The Barbarian Bible

by Ianto Watt

  Does OT Judaism have a believable

  (and desirable) Messiah? Well, YES and NO.

  I guess it depends on whom you ask. And on whom you think the Messiah is. According to some Jews, Jesus was (is) the Messiah. These Jews, however, tended to become what we call ‘The Christians’ of today, although back at the time of Jesus they were perceived as just another sect within Judaism for a time, till about 100 AD. This storyline will lead us to the next group, but not just yet. There’s a lot more explaining to do, because the story of Torah Judaism isn’t over, even though we have identified serious problems to their claim to be the True Operating System.

  Part of this Jewish problem of the ‘Who is the Messiah’ comes from the fact that their OT prophecies are subject to interpretation. And the problem is that they seem to be contradictory in one aspect. And that seemed to divide the Jewish people from their leaders at the time of Jesus. The problem was that there seemed to be 2 types of Messiah being portrayed in the prophecies. These prophecies, by the way, stretched from the time of Adam to Malachi, or about 3600 years, give or take a few. The two images they foretold of this ‘coming’ Messiah seem to be at odds with each other.

  The first image portrayed is of a brilliant, powerful military hero who was going to stomp the crap out of the ruling Gentile group(s). First, it was thought that the ruling Gentiles would be the Babylonians. But then they were supplanted by the Persians, and then later the Jews thought it was the Greeks. Finally, all the Jews were certain that it was the hated Romans. This image was very agreeable to the Jews of almost every stripe. Who doesn’t like a ‘hero’? Who doesn’t want to see their antagonists crushed? But there’s a problem here, because this wasn’t the only image the prophecies portrayed.

  The second type of Messiah was portrayed as a suffering servant who would be slain for his beliefs. He would be ‘hung on a tree’, which was the biggest possible humiliation in Judaism, as there is an early prophecy about the accursed being hung from a tree, or, as was commonly understood, a cross. This was to occur after this messiah was scourged, and then he would be stabbed (‘lanced’), and die at the hands of his tormentors. Now it’s hard to reconcile these two images, and the people had a hard time doing this.

  Generally, they divided into two camps. The ruling elite, including the priests, were insulted by the thought that the prophetic culmination wouldn’t result in an earthly victory over the enemies of Jerusalem (who had trod Israel underfoot for around 750 years, beginning with the Assyrians). No, in their mind it was unacceptable that the promised Messiah would come as anything other than a butt-kicker who was going to get even and settle some old scores, permanently. And if you read these portions of the prophecy, since they come earlier in the scriptural tradition, they do seem to present this kind of picture. And who doesn’t want to get even? As a Barbarian, I can certainly understand this thought!

  Besides, the Jews had already won the Super-Power Bowl twice, back to back. First under King David, who was the prime ancestor of the Messiah that was prophesied to come. Then the Jews remained victorious under his son, King Solomon, who built the first and finest Temple. These two had conquered the whole civilized world from the Nile to the Euphrates. The worldwide Religious Hall of Fame was Solomon’s Temple, said by everyone, pagans included, to be unsurpassed by anything, anywhere. And by the way, this was right around 1100 BC, which is right when Troy was burning. That’s interesting, no? You don’t get it, grandson? I’ll explain later. It matters, believe me.

  And it’s of great interest that at the time of Jesus, even though the Romans were the new world-wide military and religious powerhouse, there was only one nation in the Roman Empire that got a free pass on the requirement to worship the Roman gods; Israel. In fact, the Roman Emperors, for years, had sent huge sums, yearly, to the priests in Jerusalem, in order to pay for the cost of buying the sacrificial animals needed for the Jewish High Priest to offer a sacrifice to their Jewish God on behalf of the Emperor and the people of Rome!

