The Cart Before The Horse
If people could read only one chapter or book of the Bible what should it be?
When I lived in Greece I was involved with a group who smuggled Bibles into Yugoslavia. The former country of Yugoslavia was a satellite country of the USSR and its border with Greece was part of the Iron Curtain that people back in the USA were always talking about. It was the height of the Cold War and the tensions along the border were high.
The USSR was a communist country whose official religion was atheism. Their police state hunted down, tortured and killed the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him). The most dangerous thing to possess in Yugoslavia was a Bible.
Nonetheless the demand for Bibles in Yugoslavia was incredible. In fact, we could not smuggle in nearly enough Bibles for everyone who wanted one to have one. So the Children of Truth in Yugoslavia would take a Bible and carefully cut out each page with a razor blade. A single page was small enough to hide easily and when necessary could be quickly discarded or destroyed.
The pages were then distributed among the Children of Truth in a somewhat random fashion from underground church to underground church. Inside of each underground church each member typically got one or sometimes two pages. When a member got two pages the member would usually pass one of the pages on to someone who had not yet come into the House of Truth to read. The member would then read the other page over and over again until the member had memorized the entire page. After a page was memorized the member would then find another member who had also memorized their page and the two would trade pages. Eventually one underground church would be able to trade some of its pages with another underground church.
Of course, the number of available pages was forever shrinking due to giving pages to people who had not come into the House of Truth and to being forced to discard or destroy a page to survive. Obviously, the pages of the people who were caught were taken out of circulation. This is why it was so vital that we continued our operation of smuggling Bibles into Yugoslavia.
So needless to say most of the Children of Truth never actually were able to read the entire Book of Truth. They would get a random sampling of pages over many years that might constitute the number of pages in a single book about the size of the Gospel of Matthew.
This got me thinking. If you could only give one chapter of the Book of Truth to someone ever what chapter would you give them? (We'll pretend that each chapter takes a page.) If you could only someone one book from the Book of Truth which book would you give them?
For me there are several good candidates for the one chapter that I would give them but if it came down to it I would give them Romans 10. As far as which book I would give them, again there are several good candidates but if it came down to it I would give them Romans.
Now your answers maybe different than mine because as I said there are several good candidates for both the single chapter and the single book (the chapter need not belong to the book). However, one thing is certain, if someone who knew nothing about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) was going to receive only one chapter or even one book from the Book of Truth ever then it had better be from the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).
It is for this reason that when I disciple someone who has just came into the House of Truth that I have them read the entire Renewed Covenant before I ever have them read the Original Covenant (Tanach aka The Old Testament). Otherwise I would be putting the cart before the horse.
Now some people have said that having someone start reading at the Gospel of Matthew (Mattiyahu), continuing through Revelation, then going to Genesis (B'reshit) and going forward from there until the entire Original Covenant is finished is like starting a book in the middle, reading to the end, then going to the front and reading to the middle. Their usual question is: Who reads a book from the middle first?
First of all, the Book of Truth (The Bible) is really a collection of more than 60 books that tell an epic story. So their question would be better stated as who starts an epic story in the middle, then goes to the end and then goes to the beginning to catch up to the middle?
The answer is almost everyone. This is actually very common not just with books but also with movies and even television franchises. For example, Star Trek did this. The original series covered in the middle of the Starfleet time line, then Next Generation and its spin offs went to the end of the Starfleet time line and finally Enterprise covered the beginning of Starfleet time line. In fact, not only did the audience watch the story of Star Fleet in this order but it was also written in this order. The same could be said about countless other franchises including book series written long before electronic media existed.
The reason that this method of middle, end, and then beginning when telling an epic story is repeated so often is that it works. It not only works with telling epic stories but it is often used in education as well. How many times have teachers introduced a concept with a brief explanation, then explained how the concept fits into the big picture and then finally got around to the minute details of how the concept actually works?
The reason this methodology works is because it does not focus on a linear order of first to last in terms of time but rather focuses on a priority order of first to last in terms of importance for the audience to understand. The middle part often has the highest priority for the audience to understand.
The middle is often the part that glues everything else together like peanut butter holding two pieces of bread together to form a peanut butter sandwich. It is not so much that the peanut butter is more necessary, because it takes all of it to form a peanut butter sandwich, as it is that the peanut butter is what connects everything together to form the peanut butter sandwich. Without the peanut butter you just have two unconnected pieces of bread. Without both pieces of bread you do not have a sandwich. Still the peanut butter is what makes it a peanut butter sandwich instead of a chicken salad sandwich. Since the peanut butter is the part holds everything together and defines the character of the sandwich then it is most important part of the sandwich. The entire sandwich hinges on the peanut butter.
