To understand the teaching and doctrine of The God Culture one must be familiar with The Book of Jubilees. All the teachings distinctive to Timothy Jay Schwab and his group come directly from that book. Be it the teachings about the sabbath day and the feasts or that the Philippines is the Garden of Eden all their principal doctrines are derived from The Book of Jubilees.
Tim defends The Book of Jubilees as being part of the original canon of scripture which was allegedly suppressed by the Catholic church to hide the truth about the sabbath. He claims that he has thoroughly tested the Book of Jubilees and found it to be in line with the teachings of what we accept as scripture (the 66 Books of the Bible.) Is that true? Did Tim really put it to the test? Was the Book of Jubilees ever a part of Hebrew or Christian scripture which was suppressed by authorities to cover up truth?
Tim defends The Book of Jubilees as being part of the original canon of scripture which was allegedly suppressed by the Catholic church to hide the truth about the sabbath. He claims that he has thoroughly tested the Book of Jubilees and found it to be in line with the teachings of what we accept as scripture (the 66 Books of the Bible.) Is that true? Did Tim really put it to the test? Was the Book of Jubilees ever a part of Hebrew or Christian scripture which was suppressed by authorities to cover up truth?
In this post I will look at three of The God Culture's videos which discuss this issue. The first two are foundational and give us a good sense of Timothy Jay Schwab's mindset regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls and extra-canonical books. The last one deals directly with the Book of Jubilees. Following a cursory analysis of these videos will be a survey of the Book of Jubilees itself.
 |
| https://youtu.be/h2jG0v-gAwM |
2:46 - Oldest copies of the Bible either in part or in whole that we had were from the 9th century AD forward. Wen you hear someone say the original Hebrew or Greek or even Aramaic including us they are actually referring to one of these texts from 900 AD, the Masoretic text typically. Because there are none that we knew of before that until 1947. That was 70 years ago. So today we have incorporated these into bible translations and have learned much from them right? Well not really. Unfortunately that has not happened even remotely to the degree that it should. Why?
4:08 - Dead sea scrolls are they inspired? Are they canon? Well, yes.
4:47 - The Book of Jubilees a book with THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF HISTORY and use before Yahusha Jesus and even by the early Church Fathers after. And with that book we have actually found The Garden of Eden and the land of creation. It's right there. Directions from Noah. Is that really evil?Those "directions from Noah" to the Garden of Eden are in chapter 8 of the Book of Jubilees. Suffice it to say Tim is wrong. The Book of Jubilees does not have a history of usage for thousands of years. It was written in the 2nd century BC and not by Moses. It is interesting to note that Tim believes the Dead Sea Scrolls are canon and should be incorporated into the Christian Bible. He is very adamant that the Dead Sea Scrolls constitute John the Baptist's library and that the issue of our day is restoring God's Word which includes the Scrolls.
65:54 - There are those who would marginalize them because the Catholic Church chose to delete them from John the Baptist's Bible. Yes that's what they really did. They censored a portion of John the Baptist's Bible. If we prove this out completely, and we will, it will take a few videos but we will, then we will prove this is the case. Because that is what an ancient scroll library is. It is the Old Testament, there were no New Testament scrolls found, there were also no gnostic gospels found that is a lie if you have heard that. So the Old Testament, the oldest canon of scripture of the Old Testament scripture, was indeed compiled byy John the Baptist. Not just arbitrary writings of pagan Essenses. This is the issue of our day. Restoring Yahuah God's Word and understanding exactly what THE God Culture really is.One thing Tim says quite a few times is that the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the voice of one crying in the wilderness once more. That is to say John is crying out once more. Tim does not tell us which books among the Dead Sea Scrolls point specifically to Jesus as the Messiah which is what John cried out. It's strange that if John wrote books and kept a library that he would be silent about Jesus Christ. Tim admits no New Testament books were found at Qumran.
The second video is "Who Lived In Qumran? Essenes? NO! Where Did They Live? Proof."
This whole video is an attempt to prove that the Essenes did not live at Qumran. Tim repeatedly bashes scholars calling them frauds and accusing them of being willingly ignorant for ignoring what is right under their noses. All the scholars who have devoted their lives to their fields of study are wrong and amateur armchair archaeologist Timothy Jay Schwab is correct. The Essenes had nothing to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls and lived no where near Qumran according to expert historian Timothy Schwab.
23:44 "the scholar who wrote the Wikipedia article"
32:34 The Wikipedia article is jumping to a conclusion that it is on the northwest side of the Dead Sea and then marrying that to Qumran that is very misleading and blatantly false.
38:40 "The scholar who wrote this Wikipedia article says..."
Does Tim really believe that scholars write the articles on Wikipedia? Well they don't. ANYONE can edit a Wikipedia article. That is one reason why it's not 100% reliable and why Tim should not be using it as a primary source as he does in practically all of his videos. Does he know he can delete that allegedly erroneous passage and add a correction? Funny that he accuses the article of "jumping to a conclusion" when he does this with abandon throughout his videos.
49:50 This is a time capsule of the Old Testament canon of scripture from the most reliable source, John the Baptist. If our current canon does not match his then we should be asking if any books not found in his are inspired or canon. And we should be considering how to include books like Jubilees and Enoch which were among the most found scrolls in all of the Dead Sea Scroll library.
53:05 Even if it is determined that some of the writings may not be scripture it does not mean they are not useful which is what really matters. That's the right question.The issue for Tim is not canonicity per se but usefulness, i.e. whether or not the Scrolls confirm any of his own personal beliefs. He also says the Scrolls are being hidden in plain sight for a reason. It's all a conspiracy.
The final video is "BOOK OF JUBILEES: Scripture? Inspired? What does the Bible Say? Enoch, Jasher, Dead Sea Scrolls."
 |
| https://youtu.be/ehXPBXwIxio |
This video is chock full of nonsense and I will have to pass by practically all of it. At 36:52 Tim begins a harangue against the government. He brings up the IRS and tax codes calling them part of the world's Pharisaic leavened government. Is that a clue as to why he left the USA? Was he having tax problems? It's a rather odd topic to insert in a video about The Book of Jubilees.
This video is also infuriatingly disappointing. Tim does not begin to discuss the actual contents of The Book of Jubilees until halfway through. He promises more videos to come which will discuss The Book of Jubilees in depth but it has been over a year and there has been nothing. If you were expecting anything like a systematic perusal and analysis of The Book of Jubilees' contents as I was then you will be sorely disappointed.
Tim has not thoroughly tested this book at all. His shallow discussion of The Book of Jubilees is limited to comparing the wording of a few New Testament passages with those in Jubilees. His thesis is that the Apostles were familiar with the book and used it for formulating doctrine. This is all based on the principle that everything must have at least two witnesses. For example he thinks John 1:3 is a citation of or allusion to Jubilees 16:26.