  This is an interesting, even huge fact in our search for the real deal. Even Titus, the Roman General who besieged Jerusalem, begged the rebellious Jews not to cause the destruction of the Second Temple, which he acknowledged was the most beautiful building in the world (even though it was not as beautiful as the original, built by King Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians about 650 years earlier). Read Josephus’ recording of Titus’ speech, delivered by Josephus in the language of the Jews, before the walls of Jerusalem (Josephus, ‘War of the Jews’, Book 6, Chapter 2.1).3 Titus speaks of the tribute the Romans paid for the sacrifice to be made on behalf of Rome. In fact, this was one of the last straws for the Romans, when the High Priests refused to continue this sacrifice. And when you think about it, it’s pretty funny, to have the pagan military giant worshiping the God of their conquered subjects, who refused to return the compliment to the pagan gods!

  And while the Romans took their pagan religion seriously, they had, in effect, admitted that OT Judaism was superior in form and effect to their own pagan beliefs. The Romans had great respect for the widely known power of the God of the Jews, and the stories of the parting of the Red Sea and the defeat of Pharaoh with the 10 plagues were still pretty recent. And obviously these stories were known and believed, by the Babylonians (who knew and feared Daniel the Jewish prophet), by the Persians (who also knew Daniel), by Alexander (who saw the Jewish High Priest in his dream years before he came to Jerusalem) and by the Romans, who saw how the Jews, under Judas Maccabeus, had miraculously defeated the Greeks less than one hundred years earlier. And the Romans would eventually get their own first-hand experience with the Jews under the generalship of Josephus in the Jewish Revolt (66AD), whom they eventually captured and spared due to their great respect for his tactics and his office as a High Priest. And the Romans, being smart fellows, had covered their bets and paid quite a little respect to the God of Israel for many years prior to the Jewish Revolt in 66 AD. But that hadn’t bought them any friendship among their conquered subjects in Jerusalem because, after all, the Jews (and not the Romans) were the Chosen People, right?

  So it’s easy to see how the Chosen Ones, especially the rich and powerful ones, would chafe under the yoke of the foreign rulers of their land. They would be greatly attracted to the prophecies that said a Messiah would come who would restore the glory days when Israel was on top of the world, and everyone sent tribute to Jerusalem. After all, the Roman Emperor (and therefore the entire Gentile world) still sent tribute of a type to them till that very day! These prophecies of a brilliant military-hero Messiah spoke to their deepest prideful desires. And interestingly enough, many of these early prophecies didn’t refer to this coming Messiah as one who would be a God-Man. No, they referred to him as the ‘Son of David’ or the ‘Son of Man’. So it was easy to see how someone could read them and dream of a purely human fulfillment of them. To dream of a human descendant of King David who would re-establish the dynasty, and make it permanent, forever, was not an unreasonable reading of some of the prophets. The early ones.

  Now it’s interesting to note that in these prophecies the conquered pagans don’t get much benefit from the coming of the Messiah. He’s here for the Jews, not the Gentiles. This Messiah didn’t seem to promise much for anyone who wasn’t Jewish. And so, in reference to the earlier criteria (#3 Does OT Judaism promise us something of great value or reward?), the answer for the vast majority of mankind would have to be ‘no’. Unless we converted to Judaism, and our descendants, after 7 generations, were finally considered to be truly Jewish (according to Jewish law). No, that didn’t do any good for the majority of Gentile folks. But that’s a side point, for now. Let’s get back to the question of figuring out these dualistic-looking prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.

  The other picture of the coming Messiah, a Suffering Servant, painted by some of the other later prophets like Isaiah, had its proponents too, although they weren’t held by many of those in high places. And after all, gu
ys like Isaiah and Jeremiah, who made these ‘suffering servant’ prophecies, had been killed by these very same priests and Scribes and Pharisees for their unwelcome prophecies. These prophecies said the Messiah would be meek and humble, and would suffer and die at the hands of his enemies. Not very appealing if you were looking for revenge, for glory, for power.

  But this message would resonate a lot more forcefully among those who were lowly, those who were servants of the rich and powerful. Those who had found meaning (if not joy) in the simpler things of life, if not in life itself. Things like family, patience, and the dignity of work. These people could identify with a Messiah that endured what they did. They could see the virtue in suffering, and this picture seemed to validate their own lives and give it a transcendent meaning. And so, they could want just such a man, especially if he was actually God as well as man. After all, if he was God, as some of the later prophesies had hinted at, then he would be able to accomplish all that the powerful wanted, as well as have empathy for the small. Not a bad package!

