Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #36 - Subjective Reality & Diminishing all revelation except what was given to Moses

“The mirror analogy describes our experience of life, the universe, and everything.  We think of ourselves as seeing the real world, but what are we experiencing?  Only electrical sensory inputs channeled through a bio-chemical nervous system connected to a central processing unit of tangled neurons struggling to render some sort of interpretation of those signals.  Our brains work like computers to simulate the environment around us.  No one sees reality; we see our brain’s best attempt to process sensory input.”- p. 12

“That’s part of what Paul was getting at when he said, ‘For now, we see in a mirror dimly’ (1 Corinthians 13:12).  It’s not a polished mirror.  We aren’t getting the whole picture.  We can see only in part.  The world we think of as reality exists only inside our head.  Every person creates his or her own personal reality.” – p. 12

“To be in close conversation with Absolute Reality is prophecy at the highest level: the level of Moses.  As explained above, the Hebrew world for vision also means mirror.  Numbers 12:6 could be translated to say, ‘If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a mirror.’  But it’s not a polished mirror.  For most prophets, it’s merely a dim reflection – not the personal experience of God that Moses knew.  It’s only an imperfect reflection, many times removed.” – p. 18

“Playing on the double meaning of the word – vision and mirror – the Midrash Rabbah contrasts Moses’ exalted level of prophecy against that of the other prophets.  All other prophets saw their prophetic visions dimly through nine mirrors.” – p. 18{quoting Leviticus Rabbah 1:14}

Why do I have the feeling that Daniel Lancaster wants me to take the Red Pill?  If that Matrix reference didn’t connect with you, in that 1999 movie Keanu Reeve’s character Neo is told by a guide named Morpheus that the reality he thinks that he is living in isn’t real.  Not really real anyway, it is just a computer simulation.

It may seem like a post-modern idea to doubt that reality exists beyond our own perception of it, but in reality, apologies for that double-usage, the idea had its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Empiricist philosophers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.  Long before computer special effects, there were philosophers who doubted that we could have any genuine knowledge of what is real beyond our own perception of it.

The great debate between the Rationalists and the Empiricists that set the stage for modern Western thought is too big a topic for this venue, but one effect of the Empiricist’s rejection of the tenants of Rationalism speaks to the danger of what the First Fruits of Zion are teaching here: Individual realities.  If reality is an individual construction, not a thing with its own true nature and existence, notions such as Fact and Truth invariably become fuzzy, antiquated, even ridiculed.  There is no longer any Truth, just “my truth” and “your truth”.

This example reminds us of some of the deep contradictions and dissonance within the belief system that FFOZ’s leaders have constructed: On the one hand, they claim to represent 1st century Jewish Christian thought and practice, on the other hand, they embrace the individualistic mystical experience of medieval Kabbalah, which of course is full of concepts that were entirely foreign to the cultural stream of 1st century Judaism and/or Christianity.  Why is FFOZ teaching extreme individual relativism?  Where is this headed?  

The second topic in this lesson that jumps out as deeply dangerous is the insistence drawn from the Leviticus Rabbah (Midrash), that ONLY Moses had full and clear revelation from God.  The prophets Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist?  They only saw a dim mirror, 9 reflections of reality, not “Absolute Reality” itself.  The practical, and intended by FFOZ, effect of this foolishness is to elevate the Torah and diminish all other scriptures to a secondary status.

Why?  Because to them Torah is eternal.  Torah is the essence of God’s nature.  Torah surpasses all.  Wait a minute, what about the Word of God?  What about Jesus Christ, God of God, God dwelling among us?  Surely the Gospels have at least an equal level of clarity and wisdom as that given to Moses?  Nope, the Torah Club lesson doesn’t say that, “Our highest level of the revelation of God in this current world does not attain the level of Moses.” (p. 19)

The thing is, the Gospels don’t say any of this, FFOZ is saying it.  This is what Jesus says about what he is revealing to his followers:

