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Regardless of your personal religion, if you fear God and do what is just, merciful, and humble, you will end up safe




Regardless of your personal religion, if you fear God and do what is just, merciful, and humble, you will end up safe

The book of Psalms goes on to teach the following: “ Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off ”- Psalm 37: 37-38.
Concerning this subject, Reformed Samaritanism teaches that, just as it happened to prophet Elisha, if a man fears God’s judgment, and therefore does that which is just, humble, and morally upright, not even an opposing army will be able to do him harm.
As is written: “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha ” - 2 kings 6: 16-17).
Conversely, regardless of his personal theology, and just as it happened to king Ahav, if a man has no fear of God’s judgment, and therefore insists upon doing what is patently unjust, arrogant, and morally twisted, he will find that neither his wisdom, his courage, nor even his own personal army will be able to spare him from harm.
As is written: «… And [Ahav] the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself>, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes”. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and [boldly] went into the battle [in the midst of his army]… And a certain man drew a bow AT A VENTURE, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness… and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even... » - 2 Kings 22: 30, 34, & 35).

 

Is Jesus of Nazareth (peace and blessings be upon him) “the Servant of God” mentioned in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah?

The Book of Isaiah describes God’s Servant as carrying all of our iniquities: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and THE LORD HATH LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL… He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge SHALL MY RIGHTEOUS SERVANT JUSTIFY MANY; FOR HE SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES”- Isaiah 53: 6& 11, King James Version.
In addition, Isaiah states beforehand that God’s Servant is none other than Israel, as it is said: “Remember these, O JACOB AND ISRAEL; FOR THOU ART MY SERVANT: I have formed thee; THOU ART MY SERVANT: O ISRAEL, thou shalt not be forgotten of me”- Isaiah 44: 21, KJV.
But, if the nation of Israel is indeed the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, does that mean that “Israel will save Israel”? Well, the answer to the latter question is both “Yes”, and “No”… You see, the prophets mostly spoke using the [allegorical] language of images and parables (“I sent my prophets to WARN YOU WITH MANY VISIONS AND PARABLES”- Hosea 12: 10, New Living Translation…. “Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, DOTH HE NOT SPEAK PARABLES? ”- Ezekiel 20: 49, KJV).
Thus, when prophet Isaiah speaks about Israel being “God's own Servant”, he isn’t necessarily limiting himself to the physical members of Israelite nation. Rather, he could be using God fearing Israelites as an allegorical representation for any community comprised of righteous and God fearing people [regardless of their race or creed]. And it would be this allegorical “Servant of the Lord” who will “carry the sins of their World”.
And the proof? The verse where God hints to Abraham that, if there be at least 10 righteous men [Servants of God] living among the Sodomites, their life of service to the Almighty would atone for the sins of their wicked peers [sparing the city from condemnation]; as is written: “And the Lord said, IF I FIND IN SODOM FIFTY RIGHTEOUS WITHIN THE CITY, THEN I WILL SPARE ALL THE PLACE FOR THEIR SAKES… And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: PERADVENTURE TEN SHALL BE FOUND THERE. And he said, I WILL NOT DESTROY IT FOR TEN'S SAKE” - Genesis 18: 25, & 32, KJV.

 

Joshua, the prophet that was to come

Moses said that after his ministry was over, God would raise up (or appoint) another prophet. As it is written: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my Name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18: 18-19).
Notice that the promise was that the prophet would be “like Moses”. This means that that prophet would do the same things (and have the same attributes) as Moses did. What were such things and attributes? Well, they were the following:

(1) Moses wrote laws and statutes for all Israel with his own fingers (Deut. 31: 24)
(2) Like everyone who is completely human, Moses had two biological parents
(3) Moses publicly divided the waters (Exodus 14: 21)
(4) Moses defeated Israel’s physical enemies. In other words, Pharaoh and his army (Exodus 15: 1)
(5) God granted Moses the power to designate the place that each tribe would occupy during their march towards Canaan (Numbers 2: 1-34)
(6) God immediately punished [with capital punishment] any Israelite who had the audacity to publicly disobey Moses (Numbers 16: 32-35)
(7) Moses [correctly] prophesied that if an Israelite ever tried to override Moses' orders, he would do so at the cost of his children's lives (Leviticus 26: 29, & 2 Kings 6: 24-29)
(8) All Israel believed and/or feared Moses (Exodus 14: 31)
(9) During his earthly ministry, Moses allowed non Israelite people to enter into the Israelite assembly (Exodus 12: 38).

Reformed Samaritanism teaches that the prophet who was to come after Moses was none other than Joshua, the son of Nun. Why? Did Joshua have the same works and attributes as Moses? Of course he did!:

(1) Joshua wrote laws and statutes for all Israel with his own fingers (Joshua 24: 25)
(2) Like everyone who is completely human, Joshua had two biological parents

(3) Joshua publicly divided the waters (Joshua 3: 7, & 14-16)
(4) Joshua defeated Israel’s physical enemies, conquering both Jericho and the nations of Canaan (Joshua 12: 7)
(5) Joshua was the supreme leader and leader of the Israelites, since he designated the place that each tribe would occupy during their stay in the land of Canaan (Joshua 14: 1, & 23: 4)
(6) God publicly punished those who disobeyed Joshua; for example, Achan and his family (Joshua 7: 19-26)
(7) Joshua [correctly] prophesied that if an Israelite ever tried to override his orders concerning Jericho, he would do so at the cost of his children's lives (Joshua 6: 26, & 1 Kings 16: 34)
(8) All Israel believed and/or feared Joshua (Joshua 4: 14)
(9) During his earthly ministry, Moses allowed non Israelite people to enter into the Israelite assembly (Joshua 9: 27).

In conclusion, Joshua was that prophet who would be " like Moses". And it goes without saying that, only a deranged person would be so brazen as to claim to be " a prophet like Moses" while promulgating the doctrine of “salvation by faith, and without the need of the Law”.
Why? Simply because the latter is an open denial of Moses core message. And what was Moses core message? -- That the believer must never abandon God’s Divine Law-- the supreme truth summarized in the Ten Laws (or “commandments”) written upon the two stone tablets by the very finger of God. And this is the reason why Moses exhorts us saying:
“And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt rehearse them continually unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou tarriest in thine house, and as thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up: And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Also thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and upon thy gates”- Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 (1599 Geneva Bible).
And, in perfect agreement with Moses original message, prophet Joshua exhorts us to do likewise, when he goes on to say:
“Only be thou strong, and of a most valiant courage, that thou mayest observe and do according to all the Law which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: thou shalt not turn away from it to the right hand, nor to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. Let not this book of the Law depart out of thy mouth, but meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe and do according to all that is written therein: for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success”- Joshua 1: 7-8 (1599 Geneva Bible)

 

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