Ezra and the Rabbinical System

 

I asked a Jewish colleague once who was the rightful ancient High Priestly line, Ezra or Joshua, son of Josedech.  He said there was some debate on the matter.  According to the Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah came late from Babylon to Jerusalem and deposed the families of Joshua and Zerubbabel.  

Ezra had found that several of Joshua's sons had married locals (likely second wives).  Ezra and Nehemiah were concerned that these "strange wives" would turn Israel's heart away from God like Solomon's wives had.  Ezra used these infractions and the authority and money of Ataxerxes to establish a Rabbinical system of scribes and Pharisees that Jesus of Nazareth condemned. Ezra founded a proto-Sanhedrin and enforced Jewish Law through the confiscation of property (see Ezra 7). 

Since the establishment of the Judaic rabbinical and scribal system, the divine presence was not experienced in the Second  Temple and God ceased direct revelation to Israel through prophets.  Zechariah and Malachi were contemporaries of Ezra and Nehamiah and revelation ceased  until John the Baptist.  The Jewish Rabbinical system caused the Jews to misunderstand scripture and fail to recognize their Messiah. 

Today, Christianity has established a similar scribal and rabbinical system through its many divinity schools that teach the creeds of man as doctrine (Nicene, etc.).  These schools of theology have similarly turned the hearts of many Christians away from the truth of Jesus Christ.  The Kingdom of God is established again on the Earth with prophets, apostles, priesthood keys,  revelation, scripture, and the restoration of the Holy Temple. However, like the Pharisees of old, many Christians have been blinded from recognizing the truth because of their reliance upon the arm of flesh. 

The consequence of a reliance upon an academic and scribal system was the division of the Jews into various sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Samaritans, Essenes, Zealots, Herodians, Hasideans, Therapeutae, and Zugot.  We see this same division in Christianity today.