  But how could these two separate images ever be fulfilled in one man? How could they be real at the same time? Well, that’s the story of the next contender, the Christians (and here’s a hint- the Messiah was going to come twice, once as the suffering servant, and then as the victorious general). But keep one thing in mind- the sequence. It wouldn’t make any sense for a Messiah to come the first time as a conquering hero, and then to die as a suffering servant, would it? That would defeat the whole idea of the ever-victorious military hero, right? But the opposite would certainly make sense, especially from a literary point of view. What a story. What a finish! And that’s what a certain group of Jews believed, but eventually, a lot of Gentiles believed it too. That’s when this splinter-group of Mosaic Judaism became what we now know as Christians. And we’ll get to that soon.

  But first, we have to deal with the ‘Bizzaro’ version of OT Judaism first. We have to understand the story of how the Jewish contender for the real Operating System went from being the front-runner to the back burner. And in the process of telling that story, we’ll end up telling the story of the next contender, the Christians. But first, we have to look at what went wrong with Judaism, from the Jewish perspective.

  So what is different about Judaism today from the Judaism practiced at the time just prior to the Jewish Revolt against Rome in 66 AD? Everything. Really, everything. It’s totally different. It’s like comparing solids to liquids. And here’s the big point- the Priesthood morphed into Rabbi-hood. One offered a sacrifice, the other offered advice. And while the sacrifice could never vary, the advice could and did, and still does today. What do I mean by this? It’s simple- here’s the iron law of Rabbinic Judaism, both in its origins and today; as long as any Rabbi says it’s OK, it’s OK. So all you have to do is shop for the right Rabbi, right? No problem! Want a ham sandwich? Find a Reform Rabbi! Don’t worry, you’re still a Jew, trust me. Have another bite. Here, have an apple for dessert!

  By the way, grandson, here is where I need to point out something about what I said earlier, about how different groups seem to use the same or similar names. I need to stress the need to keep the initials ‘OT’ clear in your mind. The Old Testament is what we generally regard as the usual term for these initials, but there is an impostor, as usual. This impostor is actually known as the Oral Tradition, which of course has the same initials; OT. Don’t let this confuse you as we continue on in our quest. These are two diametrically opposed ideas. The Old Testament was written (and therefore, unchanging), while the Oral Tradition was spoken, and it morphed into what is known as The Talmud. But in the world of Mosaic Judaism, the Old Testament was basically known as The Torah, which was actually the first 5 books of the Old Testament. These distinctions will be made clear in just a bit. Be patient, and you will see. But don’t get confused, because that is what ‘the gods’ want you to do! Just remember this; Moses equals Torah, Pharisees equals Talmud. Got it? Good! Now back to our work……………..

  Well, in the original recipe of Mosaic Judaism, there was no real argument about anything, because the rules were written down in pretty great detail. Check out the first 5 books of the Old Testament, you’ll find the Ten Commandments. You’ll also find that the Torah is jammed with 613 specific details for living your life. And there was only one High Priest. And he was the boss. There were no (openly) competing schools of thought. There may have been those who chafed at the enforcement, but generation after generation, the public and written law was unchanged. You couldn’t find a competing priest who said a ham sandwich was OK, under any circumstances.

  But today, in the world of Rabbinic Judaism (the Talmud), you can have anything you want, if you can find the right Rabbi who will allow it. Not a problem! But how, and more importantly when, did things change? When did it change for the whole of Israel, and not just the High Priests? Was it an instantaneous change that occurred at the Fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD? Do things ever really work that way? No. Things don’t just turn on a dime like that. At least, not visibly. And notwithstanding the statement of the High Priests to the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, that ‘we have no king but Caesar’, there has to have been a preparation for a change that vast and sweeping. The Fall of Jerusalem was simply the specific point in time when it became visibly true that Torah Judaism had fallen, for good.

