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Are We Required to
Share What We Learn With Others?
by YahChannah Wolf
"Cry loudly, do not
hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and
declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Ya’acov
their sins.
Christianity
follows the ‘great commission’ and seeks stars in their
crowns for every person they lead to their ‘savior’.
Islam offers life to any who convert to their religion and death to any
who refuse conversion. In many instances they see a reward waiting
for them for every infidel whom they kill if they cannot force
conversion.
What are we, as Jews in general and Karaites in particular, to do? Do we
have a ‘great commission’ and if so, to whom are we to go?
We are told that we are to accept the stranger who would wish to
convert, live among us and serve our Elohiym. They are to be
circumcised, obey the same rules, bear the same burdens, have the
same blessings as well as the curses that affect us.
We are not told to go and seek out the ‘stranger’ and bring him to
conversion, either for reward or fear of punishment.
I think that we may find it borne out in Tanakh, that if we have a
commission, it is to our people. We are indeed our brother’s keeper in
a certain sense.
Before I go further, I wish to make it clear that I am not advocating
hard-heartedness against those who are not of Yisrael, nor am I saying,
you should not speak to Gentiles or unbelievers in general, if you feel
led to do so.
I
am looking to see a few examples of whom was sent to whom and why.
First
we look at Yechezchial:
Yechezchial
(Ezek) 2:1-10
1
Then He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet that I
may
speak with you!"
2
And as He spoke to me the spirit entered me and set me on my
feet; and I heard {Him} speaking to me.
3
Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the
sons
of Yisrael, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they
and
their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
4
"And I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate
children; and you shall say to them, 'Thus says Master YHWH.'
5
"As for them, whether they listen or not-- for they are a
rebellious
house-- they will know that a prophet has been among them.
6
"And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their
words,
though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions;
neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are
a rebellious house.
7
"But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or
not, for they are rebellious.
8
"Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you;
do
not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat
what I am giving you."
9
Then I looked, behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a
scroll {was} in it.
10
When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and
back; and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.
We see here that the persons that the Prophet was to speak to were
‘blood brothers’…Yisrael.
Yechezchial
(Ezek) 3:1-11
1
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this
scroll, and go, speak to the house of Yisrael."
2
So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.
3
And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach, and fill
your
body with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ate it, and it
was
sweet as honey in my mouth.
Perhaps he had been given a ‘bitter job’ but the taste of the words
of
YHWH were sweet as honey.
4
Then He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Yisrael
and
speak with My words to them.
5
"For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible
speech
or difficult language, {but} to the house of Yisrael,
6
nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult
language,
whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who
should listen to you;
7
yet the house of Yisrael will not be willing to listen to you,
since
they are not willing to listen to
Me.
Surely the whole house of Yisrael is
stubborn and obstinate.
They should hear and understand his words.
8
"Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and
your
forehead as hard as their foreheads.
9
"Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do
not
be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a
rebellious house."
10
Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, take into your heart
all
My words which I shall speak to you, and listen closely.
11
"And go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak
to
them and tell them, whether they listen or not, 'Thus says Master
YHWH.'"
Go to the exiles, the sons of your people..
Yechezchial
(Ezek) 33:1-19
1
And the word of YHWH came to me saying,
2
"Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to
them,
'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man
from among them and make him their watchman;
3
and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows on
the trumpet and warns the people,
4
then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take
warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on
his {own} head.
5
'He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning;
his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have
delivered his life.
6
'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow
the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and
takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his
blood
I will require from the watchman's hand.'
7
"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman
for the house of Yisrael; so you will hear a message from My mouth,
and give them warning from Me.
8
"When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely
die,'
and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.
9
"But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his
way,
and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity; but you
have delivered your life.
Not only are we giving warning to others and to ourselves but if we are
set as watchmen, we are saving our lives. The question here is, “Are
we
watchmen?” Are we supposed to be?
We are told to guard His Torah. We are told we are to give warning to a
brother, sister or neighbor if we see them falling into sin.
10
"Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Yisrael,
'Thus
you have spoken, saying, "Surely our transgressions and our sins
are
upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we
survive?"'
11
"Say to them, 'As I live!' declares Master YHWH, 'I take no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn
from
his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then
will you die, O house of Yisrael?'
12
"And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The
righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his
transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not
stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness;
whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on
the day when he commits sin.'
13
"When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he
{so}
trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his
righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his
which he has committed he will die.
14
"But when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he
turns
from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,
15
{if a} wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has
taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without
committing iniquity, he will surely live; he shall not die.
16
"None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered
against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely
live.
17
"Yet your fellow citizens say, 'The way of YHWH is not
right,'
when it is their own way that is not right.
18
"When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits
iniquity, then he shall die in it.
19
"But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices
justice and righteousness, he will live by them.
Daniyel (Dan) 12:1-5
1
"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands
{guard}
over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of
distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that
time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the
book, will be rescued.
2
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will
awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace {and}
everlasting contempt.
3
"And those who have insight will shine brightly like the
brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to
righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
4
"But as for you, Daniyel, conceal these words and seal up
the
book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge
will increase."
5
Then I, Daniyel, looked and behold, two others were standing,
one on this bank of the river, and the other on that bank of the river.
YesheYahu (Isa) 58:1-2
1
"Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a
trumpet,
and declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of
Ya’acov their sins.
2
"Yet they seek me day by day, and delight to know My ways,
as
a nation that has done righteousness, and has not forsaken the
ordinance of their Elohiym. They ask me {for} just decisions, they
delight in the nearness of Elohiym.
Finally YesheYahu is told by YHWH to cry loudly and tell the people of
their sin, those people whom we are told cried after Him and wanted to
be looked upon as righteous, faithful and obedient.
Look around you. Look in the
USA
, look at those who are declared to be
brothers and sisters since they belong to one of the tribes of the
Children of Yisrael.
Turn your eyes toward Yerushalayim…look at the amazingly secular
society they have. See them waiting in line on Erev Shabbat to enter a
night club. Watch the leaders as they give away the land that YHWH
gave to the people when they came out of Mitzrayim.
"Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and
declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Ya’acov
their sins.
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