Read Online Identity Theft by Ron Cantor - Free Book Online Page B

printed as Mary in the New Testament, but the sister of Moses is
Miriam
?” I asked her.
    “Oh, I’ll let Ariel explain that. He’s the expert. I shared what I needed to share. Bless you David,” and the board was empty again.
    “The answer is simple,” said my eager angelic teacher, “and it is not as sinister as you may think, although it still confuses the identity of Yeshua’s earthly mother. The New Covenant was written in Greek so her name had already been
Hellenized
—that is, conformed to Greek culture. Even in the original text, they wrote the Greek equivalent of her name rather than her actual name. And the English translation of the Greek form of Miriam is
Mary
or
Maria
. Whereas when the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into English, there was no Greek influence. Thus, Moses’s sister remained Miriam.
    “One more thing, David—while Miriam was correct in saying that she was not divine, I don’t want to sell her short. She was chosen for a reason. She was a humble, loving, Godfearing servant of the Lord. She has taken her place next to Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel in the kingdom. She is a very special woman and should have been an example to young Jewish girls throughout the centuries, but like Yeshua, her identity was greatly altered, even hijacked.”
    “This is really new to me,” I responded. “But, I have a question.”
    “Shoot,” said Ariel.
    “Okay, this
John the Baptist
character; if you are saying that the New Covenant is Jewish, who is this guy? I mean, he is a
Baptist
, for crying out loud. How could there be anything Jewish about him?”
    The massive tablet came to life again and a fellow wearing some sort of caveman outfit appeared. He was laughing at me.
    “Tell me something, Dave,” he chuckled. “If I mentioned the name
Ezekiel
would you think Jewish or Christian?”
    “Ezekiel was a Jewish prophet, so Jewish, of course.”
    “How about
Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah
, or
Haggai
?” the man asked.
    “Well they were all prophets from the Hebrew Scriptures, so once again, Jewish.”
    “Right, Dave.”
    I didn’t appreciate this caveman character calling me
Dave
. My name is David.
    “Okay, I’ll call you David,” he laughed again.
    “But how—I didn’t say anything.”
    “No, but you thought it and I’m a prophet, which is not a mind reader, of course, but if the Lord allows it, I sometimes see things, and I saw that you didn’t want to be called
Dave
, okay David?”
    “O…kay,” I uttered uneasily.
    “David, getting back on point,” the prophet continued, “if I mention the name
John the Baptist
, what do you think of?”
    “Well Christian, right?”
    Then he yelled out, “
Booooom! Gotcha!
”
    I was startled. This guy was a hoot.
    “My name is John, actually Yochanan in Hebrew, and I was
not
a Baptist. And here is another shocking revelation for you:
There were no Baptists at that time—although they seem like fine folk
,” he said jokingly in a southern accent. In his normal voice, he continued, “The truth is, David, I was a Jewish prophet and I died, actually I had my head handed to me on a silver platter—literally!—years before anyone had ever used the word
Christian
.
    “In the manner of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah,” he became serious, “I was honored to be the last and greatest of the Jewish prophets who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah in fulfillment of prophecy.”
    A sound signaled new activity and Isaiah 40:3-5 appeared on my tablet.
    “Sadly, I died prior to the New Covenant, but it was important for me to get out of the way,” he added with feigned annoyance, “although it would have been nicer to simply die in my sleep—and keep my head!
    “David, the only difference between me and my predecessors was that my ministry was recorded in the New Covenant. They called me
the Baptizer
because when my
100 percent Jewish
followers would repent, I would immerse them in water, symbolizing spiritual cleansing. Funnily enough, the