However Jubilees 16:26 is not a prophecy about the Messiah but about the nation of Israel. James VanderKam, who has devoted most of his life to studying The Book of Jubilees, has produced not only a different translation from that of R.H. Charles which is based on the finds at Qumran as well as the Ethiopic text but also a vast commentary on The Book of Jubilees.
Take it for what it's worth, the commentary of a man who has devoted his life to studying The Book of Jubilees. For Tim's thesis and method to have any merit a comparative look at the original texts would have to be done to see what similarities there are. Such claims cannot rely solely on English translations.
Tim says that the Book of Jubilees clarifies Genesis and that it is Torah. According to him without the Book of Jubilees we will not rightly understand Genesis. Towards the end of the video he offers this challenge:
This video is also infuriatingly disappointing. Tim does not begin to discuss the actual contents of The Book of Jubilees until halfway through. He promises more videos to come which will discuss The Book of Jubilees in depth but it has been over a year and there has been nothing. If you were expecting anything like a systematic perusal and analysis of The Book of Jubilees' contents as I was then you will be sorely disappointed.
Tim has not thoroughly tested this book at all. His shallow discussion of The Book of Jubilees is limited to comparing the wording of a few New Testament passages with those in Jubilees. His thesis is that the Apostles were familiar with the book and used it for formulating doctrine. This is all based on the principle that everything must have at least two witnesses. For example he thinks John 1:3 is a citation of or allusion to Jubilees 16:26.
However Jubilees 16:26 is not a prophecy about the Messiah but about the nation of Israel. James VanderKam, who has devoted most of his life to studying The Book of Jubilees, has produced not only a different translation from that of R.H. Charles which is based on the finds at Qumran as well as the Ethiopic text but also a vast commentary on The Book of Jubilees.
26. He blessed his Creator who had created him in his generation because he had created him for his pleasure, for he knew and ascertained that from him there would come a righteous plant for the history of eternity and (that) from him there would be holy descendants so that they should be like the one who had made everything.
Now he blesses the Creator for his marvelous actions initiated through him. The verse concludes with an affirmation that he was aware that holy descendants, resembling the one who created them, would arise from him. This seems to be an appeal to those passages in the Holiness Code (e.g., Lev 19:2) and elsewhere calling Israel to be holy as the Lord himself is (see above on 15:27, 31; 16:17-18). Berger notes that the language here—“that they should be like the one who had made everything”— reminds one of the image of God. In its holiness, which can hardly be separated from keeping the law, Israel would exhibit the likeness of the Creator.
Jubilees A Commentary in Two Volumes, Vol 1, pg. 546
Tim says that the Book of Jubilees clarifies Genesis and that it is Torah. According to him without the Book of Jubilees we will not rightly understand Genesis. Towards the end of the video he offers this challenge:
1:18:55 - And we issue this challenge to modern scholarly paradigms to actually read this book and test it.I will now take up this challenge. What does The Book of Jubilees actually contain? Does The Book of Jubilees clarify Genesis? Is it part of the Torah written by Moses? Was it ever part of the Hebrew or Christian canon until it was suppressed?
The Book of Jubilees is an apologetic for the law.
Obviously, the chief object of the work is to exalt the Law (and Hasidæan practise) as divinely ordained and fixed from eternity, to extol the institutions of the Sabbath and circumcision as heavenly signs distinguishing Israel from the rest of the nations, and, finally, to draw the sharpest possible lines of demarcation between Israel and the Gentiles—in striking contrast to the practise of the Hellenist party.
One of the most striking things about The Book of Jubilees is that we read the Patriarchs Adam, Noah, and Abraham all kept the law before it had been given on Mt. Sinai through Moses. That is because, according to Jubilees, the law is eternal being written on heavenly tables. The Book of Jubilees espouses the occult Hermetic doctrine of as above, so below. The sabbath is kept above in the heavens so it must be kept below on the earth.
We also read stories about the Patriarchs that sound similar to what is in Genesis but details have been changed. What is happening is that the author is filling in the gaps attempting to answer difficult questions. From James VanderKam's commentary on Jubilees we read:
What I am going to do now is go through The Book of Jubilees and list passages that are dissimilar to the Genesis narrative in a way that contradicts it proving that Moses did not write The Book of Jubilees. Why would Moses write two differing Genesis accounts anyway? These disparities will prove that Jubilees is rightly rejected as canonical by everyone who is not a schismatic like the group at Qumran who collected the Dead Sea Scrolls and The God Culture who wishes to incorporate The Book of Jubilees into the Bible. The Ethiopian Church does include Jubilees in their canon but they are also a heretical group which teaches a non-Chalcedonian Christology and they include other apocryphal books in their canon. They certainly don't teach anything like the doctrine Tim derives from The Book of Jubilees.
To keep this post neat and not have it run to an unwieldy length I will not be quoting full passages but only giving the references to chapter and verse with a description of what is being said and what it means. Despite that what follows will necessarily be a wall of text. You can follow along by reading The Book of Jubilees online.
Chapter 1 begins with God telling Moses that Israel will forsake Him. Moses prays for the people. God tells the Angel of the Presence to write for Moses about creation and the dividing of times until the renewal of the heavens and earth until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on Mount Zion.
Already we have an anachronism with the mention of Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Jerusalem was not even taken by the Jews until David sacked it hundreds of years after they entered Canaan. Whoever wrote Jubilees was familiar with Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and the temple. That means the author is not Moses.
Chapter 2 is about creation. In verse 19 God says he will choose a people to keep the Sabbath day. Verse 20 tells us God chose Jacob. Verse 30 tells us that the Sabbath was kept in heaven before it was revealed to man. But how could this be if the Sabbath is strictly tied to creation and is the day of rest after creation was completed? It makes no sense except in the scheme of the author who is exalting the law. The Sabbath now becomes an eternal ordinance and is no longer strictly tied with creation. Of all the nations only Israel is sanctified to keep this eternal ordinance.
Verse 31 says that God "did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep the Sabbath" but only Israel. Verse 33 says this law and testimony of the Sabbath were given to the children of Israel forever. This would mean that Tim, being a Gentile, is under no obligation to keep the Sabbath. So why does he teach that all men must keep the Sabbath? Why contradict Jubilees if he considers it to be canon? Tim says in his new sabbath series:
Both Tim's and Exodus' doctrine of the sabbath is a clear contradiction of Jubilees! Jesus is also contradicted by Jubilees. If the sabbath was created for man as Christ says then it cannot be an enteral ordinance kept by angels in heaven before it was revealed to man as The Book of Jubilees declares.
