To whom does the glory belong?

To whom does the glory belong?

Who does the glory belong to? God (the heavenly Father), or Jesus? Who is greater? The heavenly father, or Jesus? Well, Hebrew Scripture teaches that the glory belongs to the God of Avraham, as is written: “I am י ה ו ה : that is my name: and MY GLORY WILL I NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER... ”- Isaiah 42: 8, KJV. And even the Christian gospel quotes Jesus openly recognizing the superiority of the Heavenly father, when he goes on to say: “If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: FOR MY FATHER IS GREATER THAN I”- John 14: 28, KJV.

Whom is one to follow? Should the Hebrew believer follow the Christian believer? Or should it be the other way around?

As for whom is to follow whom at the end of the journey, it would be wise to let the word of God [the Hebrew Scripture] speak for itself, thereby making clear the truth of the matter:

1) Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a time of distress, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors inherited only lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all”- Jeremiah 16: 19, Christian Standard Bible
2) The Lord of Armies says this: In those days, ten (Gentile) men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you”- Zechariah 8: 23, CSB
3) And many nations will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so we may walk in his paths”. For instruction (Torah) will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem- Micah 4: 2, CSB
4) Then all the survivors from the [Gentile] nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters [thereby practicing the Hebrew religion]- Zechariah 14: 16

Moses Ten Laws Are The True Hebrew Religion

Moses Ten Laws (Commandments) is all the moral guide the believer will ever need. Besides, from their original enumeration (Exodus chapter 20) it is clear that these laws don’t demand him to blindly follow any particular prophet, religion, race, or land [in other words, they provide ample room for everybody; for every race, every religion, every culture, and every nation]. In fact, the commandments are so inclusive that they simply ask us to follow the moral lifestyle that pleases the Creator (“sowing and reaping”); doing unto our fellow human beings the same goodness we would like to be done unto ourselves (which makes perfect sense, as “what goes around, comes around”).
Therefore, it would not be far fetched to say that Moses ten Laws intimate that God’s true Israel is composed of those who are committed with doing good, and thus have a pure heart (regardless of their ethnic background, nationality, or their religious creed). And the Hebrew scripture bears witness of this, when it goes on to say: “Depart from Evil, and do Good, and [no matter if you are a Jew, or a gentile, you will] dwell for evermore [obtaining everlasting life]”- Psalm 37: 27; And also in another place, “How good God is to Israel [to which Israel? …], to those who are pure in heart! ”- Psalm 73: 1.
Curiously, from time immemorial huge swats of the Hebrew population had argued that Moses ten laws were in fact the true Hebrew religion. But for many centuries the Jewish leaders had strongly opposed such a notion, as they had made of the Talmud [and not of Moses Ten Laws], the true “separating wall” between the Hebrew, Muslim and Christian traditions. And this wall is one which they were not willing to tear down, nor replace.
And if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. In other words, Moses ten Laws were just too simple! Jews could easily learn them, without the need of their learned leaders! Thus, the Rabbis insisted on keeping Judaism complex and cumbersome, so that individual Jews had to depend on their Yeshiva’s [Jewish learning institutions] as well as their expert Rabbis for it’s accurate interpretation [sort of like the fisherman who likes to keep the water murky, in order to catch more fishes].
And it is in this sense that modern Judaism is closer to Christianity than what it is to the ancient Hebrew religion. In other words, in Christianity you can’t know God without first coming to Jesus. While in modern Judaism you can’t know God without first coming to a Jewish Rabbi [who will make you know the mind of God]. And the latter begs the question, “is God playing hide and seek? Is He making Himself difficult to find? Which Rabbi instructed Enoch, Noah, and Job? ”). May God have mercy of Modern Judaism!

Christianity is an awesome religion. But the holy gospel quotes Jesus [peace and blessings be upon him] claiming that only he who is free from sins can condemn other people (“... he [Jesus] stood up and said to them, The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her”- John 8: 7, Christian Standard Bible). So, as Christian theology claims only Jesus is free from sins, how do you explain the fact that it is John the Baptist [and not Jesus] the one who “throws the stone” at King Herod, condemning the latter for the sin of illegally marrying his brother's wife? («For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her”»- John 14: 3-4)

The man who demands praise and recognition from his fellow human beings has lost his mind [No matter if he be Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad, peace be upon them all]

In the final analysis, the human being is little more than a mobile [and talking] leather bag, full of urine and feces.
Therefore, only a foolish person would exalt himself. Thus, no matter if the name of the person is Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad (peace be upon them all), when a man is so arrogant as to demand glory and praise from his fellow human beings, he thereby displays the sort of madness that brings him closer to the beasts, than to rational human beings.
And from whence do we know that the man who exalts himself behaves like a brute beast? We know it from king Nebuchadnezzar, who glorified himself, and ended up eating grass (like a brute beast). As it is written:
“The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that i have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying... The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen... and he was driven from men, and did eat grass like an oxen... ”- Daniel 4: 30-33.
And from whence do we know that the man who lust for honor and praise ends up under the influence of an evil spirit? We know it from king Saul, who dared to ask Samuel to publicly honor him, and ended up being tormented by an evil spirit. As it has been written: “Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, i pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel... But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him”- 1 Samuel 15: 30 & 16: 14.
And, from this standpoint, it is troubling to find that the holy gospel presents the man Jesus (peace be upon him) exalting himself to the level of God (“I and my Father are one”- John 10: 30).
Why is this troubling? Simply because [as we've just explained] for a leather bag full of feces and urine to claim to be the exalted Creator of the Universe, is plain madness. And the gospel confirms this truth, when it goes on to say:
“And when those who belonged to Him (His kinsmen) heard it, they went out to take him by force, for they kept saying, he [jesus] is out of his mind (beside himself, deranged)! ”- Mark 3: 21 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition). And something similar happened with prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who exalted himself by claiming to be the seal of all prophets. As it is written:
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the messenger of Allah (God), and the seal of the prophets... ”- Qur'an, Surat 33: 40 (Yusuf Ali translation). And why is the latter verse so troubling? Simply because [according to Muslim tradition] the man who exalted himself above all other prophets, ended up behaving as a bewitched person (in other words, in a deranged fashion). As it is written: v «It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: A spell was put on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until He imagined that he had done a thing when he had not done it. One day he made du’aa’ then he said: “Do you know that Allah has shown me in what lies my cure? Two men came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet. One of them said to the other, ‘What is ailing the man? ’ He said: ‘He has been bewitched. ’ He said: “Who has bewitched him? ’ He said: ‘Labeed ibn al-A’sam. ’ He said, ‘With what? ’ He said: ‘with a comb, the hair that is stuck to it, and the skin of pollen of a male date palm. He said: ‘Where is it? ’ He said, ‘In the well of Dharwaan... ’”»- Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3268; Muslim, 2189.
Does the former means that Christianity and Islam are false religions? Absolutely not! The truth is that these two religions are perfectly valid paths to come to the Creator. And all pious Christians and Muslims will indeed enter Paradise. What it means is that, it is wrong [and sinful] for men to exalt themselves, as pride and haughtiness weren't made for human beings, but rather meekness and humility. As it is written:
“Before destruction, the heart of man is haughty; and, before honour, is humility”- Proverbs 18: 12 (King James Bible); “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud”- Proverbs 16: 19 (King James Bible); “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the Earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness”- Zephaniah 2: 3 (King James Bible). May peace and blessings be upon you!