Moses rose up with his minister Joshua, and Moses went up onto the mount of God. — Moses rose up, and attendant Joshua; the close connection of Joshua with Moses is here, for the first time, indicated; his employment as a general against Amalek earlier, (Exodus 17:9-13).

¹⁴ And he said unto the elders, “Tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man have any matters to arbitrate, let him come unto them.” — Moses said unto the elders; he understood that his stay in the mount was about to be a prolonged one;

¹⁵ And Moses went up onto the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. — and Moses went up into the mount; to the top of it, and as it seems alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain;

¹⁶ And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

— and the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai; the divine Shekinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour for six days;

— and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud; in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered.

¹⁷ And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. — the sight of the glory of the Lord; to the Israelites in the plain below, the appearance on the top of the Mount was “like devouring fire.” A light like that of a conflagration rested on the top of the Mount all the time that Moses was away.

¹⁸ And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got himself up onto the mount; and Moses was on the mount forty days and forty nights. — forty days and forty nights, the whole time without eating and drinking (Deuteronomy 9:9). The number forty was certainly significant, since it was not only repeated on the occasion of his second protracted stay upon Mount Sinai.

This is an unorthodox approach to studying the Oracles of God. But first, we ask what are the components of the Oracles or the Scriptures? And how did Moses “Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” but he wrote them at that time, besides being in paleo-Hebrew.

For a change, we will start by reading just a portion of a chapter in the Bible that we are all familiar with

(a) Exodus 20:1-6 (first two commandments)

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying:

² “I m th Lrd thy Gd, wh hv brght th t f th lnd f gypt, t f th hs f bndg.

³ “Th shlt hv n thr gds bfr M.

⁴ “Th shlt nt mk nt th ny grvn mg, r ny lknss f nythng tht s n hvn bv, r tht s n th rth bnth, r tht s n t r ndr th rth.

⁵ Th shlt nt bw dwn thyslf t thm, nr srv thm; fr I, th Lrd thy Gd, m jls Gd, vstng th nqty f th fthrs pn th chldrn nt th thrd nd frth gnrtn f thm tht ht M,

⁶ nd shwng mrcy nt thsnds f thm tht lv M nd kp y cmmndmnts.

Now without the vowels, starting and ending sentences, capital letters, spaces and punctuations:

Exodus 20:2-6

mthlrdthygdwhhvbrghtthtfthlndfgypttfthhsfbndgthshlthvnthrgdsbfrmthshltntmkntthnygrvnmgrnylknssfnythngthtsnhvnbvrthtsnthrthbnthrthtsntrndrthrththshltntbwdwnthyslftthmnrsrvthmfrthlrdthygdmjlsgdvstngthnqtyfthfthrspnthchldrnntththrdndfrthgnrtnfthmththtmndshwngmrcyntthsndsfthmthtlvmndkpmycmmndmnts

(b) Genesis 1 (21st Century King James Version).

And we’ll try to read it without the vowels. It’s possible, let’s try:

Gnss 1:1-10 (21st Cntry Kng Jms Vrsn)
n th bgnnng Gd crtd th hvn nd th rth.
nd th rth ws wtht frm nd vd, nd drknss ws pn th fc f th dp. nd th Sprt
~ f Gd mvd pn th fc f th wtrs.
nd Gd sd, “Lt thr b lght”; nd thr ws lght.
nd Gd sw th lght, tht t ws gd; nd Gd dvdd th lght frm th drknss.
nd Gd clld th lght Dy, nd th drknss H clld Nght. nd th vnng nd th
~ mrnng wr th frst dy.
nd Gd sd, “Lt thr b frmmnt n th mdst f th wtrs, nd lt t dvd th wtrs frm
~ th wtrs.”
nd Gd md th frmmnt, nd dvdd th wtrs whch wr ndr th frmmnt frm th
~ wtrs whch wr bv th frmmnt; nd t ws s.
nd Gd clld th frmmnt Hvn. nd th vnng nd th mrnng wr th scnd dy.
nd Gd sd, “Lt th wtrs ndr th hvn b gthrd tgthr nt n plc, nd lt th dry lnd
~ ppr”; nd t ws s.
nd Gd clld th dry lnd rth; nd th gthrng tgthr f th wtrs clld H Ss; nd Gd
~ sw tht t ws gd.