In contrast to Tim James Vanderkam gives an interpretation that takes these verses for what they mean.
Chapter 3 is about the formation of Eve and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created in the same week but Eve was not shown to Adam until 14 days had passed. After 40 days Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden but Eve was not brought into the Garden of Eden until 80 days had passed. So Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden for 80 days! Verse 10 tells us the reason for this is in regards to the purity laws after a woman had given birth. These laws can be found in Leviticus 12.
How does this addition clarify Genesis? God says it is not good for man to be alone so he created woman from the man's rib. Now man has a helpmeet. But in Jubilees man is still alone even after woman had been created because Eve is impure! What do the purity laws in Leviticus have to do with the formation of Eve? The Book of Jubilees contradicts the Genesis account of the formation of man and muddies the story by the additional explanation of the Levitical purity laws regarding childbirth. There is no clarity here only confusion.
After seven years the serpent comes to tempt Adam and Eve. They are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Verse 28 indicates that animals used to speak. There is no protoevangelium of the woman's seed crushing the serpent's head. There is also no angel with a flaming sword guarding the entrance to the Garden. Though Adam and Eve sin by eating the fruit of a tree there is no mention of a Tree of Life or a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Chapter 4 verse 23 tells us that Enoch was taken into the Garden of Eden. Verse 26 mentions Mount Zion which is an anachronism. Moses knew nothing of Mount Zion.
Chapter 6 verse 2 says Noah made an atonement for the guilt of the earth which does not make sense because everyone was dead except Noah and his family. It is not clear at all what is meant by "the guilt of the earth." Can an atonement be made for the dead? Verse 17 says Noah celebrated the Feast of Weeks once a year to renew the covenant God made with him. Verse 19 says Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also observed the Feast of Weeks until it was forgotten and then renewed on Sinai. Verse 32 says a year is 364 days which is not correct at all. The import of this verse is to regulate the observation of the feasts. This chapter ends by God predicting that the people will forget the 364 day year when they begin to observe the moon and see it coming 10 days too soon.
Here we have the Patriarchs celebrating feasts which were later revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai. But in Leviticus the Feast of Weeks is called a harvest festival and not at all meant to commemorate the covenant God made with Noah after the flood. How does the story of these Patriarchs keeping the Feast of Weeks for a reason which contradicts the Torah clarify Genesis?
Chapter 8 is where we find the "directions to the Garden of Eden" which Tim claims is the Philippines. Verse 19 calls the Garden of Eden the Holy of Holies and the dwelling place of the Lord and mentions Mount Zion and Mount Sinai as also being holy places. All three places (Eden, Zion, and Sinai) face each other. Mount Zion is called the navel of the world. If the Garden of Eden is facing Mt. Zion and Mt. Sinai as this chapter attests then it cannot possibly be in the Philippines which is thousands of miles away from Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion.
Again Moses would have had no knowledge of Mount Zion as he did not even enter the promised land. We are led to believe that the Garden of Eden exists somewhere on earth even after the flood. According to chapter 4 Enoch was taken there. Tim says Enoch resides in the Garden of Eden (which Tim declares is the Philippines) to this day!
In Chapter 10 Noah prays to God that He would imprison all the unclean demons who were leading men astray. Mastema, also known as Satan, intervenes and asks God to let him have some of the evil spirits to control so that he can use them to lead men astray and tempt them. God acquiesces to his request and allows 1/10th of them to remain free.
Chapter 11 introduces us to Abram. At the age of 14 he stops worshipping idols and begins to pray to the Creator to save him. Verse 11 tells us that Mastema sent ravens to eat the seed which was sown and that food was scarce as a result. After Abram prays to God he is able to command the ravens to not eat the seed and to never return. As a result he becomes very famous in the land. In Genesis Abram is nobody, a literal idol worshipper whom God calls to leave his homeland. He's not a famous man who has power with God to command animals nor is he a monotheist when he is called by God. How does this very fanciful and apocryphal story clarify Genesis when it contradicts it?
Chapter 16 verses 20 - 31 Abraham celebrates the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 29 says that this festival is made a statue for Israel forever. This is a clear contradiction of Leviticus 23:42-43 which tells us that the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths is to commemorate the exodus from Egypt when Israel was made to dwell in tents. It is a senseless anachronism to have Abraham celebrating this feast. This contradiction between Jubilees and Leviticus does not add clarity to Genesis.
Chapter 17 verse 16 tells us that Mastema, Satan, instigated God to command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test of his obedience. This account is similar to the book of Job where Satan persuades God to allow him to tempt Job as a test of his righteousness. It also turns the Genesis narrative on its head as the temptation of Abraham now become a contest between God and Satan. Chapter 18 verse 12 says Mastema was put to shame after Abraham passes the test.
Introducing Mastema gets rid of the messianic type of this story. Isaac is no longer a type of Christ and the focus is on Satan instead of Abraham. It is highly likely that Satan is injected into the story here to absolve God of any blame for tempting Abraham to sacrifice his son. This story does not clarify the Genesis narrative but only muddies it.
The God Culture agrees that the insertion of Satan into this story clarifies things and absolves God from any blame.
Inserting Satan seems to clear things up but there is in fact no very serious theological question to rectify except for those who do not believe what the text actually says. Is this dynamic to be found in Job? No. In Job Satan asks permission from God to try Job and the permission is granted. God does nothing to Job. Satan even has Job's children slaughtered.
But in Genesis God is the one doing the action. He is the one who tempts or tests Abraham. And he is the one who stays Abraham's hand. It is a test of Abraham's faith and Isaac is a type of Christ. Abraham was willing to offer up his son while God really did offer up his only Son for our salvation.
Chapter 22 verses 16-18 Isaac warns Jacob to separate himself from the nations because their works are unclean. The whole chapter stresses that Jacob will be separate from the Gentiles and that he will establish a Holy Seed. This is the theme of Jubilees as shown in chapter 2.
Chapter 24 verse 27-33 Isaac curses the Philistines. Verse 27 says he made peace with them under constraint. Verses 28-32 are an imprecation against the Philistines swearing their eternal destruction. Verse 33 says this curse is written on the heavenly tables.
This story turns Genesis 26:26-33 on it's head. In that story Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, approaches Isaac to ask for an oath and covenant of peace. Isaac asks "Why, since you hate me," and the king says, "Because we see God is with you and has blessed you." They then have a feast and in the morning swear peace to one another and part amicably. There is no constraint here. Isaac enters this covenant willingly and even has a feast! In Jubilees there is no peace between Isaac and the Philistines. Instead there is only a curse from Isaac. Jubilees contradicts Genesis in this account.
VanderKam notes the following about this account in Jubilees 24 and its contradiction with Genesis 26.