In the same way the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is the most important part of the Book of Truth. He is the subject of every chapter of every book in the Book of Truth - even when it is not obvious on the surface. The Book of Truth begins with the need for the Man of Truth and ends with the reign of the Man of Truth. The part that holds it all together is the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. The story told by the first part of the Book of Truth can never be understood properly until people know the Man of Truth. They come to know the Man of Truth by reading the middle part of the Book of Truth. That is one reason why having someone who has surrendered their life to the Man of Truth start with the first book of the Book of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.
The Book of Truth says the same thing.
The foundation of the House of Truth starts with the writings of the Apostles of Truth (the Renewed Covenant) and then continues with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (the Original Covenant) but it is the Man of Truth who holds the House of Truth together (Ephesians 2:19-21). The writings of the Prophets of Truth were written first, but the writings of the Apostles of Truth pull out the most important concepts of the writings of the Prophets of Truth, without giving all the details so that people can know the Man of Truth (2 Peter 3:1-2). For this reason the Apostles of Truth are told to rejoice first, and then the Prophets of Truth, when the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) avenges their blood, even though the Prophets of Truth were obviously martyred first (Revelation 18:20). Starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth, and then going to the writings of the Apostles of Truth, is putting the cart before the horse.
The early Prophets of Truth, who foretold the the Man of Truth coming down from Heaven, did not understand what the Man of Truth would accomplished on the Earth like the Apostles of Truth, and the later Prophets of Truth, who spoke by the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven (Ephesians 3:3-5). The Apostles of Truth were the first ones to understand that the Gentiles were also to be brought into the House of Truth as equal members of the family of the Father of Truth (Ephesians 3:6). The Apostles of Truth were the first to be sent to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth as full members, without requiring them to first become Jews through circumcision (Ephesians 3:7-8). The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that this had always been the hidden plan of the Father of Truth in sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Ephesians 3:9-11).
The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that everything that had happened from the day that the Father of Truth called Abraham (Abram) to form the Jewish people, to the day that the descendants of Abraham rebelled against the Father of Truth in crucifying the Man of Truth, was all part of the secret plan to save the entire human race. The Apostles of Truth were the first to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of Truth, so they could see that the plan of the Father of Truth for the Jewish people had always been about the Gentiles. The writings of the Apostles of Truth have higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth, because they are the writings that tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. Since the writings of the Prophets of Truth contain pieces of the puzzle, but the writing of the Apostles of Truth show the picture that the puzzle forms, then reading the writings of the Prophets of Truth before the writings of the Apostles of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.
The Apostles of Truth also followed this same pattern of starting with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, when they brought the Good News to the Gentiles, before they ever directed the Gentiles towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the Original Covenant.
Consider the first Gentile to come into the House of Truth without first becoming a Jew through circumcision. Cornelius the Italian was not totally ignorant of the Father of Truth, but was one of the proselytes of the gate (ger toshav) who feared the Father of Truth, but who had not made the cut when it came to circumcision (Acts 10:1-2). An Angel of Truth told Cornelius the Italian to send for Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka the Apostle Peter), who would tell him how to come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:3-6). When Peter the Jew came to tell Cornelius the Italian how to come into the House of Truth, there were a large number of other Gentiles who wanted to come into the House of Truth as well (Acts 10:27-33). Then Peter the Jew preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 10:34-42). Peter the Jew barely even mentioned the Prophets of Truth, and did not quote or even paraphrase any of their writings (Acts 10:43). The moment these Gentiles believed his message, they were baptized in the Spirit of Truth (Acts 10:44-46). Then these Gentiles were baptized in water, and Peter the Jew stayed with them for several days, because they had come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:46-48). When Peter the Jew rehearsed the whole matter before the other Apostles of Truth, and the Jewish congregation they agreed that the Gentiles had came into the House of Truth by hearing only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 11:15-18). Peter the Jew did not teach the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth, before he preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, because that is putting the cart before the horse.
In like manner, when Barnabas the Jew (The Apostle Barnabas) and Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) went to preach the Word of Truth to Sergius Paulus the Gentile they were resisted by Elymas the Sorcerer (Acts 13:6-8). When Sergius Paulus the Gentile saw how the power of the Spirit of Truth overcame the power of Elymas the Sorcerer then he came into the House of Truth by seeing the doctrine of the Man of Truth demonstrated (Acts 13:9-12).