John 14:6-7,9  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

In addition to diminishing the portions of scripture not given to Moses directly at Sinai, this bizarre “mirror theory” of FFOZ also treats the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age as an inferior revelation.  How can we know Truth and Reality beyond the Torah?  Lancaster tweaks Luke 7:28 on p. 19 to emphasize our limitation in this era, the brackets are his: “Among those born of women, there is no [prophet] greater than John, yet [the prophet] who is least [in the Messianic Era will be] greater than he.”  Yes, this is more of Lancaster changing scripture through his own translations to make it fit what FFOZ is teaching, he follows it up with this conclusion: “In the Messianic Era, we will attain the level of Moses – the level of face-to-face.” (p. 19)

Lesson 36 of The Beginning of Wisdom leans heavily on extra-biblical sources {Wisdom of Solomon, Ascension of Isaiah, Talmud, Midrash, and even Irenaeus’ The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching} to sow the seeds of doubt about reality being anything greater than our own perception, and doubts about any/all revelation given by God to anyone other than Moses.   In the end, this journey of doubt will leave only one source of Truth standing, by design: the Torah of Moses.

* Note, this analysis first appeared as a YouTube video on my channel on 11/20/24: The Beginning of Wisdom, lesson #:36 Cataloging the unorthodox teachings of the Torah Club materials

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #34 Acts 17:24-28

Acts 17:24-28  New International Version

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

The commercialism of selling toys aside, it is endearing when a child chooses to imitate a parent by pretending to do grown-up tasks with various tools.  One aspect of such scenarios to consider is that some children will indeed grow up to do what their parent did, in much the same way.  A boy who pretends to build things with his plastic tool set me actually become a contractor just like his dad.  

Where 'Christian' Nationalism goes horribly wrong is when those who follow it seek to apply this idea to imitating God.  Are we to imitate God's morality?  Absolutely, we are commanded to be like-Christ in our usage of the Fruit of the Spirit.  It actually isn't optional, we must be like Jesus if we are to truly be his disciples.  But that's where our imitation ends.  We are NOT called to imitate God by judging others, nor are we called to imitate God's authority or dominion over others.  God is God, we are not.  We will never be a god in any way, shape, or form.

God, and God alone, exercises divine authority as both our Creator and the Judge of the living and the dead.  These qualities belong to God, not us.  In reality, God doesn't need our help in these matters, at all.  God has called us to be servants, not rulers, to offer our own lives as living sacrifices.  In this we imitate the self-sacrificial example of Jesus Christ.  The problem is, some folks would much rather imitate God upon-his-throne than Jesus stooping to wash his disciples' feet.  So rather than serving, they seek to accumulate power.  Contrary to the flattery we feel when our kids want to pretend to do our job, God doesn't find this amusing.

Let's let God be God and focus our passion on the servant's role that has been placed before us.

Sermon Video: Brought Near to God by the Blood of Christ - Ephesians 2:11-14

The amazing salvation provided by Jesus Christ has implications that ripple across every area we might consider.  In this case, the Apostle Paul focuses on how the Blood of Christ has brought us near to God.  Previous barriers have been eliminated.  Previous assistance (Temple, Priest, animal sacrifice) has ceased to be needed.  Now, because of Jesus, was can commune directly with God.

To illustrate this wondrous development.  Paul tells us that Jesus has destroyed the dividing wall that separated into groups (Gentiles, Jewish women, Jewish men, Jewish priests) those who sought God's presence at the Temple.

Sermon Video: God has a plan for each one of us - Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:8-9 is an amazing ode to God's plan to save those who trust in Christ by grace.  However, God's plan for his people doesn't stop with saving their souls, God has a plan for each one of us here in this life.  What is it?

To do good works.  In a mind-blowing revelation, Paul reveals that God has prepared opportunities ahead-of-time which those whom he has renewed through the Holy Spirit are equipped to accomplish.  When a potential good deed is in our path, it isn't a random moment, rather it is our Heavenly Father's desire to partner with us in fulfilling his will.

Sermon Video: Saved by Grace - Ephesians 2:8-9

The essence of the Gospel is our salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  This is a simple message, but also the most powerful one that ever has been.  It challenges human pride and it rests upon the love of God.  Attempts have been made to supplement God's grace with human effort, these have all ended in the failure that such folly deserves.  In the end we are left with this joyous message: By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.