Chapter 25 verse 4 Jacob says he is nine weeks of years old which is an odd way of speaking if one does not keep in mind the object of the Book of Jubilees is to divide all time in to weeks of years and Jubilees which is 7 weeks of years or 49 years.
Chapter 28 is about Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel. Laban tricks him and says he did so because it is not right to give away the younger before the elder. Verse 7 has an admonition to the "children of Israel" that they follow this custom. It is another anachronism as there were no children of Israel nor had Jacob's name been changed to Israel at that time.
Chapter 30 is the story of the defilement of Jacob's daughter Dinah. Verses 5-22 gives a warning to the Israelites to not marry with the Gentiles. Verse 18 says that the tribe of Levi was chosen to the priesthood because of the zealousness of Levi in avenging Dinah.
Chapter 31 is similar to Genesis 48 and the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob. This time it's Isaac who blesses Levi and Judah. The blessing he gives to each is of the priesthood and the throne respectively. This story is not recorded in Genesis. There is in fact no mention of a Levitical priesthood in the scriptures until after the exodus from Egypt. There is also no throne given to Judah until David. This story is clearly an addition by the second century author who is exalting the twin pillars of Israel's uniqueness which is the throne of David and the Levitical priesthood.
Chapter 32 verse 1 says Levi dreamed he was ordained the priest of the Most High God. Verse 3 has Jacob clothing Levi in garments of the priesthood. Verse 9 says Levi discharged the priestly office. How did he discharge this office with no ark and no tabernacle or temple? He didn't. This is a made up story by the author of Jubilees to magnify the Levitical priesthood. Like many of the other stories in Jubilees it is also found in the spurious pseudepigraphal work The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. This story is in the Testament of Levi chapter 9.
Chapter 33 is the story of Reuben sleeping with Bilah. Verses 10-20 are an excursus from the law about how abominable this sin is. It is another chance for the author to extol the law.
Chapter 34 verses 4-9 has a strange story about Jacob subduing several kings and imposing tribute on them until the day Jacob left for Egypt. We read of nothing like it in Genesis or Josephus or elsewhere. When did Jacob and his sons become a powerful army which could subdue kings? The Pharaoh of Egypt would have heard of such a thing but he never mentions it when Jacob appears before him.
In chapters 35-36 Esau and Jacob visit their dying father Isaac. He admonishes Esau to be at peace with Jacob and not to hate him. Brotherly love and affection are appealed to in 36:8. In chapter 37 the sons of Esau become very angry with their father because Isaac had given the portion of the elder to the younger. They declare war against Jacob and provoke Esau to join them. A huge army then confronts Jacob. In chapter 38 Judah tells Jacob to slay the enemy. In 38:2 Jacob kills Esau with a bowshot. Jacob's sons prevail over the sons of Esau and they become their servants paying tribute until the day Jacob left for Egypt.
The killing of Esau by Jacob is a major departure from the narrative in Genesis. Why is it included? What clarity does this horrendous story of fratricide shed upon Genesis? What are we supposed to learn from this story? It seems that it is a story made up by the author of Jubilees to explain the enmity between the Edomites and Israel. Judah is the one who is given the throne and his descendant David will conquer Edom in the future (2 Samuel 8:14). Thus it is symbolic that he tells Jacob, who is Israel, to slay the enemy, who is Esau or Edom. Israel then subjects the Edomites to tribute. This would explain why the Edomites are at enmity with Israel. The God Culture also agrees with that explanation:
The subduing of the Edomites along with the subduing of the other kings and putting them to tribute would be a story that Pharaoh of Egypt would be familiar with but he does not bring it up when he meets Jacob. Jacob and his family are portrayed as shepherds and not as a powerful nation to which other nations were paying tribute. This is more evidence that the story is spurious.
Chapter 48 verse 2 tells us that Mastema, Satan, attempted to kill Moses at the lodging place. This is a reference to Exodus 4:24-26 where God meets Moses to kill him. Zipporah, Moses' wife, stays God's hand by circumcising her two boys. Like Jubilees' retelling of the temptation of Abraham this story is again turned on its head likely in an effort to absolve God of any alleged wrongdoing for attempting to kill Moses after he sent him to Egypt to deliver the people.
Chapter 50 ends with a discussion of the sabbath and how to celebrate it. This is in keeping with the twin themes of Jubilees which are the exaltation of the law and Israel as a people separate from all the other nations.
That's the Book of Jubilees in a nutshell. One has to read it to get a feel for how different from Genesis it really is. The Book of Jubilees introduces significant departures from Genesis in every chapter. It sounds like scripture but it is most definitely not consistent with any book in the Hebrew canon. This blog post has barely scratched the surface of the content and meaning of The Book of Jubilees. For further reading I recommend James VanderKam's two volume commentary which is the fruit of a lifetime of study. A PDF of both volumes is available online.
We also read stories about the Patriarchs that sound similar to what is in Genesis but details have been changed. What is happening is that the author is filling in the gaps attempting to answer difficult questions. From James VanderKam's commentary on Jubilees we read:
One impulse to ancient interpretation is expressed by the הספור שלא סופר :Hebrew title of Joshua Levinson’s book= (literally) The Story That Was Not Told. For some early readers, a goal of interpretation was to explain not so much what was explicit but what was left implicit—or so the expositor thought—in the text. Filling in the gaps served to clarify the text by adding helpful information. Examples include the following:
1. Inserting laws into the stories. As will be seen below, an important question was whether the ancestors knew some or all of the Mosaic law. Jubilees answers the question by showing that some legal material was revealed to the ancestors (e.g., the festivals), while full disclosure awaited the law of Moses.
2. Another question was whether God was justified in sending so frightful a punishment as the flood. Jubilees, with other ancient works, supplements the pre-flood material in Genesis with a story about angels who married women and fathered giants to explain that sin became monstrous and that God responded justly (5:1-19).
3. Jubilees, again with other ancient works, includes a detailed geographical section about the division of the earth among the sons and grandsons of Noah. The section not only answered the question of why nations were located where they were but also documented Israel’s right to the land as descendants of Shem and Arpachshad (8:8—9:15; 10:28-34).
4. In order to explain the ongoing evil after the flood, Jubilees introduces a story about the demonic off-spring of the Watchers. They continued to mislead people although God greatly limited their power (10:1-13).
5. The author adds stories about Abram’s youth. The Abram of Genesis is introduced through a genealogical notice, a report about his marriage, and a move by the family (11:27-32); immediately thereafter in Gen 12:1-3 he receives the grand promises from the Lord. Why did he rather than someone else enjoy such favorable treatment from the deity? Jubilees supplies stories about Abram as a boy and a young man (11:15—12:21), including ones documenting his precocious embrace of monotheism, zeal against idols, and growth in understanding of his one God. All of this happened before the divine promises came to him. The additional stories provide an explanation for why he was the recipient of them and thus fill a lacuna in Genesis.