When Paul the Jew preached to the Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate at Antioch (Pisidia) he started with a very short summary of the history of the Jewish people up to the time of King Saul (Acts 13:14-21). He then told them that the Man of Truth was the descendent of King David that had been promised to Israel (Acts 13:22-23). He then preached about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth so that both the Jews and Gentiles in his audience could come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:24-38). He had not even discussed the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses because people can only come into the House of Truth by believing what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 13:39-41). Afterwards Paul the Jew urged the Jews and Gentile proselytes who believed the Good News about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to continue in the grace that the Father of Truth had demonstrated by sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Acts 13:42-43). The next Sabbath Paul the Jew again preached the same message to almost all of the Gentiles in Antioch (Pisidia) (Acts 13:42-44). Paul the Jew then said that any of the Jews who did not believe the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth had rejected eternal life but the Gentiles who would believe this message would come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:45-47). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:48).
Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then continued to preach about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth in Iconium to both the Jews and the Gentiles while the Spirit of Truth continued to confirm their message with signs and wonders (Acts 14:1-3). Then they went to Lystra where they preached only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and the Spirit of Truth again confirmed their message with a wondrous sign when one of the Gentiles believed the message (Acts 14:6-10). These were true idol worshiping Gentiles and not proselytes of the gate (Acts 14:11-13). Paul the Jew then told these Gentiles that the Father of Truth had sent them to preach the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to turn these Gentiles from idolatry (Acts 14:14-18). Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then finished their mission to the Gentiles in Derby by first preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and then going on to teach the Gentiles about other things from the Book of Truth (Acts 14:20-21). They then returned to every place they had been to organize the Jewish and Gentile Children of Truth into congregations while preaching that they should continue to keep their faith in what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 14:22-25).
So during the entire first mission of Paul the Jew to the Gentiles he only mentioned what the Prophets of Truth had written when preaching to Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate who were knew something about the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Even then most of his message was about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth. When he preached to Gentiles who knew nothing about the writings of the Prophets of Truth he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. It was only afterwards that he would begin to discuss other things like the reign of the Man of Truth and what was written in the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Paul the Jew gave priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that is what people must believe to come into the House of Truth. Paul the Jew demonstrated that teaching the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth before preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
Seven years after Peter the Jew had preached to Cornelius the Italian and three years after Paul the Jew had returned to Antioch some of the Jewish Children of Truth said that the Gentiles had to keep the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses to come into the House of Truth (Acts 15:4-6). So Peter the Jew reminded them that the Gentiles had already came into the House of Truth without even hearing from the Original Covenant (Acts 15:7-11). Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew in like manner testified of how the Spirit of Truth had confirmed the preaching to the Gentiles about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth with signs and wonders (Acts 15:12). James the Jew (Ja'acob aka Jacob aka The Apostle James) then showed that the Gentiles coming into the House of Truth without even hearing from the writings of the Prophets of Truth as had happened with Peter the Jew was what the Prophets of Truth had written about (Acts 15:13-17). Since it had always been the plan of the Father of Truth to save the Gentiles by telling them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then the Gentiles could learn from the Original Covenant afterwards (Acts 15:18-21). Learning about the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses before believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
When Paul the Jew arrived in Philippi there was not even ten Jewish men and Gentile proselytes of righteousness (ger tzadikim - Gentiles who had become Jews through circumcision) there that was needed to form a synagogue so they met by the river for prayer instead (Acts 16:12-13). When Paul the Jew told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then Lydia and her household were baptized in water after they came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:14-15). When the Philippian jailor, who was an idol worshiping Gentile who had not been at the river, wanted to come into the House of Truth Paul the Jew told him about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth without telling him anything else (Acts 16:30-32). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the household of the Philippian jailer to be baptized to show that they had came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:33-34).
When Paul the Jew finally came to Thessaloniki where there was an actual synagogue then he taught out of the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 17:1-3). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that brought both Jews and Gentile proselytes into the House of Truth (Acts 17:3-4). In like manner the Jews and Gentile proselytes at Berea examined the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of the message of Paul the Jew about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so that they could come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:10-12). When Paul the Jew went to Athens he may have discussed the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the synagogue but he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this earth with the idol worshiping Gentiles in the market place (Acts 17:16-18). When Paul the Jew was examined about his preaching on Mars Hill (Areopagus) he started with telling these Gentiles that he came to proclaim to them the unknown God that they worshiped without knowing (Acts 17:19-23). He then told them that the Father of Truth was the unknown God who their ancestors had left to worship idols (Acts 17:24-29). He then told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so they could return to worshiping the Father of Truth (Acts 17:30-32). Paul the Jew told only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed to cause some of these idol worshiping Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:33-34).
