PAUL and Apostle

In Defence of Sha’ul (A.K.A. The Apostle Paul)

Introduction

(Slide) The Apostle Paul is the second most misinterpreted and misrepresented individual in Scripture, behind none-other than Rebbe Yahshua Ben Yoseph HaNatzaret. Paul is misunderstood by the majority of people in every religious demographic that purports to follow the Bible, even in Messianic, Nazarene and Hebrew Root circles.

It’s high time that we put some definitive teachings out over the web that address some of the major criticisms and misconceptions of this extra-ordinarily motivated servant of HaShem. 

Sha’ul never changed his Hebrew name to the Greek name Paulos. He never came to establish the Church, a title, which means ‘Circe’ and denotes the religion of the Temple Cult of Circe who worshiped Circe, the daughter of the Sun-G-d Helios on the Venerable Day of the Sun. Their worship halls were set atop hills fitted with high steeples to catch the first rays of the sun and decorated with stained-glass image laden windows that are brought to life by the sun and bathe the worshippers in an array of beautiful colours. The word church evolved from Circe, to Kirke and then to Church and it means to bind something with a round object. This is where we get the term “circle.”

The Greek word ἐκκλησία ekklēsia often translated as “church” means “congregation of called out ones.” Throughout Scripture translators employ ecclesiastical language, that is language that relates exclusively to Christianity, which has been superimposed over normal language. “Kodesh,” which means “Set-Apart” becomes “Holy” and Malach, which means “messenger” becomes “angel,” and Sh’liach, which means “sent-one” becomes “Apostle.” These are words that have been superimposed for the purposes of punctuating a false religious setting.

Rejecting Sha’ul means rejecting nearly all of the testimonies of the Nazarene faith.

Believe it or not, there are many Christians and Messianics who reject the teachings of Sha’ul or who dismiss them as being worthy of being called Scripture. It is important to step back and look at what the rejection of this man and his teachings does in terms of what else it pulls into the vortex.  A rejecter of Sha’ul loses all the books of the Netzarim Ketuvim (The Nazarene Writings otherwise known as the “New Testament”) which are attributed to his authorship, such as Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and the Book of Hebrews. Furthermore, the rejection of Sha’ul causes the loss of arguably the most central book of the Netzarim movement’s history, The Book of Acts, written by Rabbi Silus, who is commonly misunderstood to be the Gentile Luke. The Book of Acts is a follow-up letter to the Book of Luke, which was addressed like the Book of Luke to the current High Priest of Israel Ahabayahu, which means “A lover of Yahweh" (commonly given the Greek name Theophilus). So with the rejection of Sha’ul out go the Books of Luke and Acts.

2 Peter not only mentions Sha’ul, but defends his teachings in 2 Peter 3:15-16. And in 1 Peter we find direct references to several of Sha’ul’s letters such as in 1 Peter 2:2-5, which directly underscores the same thoughts found in 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Peter, Kepha also mentions the name of his scribe: Silvanus (often translated Silas [Luke]). Silvanus is also mentioned in Sha’ul’s letters. So with the rejection of Sha’ul also comes the rejection of 1 & 2 Peter. That’s 18 books of the Netzarim Ketuvim (over half of it) gone!!! There’s only 27 seforim in the Netzarim Ketuvim.

Sha’ul is chronicled to have had the biggest impact on the Netzarim Movement, interacting with all the major players who were still living since the time of Yahshua. So the rejection of Sha’ul causes the student to either reject critical history of the movement’s foundation or to confess that all the heavy weights (Rabbi Ben Navi [Barnabas], Silas [Luke] and of course Ya’akov [James]) were despicably deceived by accepting Sha’ul into the fold and giving him authority to expand the frontiers of the faith. Ya’akov himself is found assigning verbal and written orders to Sha’ul, which he goes out to faithfully to execute.

Even before we begin to examine Sha’ul, we find that rejecting him and his teachings immediately removes a wide array of key books from the so-called New Testament. A rejection of Sha’ul instantly rejects history or the discernment of everyone who is anyone in the crucial formative years of the true faith.