6. Abraham and Jacob. A puzzle for readers of Genesis was that, while the lives of Abraham and Jacob, the two major patriarchs, overlapped for fifteen years, the text records no interaction between them. The writer of Jubilees incorporates several scenes in which Abraham recognizes early on that Jacob will be his true heir, the one to whom the promises will come. He blesses Jacob and also instructs him about how he is to conduct himself (19:16-29; 22:10-30).
7. Another curious feature of Genesis is that it presents Levi, the ancestor of the Levites and priests, in a less-than-favorable light. How could someone who angered his father because of his violence at Shechem (Genesis 34) and who earned a curse from Jacob for it (Gen 49:5-7) become the eponymous father of the priesthood? Jubilees presents a very different Levi: he carried out a righteous slaughter of the Shechemites (30:17-20); his grandfather Isaac blessed him (31:13- 17); he received a dream that he was appointed to the priesthood (32:1); and his father Jacob ordained him to the sacerdotal office (32:2-9). He was indeed a worthy ancestor of those who would serve at the sanctuary.
8. The Bible does not explain why the bones of Joseph remained in Egypt until the time of the exodus, whereas, it may be implied, the remains of his brothers received burial in Canaan at an earlier time (see Gen 50:24-26; Exod 13:19; Josh 24:32; cf. Acts 7:16). The writer of Jubilees inserts a story about a war between Canaan and Egypt. A lull in it allowed for burial of the brothers’ bones in Hebron, but Joseph’s body remained in Egypt because at the time of his death it was not possible to travel between Egypt and Canaan (46:4-11).
Jubilees A Commentary in Two Volumes, Vol 1, pg. 22-23With these explanatory additions The Book of Jubilees is equivalent to a collection of just-so stories. Though the additional material in Jubilees does serve to answer questions that does not mean the material is genuine or that any of it actually took place. Much of the promised clarity from these additions does not arise as familiar stories in Genesis are turned on their heads and more questions are left unanswered. Some of the additions outright contradict the Torah. Other additions, such as Jacob killing Esau, are too important to have been left unnoticed by Genesis which casts doubt on their authenticity. The addition of these explanatory stories also does not mean that the Book of Jubilees was considered scripture or canon by the Jews or anyone else expect of course for the community at Qumran.
What I am going to do now is go through The Book of Jubilees and list passages that are dissimilar to the Genesis narrative in a way that contradicts it proving that Moses did not write The Book of Jubilees. Why would Moses write two differing Genesis accounts anyway? These disparities will prove that Jubilees is rightly rejected as canonical by everyone who is not a schismatic like the group at Qumran who collected the Dead Sea Scrolls and The God Culture who wishes to incorporate The Book of Jubilees into the Bible. The Ethiopian Church does include Jubilees in their canon but they are also a heretical group which teaches a non-Chalcedonian Christology and they include other apocryphal books in their canon. They certainly don't teach anything like the doctrine Tim derives from The Book of Jubilees.
To keep this post neat and not have it run to an unwieldy length I will not be quoting full passages but only giving the references to chapter and verse with a description of what is being said and what it means. Despite that what follows will necessarily be a wall of text. You can follow along by reading The Book of Jubilees online.
Chapter 1 begins with God telling Moses that Israel will forsake Him. Moses prays for the people. God tells the Angel of the Presence to write for Moses about creation and the dividing of times until the renewal of the heavens and earth until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on Mount Zion.
Already we have an anachronism with the mention of Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Jerusalem was not even taken by the Jews until David sacked it hundreds of years after they entered Canaan. Whoever wrote Jubilees was familiar with Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and the temple. That means the author is not Moses.
Chapter 2 is about creation. In verse 19 God says he will choose a people to keep the Sabbath day. Verse 20 tells us God chose Jacob. Verse 30 tells us that the Sabbath was kept in heaven before it was revealed to man. But how could this be if the Sabbath is strictly tied to creation and is the day of rest after creation was completed? It makes no sense except in the scheme of the author who is exalting the law. The Sabbath now becomes an eternal ordinance and is no longer strictly tied with creation. Of all the nations only Israel is sanctified to keep this eternal ordinance.
Verse 31 says that God "did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep the Sabbath" but only Israel. Verse 33 says this law and testimony of the Sabbath were given to the children of Israel forever. This would mean that Tim, being a Gentile, is under no obligation to keep the Sabbath. So why does he teach that all men must keep the Sabbath? Why contradict Jubilees if he considers it to be canon? Tim says in his new sabbath series:
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord Yahuah thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, Gentiles. Hello? This has never been a Jewish practice. It has never been exclusive but always available to the stranger among you.
https://youtu.be/qfAybCvlAuM?t=2473
So the true Bible which it would include part of the Torah that's missing right now called The Book of Jubilees has said all along right here the sabbath is for everyone including all in heaven and on earth.
https://youtu.be/hTkszHEwfEA?t=2219
In contrast to Tim James Vanderkam gives an interpretation that takes these verses for what they mean.
The inclusive statement—“before it was made known to all humanity [lit., to all flesh]”—again, as in 2:25, makes it seem as if everyone was invited to keep Sabbath, though the explicit teachings of the chapter are decidedly opposed to this inference. It may be that the writer is distinguishing between the announcement of the Sabbath to all and the actual acceptance of the law by Israel alone (e.g., in Exod 24:3, 7). Jubilees 2:31 is somewhat clearer: all humanity received the command to observe the Sabbath, but the Creator God sanctified Israel (see Exod 31:13 [cf. 19:5-6]; Ezek 37:28) alone to obey the prescription. Sanctity was required to keep the day, and God gave that quality to Israel alone, not the other nations.
Jubilees A Commentary in Two Volumes, Vol 1, pg. 202This chapter is again full of anachronisms. The point of the author is to distinguish the nation of Israel from the Gentiles via the keeping of the Sabbath. This is why he writes that Sabbath keeping is not for all nations but only Israel. Such an attitude would be in keeping with that of a Jew whose nation had been overrun by Gentiles like the Romans and Greeks and wished to remain separate from them. It is internal evidence that Moses did not write the book but someone much later in the 2nd century did.
Chapter 3 is about the formation of Eve and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created in the same week but Eve was not shown to Adam until 14 days had passed. After 40 days Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden but Eve was not brought into the Garden of Eden until 80 days had passed. So Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden for 80 days! Verse 10 tells us the reason for this is in regards to the purity laws after a woman had given birth. These laws can be found in Leviticus 12.
