Thor Kaufman wrote: ↑
March 30th, 2023, 21:13
Matthew 8:16
"If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
You got the wrong verse since Matthew 8:16 is:
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
What you meant was Matthew 18:6.
Since you took the quote out of context you lost the meaning of the lesson. The full context is as follows:
Matthew 18:1-9
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The lesson is that one must become like a child in a change of heart and belief. Those that do are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The warning he issued is about leading his followers astray and causing them to stumble into unbelief and Torahlessness will be punished severely.
You can't take one verse out of context to make an invalid point. You should do better.
I'm not. I'm a first century Christian which is descended from the original Church of Jerusalem. We didn't protest the heretic Catholics. In fact, the Catholics are a heresy splinter group if you go by the history of the church.
I have no opinion on him and the fake Jews are Gentiles claiming that God forsake the Jews and gave their birthright to them. Jesus was quite clear on the matter in Revelations. I did give you the history lesson since the Apostle John was a Jew and hated by the heretics lead by Ignatius a Roman Gentile citizen.
Let's see what Jesus had to say on the Talmud shall we?
Matthew 23
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [ b ]
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c]”
Oh he's being literal as the Talmud is several thousand pages long. In his day they were scrolls and weighed several thousand pounds. He was against Oral Law which goes back to 598 BC. His rebuke of the Pharisees is legendary as well as his refutation of the Talmud.
You seem to think that I agree with the Talmud. I don't. I view it as a document into the history of the Jewish people and how they had to cope with losing their temple twice. I stand with Jesus on the matter. Don't you?
If you knew anything about Judaism and its branches (of which Christianity is one) you would know that a boy of 13 and a girl of 12 is accountable to God for their sins. Prior to that they are sinless. They do not know right from wrong and must be taught by their parents. Any child from birth to the above ages automatically go to heaven. Do you find the earth to be somehow better than heaven for them to be at? We all came from heaven and those that follow God and Christ go back home upon our death. I think we should rejoice in the fact that they have attained the greatest in heaven and that they sing to God daily. They know no pain, no fear, or anything that can harm them.
Yes, it's always been God's plan for us to be by his side. He created us to be his companions and to worship him. That's why he sent forth four covenants to bring us back to his side. The first was to Noah as a promise to not destroy humanity for our sins. The second was to Abraham to make the Jewish people a great nation. The third was the handing down of the Torah to Moses and to separate the Jews from the world (Gentiles). The final one was where God died for our sins using a man named Yeshua who was the living body of God. Only through God's sacrifice can we be brought back into a union with him.
Are you going to contradict God and his promises?
All things come from God. We're just custodians of it. Isaiah 45:7 and Job chapter 1 is quite clear on that matter. Maybe you should actually read what God said instead of going I don't hear you! That alone makes you equal to the Pharisees that Jesus fought with. You are a modern day Pharisee.
I'll reiterate what God said himself to Isaiah and had him preach it.
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
God is quite clear on the matter that everything is done by his will.