So without fail Paul the Jew gave the highest priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. When he dealt with Jews and Gentile proselytes who knew the writings of the Prophets of Truth then he used those writings to show that his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth was true. When he dealt with Gentiles who worshiped idols then he told them only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed for them to come into the House of Truth. It was only after these Gentiles came into the House of Truth that he taught them about the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Paul the Jew plainly demonstrated in his second mission to the Gentiles that starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth before telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
When Paul the Jew was among the people of Corinth he preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). It was preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this earth that cased both the Jews and Gentiles of Corinth to come into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 1:21-24). It is for this reason that Paul the Jew sought not to be known among the Corinthian Children of Truth for anything except the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth as confirmed by the Spirit of Truth working signs and wonders (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul the Jew gave what the Man of Truth did on this Earth top priority because giving anything else top priority would have been putting the cart before the horse.
So the Apostles of Truth consistently started with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth when they brought both Jews and Gentiles into the House of Truth. In fact, when they dealing with Gentiles who did not know anything about the writings of the Prophets of Truth they did not even mention those writing when telling them how to come into the House of Truth. They gave the highest priority to telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. This is the minimum information that people need to come into the House of Truth.
The four Gospels tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth from four different perspectives that are tailored towards four different kinds of people. (There are four different basic personality types as well.) The writings of the Apostles of Truth have a higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth as has already been demonstrated. That is why when people first come into the House of Truth they should begin at the middle of the Book of Truth in the Gospel of Matthew and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Apostles of Truth.
So does this mean that the Apostles of Truth taught people only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth?
No it does not. The Apostles of Truth constantly quoted from the writings of the Prophets of Truth in their own writings (Romans 9:17). They constantly held up the writings of the Prophets of Truth as the standard for proving that their own writings were from the Father of Truth (Romans 16:25-27). They constantly showed that their message was in no way at odds with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (1 Corinthians 15:2-4). Their constantly showed that the message they proclaimed to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth had always been part of the plan laid out in the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 3:8). They showed that the writings of the Prophets of Truth had convicted everyone of sin so that everyone could come into the House of Truth (Galatians 3:22). They affirmed that all scripture, including the writings of the Prophets of Truth, were profitable for helping the Children of Truth become like the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 3:15-17). They taught that the writings of the Prophets of Truth were just as necessary as their own writings to avoid falling into error (2 Peter 3:15-17).
So the writings of the Apostles of Truth start off with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and proceed to explain how that fits in the big picture of the redemption of the human race. However, the Apostles of Truth knew that the Children of Truth eventually were going to need the details of how to do the things they wrote about at a high level so they directed the Children of Truth towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth after they were firmly in the House of Truth. That is why after people finish reading the writings of the Apostles they should go to Genesis and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Prophets of Truth.
Now you might be wondering why things have to be done in this order. Why can people not just start off in the writings of the Prophets of Truth and go forward from there? Why is this putting the cart before the horse?
The human heart is exceedingly wicked and deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). This why those who were given the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) could not keep it (John 7:19). Those who received the Law of Truth by the hands of the Angels of Truth still did not keep it (Acts 7:53). Since a wicked heart cannot keep the Law of Truth then people need the Man of Truth to change them first (Acts 13:38-39). The Law of Truth can only bring condemnation to those who cannot keep it (Romans 2:11-13). People cannot keep the Law of Truth because their flesh is too weak to keep it so they need the Man of Truth to change them (Romans 8:3). People cannot understand the writings of the Prophet of Truth correctly until the Man of Truth removes the veil from their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). It is utterly useless to read the writings of the Prophets of Truth until the Man of Truth gives them the ability to keep the Law of Truth (Galatians 2:16-18). This is why the Man of Truth had to die for people so they could understand the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 2:19-21).
The Father of Truth has to circumcise the fleshly covering from off the human heart before people can love Him with all their heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The Father of Truth has to give them a new heart before they can keep His commandments (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The Father of Truth gives them a new heart so they can keep His commandments by putting the Spirit of Truth inside them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is why the Man of Truth said that people must be born again through the Spirit of Truth (John 3:3-7). The Man of Truth had to die to cleanse people from sin before the Spirit of Truth could be sent to live in them (John 16:7). The Spirit of Truth changes the human heart so that people can live in peace with the Father of Truth by keeping His commandments (Romans 8:4-6). The Spirit of Truth only comes to live inside of people as the Father of Truth promised after they believe the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Ephesians 1:13).
The Father of Truth wants people to repent so that they can receive a new heart and the Spirit of Truth because He has no pleasure in destroying sinners (Ezekiel 18:30-32). The first thing people must be told is what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because there is no other name whereby they can be saved (Acts 4:10-12). It is telling people what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that saves those who believe the message (Romans 1:15-17). People cannot come into the House of Truth until they surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10). Everyone, Jew and Gentile, who believes the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth will be saved (Romans 10:11-13). It is only by preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that people can come into the House of Truth by hearing the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and believing that message (Romans 10:14-17).
Come into the House of Truth.