The Difficult Writings of Sha’ul
For many people there are parts of Rabbi Sha’ul’s letters that contain some challenging teachings. When sufficient study is not applied to these grey areas a believer can unconsciously open the door to theological error. Occasionally I encounter some Nazarenes who have declared “no confidence” in Sha’ul’s writings as being “Yah-breathed” and it is in response to these encounters that I’m doing this lecture. My desire as I’m sure is also the desire of my heavenly Father, is that “the body” be equipped with a sharper understanding of this extraordinary Apostle’s teachings.  Rabbi Sha’ul was an extremely intelligent, driven and adaptable Pharisee. He was denied sleep, starved, beaten with rods, stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, imprisoned and threatened by bandits, his own countrymen, Gentiles and even fellow Netzarim. In the face of all this, his mind never loosened from the task at hand. From his first letter to his last, he remained a constant vessel for Elohim. The controversy surrounding some of his more intricate teachings should never be attributed to poor scholarship, but a lack of spiritual maturity in the reader.    

Even in Sha’ul’s day, some parts of his epistles were considered hard to understand, sometimes suffering from misinterpretations and even wilful manipulation. (Slide) 2 Peter 15b-16; “…even as our beloved brother Shaul…has written to you; As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which some things are hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other Keetvay HaKadosh (whole of the Scriptures), to their own destruction.” These unlearned and unstable people extracted so many different spins on Rabbi Sha’ul’s writings that it gradually gave birth to sectarianism within the faith. (Slide) 1 Corinthians 1:12-13; “For it has been declared to me about you, my Yisraelite brothers, by those who are of beit (house of) Chloe, that there are contentions and disputes among you. Now this I say, because some among you say, I am of Sha’ul; and I am of Apollos; and I am of Kepha (Peter); and I am of Moshiach. Is Moshiach divided? Was Shaul impaled for you? Or, were you immersed in the name of Shaul?”  Now centuries later, the climate described in these verses is still alive and well.

The extent of these theological divides finally dawned on me one Shabbat, when a young Mormon gentleman, who had just attended our service, asked me with Bible in hand, “What do you guys believe?” This question astounded me, because what other response would have been more acceptable than, “We believe the whole contents of the Scriptures”? Unfortunately, this is an all too frequent question asked between people who have accepted the religious teaching of movements who have amplified certain verses and avoided others.   

Most of the so-called Bible believing Christian world has gotten this man’s national identity, religious affiliation, teaching and even his very name completely and utterly wrong. Who was this man that the world unwittingly calls a midget?

Let’s start by examining his name. (Slide) The word Paul is a transliteration of the Latin word Paulos, from the Greek, paucus/pavlos meaning “little” or literally “midget.” The name Paul was applied to him as a slur. It was not attributed to him around the time of his conversion nor was it given to him by the Almighty. It emerged after he had started preaching Yahshua as the Moshiach. Notice the inclusion of the phrase “also was called” in the first place this name appears in Scripture: "Then Sha’ul, who also was called Paul…” (Acts 13:9a). Grammatically we can tell that the initial name used in the sentence means that the majority of people still called him Sha’ul, but others commenced calling him Paulos. Many of his Jewish peers would have been angered by his conversion and the Netzarim were almost certainly weary of him due to his former role as their chief persecutor. “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women” (Acts 22:3-4). Many people on both sides of the fence opposed him and the name “Little” or “midget” reflected this disdain. There is no record of Rabbi Sha’ul’s rejection of the name, perhaps preferring to regard himself as small (or humble) before Elohim. His real Hebrew name Sha’ul (Saul) means “desire” or “ask for” as in “ask for Elohim.” There is little doubt that those who respected him would have not only continued to address (him after his conversion) as Sha’ul, but as Rabbi Sha’ul. Good Scripture translations now available continue to refer to him has Sha’ul even after Acts 13 and in other books of the Brit Chadashah (New Testament).

The word Paulos wasn’t even considered a legitimate name for a person. It was a nickname at best and a slur at worst.

Studying His Letters

Of the twenty-one letters that make up the Brit Chadashah, Rabbi Sha'ul is attributed to having written fourteen of them. Thirteen books bear his name and the fourteenth book, Hebrews, is also attributed to him. Seven of the letters are accepted among Hebrew Scholars as if having been initially penned by Sha'ul's own hand. The others are thought to have been written by his closest talmidim (disciples) who, as was the custom among all Torah students, recorded many aspects of their teacher's life. Interestingly Sha'ul predominantly wrote to people who were already believers and who had a certain grasp of the Torah already.

Rabbi Sha’ul letters were compiled around the time of his second missionary journey. This is certainly true if we accept that he had to make contact with individual believers and communities before he wrote about them. His first letter was 1 Thessalonians, which is estimated to have been penned around 49 to 51CE and his oldest letter is 2 Timothy, written around 67CE. 1&2 Timothy are believed to be his final letters for a number of reasons. They contain reference to his extensive travels, key events that occurred after the book of Acts and also tell of his own impending martyrdom. The wide array of books thought to be written by Sha’ul are: 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, Hebrews, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Titus and 1 & 2 Timothy.

