Sage of Jerusalem

CHAPTER 16

In Yeshua’s sixteenth year, an angel appears in a dream to an elderly, crippled priest by the name of Ezra. He is told that he needs to teach Yeshua the intricacies of the Law of Moses and the ways of Israel. When he arrives at Nazareth, Yeshua heals him of his infirmity. Although Ezra is a very good teacher, there is not much that Yeshua does not already know of the law, so Ezra has fun coming up with precarious situations related to “the law” and moral values to see how Yeshua will resolve them.

 1 In Yeshua’s sixteenth year, there was an elderly priest by the name of Ezra, who being widowed and greatly crippled of arthritis had retired to the south of Lake Gennesaret, at Philoteria, to live out his years.

 2 One night as he slept, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ezra, Ezra, you have a great work yet to do before you take the last sleep. Journey to Nazareth and there find the house of Yosef, the carpenter whose firstborn son is Yeshua, the Anointed One of Israel and of all the world.

 3 Teach him the Law of Moses and the ways of Israel, as taught by all the prophets and traditions, and give him difficult tests that his mind might become quick, and great shall be your reward in the world to come.”

 4 Upon the sunrise, Ezra made the journey to Nazareth and in three days’ time came to the house of Yosef and Miryam and related all that the angel had told him.

 5 When Yeshua, who had been away, returned to his parents’ home, Ezra marveled at his countenance and said, “Surely this is the Anointed One, for the light of God shines from his very face.”

 6 And Yosef related all that Ezra had told unto them, and Yeshua said unto Ezra, “You are a chosen priest of God that in your old age and frailness, you would nevertheless heed the call of God.”

 7 Then Yeshua touched his hand and said, “Verily, I say unto you, Ezra of Amasa, God loves you for the good man that you are, and as you love God, may the ease of your youth be restored to your joints,” and immediately Ezra’s affliction left him and he stood amazed looking at Yeshua.

 8 And Yeshua bade him speak to no one of that which he had done or that which he knew of him, and he said unto him, “It is by your own faith and because of your exceeding love for God that your infirmness has departed. I merely opened the door to the light of your soul that God could touch it with his love.”

 9 And it came to pass that Ezra remained in Nazareth for long periods to teach Yeshua of the law and traditions, but found there was little he did not already know.

 10 From time to time, Ezra would return to his home on Lake Gennesaret, and at times, Yeshua would visit him there.

 11 It became the delight of Ezra to design precarious situations of the law and moral values to see how Yeshua would resolve them. And he told him to speak his heart and not to be constrained by what others might say or think of his words.

 12 One of many such challenges was as this: Ezra said unto Yeshua, “King David lusted after Bathsheba, the wife of his faithful soldier Uriah the Hittite, and arranged his death to have her.

 13 Then came Nathan, the prophet of God, unto King David with God’s condemnation and judgment.

 14 And King David abashed himself for his wickedness and came unto a sorrowful repentance. From that day forth, he loved God greatly and brought forth good fruits.

 15 Bathsheba later bore him a son named Solomon, who became the king all Israel still praises. What then was the greater sin? That King David lay with Bathsheba or caused Uriah the Hittite to be killed?

 16 And lest you say that death is the greater sin, remember that Uriah was a foreigner, and because of his death, David became a better man than he was and a son was born that became a great king for the benefit of all Israel.

 17 Yeshua did not hesitate to answer and said unto him, “To take a life unnecessarily is to dam the progression of the soul from the good it came into mortal life to obtain.

 18 David is counted as great among the kings of Israel as is Solomon, but verily, I say unto you the deeds he did these days will forever lessen the good he otherwise did, and his throne in eternity shall be taken away and given to another.

 19 Think not that Solomon needed to be birthed from Bathsheba, for David had many wives and God could have given Solomon unto any of them.

 20 Therefore, David first sinned by lying with Bathsheba. But this was a lesser sin, for with repentance, the consequences would not stop the progression of the soul, though they may still carry the judgments of men.

 21 But David then conspired to have a loyal and faithful guardian killed in battle that he might take his wife and then sought to hide the truth, but he could not hide it from God.