When I lived in Greece I was involved with a group who smuggled Bibles into Yugoslavia. The former country of Yugoslavia was a satellite country of the USSR and its border with Greece was part of the Iron Curtain that people back in the USA were always talking about. It was the height of the Cold War and the tensions along the border were high.
The USSR was a communist country whose official religion was atheism. Their police state hunted down, tortured and killed the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him). The most dangerous thing to possess in Yugoslavia was a Bible.
Nonetheless the demand for Bibles in Yugoslavia was incredible. In fact, we could not smuggle in nearly enough Bibles for everyone who wanted one to have one. So the Children of Truth in Yugoslavia would take a Bible and carefully cut out each page with a razor blade. A single page was small enough to hide easily and when necessary could be quickly discarded or destroyed.
The pages were then distributed among the Children of Truth in a somewhat random fashion from underground church to underground church. Inside of each underground church each member typically got one or sometimes two pages. When a member got two pages the member would usually pass one of the pages on to someone who had not yet come into the House of Truth to read. The member would then read the other page over and over again until the member had memorized the entire page. After a page was memorized the member would then find another member who had also memorized their page and the two would trade pages. Eventually one underground church would be able to trade some of its pages with another underground church.
Of course, the number of available pages was forever shrinking due to giving pages to people who had not come into the House of Truth and to being forced to discard or destroy a page to survive. Obviously, the pages of the people who were caught were taken out of circulation. This is why it was so vital that we continued our operation of smuggling Bibles into Yugoslavia.
So needless to say most of the Children of Truth never actually were able to read the entire Book of Truth. They would get a random sampling of pages over many years that might constitute the number of pages in a single book about the size of the Gospel of Matthew.
This got me thinking. If you could only give one chapter of the Book of Truth to someone ever what chapter would you give them? (We'll pretend that each chapter takes a page.) If you could only someone one book from the Book of Truth which book would you give them?
For me there are several good candidates for the one chapter that I would give them but if it came down to it I would give them Romans 10. As far as which book I would give them, again there are several good candidates but if it came down to it I would give them Romans.
Now your answers maybe different than mine because as I said there are several good candidates for both the single chapter and the single book (the chapter need not belong to the book). However, one thing is certain, if someone who knew nothing about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) was going to receive only one chapter or even one book from the Book of Truth ever then it had better be from the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).
It is for this reason that when I disciple someone who has just came into the House of Truth that I have them read the entire Renewed Covenant before I ever have them read the Original Covenant (Tanach aka The Old Testament). Otherwise I would be putting the cart before the horse.
Now some people have said that having someone start reading at the Gospel of Matthew (Mattiyahu), continuing through Revelation, then going to Genesis (B'reshit) and going forward from there until the entire Original Covenant is finished is like starting a book in the middle, reading to the end, then going to the front and reading to the middle. Their usual question is: Who reads a book from the middle first?
First of all, the Book of Truth (The Bible) is really a collection of more than 60 books that tell an epic story. So their question would be better stated as who starts an epic story in the middle, then goes to the end and then goes to the beginning to catch up to the middle?
The answer is almost everyone. This is actually very common not just with books but also with movies and even television franchises. For example, Star Trek did this. The original series covered in the middle of the Starfleet time line, then Next Generation and its spin offs went to the end of the Starfleet time line and finally Enterprise covered the beginning of Starfleet time line. In fact, not only did the audience watch the story of Star Fleet in this order but it was also written in this order. The same could be said about countless other franchises including book series written long before electronic media existed.
The reason that this method of middle, end, and then beginning when telling an epic story is repeated so often is that it works. It not only works with telling epic stories but it is often used in education as well. How many times have teachers introduced a concept with a brief explanation, then explained how the concept fits into the big picture and then finally got around to the minute details of how the concept actually works?
The reason this methodology works is because it does not focus on a linear order of first to last in terms of time but rather focuses on a priority order of first to last in terms of importance for the audience to understand. The middle part often has the highest priority for the audience to understand.
The middle is often the part that glues everything else together like peanut butter holding two pieces of bread together to form a peanut butter sandwich. It is not so much that the peanut butter is more necessary, because it takes all of it to form a peanut butter sandwich, as it is that the peanut butter is what connects everything together to form the peanut butter sandwich. Without the peanut butter you just have two unconnected pieces of bread. Without both pieces of bread you do not have a sandwich. Still the peanut butter is what makes it a peanut butter sandwich instead of a chicken salad sandwich. Since the peanut butter is the part holds everything together and defines the character of the sandwich then it is most important part of the sandwich. The entire sandwich hinges on the peanut butter.