How does this addition clarify Genesis? God says it is not good for man to be alone so he created woman from the man's rib. Now man has a helpmeet. But in Jubilees man is still alone even after woman had been created because Eve is impure! What do the purity laws in Leviticus have to do with the formation of Eve? The Book of Jubilees contradicts the Genesis account of the formation of man and muddies the story by the additional explanation of the Levitical purity laws regarding childbirth. There is no clarity here only confusion.
After seven years the serpent comes to tempt Adam and Eve. They are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Verse 28 indicates that animals used to speak. There is no protoevangelium of the woman's seed crushing the serpent's head. There is also no angel with a flaming sword guarding the entrance to the Garden. Though Adam and Eve sin by eating the fruit of a tree there is no mention of a Tree of Life or a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Chapter 4 verse 23 tells us that Enoch was taken into the Garden of Eden. Verse 26 mentions Mount Zion which is an anachronism. Moses knew nothing of Mount Zion.
Chapter 6 verse 2 says Noah made an atonement for the guilt of the earth which does not make sense because everyone was dead except Noah and his family. It is not clear at all what is meant by "the guilt of the earth." Can an atonement be made for the dead? Verse 17 says Noah celebrated the Feast of Weeks once a year to renew the covenant God made with him. Verse 19 says Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also observed the Feast of Weeks until it was forgotten and then renewed on Sinai. Verse 32 says a year is 364 days which is not correct at all. The import of this verse is to regulate the observation of the feasts. This chapter ends by God predicting that the people will forget the 364 day year when they begin to observe the moon and see it coming 10 days too soon.
Here we have the Patriarchs celebrating feasts which were later revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai. But in Leviticus the Feast of Weeks is called a harvest festival and not at all meant to commemorate the covenant God made with Noah after the flood. How does the story of these Patriarchs keeping the Feast of Weeks for a reason which contradicts the Torah clarify Genesis?
Chapter 8 is where we find the "directions to the Garden of Eden" which Tim claims is the Philippines. Verse 19 calls the Garden of Eden the Holy of Holies and the dwelling place of the Lord and mentions Mount Zion and Mount Sinai as also being holy places. All three places (Eden, Zion, and Sinai) face each other. Mount Zion is called the navel of the world. If the Garden of Eden is facing Mt. Zion and Mt. Sinai as this chapter attests then it cannot possibly be in the Philippines which is thousands of miles away from Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion.
Again Moses would have had no knowledge of Mount Zion as he did not even enter the promised land. We are led to believe that the Garden of Eden exists somewhere on earth even after the flood. According to chapter 4 Enoch was taken there. Tim says Enoch resides in the Garden of Eden (which Tim declares is the Philippines) to this day!
What about Enoch? Oh now he is the key to the whole formula. See Enoch's a different story here. Enoch lived before the flood, the seventh from Adam but he did not die this experience the flood, lived after the flood, and is still alive to this day! Where is he? He's in the Garden of Eden to this day according to Jubilees.
https://youtu.be/hTkszHEwfEA?t=2421According to Tim Enoch is alive and well in the Philippines at this very moment! Wow!
In Chapter 10 Noah prays to God that He would imprison all the unclean demons who were leading men astray. Mastema, also known as Satan, intervenes and asks God to let him have some of the evil spirits to control so that he can use them to lead men astray and tempt them. God acquiesces to his request and allows 1/10th of them to remain free.
Chapter 11 introduces us to Abram. At the age of 14 he stops worshipping idols and begins to pray to the Creator to save him. Verse 11 tells us that Mastema sent ravens to eat the seed which was sown and that food was scarce as a result. After Abram prays to God he is able to command the ravens to not eat the seed and to never return. As a result he becomes very famous in the land. In Genesis Abram is nobody, a literal idol worshipper whom God calls to leave his homeland. He's not a famous man who has power with God to command animals nor is he a monotheist when he is called by God. How does this very fanciful and apocryphal story clarify Genesis when it contradicts it?
Chapter 16 verses 20 - 31 Abraham celebrates the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 29 says that this festival is made a statue for Israel forever. This is a clear contradiction of Leviticus 23:42-43 which tells us that the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths is to commemorate the exodus from Egypt when Israel was made to dwell in tents. It is a senseless anachronism to have Abraham celebrating this feast. This contradiction between Jubilees and Leviticus does not add clarity to Genesis.
Chapter 17 verse 16 tells us that Mastema, Satan, instigated God to command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test of his obedience. This account is similar to the book of Job where Satan persuades God to allow him to tempt Job as a test of his righteousness. It also turns the Genesis narrative on its head as the temptation of Abraham now become a contest between God and Satan. Chapter 18 verse 12 says Mastema was put to shame after Abraham passes the test.
Introducing Mastema gets rid of the messianic type of this story. Isaac is no longer a type of Christ and the focus is on Satan instead of Abraham. It is highly likely that Satan is injected into the story here to absolve God of any blame for tempting Abraham to sacrifice his son. This story does not clarify the Genesis narrative but only muddies it.
The God Culture agrees that the insertion of Satan into this story clarifies things and absolves God from any blame.
The same dynamic in Job existed in the story of Abraham and it is very Biblical and in no way flies in the face of anything Genesis says unless you make things up like you do of course in fraud. That's not testing, it's fraud. Once again, extremely poor. You think you are smart yet your comprehension is pathetic just as it is with history and geography. Otherwise, you are accusing Yahuah of coming up with the idea which is out of character and illegitimate as this blog is. Jubilees actually rectifies a very serious theological question because without it, fools like you are blaming Yahuah for something satan instigated. Real bright. It turns nothing on it's head and stands consistent and you are no one to say otherwise and unqualified to render such opinion nor write this blog by your own standards you have laid out over and over in ignorance.
http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-god-culture-attempted-copyright.html?showComment=1588243605423#c403701473008099493This story does offer a thorny problem. Would God really tempt someone to sacrifice their son? Such a notion seems horrifying to us. It is in the same category as God's commanding Israel to utterly destroy all the Canaanites. Or in the crucifixion where the innocent Son of God is offered up. Or in the command to sacrifice animals to appease God's wrath. Why would God command such things?
Inserting Satan seems to clear things up but there is in fact no very serious theological question to rectify except for those who do not believe what the text actually says. Is this dynamic to be found in Job? No. In Job Satan asks permission from God to try Job and the permission is granted. God does nothing to Job. Satan even has Job's children slaughtered.
But in Genesis God is the one doing the action. He is the one who tempts or tests Abraham. And he is the one who stays Abraham's hand. It is a test of Abraham's faith and Isaac is a type of Christ. Abraham was willing to offer up his son while God really did offer up his only Son for our salvation.