  The real change began though, as it always does, at the beginning. It happened at the beginning of Mosaic OT Judaism, when Moses went up the mountain of Sinai to get the stone tablets containing the written, and therefore visible and unchanging Law. Just like it always happens, there were those who didn’t agree with the program. They resisted, but as always, they did it secretly at first. And only when the ruling paradigm was weakened, crippled, even destroyed (like in 70 AD) did these dissenters come out of the woodwork and proclaim the ‘new and improved’ version of the old way.

  So who were these dissenters, these resisters? They were the same ones that really didn’t want to leave Egypt. Life wasn’t so bad there, after all, for some of them. Especially the ones who were exposed to the pagan mystery religion of Egypt. They were pretty impressed with the multiple gods of Pharaoh’s Egypt. And the power that came with the practice of this religion. Oh, and the privileges too! Like lots of wives, and all the ham you could eat! But let’s not be silly. It was really about power and wealth, and the God of Moses didn’t seem to be promising a lot of that in the here and now. And so when Moses dragged them all out of their comfort zone and through the Red Sea into the desert, the menu changed and the cheese was moved. The daily ration was this stuff called manna, and every evening the gigantic flock of quail that would land and you went over and picked one out. Pretty simple, and the menu never changed for 40 years. Plus, no wine! But even before that happened, there were grumblings among the chosen ones amidst the Chosen People. And when Moses went up the mountain, they were ready to bolt back to Egypt. Especially when he stayed up there for 40 days and nights.

  And that’s when things started to take shape. The unrest became organized. As the saying goes, ‘when the cat’s away, the mice will play’, and here was the prime example. The best explanation I have ever read of this coalescence of resistance to Mosaic Judaism, which resulted in the formalized yet secretive seed of Rabbinic Judaism comes from a small book called ‘She Shall Crush Thy Head…’ by Stephen Mahowald (MMR Publishing, 2008).

  Now before I go any further, I want to state that I think the conclusions of Mahowald are insane. But the first 140 pages of this 202 page book contain a very good history of the genesis of ‘mystery religions’, beginning in Egypt and then in Babylon. It’s no coincidence that Egypt is where the Jews spent 430 years and Babylon is where the Jews spent 70 years in exile after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC.

  Anyway, according to Mahowald (p.23), at the time Moses went up Mt. Sinai, there were 70 other elders of the 12 tribes who gathered at the base of the mountain, keeping vigil. These 70 men
claim to have heard a voice, which they claimed was the voice of the ‘Spirit of God’, supposedly the same one Moses was conversing with at the top of the mountain. These men claimed to have received an Oral Revelation that was more extensive and profound (and therefore superior) to the message Moses was receiving at the top. These men are what we know as the Sanhedrin, when sitting as a group, legislatively. Individually, they are known as ‘Pharisees’ (‘the separated ones’). And their belief system, this Oral Tradition, is also known as ‘Kabalah’ (‘secret doctrine’). Now, whatever you do, don’t confuse the OT of the Old Testament with the OT of the Oral Tradition, because they are actually opposites. And again, when I mention the OT throughout this book, I am referring to Mosaic Old Testament law, which was definitively destroyed when the Temple was razed by Rome. The ‘oral tradition’ of the Pharisees will be referred to as Rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism, which is what we have today.

  Now, how is it that these two, Mosaic and Rabbinic Judaism, are opposites? Let me illustrate the difference with a little metaphor. If you are in a room that is lit, can you read a book? Sure. How about when the room is dark? Of course not. But can you hear in the dark? Sure! And history is full of stories of those who hear voices, especially in the night. And these stories rarely have happy endings. Now take that same book you read in the light, and show it to someone else. Can they read it? Sure. And does it read the same to that person just the same as it was read by you? Of course. But when you have a ‘voice’ that spoke to 70 men, can you ‘show’ it to others? Of course not. Since there were no voice recorders then, these 70 men had to repeat it to others in order to propagate it.