Over the centuries countless volumes of material about Rabbi Sha’ul have amassed. Commentaries on his letters, biographical writings and articles that give deeper insights into his teachings and character have come from a myriad of Biblical, apocryphal and historical sources. With the amount of information that’s available one would think it impossible to be ignorant of what this man actually taught. But nothing can be further from the truth.

The Grace View 

There are two dominant views of Rabbi Sha’ul’s ministry. The first view is that he taught salvation comes by grace only (Ephesians 2:8-9) a supposedly knew interpretation of Judaism, in which human effort has little to no emphasis. This belief promotes diligent observance of Yahweh’s commandments as an attempt to acquire salvation by human effort. Furthermore, it encourages believers to have a lukewarm attitude toward obedience because all sin is supposedly covered by grace anyway. “The Paul taught grace” philosophy is also an anti-Torah teaching that is principally used to support replacement theology, which is a view that presents the “church” as a new and improved “spiritual” Israel. Advocates of this view consider commandment observance as legalism at best and Judaizing at worst, an act, considered by the church, as severing one’s connection to Messiah. This grace fixated obedient deficient teaching has been vigorously enforced by the Catholic Church either by way of the mailed fist (physical force) or the velvet glove (subtle manipulation). Early church father Marcion, later excommunicated by the Catholic Church, was the first to wrestled Rabbi Sha’ul’s letters completely away from truth by teaching that the Old Testament was superseded by the teachings of Jesus Christ and his only true Apostle - Paul. Marcion saw Christianity as being completely opposite to Judaism. He rejected the entire Old Testament and declared its G-d as a lesser entity than the Messiah of the New Testament. To sum up this is a completely untruthful and unacceptable view that is fundamentally anti-Semitic and presents a schizophrenic Creator.

The Heretical View

The second view is that Sha’ul was just a plain old heretic. In Judaism this is called “one who leads the nation astray.” The heretical view is usually held by Orthodox Judaism, although a Jew can hardly be blamed. Sha’ul is constantly represented by Christianity as a Torah-hating-grace-junkie who turned his back on the Jews and went to the Gentiles. Christianity to a greater or lesser extent teaches that Sha’ul actually became a Gentile after his conversion and subsequently went out to preach to Gentiles exclusively. He is described as having taught that flesh circumcision was done away with and that Torah observance was no longer a required mark of someone who possessed an upright relationship with the Creator.  This is despite Sha’ul’s declaration; (Slide) "What advantage then has the Yahudi (Jew)? Or, what profit is there in brit-milah (circumcision)? Much in every way!” (Romans 3:1) and his general view toward circumcision in; Romans 4:11; “And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of righteousness of the faith…” Sha’ul only addresses an objection against adult male circumcision and even then it was only objected to if an individual’s heart was not already circumcised (i.e. if that individual saw the act of circumcision as being solely contingent to his salvation.) Sha’ul didn’t want masses of converts attempting to mutilate themselves particularly the one’s who could not easily receive circumcision. Circumcision was never meant as an instant accompaniment to conversion. If it ever occurred, it was determined in the Creator’s time, not the individual’s. After all Circumcision of the heart was a Torah teaching not a so-called New Testament teaching (Deuteronomy 10:16).

The True View

The less well know view of Sha’ul is that he taught perfectly in line with the Torah and Messiah Yahshua’s words. Sure, most Christians will say that this is their view too, but upon questioning at length, you’ll eventually get the guts of the first view coated in the skin of this one. I remember debating with a Christian whilst I was still in church about the law. We were in the book of Romans when he read this verse out aloud: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). There he ceased his reading and awaited my response. I looked down and noticed the Bible he and I had, had a break between verses 14 and 15. Between this break was the heading, “From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God.” This was unusual for two reasons. Firstly, the text broke in a section that wasn’t the commencement of a new chapter as is painfully common in many modern Bible translations. Second, the next verse Romans 6:15 read: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! The layout appeared to give the impression that verse 14 was the conclusion of the topic, yet the teaching continues straight on through to 15 and beyond. I then proceeded to read verse 15 to my Christian friend’s total dismay.

