Subject: [ETI Informal All 1A1.03.01.01] Who is Yahshua?
From: "James R @ ETIMin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Lists @ ETI Min" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 16:33:19 +0200

Greetings

Earlier today i received an article which asserted that the name of Yahshua could be substituted for the name of Yahweh throughout Scripture since the two were synonymous.

This did not agree at all with my understanding and i mailed others who had received the same mail in order to get their views since the mail DID highlight some issues that i have been uncomfortable with for some time but which i have avoided confronting head on.

In response i received the three attached articles from Jim Coetzee which make some very challenging points.

In response to this i set out to express the position as i currently see it and that is set out in the mail that follows.

As i state in the preamble to what follows, i am unable to offer rock solid scripture to support my current understanding nor am i able to offer rock solid scripture to refute or prove the counter positions.  Accordingly i welcome any comment from readers.

Warm regards and blessings

James Robertson

>>> FORWARD BEGINS <<<

Shalom again Jim

I have taken some time to read through the three articles that you sent me and it is apparent to me that i will have to read them again several times to fully grasp the substance of the reasoning and interpretation.

In the interests of possible further dialogue let me sum up my position as it presently exists:

1) I have been aware for about 18 months that the Trinity was in fact invalid.

2) I have found very few people who seemingly agreed with me on that so it is a blessing to establish that you are in agreement on that.

3) In responding to this revelation i have been enormously challenged by the Scriptures that state that Yah the eternally self existent (Yahweh) is ONE together with Scriptures which clearly differentiate between Yahshua and Yah.

4) During the process i have come to the absolute certain conclusion that the Name of the Almighty is Yah and that Yahweh is a very specific, albeit widely used, descriptive Name meaning "Yah the eternally self existent".

5) I have also discovered that the scribal substitution of Elohim in place of Yah is far greater than generally reported.  Literal reading of Elohim as "Mighty One" or "Mighty Ones" requires that in probably at least sixty to eighty percent of all instances Elohim must be replaced with Yah for the verse to make sense.

6) In this process i have also come to understand that it is possible for Yahshua to be Elohim but NOT Yah.  In other words, Yahshua CAN be a mighty one, he CAN be the mightiest mighty one other than Yah, but that does NOT make Yahshua = Yah.

7) I have seen all of this in the light of a very hard learned lesson that the infusion of a man's spirit into a woman during sexual intercourse is what makes the two one and that Genesis 2:24 and the verses that cite it in terms of "the two shall become one flesh" speaks of a very solid spiritual reality which the last few verses of Ephesians 5 make clear applies equally to us becoming ONE with Yah when we are filled with His Set-Apart {Holy} Spirit.

8) I have seen that ANYONE who is truly LED by the Spirit of Yah is a Son of Yah and therefore, Yahshua as one who was totally filled and controlled by the Spirit during his ministry we definitely a SON on that count and ALSO ONE with Yah.  However, it is possible for YOU or i to achieve that same level of spiritual oneness if we are willing to die totally to self and let the Spirit of Yah take control.

9) The Hebrew word translated Messiah is elsewhere translated "Anointed" and therefore there is no such thing as "THE Messiah" there is only such a thing as a particular "anointed one" foretold by the prophets.  Yahshua IS that anointed one, he is ALSO "the prophet" like Mosheh, etc but he is only Messiah in a loose colloquial sense and not in the supernatural kingdom sense that the term is widely used to convey.

10) There are approximately six different derivatives of the Greek word Christos translated as Christ and meaning anointed, anoint, anointed one, anointing, etc which, when contextually substituted leave us with a whole lot of verses which contain Christ that have nothing to do with Yahshua, for example "i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" actually means "i can do all things throught the anointing [of the set-apart {holy} Spirit of Yah] that strengthens me" and "reign with Christ for a thousand years" actually means "reign with the anointing [of the set apart {holy} Spirit of Yah] for a thousand years" - both cases have NOTHING to do with Yahshua!

So where does this leave me?

Having believed for years that Yahshua = Yah for the last 18 months i have come to conclude that this is NOT the case but i am unable to offer rock solid argument to support this position, just as i am not able to offer solid argument to support the counter position.