Chapter 22 verses 16-18 Isaac warns Jacob to separate himself from the nations because their works are unclean. The whole chapter stresses that Jacob will be separate from the Gentiles and that he will establish a Holy Seed. This is the theme of Jubilees as shown in chapter 2.
Chapter 24 verse 27-33 Isaac curses the Philistines. Verse 27 says he made peace with them under constraint. Verses 28-32 are an imprecation against the Philistines swearing their eternal destruction. Verse 33 says this curse is written on the heavenly tables.
This story turns Genesis 26:26-33 on it's head. In that story Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, approaches Isaac to ask for an oath and covenant of peace. Isaac asks "Why, since you hate me," and the king says, "Because we see God is with you and has blessed you." They then have a feast and in the morning swear peace to one another and part amicably. There is no constraint here. Isaac enters this covenant willingly and even has a feast! In Jubilees there is no peace between Isaac and the Philistines. Instead there is only a curse from Isaac. Jubilees contradicts Genesis in this account.
VanderKam notes the following about this account in Jubilees 24 and its contradiction with Genesis 26.
Genesis 26:26-31 must have pained the writer of Jubilees because it pictured Isaac, with whom the promises to Abraham had just been renewed, swearing a covenantal oath with representatives of the Philistines and sealing the agreement by eating a meal with them. His conduct directly contradicted Abraham’s commands to Jacob: “Separate from the nations, / and do not eat with them” (22:16). It also conflicted with Exod 23:32 (“You shall make no covenant with them [the peoples of Canaan]”); 34:12, 15 (no covenant with them); and Deut 7:2 (no covenant with the seven Canaanite peoples).45 The writer of Jubilees had omitted the earlier story where Abraham made a covenant with the same people (Gen 21:32 uses “covenant” for their sworn agreement), but he included the one involving Isaac and thus had to find a fitting explanation for what the second patriarch had done.
Jubilees A Commentary in Two Volumes, Vol 2, pg. 722The allegation of deception and thus constraint on the part of the Philistines provides this "fitting explanation." The clear contradiction between Genesis and Jubilees is proof that the explanation is a fiction by the writer of The Book of Jubilees.
Chapter 25 verse 4 Jacob says he is nine weeks of years old which is an odd way of speaking if one does not keep in mind the object of the Book of Jubilees is to divide all time in to weeks of years and Jubilees which is 7 weeks of years or 49 years.
Chapter 28 is about Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel. Laban tricks him and says he did so because it is not right to give away the younger before the elder. Verse 7 has an admonition to the "children of Israel" that they follow this custom. It is another anachronism as there were no children of Israel nor had Jacob's name been changed to Israel at that time.
Chapter 30 is the story of the defilement of Jacob's daughter Dinah. Verses 5-22 gives a warning to the Israelites to not marry with the Gentiles. Verse 18 says that the tribe of Levi was chosen to the priesthood because of the zealousness of Levi in avenging Dinah.
Chapter 31 is similar to Genesis 48 and the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob. This time it's Isaac who blesses Levi and Judah. The blessing he gives to each is of the priesthood and the throne respectively. This story is not recorded in Genesis. There is in fact no mention of a Levitical priesthood in the scriptures until after the exodus from Egypt. There is also no throne given to Judah until David. This story is clearly an addition by the second century author who is exalting the twin pillars of Israel's uniqueness which is the throne of David and the Levitical priesthood.
Chapter 32 verse 1 says Levi dreamed he was ordained the priest of the Most High God. Verse 3 has Jacob clothing Levi in garments of the priesthood. Verse 9 says Levi discharged the priestly office. How did he discharge this office with no ark and no tabernacle or temple? He didn't. This is a made up story by the author of Jubilees to magnify the Levitical priesthood. Like many of the other stories in Jubilees it is also found in the spurious pseudepigraphal work The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. This story is in the Testament of Levi chapter 9.
Chapter 33 is the story of Reuben sleeping with Bilah. Verses 10-20 are an excursus from the law about how abominable this sin is. It is another chance for the author to extol the law.
Chapter 34 verses 4-9 has a strange story about Jacob subduing several kings and imposing tribute on them until the day Jacob left for Egypt. We read of nothing like it in Genesis or Josephus or elsewhere. When did Jacob and his sons become a powerful army which could subdue kings? The Pharaoh of Egypt would have heard of such a thing but he never mentions it when Jacob appears before him.
In chapters 35-36 Esau and Jacob visit their dying father Isaac. He admonishes Esau to be at peace with Jacob and not to hate him. Brotherly love and affection are appealed to in 36:8. In chapter 37 the sons of Esau become very angry with their father because Isaac had given the portion of the elder to the younger. They declare war against Jacob and provoke Esau to join them. A huge army then confronts Jacob. In chapter 38 Judah tells Jacob to slay the enemy. In 38:2 Jacob kills Esau with a bowshot. Jacob's sons prevail over the sons of Esau and they become their servants paying tribute until the day Jacob left for Egypt.
The killing of Esau by Jacob is a major departure from the narrative in Genesis. Why is it included? What clarity does this horrendous story of fratricide shed upon Genesis? What are we supposed to learn from this story? It seems that it is a story made up by the author of Jubilees to explain the enmity between the Edomites and Israel. Judah is the one who is given the throne and his descendant David will conquer Edom in the future (2 Samuel 8:14). Thus it is symbolic that he tells Jacob, who is Israel, to slay the enemy, who is Esau or Edom. Israel then subjects the Edomites to tribute. This would explain why the Edomites are at enmity with Israel. The God Culture also agrees with that explanation:
Esau is Edom and the Edomites are not at peace with Israel/Jacob. In fact, they are one of the largest enemies of Israel throughout scripture even in Psalm 83, the minor prophets record this as well and they are the enemy of Israel and believers all the way to the very end in the final battle. This is an extremely deep-rooted hatred of Israel yet your buffoonery leaves it at the brothers reconciled which is ignorance. Jesus will defeat them in the end by the way. However, what happened? How does one get from reconciled brothers to complete opposites and enemies again? Have you even thought this thru? Nope, you're incapable of such thought clearly. Obviously there is more to the story and Jubilees is the record of that story very consistent not only with Genesis but with the entire Bible on this.
http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-god-culture-attempted-copyright.html?showComment=1588218670475#c4472467758811009914They are right that there is more to the story as the Bible does not include everything. Yet this story, which would be of massive importance if it were true, is not recorded anywhere in scripture. Josephus does not mention it in his Antiquites of the Jews. It is only recorded in The Book of Jubilees which is a 2nd century text written to exalt the law and in another pseudepigraphal work The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs which borrows heavily from Jubilees. The story is found in the Testament of Judah chapter 9.