Sha’ul’s Background

(Slide) Rabbi Sha'ul was born in Tarsus, a capital city of Asia Minor (Acts 22:3). He was "an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day" (Philippians 3:5). There is reference to him having a sister with her own son in Acts 23:16 as well as other relatives in Romans 16:7,11 & 12.

Sha'ul was a citizen of Rome (Acts 22:25 & Acts 27-28). Because Asia Minor was a province of Cilicia, a city declared free by Rome, all native born there were entitled to citizenship.

Education

Rabbi Sha'ul’s credentials were impeccable. He studied under the great Rabbi, Gamaliel. Acts 22:3; “I am verily a man which am a Yahudi (Jew), born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the Torah of the fathers, and was zealous toward Elohim, as you all are this day.”

(Slide) Rabbi Gamaliel was a very highly respected teacher of the Torah among the Jews. Acts 5:34; “Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the Torah, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space...”

He was a Pharisee, even after his conversion. Acts 23:6a; “Then Sha’ul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee…”

Who Were the Pharisees?
Pharisee means “separated” and was the title of a role that represented a major school of thought that was alive and well in Sha’ul’s day. Many of Messiah’s Yahshua’s teachings were in line with Pharisaic thought. Yahshua’s criticisms of certain Pharisees were principally levelled at hypocritical lifestyles, puffiness, and focus on man-made traditions over Torah observance.

Pharisaism emerged during the Babylonian captivity. The first clearly visible party appeared on the scene during the Maccabee Revolt against the Greeks.

Profession

Rabbi Sha'ul’s first appearance in Scripture is as a delighted overseer to the martyrdom of Stephanos (Stephen) (Acts 7:57).  Acts 8:1; “Sha’ul was there, giving approval to his death.” Stephanos whose Greek name means “crown,” was not the first martyr for the faith. The first martyr was Abel, the son of Adam. To say that Stephanos was the first “Christian” martyr assumes that every generation of martyred believers before Yahshua (even heathen converts) did not believe in a coming Messiah. 

Rabbi Sha’ul was a sworn enemy to all followers of the living Torah (Yahshua) and played a lead role in persecuting them. He was also a devout Yahudi (Jew) (Acts 23:6) because the tribe of Judah had long since absorbed all Benjamites into its fold. Rabbi Sha’ul was responsible for bringing believers in Yahshua to court, where many of them were subsequently condemned as heretics and stoned. (Slide) Acts 9:1-2; "Meanwhile, Sha'ul, still breathing murderous threats against the YHWH's talmidim (disciples) went to the Cohen Hagadol (High Priest) and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to the way, and bring them back to Yerushalayim.

Acts 8:3 gives a good account of the vigorous manner in which he performed his duties. “But Sha'ul shamefully treated and laid waste the congregation continuously [with cruelty and violence]; entering house after house, he dragged out men and women and committed them to prison.”

Make no mistake; prior to his conversion, Rabbi Sha’ul was, to a believer in Yahshua, public enemy number one. But what happened?

________End of Part 1________

Struck Down and Made Blind

1 Corinthians 3:18b; “If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him first become a fool so he then may be truly wise.”

On his way to Damascus Sha’ul underwent an extraordinarily terrifying experience. Like something out of an X-Files episode, he was enveloped by a bright aerial anomaly that struck him to the ground. In UFO circles his experience would have been registered as a close encounter of the third kind, sub-type F. This means Sha’ul witnessed a close range aerial phenomenon that delivered a completely comprehendible "intelligent communication.” Acts 9:3-6; "He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. Falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him "Sha'ul! Sha'ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?" "Sir, who are you?" he asked. "I am Yahshua, and you are persecuting me?" But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do."" There are three separate accounts of his conversion within the Scriptures.  They are:

• His description in Acts 9:1-20
• His account before the crowd in Yerushalaym (Acts 22:1-22)
• The testimony before King Agrippa II (Acts 26:1-24).

After Sha’ul’s encounter he was physically blinded. He remained in such a state for precisely three days, harking back to the duration of Jonah’s confinement in the belly of a great fish and the duration of Messiah Yahshua’s post crucifixion ministry in Sheol.

The Scriptural narrative of Sha’ul’s conversion unfolds like this: “… ‘Sha’ul, Sha’ul, why do you persecute me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you Adonai? And Adonai said, I am Yahshua HaMoshiach (YAH is my salvation) whom you persecute: it is hard for you to kick against the thorns.’ Trembling and astonished he said, ‘Adonai, what will you have me do?’ And YHWH said unto him, ‘Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.’”(Acts 9:4)

Torah Observant Both Before and After
One common mistake about Sha’ul is that he traded a life of Torah for a singular intellectual belief in the risen Messiah. At the time of Sha’ul’s ministry Yaakov HaTzaddik (James the righteous [Yahshua’s brother]), instructs him to assist with four men in the purification ritual of the Nazerite vow. He agrees to do this to show his fellow Jews of his devotion to Torah (Acts 21:20-24).  

