Sori guys maybe in black text is better...
In this essay we shall examine Christian "revelation" in the light of what the Torah teaches us about prophets and prophecy.
Deuteronomy 34:10 Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom HASHEM had known face to face, [11] as evidenced by all the signs and wonders that HASHEM sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his courtiers and all his land, [12] and by all the strong hand and awesome power that Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel. (Artscroll)
The above passage, the last three verses of Deuteronomy, is of profound importance when we study a prophet under a microscope. Moses was the greatest prophet to ever live. So important is it to acknowledge this, that the great sage Maimonides wrote this as one of the thirteen principles of Jewish faith. "Never again" will there be a prophet with his scope or magnitude. All other prophets pale before him. As such, each revelation after his is of a lesser magnitude. Does the Bible allow for progressive revelation? Yes, it most certainly does. Does the Bible allow to for revelation that supersedes what Moses taught? No, it certainly does not.
There are two chapters of Deuteronomy that deal with prophets, those being 13 and 18. They tell specifically how to tell a false prophet, without specifically saying how to tell a real one. A person has to put two and two together and figure out to just take the opposite of what the false prophet does and tell that this is a true prophet. First, let us examine chapter 13:
Deuteronomy 13:1 The entire word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. [2] If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, [3] and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying "Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!7quot; [4] do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. [5] HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave. [6] And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he had spoken perversion against HASHEM, your G-d Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeems you from the house of slavery to make you stray from the path on which HASHEM, you G-d, has commanded you to go; and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Artscroll)
Just about everything that Paul wrote and preached violated this clause. His writings altered Jewish religious doctrine the man we know as Jesus. "You shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it." Paul claimed to be a prophet, yet his message is resoundingly clear when you read what verse three says, "Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!" Paul's Jesus as a religious icon was hardly unique. He ripped off the religious ideas from the doctrines of Buddha, Krishna, Tammuz, Adonis, Dionysus, Bacchus, Mithras, Orisis, ad infinitum. Most of these religious icons are centered on a supernatural, virgin born savior, who is murdered and achieves salvation for those who believe in him and eat of his blood and body. Do you find these ideas in the Jewish Bible? No. Additionally, Paul preached that the Torah had become obsolete, a big giveaway that something was amiss. "HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave." This message is quite clear. Paul fancied himself a prophet, and that makes him subservient to what Moses taught. Anything below Moses must be consistent with Moses’ big picture.
So, let us look at the hard facts:
FACT: No Jew prayed to Jesus prior to two thousand years ago.
FACT: Jews would have been unfamiliar with the concept of G-d in human form.
FACT: Jesus was, in essence, something that the Jews had not known.
FACT: Deuteronomy 13 specifically warns us that G-d will grant the power of miracles to people who would lead us astray from Judaism.
FACT: Deuteronomy 13 specifically says that Jews must not worship anything they had not previously known, no matter how many miracles the prophet performs, or how many events he predicts correctly.
Unless someone can find verses in the Jewish Bible that say the Jews worshipped Jesus, these facts would seem to be incontrovertible.
Paul tried to lead Jews to a god they did not know. What does G-d expect of us when we are presented with a self-proclaimed prophet who displays this behavior? "Do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul." If a Christian asks, "if Paul was a false prophet, why would G-d allow him to behave in such a way?" the answer is simple. G-d allowed this prophet to speak such abominations in order to test us to see how much we love G-d.
A prophet working a miracle is the first step. However, his message is the most important aspect. If it's something Moses didn't teach, don't go with it!
And now, a study of the other portion from Deuteronomy dealing with this topic:
Deuteronomy 18:15 A prophet from your midst, from your brethren, like me, shall HASHEM, your G-d, establish for you to him shall you hearken. [16] According to all that you asked of HASHEM, your G-d, in Horeb on the day of the congregation, saying, "I can no longer hear the voice of HASHEM, my G-d, and this great fire I can no longer see, so that I shall not die." [17] Then HASHEM said to me: They have done well in what they have said. [18] I will establish a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you, and I will place My words in his mouth; He shall speak to them everything that I will command him. [19] And it shall be that the man who will not hearken to My words that he shall speak in My name, I will exact from him, [20] But the prophet who willfully shall speak a word in My name, that which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of the gods of others that prophet shall die. [21] When you say in your heart, "How can we know the word that HASHEM has not spoken?" [22] If the prophet will speak in the Name of HASHEM and that thing will not occur and not come about that is the word that HASHEM has not spoken; with willfulness has the prophet spoken it, you should not fear him. (Artscroll)
I am in awe of the brilliance of this passage every time I read it. It's so wondrously simple how to tell a false prophet: all he has to do is predict an event that doesn't take place! I sometimes wonder if our ancestors would have realized this without this passage in the Torah. Now, it's important to clarify that this only applies to a prophecy of good; if a prophet foretells destruction and that destruction does not come about, he is not automatically proven false. (See the Book of Jonah)
