The Real Yeshua

Then Yeshua said to the crowds and to the disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore, whatever they may tell you do and keep; but do not do according to their works; because they say and do not.” (Matthew 23:1-3) The three verses above contain clues that reveal a great deal about the real Yeshua and his Jewish world. The first clue reveals a great deal about the two groups that gathered to hear him – the crowds and the disciples . The information recorded in the Synoptic Gospels ( Matthew, Mark & Luke ) also reveal a great deal about Yeshua as a rabbi . There can be little doubt that this was how most of the Jewish people viewed Yeshua. However, it is important to understand that being a rabbi before 70 CE in Judea and Galilee was very different from being an American rabbi today. Pay close attention to the underlined words below: There were hundreds and perhaps thousands of such rabbis circulating in the land of Israel in Jesus’ day. These ...

When Yeshua was about 10 years old (6 CE), Judea became part of a larger Roman province, called Iudaea , which was formed by combining Judea proper (biblical Judah ) with Samaria and Idumea (biblical Edom ). Even though Iudaea is simply derived from the Latin for Judea , many historians use it to distinguish the Roman province from the previous territory and history. Iudaea province did not include Galilee , Gaulanitis (the Golan ), nor Peraea or the Decapolis . [i] Its revenue was of little importance to the Roman treasury, but it controlled the land and coastal sea routes to the bread basket Egypt and was a border province against the Parthian Empire because of the Jewish connections to Babylonia (since the Babylonian exile). Egypt seems to have had grain surpluses often enough, so that they could be stored in state granaries and even be exported. During Roman times the country was one of the bread baskets of Rome. In Egypt, we find barley cut at the end o...