James was recognised as the leader of the Nazarenes who were both Torah observant and accepted Yahshua as Messiah. Early Church Father Jerome attests to their devotion to Torah in his own writings. “(they are) those who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the Old Law" (Jerome; On. Is. 8:14).

Sha’ul’s only major transformation was that he came to accept Yahshua as the living inseparable manifestation of the living Torah. This caused his ministry to swing completely in favour of his former enemies. Prior to this he worked with inquisitional precision to see that the Torah was upheld whilst remaining ignorant of its identity in Yahshua. His insatiable energy for persecuting supposed heretics was redirected into appealing vigorously to his peers and converts. In each role, though one was completely off the mark, Torah served as the blue print for his actions.

After his experience Sha’ul was led completely helpless into Damascus by those who were with him and was visited by a believer in Yahshua called Ananias. Note carefully Rabbi Sha’ul’s description of Ananias in Acts 22:12; “…Ananias, a pious man according to the Torah…” Ananias heals Sha’ul’s blindness and began ministering to him. Acts 22:14-16; “Then he said, 'The Elohim of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of His voice. For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now, why delay? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins by calling on His Name.”

The New Ministry of a Notsri Pharisee

Rabbi Sha’ul later departs to Arabia and commences preaching in support of the way that he formerly persecuted in local synagogues (Galatians 1:17). This causes trouble, which leads to him vacating the city by means of a basket lowered over a wall (Acts 9:23).

Rabbi Sha’ul supported himself during his travels by his own means (1 Corinthians 9:13-15). His principle form of income was derived from making Tallits (little tents) out of goat’s hair [aka prayer shawls (Acts 18:3)].

Three years from the time of his conversion, Rabbi Sha’ul goes to Jerusalem and meets Yaakov (James) and Kepha (Peter) (Galatians 1:13-24). He requests to join them, but is only accepted when another talmidim called Barnabas intercedes on his behalf. Because of Sha’ul’s reputation they were all understandably afraid of him (Acts 9:26-27). 

Trouble seemed to follow him as he is sent back to Tarsus after having disputes with various goyom (gentiles). Fourteen years after his conversion, Sha’ul returns to Jerusalem, where Barnabas eventually finds him and has him brought to Antioch (Act 11:26). Antioch had become a refuge for believers after the death of Stephenos. One could only imagine the level of apprehension among believers there when they heard that Sha’ul was coming.  It was here and at this time that followers were first called “cretins” (Christians).

Upon hearing of a famine in Judaea, Rabbi Sha’ul, Barnabas and another convert called Titus go there to render financial assistance from funds raised at Antioch.

Sha’ul testifies to have met a post resurrected Yahshua, after Kepha (Cephus), the twelve (talmidim) and five hundred. 1 Corinthians 15:8; “And last of all He was seen by me also, ignorant and imperfectly trained as I was.” Of the Yahshua’s original twelve talmidim he only met and took council with Ya'akov (James, Yahshua's brother) and Kepha (Peter).

Rabbi Sha'ul died in Rome during the time of Emperor Nero's persecution. He remains the most debated and disagreed upon individual in the Scriptures both among not only Jews and Christians, but among many rival Christian denominations as well. Some Christian sects even venerate Sha’ul’s teachings above the Torah and say they follow him as if his teachings differ in some way. 1 Corinthian 3:4-7; “Whenever someone says, "I belong to Sha’ul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human? What is Apollos, after all, and what is Sha’ul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the YHWH assigned each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but Elohim caused the growth. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only Elohim, who causes the growth.”

Rabbi Sha’ul was a man of conviction who honoured the various degrees of knowledge that the Almighty imparted to him. There has been much written about him. Some writers have said he was a tortured man who committed a transgression in his youth and disciplined his evil inclination. Others say he was of very short physical stature. Whatever the case, the Scriptures attest that he was a content man regardless of circumstance. Philippians 4:10-13; I rejoice greatly in YHWH that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Who was Sha’ul? YHWH said, "… he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My Name before nations, sovereigns, and the children of Yisrael." (Acts 9:15)