Graber - Section F

<Section F> H. Graber states: “THE MESSIAH: We read, concerning Paul in Acts 13:46-47, ‘Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was neccessary [sic.] that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: (meaning the Jews) but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.’ If the apostle Paul is to be for salvation unto the ends of the earth, that means that Jesus Christ has abdicated His Messiahship! If we are to believe these scriptures, and the apostle Paul, then Paul is our Messiah. Paul further magnifies himself in Gal. 4:14, ‘And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even Jesus Christ.’ What arrogance! Paul putting himself on the same level with Jesus Christ. We read the words of Jesus in John 4:25-26, ‘The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.’ Who do you accept as the MESSIAH, Jesus Christ or the apostle Paul?”

In reply to section <F>: I have been thinking to write a paper for some time now concerning all of the mistranslation and misconception in and of the book of Acts. .  When I do, Acts 13:46-47 will certainly be one of the pericopes discussed. At Acts 13:47 Paul quotes Isaiah (see Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 and 51:4), whose prophecy is surely related to the promises found at 1 Kings 11:36 (and 2 Chron. 21:7) and which Paul certainly understood – knowing the prophecy better than Mr. Graber – that he had a part in fulfilling (see Acts 26:17-18). Every message needs a messenger. If one claims to know where lost Israel was at the time of Christ, one must accept Paul as that messenger, for no one else delivered Yahshua’s message to the Nations (not the “Gentiles”), but Paul! The Gauls, Greeks, Romans and Spaniards that Paul visited, along with the Scythians and others he mentioned, were all Israelites, and Paul knew it.

We are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14-16). We are the children of Light (John 12:36, 1 John 1:5-7). Shemesh, or “sun” in Hebrew, also means “people of Shem” in Hebrew. This is not an accident. Peter also knew the prophet’s comparison of the Word to light (2 Pet. 1:19), but was not the writer that Paul evidently was. Luke (2:32) knew the source of the light, and surely Paul did too, though in the A.V. Luke 2:32 is poorly translated, for the Nations (not ‘Gentiles’) and the glory of Israel are in the Greek both one and the same. If Graber understands not the prophecy concerning the light of the gospel, it is only because there is no light in him (John 11:10)!

Now to discuss Acts 13:46. Paul gives this discourse in Pisidian Antioch, which contained a colony of Romans (Strabo 12.18.4), amidst a land settled throughout history by Phrygians (who were Thracians according to Strabo and others, hence descendants of Japheth – Gen. 10:2), Pisidians (a people which Strabo relates to the Leleges and Cilicians, Strabo 12.7.3, who in turn are shown to be related to the Trojans and had Trojan kings, Strabo 13.1.7, 13.1.51, 13.3.1 et al., and in turn the Cilicians are related to the Phoenicians by Rawlinson in his edition of Herodotus, from comments Herodotus made; Israelites all!), and later the area was overrun by the Keltic-Israelite Galatians, and later colonized by Greeks as well as Romans. So enough background on the environs of Pisidian Antioch, a “multi-cultural” region, but consisting entirely of Adamic cultures. When Paul first addressed these people he states (13:16) “Men of Israel, and ye that fear God”, a device which indicates the presence of non-Israelite Adamites (compare Peter at Acts 2:14) and his entire address is for and about Israelites. See also Acts 13:26, where by no means is Paul attempting to change the original commission (Matt. 15:24).

Now at Acts 13:46, after the Judaeans (not the “jews”, which is not in the original Greek anywhere, although today we call the non-believing Judaeans, racially Canaanites and Edomites, by the name of “jew”) rejected Paul’s message, Paul says “... lo, we turn to τὰ ἔθνη” and I will discuss the Greek words τὰ ἔθνη in a moment.

First, it should be obvious that Paul’s scope here is local. This is not, as the catholics would have you think, a sudden and general rejection by Paul of Judaeans everywhere; God having changed His mind and His people. Oh the deception! By no means should Acts 13:46 be cross-referenced, as so many fools do, to Matthew 21:43. Instead, Matthew 21:43 should be cross-referenced to Micah 4:7-8 and to Daniel 2:44, which the catholics usually neglect to do, not having the Truth! Paul’s rejection of Judaeans here applies only to those Judaeans at the time and place (the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch) in which Paul makes the statement. This is obvious, since days later at Iconium, 75 miles east of Antioch Paul visits another synagogue (Acts 14:1) and “a great multitude of the Judaeans and also of the Greeks believed.” Here it is proven: anyone who follows the catholic (meaning “universalist”) theology is a fool, and anyone who parrots it is a liar! H. Graber is a fool and a liar!

Now for the words τὰ ἔθνη in this passage: Anyone who ever reads the Greek word ἔθνος, of which ἔθνη is plural, and utters the made-up catholic word “gentile”, is a moron! Let us look at the secular definition of ἔθνος as given by Liddell & Scott: “a number of people accustomed to live together, a company, a body of men ... of animals, swarms, flocks ... after Homer, a nation, people ... in the N.T. the nations ...” Now not always can this word be translated “nations.” See Acts 8:9 and Romans 10:19 in the A.V., where ἔθνος is translated “people.” Compare Mark 11:17 to its source at Isaiah 56:7, where the A.V. should have translated the word “people”, but did not. There are other examples of this, and many more in the Septuagint. Here the A.V. should have rendered this part of Acts 13:46 “lo, we turn to the people”, and left behind in the Greek would be the diversity of the synagogue audience, Thracians, Kelts, Greeks, Romans and Judaeans, but all Adamites, which Paul’s use of τὰ ἔθνη surely indicates. Other Greek words meaning “people” or “multitude” among which are λαός, δῆμος, πλῆθος, ἁλής or ὄχλος, simply would not have the same precise meaning. Graber is ignorant, and his ignorance is accomplice to his lies.

To continue by examining another part of this paragraph at <F>, I will discuss Graber’s lies concerning Galatians 4:14. Quoting my own translation of this verse: “And of my trial in the flesh you did not despise or loathe, but as a messenger of Yahweh you accepted me, like Yahshua Christ.” It may be proven (start by reading 4:15) that Paul’s “trial in the flesh” was his failed eyesight (see also Gal. 6:11), and he was here commending the Galatians for treating him respectably, even though he had such a disability. Paul is not elevating himself to the position of Christ, but rather is commending the Galatians for abiding by the words of Christ, expressed at Matthew 10:40: “He that receiveth you receiveth me”! Paul is being fair in his assessment. Is Mr. Graber? Who is a liar, but H. Graber? It is obvious that Graber does not know his Scripture yet makes many accusations. The jews did the same thing to Christ!