 22 Therefore, I say unto you some sins are greater than others; when you consider the depths of the evil, ponder upon the eternal consequences of the foul deeds that are done.

 23 For every sin, there must be remorse and a sincere repentance if the light of God is to burn once more in the heart of the sinner, for God cannot shine in an unclean tabernacle.

 24 And for those sins which hurt or take from another, there must be an open confession and sincere restitution.

 25 But for some sins, such as murder, there can never be full restitution, for how can a man restore the experiences and joys that will now never be?

 26 Therefore, as much good as David then did all of his life, it could never balance the evil that was done. As much as God loved David for his goodness, mercy could not rob justice, for in this case, David took that which could not be repaid in his life; in so doing, he took from himself some of the eternal reward he would have otherwise earned.

 27 There are those among the Children of Israel who would say that it was not murder David did that day because Uriah was a foreigner to whom the laws given by God to the Children of Israel did not apply. And that David did not commit the act, but merely put the man in harm’s way and left it to God to spare him or take him.

 28 But I say unto you all people are God’s children. All stand before him in equality, and that which God has said, he has said unto all the world. An evil against any child of God is a sin against God.

 29 Nor think that merely because the account is written in sacred texts that it is from God, for kings and priests have ever inscribed words of their desire to justify their own deeds, and God suffers it to be so that the righteous man might seek out the light of Elohim in prayer to know the truth.

 30 Verily, the true light of God is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In this is the fullness of the spirit of truth, and any teaching of a different spirit cannot be of Elohim when it concerns someone who has done you no grievous wrong.”

 31 And Ezra was amazed at the depth of understanding Yeshua had, blasphemous though it would be deemed by most, and therefore posed unto him another question, saying, “What then is murder? And what of killing to sustain your life against an enemy?”

 32 And Yeshua said unto him, “Elohim created all life. Therefore all life is sacred unto God. Elohim made the Earth a garden of abundance for man and gave man dominion over all things upon the Earth to use as he needed to help him in his labors and for sustenance as long as he honored life.

 33 Elohim, who created all, said that it was good and, in so saying, charged man to be a good steward over that which was given unto him. And a good steward does not take life without necessity.

 34 When man kills man, God can never condone it, save it be in direct defense of family and friends and then only when there was no other way to preserve the life of the innocent.

 35 Therefore, woe unto the man that becomes a soldier whose army journeys to another land and kills a people that have not attacked his homeland, even as the Romans have done in the land of Palestine and the Israelites have done before them. A soldier such as this is not justified in the eyes of God.

 36 God does not condemn him as severely as he would a murderer who wantonly kills for his own desires, for the soldier was compelled because of his duty, but neither does Elohim spare him from justice; and it would be better for a soldier to lay down his weapons and suffer the consequences with his commanders than to attack and kill people in another land that have not first come into his country with murder and mayhem.

 37 But if a man kills a man or an animal that has attacked his land or his family and poses mortal threat to them, he is justified in the eyes of God.

 38 Yet the sacred texts are full of the accountings of God commanding the Children of Israel to conquer and kill the people of the lands they invade, even unto all of the women and children.

 39 And I say unto you that you may know with great surety that these are the writings of men trying to cloak their wickedness in the name of God. For never would my Father in Heaven command for the innocent to be slain!

 40 Again, I give you this test that you may know the truth, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is the foundation of all the laws and the will of God.”

 41 And Ezra never ceased to marvel that such wisdom and understanding of God could come from one so young.

 42 And Yeshua continued to be tested for two years by Ezra in the evenings after his work with his father Yosef and brothers and during the times when he was not away on his own journeys.

 43 And because of the good teaching of Ezra, Yeshua became exceedingly learned in reading and writing Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

 44 So quick was his mind that in two such years, he held all of the knowledge that Ezra had gained in his entire life as a priest.

 45 And all the moral sayings of Yeshua given in answer to the challenges of Ezra and from the time of his youth in Nazareth and many of his conversations with Anish are recorded in the book of Yakov, his brother, written to the Children of Light in Jerusalem.