In the beginning of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth.
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ:
Hebrew text with vowels
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
Hebrew text without vowels

Below is the same Genesis 1:1-10 — without vowels, without spaces and punctuations.

nthbgnnngGdcrtdthhvnndthrth
ndthrthwswthtfrmndvdnddrknsswspnthfcfthdpndthSprtfGdmvdpnthfc
~fthwtrs
ndGdsdLtthrblghtndthrwslght
ndGdswthlghtthttwsgdndGddvddthlghtfrmthdrknss
ndGdclldthlghtDyndthdrknssHclldNghtndthvnngndthmrnngwrthfrstdy
ndGdsdLtthrbfrmmntnthmdstfthwtrsndlttdvdthwtrsfrmthwtrs
ndGdmdthfrmmntnddvddthwtrswhchwrndrthfrmmntfrmthwtrswhchw
~rbvthfrmmntndtwss
ndGdclldthfrmmntHvnndthvnngndthmrnngwrthscnddy
ndGdsdLtthwtrsndrthhvnbgthrdtgthrntnplcndltthdrylndpprndtwss
ndGdclldthdrylndrthndthgthrngtgthrfthwtrsclldHSsndGdswthttwsgd

‏1:1 בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ

‏1:2 והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים

‏1:3 ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי אור

‏1:4 וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב ויבדל אלהים בין האור ובין החשך

‏1:5 ויקרא אלהים לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד

‏1:6 ויאמר אלהים יהי רקיע בתוך המים ויהי מבדיל בין מים למים

‏1:7 ויעש אלהים את הרקיע ויבדל בין המים אשר מתחת לרקיע ובין המים אשר מעל לרקיע ויהי כן

‏1:8 ויקרא אלהים לרקיע שמים ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום שני

‏1:9 ויאמר אלהים יקוו המים מתחת השמים אל מקום אחד ותראה היבשה ויהי כן

‏1:10 ויקרא אלהים ליבשה ארץ ולמקוה המים קרא ימים וירא אלהים כי טוב

Above is Genesis 1:1-10 in Hebrew without vowels but with word and sentence breaks.

Below is the same Genesis 1:1-10. And this is how Moses would have written the Torah if in English — without vowels, spaces, punctuations, capitalization nor sentence/paragraph breaks.

nthbgnnnggdcrtdthhvnndthrthdthrthwswthtfrmndvdnddrknsswspnthfcfthdpndthsprtfgdmvdpnthfcfthwtrsndgdsdltthrblghtndthrwslghtndgdswthlghtthttwsgdndgddvddthlghtfrmthdrknssndgdclldthlghtdyndthdrknsshclldnghtndthvnngndthmrnngwrthfrstdyndgdsdltthrbfrmmntnthmdstfthwtrsndlttdvdthwtrsfrmthwtrsndgdmdthfrmmntnddvddthwtrswhchwrndrthfrmmntfrmthwtrswhchwrbvthfrmmntndtwssndgdclldthfrmmnthvnndthvnngndthmrnngwrthscnddyndgdsdltthwtrsndrthhvnbgthrdtgthrntnplcndltthdrylndpprndtwssndgdclldthdrylndrthndthgthrngtgthrfthwtrsclldhssndgdswthttwsgd (Gnss1:1-10; mgnthsrHbrwcnsnntsthtMsswldhvwrttnfrthTrhfnnglshwthtvwlsspcspncttnscptlztnnrsntnc/prgrphbrks — imagine these are Hebrew consonants that Moses would have written for the Torah if in English; without vowels, spaces, punctuations, capitalization nor sentence/paragraph breaks)

So when it is written that Moses wrote all the words of the LORD as stated in Exodus 24:4, his written texts (except of course, he wrote from right to left in paleo Hebrew scripts instead of the modern ‘square’ alphabets) were only making sense to himself, but to an outsider, they were just unreadable. [Note: this Bible study is greatly simplified as cantillation and other numerous peculiar details of the Sacred Text are not discussed here]

For well over two thousand years until the appearance of the Aleppo Codex in the tenth Century, scribes, priests and Levites with the Scriptures would have to memorise where the vowels and other punctuations were located so that the Scriptures would make sense to those who hear them.

The Aleppo Codex is an ancient, bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, written by scribes called Masoretes in Tiberias, Israel, around AD 930. The Masoretes were Orthodox rabbis who made it their special work to copy and maintain the text of the Old Testament during the Babylonian captivity and beyond.

As a Masoretic manuscript, the Aleppo Codex was written in modern Hebrew to incorporate vowel marks, cantillation signs (to guide pronunciation when chanting the text), and interpretive marginal notes. The last and most prominent member rabbi from Tiberias was Aaron ben Moses ben Asher; hence the tradition of ben Asher has become the one accepted for the Hebrew Bible.