The subduing of the Edomites along with the subduing of the other kings and putting them to tribute would be a story that Pharaoh of Egypt would be familiar with but he does not bring it up when he meets Jacob. Jacob and his family are portrayed as shepherds and not as a powerful nation to which other nations were paying tribute. This is more evidence that the story is spurious.
Chapter 48 verse 2 tells us that Mastema, Satan, attempted to kill Moses at the lodging place. This is a reference to Exodus 4:24-26 where God meets Moses to kill him. Zipporah, Moses' wife, stays God's hand by circumcising her two boys. Like Jubilees' retelling of the temptation of Abraham this story is again turned on its head likely in an effort to absolve God of any alleged wrongdoing for attempting to kill Moses after he sent him to Egypt to deliver the people.
Chapter 50 ends with a discussion of the sabbath and how to celebrate it. This is in keeping with the twin themes of Jubilees which are the exaltation of the law and Israel as a people separate from all the other nations.
That's the Book of Jubilees in a nutshell. One has to read it to get a feel for how different from Genesis it really is. The Book of Jubilees introduces significant departures from Genesis in every chapter. It sounds like scripture but it is most definitely not consistent with any book in the Hebrew canon. This blog post has barely scratched the surface of the content and meaning of The Book of Jubilees. For further reading I recommend James VanderKam's two volume commentary which is the fruit of a lifetime of study. A PDF of both volumes is available online.
 |
| Jubilees A Commentary in Two volumes |
Tim says the Dead Sea Scrolls represent the oldest canon of scripture as compiled by John the Baptist and therefore The Book of Jubilees is part of the original Hebrew canon.
I recommend "The Biblical Canon" by Lee Martin McDonald.
One of the real values of this book is that it has lists of canon in the appendix as well as a list of citations and allusions to various apocryphal books, including Jubilees, in the New Testament. Tim should take note that just because a book is cited or alluded to does not mean that the book was ever considered canon. That includes Enoch which Jude does cite.
While he's at it Tim should read up on the councils so he knows what the church has taught and why. His constant bashing of Nicea as a conspiracy to cover up the truth and The God Culture's teaching that the synagogue of Satan took over the early church is completely ignorant and blasphemous as Christ said He would build his church and the gates of hell would not overcome it.
If that's too much to handle then he should read Leo Davis' book on the seven ecumenical councils.
The five color coded books in the background are Jaroslav Pelikan's "The Christian Tradition" which is his magisterial history of Christian doctrine from the early church until Vatican II. Tim should read that series as well. The point is he needs to learn more about the history of the church and her doctrines because he is sorely lacking in that knowledge and continues to make wild and unhistorical claims as if he is some big-brained super genius who has been awakened to truths which have been intentionally suppressed.
So the Old Testament, the oldest canon of scripture of the Old Testament scripture, was indeed compiled by John the BaptistThis is simply more proof of Tim's ignorance concerning the formation of the canon. The Septuagint was produced in the 3rd century BC and is still in use by the Eastern Churches. It represents the oldest canon of scripture and not the Dead Sea Scrolls which were hidden 300 years later in the caves of Qumran. It would do well for Tim to study more on the formation of the canon and stop making absurd claims which have no historical merit whatsoever.
I recommend "The Biblical Canon" by Lee Martin McDonald.
One of the real values of this book is that it has lists of canon in the appendix as well as a list of citations and allusions to various apocryphal books, including Jubilees, in the New Testament. Tim should take note that just because a book is cited or alluded to does not mean that the book was ever considered canon. That includes Enoch which Jude does cite.
While he's at it Tim should read up on the councils so he knows what the church has taught and why. His constant bashing of Nicea as a conspiracy to cover up the truth and The God Culture's teaching that the synagogue of Satan took over the early church is completely ignorant and blasphemous as Christ said He would build his church and the gates of hell would not overcome it.
Now that is already a problem as no Pope nor Christian leader can be compared with John the Baptist. Thus changing his canon of scripture which this library would represent and which we now have full documentation in his time capsule preserved in the caves of Qumran is very problematic to any traditional line attempting to suppress books considered scripture by John and by the way Yahusha even visited and was baptized there which could be considered a a further endorsement in fact. You cannot say that about the council of Nicea or any of the other councils. Yahusha was not there and believe me not in any sense whatsoever as they eliminated the book of Jubilees and others which was scripture inspired and canon.
BOOK OF JUBILEES: Scripture? Inspired? What does the Bible Say? Enoch, Jasher, Dead Sea Scrolls at 38:22
The synagogue of satan was installed and their doctrines as what we call the early church today but the true early church was wiped out.
Karl Josef von Hefele has written the definitive "History of the Councils of the Church."New Sabbath Series Trailer
If that's too much to handle then he should read Leo Davis' book on the seven ecumenical councils.
 |
| An actual picture of Tim thinking he knows more than scholars |
It would also do Tim well, and all who desire to elevate Jubilees to the status of inspired scripture, to consider why neither the Jews nor the Christians included it in their canons of scripture. Was it intentionally suppressed because it contains information "They" don't want the people to know about? No it's because the contents are not in line with the rest of scripture. The Book of Jubilees was never on anyone's list of scripture before it was allegedly suppressed by the authorities. Guided by the Holy Spirit the church was able to discern what was and was not scripture.
The Book of Jubilees, like the Gospel of Thomas, NEVER MADE THE CUT! It was NEVER on anyone's list of canonical books Christian or Jewish. Tim fails to understand that because he knows NOTHING about the formation of the canon. The Book of Jubilees contains stories and doctrines that are at odds with the Torah, Psalms, and Prophets. It is pseudepigrapha propaganda written by a 2nd century BC scribe using Moses' name to lend it weight and authority. It is not now nor has it been nor will it ever be scripture. And Enoch has not been living in the Philippines for the past four thousand years! That is an incredibly stupid teaching which Tim bases on The Book of Jubilees.
It is best to leave the fanciful Book of Jubilees in the darkness of the caves of Qumran from whence it came.
The Book of Jubilees, like the Gospel of Thomas, NEVER MADE THE CUT! It was NEVER on anyone's list of canonical books Christian or Jewish. Tim fails to understand that because he knows NOTHING about the formation of the canon. The Book of Jubilees contains stories and doctrines that are at odds with the Torah, Psalms, and Prophets. It is pseudepigrapha propaganda written by a 2nd century BC scribe using Moses' name to lend it weight and authority. It is not now nor has it been nor will it ever be scripture. And Enoch has not been living in the Philippines for the past four thousand years! That is an incredibly stupid teaching which Tim bases on The Book of Jubilees.
It is best to leave the fanciful Book of Jubilees in the darkness of the caves of Qumran from whence it came.