In the same way the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is the most important part of the Book of Truth. He is the subject of every chapter of every book in the Book of Truth - even when it is not obvious on the surface. The Book of Truth begins with the need for the Man of Truth and ends with the reign of the Man of Truth. The part that holds it all together is the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. The story told by the first part of the Book of Truth can never be understood properly until people know the Man of Truth. They come to know the Man of Truth by reading the middle part of the Book of Truth. That is one reason why having someone who has surrendered their life to the Man of Truth start with the first book of the Book of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.
The Book of Truth says the same thing.
The foundation of the House of Truth starts with the writings of the Apostles of Truth (the Renewed Covenant) and then continues with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (the Original Covenant) but it is the Man of Truth who holds the House of Truth together (Ephesians 2:19-21). The writings of the Prophets of Truth were written first, but the writings of the Apostles of Truth pull out the most important concepts of the writings of the Prophets of Truth, without giving all the details so that people can know the Man of Truth (2 Peter 3:1-2). For this reason the Apostles of Truth are told to rejoice first, and then the Prophets of Truth, when the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) avenges their blood, even though the Prophets of Truth were obviously martyred first (Revelation 18:20). Starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth, and then going to the writings of the Apostles of Truth, is putting the cart before the horse.
The early Prophets of Truth, who foretold the the Man of Truth coming down from Heaven, did not understand what the Man of Truth would accomplished on the Earth like the Apostles of Truth, and the later Prophets of Truth, who spoke by the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven (Ephesians 3:3-5). The Apostles of Truth were the first ones to understand that the Gentiles were also to be brought into the House of Truth as equal members of the family of the Father of Truth (Ephesians 3:6). The Apostles of Truth were the first to be sent to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth as full members, without requiring them to first become Jews through circumcision (Ephesians 3:7-8). The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that this had always been the hidden plan of the Father of Truth in sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Ephesians 3:9-11).
The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that everything that had happened from the day that the Father of Truth called Abraham (Abram) to form the Jewish people, to the day that the descendants of Abraham rebelled against the Father of Truth in crucifying the Man of Truth, was all part of the secret plan to save the entire human race. The Apostles of Truth were the first to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of Truth, so they could see that the plan of the Father of Truth for the Jewish people had always been about the Gentiles. The writings of the Apostles of Truth have higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth, because they are the writings that tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. Since the writings of the Prophets of Truth contain pieces of the puzzle, but the writing of the Apostles of Truth show the picture that the puzzle forms, then reading the writings of the Prophets of Truth before the writings of the Apostles of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.
The Apostles of Truth also followed this same pattern of starting with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, when they brought the Good News to the Gentiles, before they ever directed the Gentiles towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the Original Covenant.
Consider the first Gentile to come into the House of Truth without first becoming a Jew through circumcision. Cornelius the Italian was not totally ignorant of the Father of Truth, but was one of the proselytes of the gate (ger toshav) who feared the Father of Truth, but who had not made the cut when it came to circumcision (Acts 10:1-2). An Angel of Truth told Cornelius the Italian to send for Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka the Apostle Peter), who would tell him how to come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:3-6). When Peter the Jew came to tell Cornelius the Italian how to come into the House of Truth, there were a large number of other Gentiles who wanted to come into the House of Truth as well (Acts 10:27-33). Then Peter the Jew preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 10:34-42). Peter the Jew barely even mentioned the Prophets of Truth, and did not quote or even paraphrase any of their writings (Acts 10:43). The moment these Gentiles believed his message, they were baptized in the Spirit of Truth (Acts 10:44-46). Then these Gentiles were baptized in water, and Peter the Jew stayed with them for several days, because they had come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:46-48). When Peter the Jew rehearsed the whole matter before the other Apostles of Truth, and the Jewish congregation they agreed that the Gentiles had came into the House of Truth by hearing only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 11:15-18). Peter the Jew did not teach the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth, before he preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, because that is putting the cart before the horse.
In like manner, when Barnabas the Jew (The Apostle Barnabas) and Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) went to preach the Word of Truth to Sergius Paulus the Gentile they were resisted by Elymas the Sorcerer (Acts 13:6-8). When Sergius Paulus the Gentile saw how the power of the Spirit of Truth overcame the power of Elymas the Sorcerer then he came into the House of Truth by seeing the doctrine of the Man of Truth demonstrated (Acts 13:9-12).
When Paul the Jew preached to the Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate at Antioch (Pisidia) he started with a very short summary of the history of the Jewish people up to the time of King Saul (Acts 13:14-21). He then told them that the Man of Truth was the descendent of King David that had been promised to Israel (Acts 13:22-23). He then preached about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth so that both the Jews and Gentiles in his audience could come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:24-38). He had not even discussed the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses because people can only come into the House of Truth by believing what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 13:39-41). Afterwards Paul the Jew urged the Jews and Gentile proselytes who believed the Good News about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to continue in the grace that the Father of Truth had demonstrated by sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Acts 13:42-43). The next Sabbath Paul the Jew again preached the same message to almost all of the Gentiles in Antioch (Pisidia) (Acts 13:42-44). Paul the Jew then said that any of the Jews who did not believe the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth had rejected eternal life but the Gentiles who would believe this message would come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:45-47). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:48).
Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then continued to preach about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth in Iconium to both the Jews and the Gentiles while the Spirit of Truth continued to confirm their message with signs and wonders (Acts 14:1-3). Then they went to Lystra where they preached only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and the Spirit of Truth again confirmed their message with a wondrous sign when one of the Gentiles believed the message (Acts 14:6-10). These were true idol worshiping Gentiles and not proselytes of the gate (Acts 14:11-13). Paul the Jew then told these Gentiles that the Father of Truth had sent them to preach the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to turn these Gentiles from idolatry (Acts 14:14-18). Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then finished their mission to the Gentiles in Derby by first preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and then going on to teach the Gentiles about other things from the Book of Truth (Acts 14:20-21). They then returned to every place they had been to organize the Jewish and Gentile Children of Truth into congregations while preaching that they should continue to keep their faith in what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 14:22-25).
So during the entire first mission of Paul the Jew to the Gentiles he only mentioned what the Prophets of Truth had written when preaching to Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate who were knew something about the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Even then most of his message was about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth. When he preached to Gentiles who knew nothing about the writings of the Prophets of Truth he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. It was only afterwards that he would begin to discuss other things like the reign of the Man of Truth and what was written in the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Paul the Jew gave priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that is what people must believe to come into the House of Truth. Paul the Jew demonstrated that teaching the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth before preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
Seven years after Peter the Jew had preached to Cornelius the Italian and three years after Paul the Jew had returned to Antioch some of the Jewish Children of Truth said that the Gentiles had to keep the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses to come into the House of Truth (Acts 15:4-6). So Peter the Jew reminded them that the Gentiles had already came into the House of Truth without even hearing from the Original Covenant (Acts 15:7-11). Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew in like manner testified of how the Spirit of Truth had confirmed the preaching to the Gentiles about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth with signs and wonders (Acts 15:12). James the Jew (Ja'acob aka Jacob aka The Apostle James) then showed that the Gentiles coming into the House of Truth without even hearing from the writings of the Prophets of Truth as had happened with Peter the Jew was what the Prophets of Truth had written about (Acts 15:13-17). Since it had always been the plan of the Father of Truth to save the Gentiles by telling them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then the Gentiles could learn from the Original Covenant afterwards (Acts 15:18-21). Learning about the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses before believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
When Paul the Jew arrived in Philippi there was not even ten Jewish men and Gentile proselytes of righteousness (ger tzadikim - Gentiles who had become Jews through circumcision) there that was needed to form a synagogue so they met by the river for prayer instead (Acts 16:12-13). When Paul the Jew told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then Lydia and her household were baptized in water after they came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:14-15). When the Philippian jailor, who was an idol worshiping Gentile who had not been at the river, wanted to come into the House of Truth Paul the Jew told him about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth without telling him anything else (Acts 16:30-32). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the household of the Philippian jailer to be baptized to show that they had came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:33-34).
When Paul the Jew finally came to Thessaloniki where there was an actual synagogue then he taught out of the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 17:1-3). It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that brought both Jews and Gentile proselytes into the House of Truth (Acts 17:3-4). In like manner the Jews and Gentile proselytes at Berea examined the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of the message of Paul the Jew about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so that they could come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:10-12). When Paul the Jew went to Athens he may have discussed the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the synagogue but he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this earth with the idol worshiping Gentiles in the market place (Acts 17:16-18). When Paul the Jew was examined about his preaching on Mars Hill (Areopagus) he started with telling these Gentiles that he came to proclaim to them the unknown God that they worshiped without knowing (Acts 17:19-23). He then told them that the Father of Truth was the unknown God who their ancestors had left to worship idols (Acts 17:24-29). He then told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so they could return to worshiping the Father of Truth (Acts 17:30-32). Paul the Jew told only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed to cause some of these idol worshiping Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:33-34).
So without fail Paul the Jew gave the highest priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. When he dealt with Jews and Gentile proselytes who knew the writings of the Prophets of Truth then he used those writings to show that his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth was true. When he dealt with Gentiles who worshiped idols then he told them only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed for them to come into the House of Truth. It was only after these Gentiles came into the House of Truth that he taught them about the writings of the Prophets of Truth. Paul the Jew plainly demonstrated in his second mission to the Gentiles that starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth before telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.