The Karaite Jewish community of Jerusalem purchased the codex about a hundred years after it was made. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099, the synagogue was plundered and the codex was held for a high ransom, which was paid with money coming from Egypt, leading to the codex being transferred there. It was preserved at the Karaite synagogue, then at the Rabbanite synagogue in Old Cairo, where it was consulted by Maimonides, who described it as a text trusted by all Jewish scholars. It is rumoured that in 1375 one of Maimonides’ descendants brought it to Aleppo, Syria, leading to its present name.

The Aleppo Codex is so called because, for centuries, the book was kept and zealously guarded for some 600 years in a basement chapel of the Central Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria. Anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo in 1947 resulted in the Aleppo Codex being smuggled out of Syria, and the codex eventually made it to Israel about 10 years later.

In the process, about 200 pages of the codex went missing and are presumed destroyed. Today, the Aleppo Codex now resides in the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Another manuscript of the Hebrew Bible from the same time period as the Aleppo Codex is the Leningrad Codex, kept in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, Russia. Scholars consider the Aleppo Codex to be superior to the Leningrad Codex because it displays an amazing accuracy and attention to detail, earning its title “the Crown of Aleppo,” and leading many to consider it the most authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible.

Today the vast majority which would be no less than 99.99 percent of professing Christianity still maintain that we could read just the Written text of Moses without any input from the Oral Torah, which makes this a fundamental error. This false foundation differs greatly from the original Nazarenes where they understood what the Oracles as given to the Jews (Romans 3:1-4) would mean.

One example: Gog vs Agag

Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38 to 39; the general understanding is that Gog is the chief, the chief of a confederacy against Israel at the endtime; whereas Agag was the king of the Amalekites whom the Lord had asked King Saul to kill, which he didn’t. Without the vowels Gog and Agag would be using the same consonents gg.

Thus the term chief or title “Gog” be be translated as Agag or as the Amalekitish kings instead? The name Gog occurs only in connection with Magog, except in 1 Chronicles 5:4.

In Numbers 24:7 it was translated as “Gog” in the Septuagint in place of Agag. It has been suggested that “Agag” was a dynastic name of the kings of Amalek, a grandson of Esau; just as Pharaoh was used as a dynastic name for the ancient Egyptians; Caesar of Rome and of more modern times, the Czar of Russia;

There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased. Numbers 24:7 (Septuagint) “Agag” in the Masoretic; throughout history there is no concept of any “kingdom of Gog” but a “kingdom of Agag” could be conceptualized as the kingdom of the Amalekites.

In summary, unless trained in both the Written and Oral Torah, the children of Israel would not be able to read the Sacred Text, which only had consonants written. This means our modern understanding of what our Scriptures, like our King James Version, say have a huge portion of the Oral Law incorporated. To think otherwise is porous thinking, built on loose sands.

The written Torah, when originally written, were just the consonants but the Oral Knowledge were memorised. Torah means instructions, teachings and knowledge, and these accumulated knowledge is known as the Oral Law and is not necessarily the legalistic concept of law we know today.

What does this “nthbgnnnggdcrtdthhvnndthrth” mean? A learned scribe would know it was “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” by adding his Oral Torah to make the meaning clear. Thus when the Aleppo Codex was written in the tenth century, vowels were embedded. For the Hebrew Sacred text to be readable by the common people, it also means that the Oral Law were intrinsically embedded into the Written Torah.

Many hundred years later, in 1611, the English King James version of the Bible arrived. And like it or not, it had similarly incorporated the Oral Torah with the Written Torah. For the churches to say that our Scriptures are the written Word of God and we don’t need the Oral Torah is just misguided, deceived. And being puffed up and deceived they go about deceiving others.

The first Church after the apostolic age was the Roman Catholics and they are the most populous today. Others in the West, many sprang from the British Isles or the United States. Such deceptions are so deeply embedded and entrenched that this truth would sound strange, unorthodox and foreign.

Today many Christians believe they will go into a Place of Safety when tribulation comes – but they will only achieve it in their fantasies.

It’s far more likely that lightnings and thunderstorms would begin at His sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6), that is, dark days lie ahead for these professing Christians. “Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.”

“I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, until it be all gone” (1 Kings 14:10b)

“Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit” Hosea 11:12

“Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still” Isaiah 9:21

Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more. For I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. Ezekiel 34:10

~ by Joel on June 19, 2023.

Posted in Scriptures Studies