What i do find is that my knowledge of the vast complexities of the spiritual realm and specifically the Kingdom of Yah is severely limited and that accordingly my ability to reason out these matters is severely limited.

I ALSO find that this matter is of VAST importance for our compliance with the terms of the first three of the ten commandments hangs on this interpretation and if we get it wrong by believing that Yahshua IS Yah and this is NOT so then we are guilty of idolatry and break at the very least the first commandment.  If on the other hand, Yahshua IS Yah and one believes that he is not then the sin is less obvious but presumably there is
sin involved else Satan would not waste time constructing lies around it?  -- notice that the difficulty of defining a Torah violation in this case reinforces the case for Yahshua NOT being Yah!

This becomes even more challenging when one discovers that the one thing more than anything else that separates believers in Yah THROUGH Yahshua from the Moslems is that Muhammed stated categorically and repeatedly that Yahshua was the greatest prophet to have lived but that he was NOT a partner with Yah and Muhammed categorically and repeatedly attributes the statement to Yah that Yah has NO partners where partner is defined as being one who is totally equal in all respects.  Muhammed makes it clear that "Christians" sin by equating Yahshua = Yah!

So what is my take on all this at present?

As best i can discern i can see the following with some degree of clarity:

a) The Spirit Being we know as Yahshua came into existence / was created as the FIRST creative act that Father Yah EVER executed.

b) Yahshua worked with Yah in all matters of creation from that time on and was the pattern from which the design of the messengers {angels} and mankind was taken.  Yahshua was also a confidante / right hand man / friend to Yah.

c) Yahshua volunteered to come to earth as a man with his enormous knowledge of the workings of Satan as his only safeguard to living a life without sin for 33 and a half years.

d) Yahshua lived a sinless life and died without having committed sin.

e) Yahshua was filled with the Set Apart {Holy} Spirit of Yah when he was immersed by Yohanan to a level of anointing greater than any man had ever been before that or has been after that - he was totally controlled by the Spirit of Yah and therefore in a sense was Yah in human form - this made him a Son of Yah in the greatest possible sense but he was still NOT Yah and had a will and emotions of his own which had the capacity to take decisions which would result in sin but which he exercised with iron resolve to avoid
sinning.

f) Yahshua appropriated a whole list of prophetic titles to himself during his life - lamb of Yah, bread of life, etc  These prophetic titles provided an avenue for him to fulfil the Torah with regard to animal sacrifices, grain offerings, showbread, etc.

g) Because Yahshua the man came into existence by way of a creative miracle, less of a miracle than the creation of Adam and Eve but nevertheless a miracle, he did not have an earthly father EXCEPT by adoption and therefore there was no blood line for curses to flow through and thus it was possible for him to be born without sin from his earthly father contaminating him.

h) The high priests and others performed a prophetic ordination of Yahshua as King of the Yahudim even though they did it sarcastically and mockingly, they nevertheless proclaimed him King - he could not have become King otherwise!  He was also ordained as King by Pilate making him King of the Gentiles as well.

i) Resulting from the above Yahshua was able to prophetically fulfill the Torah and usher in a new covenant based on better promises!

j) Because he had no sin death had no hold on Yahshua and therefore he was automatically resurrected but CHOSE to remain three days in the grave as a sign and also to preach to the spirits in detention.

k) NONE of this makes Yahshua = Yah, nor does it require him to be Yah.

In fact, it would be illegal for Yah to come to earth as a man who could not sin and then claim what was claimed for Yahshua on his resurrection -- if there had not been opportunity and ability for Yahshua to sin then it would be gross hypocrisy and a complete farce for Yahshua to have lived and died the way he did - Yah might just as well have destroyed Satan and all evil and established his reign on earth!

However, Satan gained his rulership of earth LEGALLY and he can only be deposed LEGALLY and that required a real human being with the capacity to sin to live and die without sin!

This is as clear as i can see it at present.

As i mentioned above i have difficulty with a number of verses of Scripture which SEEM to suggest that Yahshua IS Yah but i have to weigh these against other verses which clearly indicate that Yahshua is NOT Yah.

I would be interested to have your comments on this :)

Warm regards and blessings

James