When Paul the Jew was among the people of Corinth he preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). It was preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this earth that cased both the Jews and Gentiles of Corinth to come into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 1:21-24). It is for this reason that Paul the Jew sought not to be known among the Corinthian Children of Truth for anything except the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth as confirmed by the Spirit of Truth working signs and wonders (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul the Jew gave what the Man of Truth did on this Earth top priority because giving anything else top priority would have been putting the cart before the horse.
So the Apostles of Truth consistently started with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth when they brought both Jews and Gentiles into the House of Truth. In fact, when they dealing with Gentiles who did not know anything about the writings of the Prophets of Truth they did not even mention those writing when telling them how to come into the House of Truth. They gave the highest priority to telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth. This is the minimum information that people need to come into the House of Truth.
The four Gospels tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth from four different perspectives that are tailored towards four different kinds of people. (There are four different basic personality types as well.) The writings of the Apostles of Truth have a higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth as has already been demonstrated. That is why when people first come into the House of Truth they should begin at the middle of the Book of Truth in the Gospel of Matthew and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Apostles of Truth.
So does this mean that the Apostles of Truth taught people only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth?
No it does not. The Apostles of Truth constantly quoted from the writings of the Prophets of Truth in their own writings (Romans 9:17). They constantly held up the writings of the Prophets of Truth as the standard for proving that their own writings were from the Father of Truth (Romans 16:25-27). They constantly showed that their message was in no way at odds with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (1 Corinthians 15:2-4). Their constantly showed that the message they proclaimed to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth had always been part of the plan laid out in the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 3:8). They showed that the writings of the Prophets of Truth had convicted everyone of sin so that everyone could come into the House of Truth (Galatians 3:22). They affirmed that all scripture, including the writings of the Prophets of Truth, were profitable for helping the Children of Truth become like the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 3:15-17). They taught that the writings of the Prophets of Truth were just as necessary as their own writings to avoid falling into error (2 Peter 3:15-17).
So the writings of the Apostles of Truth start off with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and proceed to explain how that fits in the big picture of the redemption of the human race. However, the Apostles of Truth knew that the Children of Truth eventually were going to need the details of how to do the things they wrote about at a high level so they directed the Children of Truth towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth after they were firmly in the House of Truth. That is why after people finish reading the writings of the Apostles they should go to Genesis and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Prophets of Truth.
Now you might be wondering why things have to be done in this order. Why can people not just start off in the writings of the Prophets of Truth and go forward from there? Why is this putting the cart before the horse?
The human heart is exceedingly wicked and deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). This why those who were given the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) could not keep it (John 7:19). Those who received the Law of Truth by the hands of the Angels of Truth still did not keep it (Acts 7:53). Since a wicked heart cannot keep the Law of Truth then people need the Man of Truth to change them first (Acts 13:38-39). The Law of Truth can only bring condemnation to those who cannot keep it (Romans 2:11-13). People cannot keep the Law of Truth because their flesh is too weak to keep it so they need the Man of Truth to change them (Romans 8:3). People cannot understand the writings of the Prophet of Truth correctly until the Man of Truth removes the veil from their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). It is utterly useless to read the writings of the Prophets of Truth until the Man of Truth gives them the ability to keep the Law of Truth (Galatians 2:16-18). This is why the Man of Truth had to die for people so they could understand the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 2:19-21).
The Father of Truth has to circumcise the fleshly covering from off the human heart before people can love Him with all their heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The Father of Truth has to give them a new heart before they can keep His commandments (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The Father of Truth gives them a new heart so they can keep His commandments by putting the Spirit of Truth inside them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is why the Man of Truth said that people must be born again through the Spirit of Truth (John 3:3-7). The Man of Truth had to die to cleanse people from sin before the Spirit of Truth could be sent to live in them (John 16:7). The Spirit of Truth changes the human heart so that people can live in peace with the Father of Truth by keeping His commandments (Romans 8:4-6). The Spirit of Truth only comes to live inside of people as the Father of Truth promised after they believe the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Ephesians 1:13).
The Father of Truth wants people to repent so that they can receive a new heart and the Spirit of Truth because He has no pleasure in destroying sinners (Ezekiel 18:30-32). The first thing people must be told is what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because there is no other name whereby they can be saved (Acts 4:10-12). It is telling people what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that saves those who believe the message (Romans 1:15-17). People cannot come into the House of Truth until they surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10). Everyone, Jew and Gentile, who believes the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth will be saved (Romans 10:11-13). It is only by preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that people can come into the House of Truth by hearing the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and believing that message (Romans 10:14-17).
Come into the House of Truth.
Labels: Gospel, Holy Spirit, Law, Original Covenant, Renewed Covenant, Torah
posted by The House Of Truth @ March 23, 2015
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