Book of Presence - Sefer Shakhynah

The Holy Book
The Most Valuable of all Holy Texts

The Torah (the Five Books of Moses), the Beshura d'Mattai (Gospel of Matthew) and the Kethubim d'Ya'aqub (Writings of James) are the most valuable of all the Holy Texts of the Assembly of Jerusalem. In the first century Mar Ya'aqub ha'Tzadik undertook the task, by Divine Guidance through Third Pillar, to copy the Holy Scriptures for use among the Nesarim (Hebrew speaking Netzarim). Our Holy Saint was unable to finish this task in his earthly lifetime, thus the responsibility was entrusted to his own soferim (scribes) who were able to complete it.

The Holy Book of the Assembly of Jerusalem

For centuries these Holy Writings, often called the Peshitta (the Aramaic word "Peshitta" means "simple" or "straight"), have been guarded by the Nesarim, members of the Orthodox Essene (Nesarim/Chassid) community of the Assembly of Jerusalem in order to keep the text from getting into the hands of the Notzerim (false gentile "Christians"). The most common phrase in referring to this Text is simply "Holy Scriptures" or "The Holy Book of the Assembly of Jerusalem." The designation of "Peshitta" for the Holy Book became popular at a later date (probably fourth or fifth century).

Making the Text Available to the World

The text of the original has only been viewed by those who guard it (but not being permitted to view the actual text itself) and by the chief soferim and elders of the Assembly of Jerusalem. Recently H.H. +Mar Michai, the senior Rabban and Sofer of Jerusalem, was given the grand opportunity to view the Holy Book and to make notes and copies in accordance with a prophecy that was given to the Assembly in Autumn of 2006. In the prophecy it was stated that the Holy Book would be written (and published) for the world to see and study in order to learn the Will of the Father. As mentioned in a previous message by H.Ex. +Mar Andreos, this text is now being made available.

The Language and Purity of the Holy Book

The original language of the Holy Book is not in Greek or Aramaic. It was written by Mar Ya'aqub ha'Tzadik in ancient Hebrew, often called "Paleo Hebrew". This form of Hebrew was in use among the Israelites before the Babylonian conquest in the late 500's BCE. The Assembly of Jerusalem at Qumran also used this form of Hebrew along with other scripts.

The Holy Book of the Assembly of Jerusalem is undoubtedly the most pure text of the Scriptures since it originates from pre-Masoretic times and has been guarded over by zealous worshipers of the True God. After the captivity of unfaithful Israelites by the Babylonians, these false Jews began incorporating false religious notions, names of false deities, and inaccurate chronology into the text of the Scriptures they had at the time. However, with the greatest gratitude to Alaha, not all the Israelites were captured and taken away. There was a remnant mentioned in the Scriptures who remained faithful to the True God of Israel.

The Ancient Assembly of Jerusalem preserved the Scriptures in their original language and never made changes to the text when copying them for preservation. Their copies were diligently compared with the original text itself by seventy elders who were required to sign a letter (sort of like an affidavit) ensuring the Assembly that the text had not been changed. This same process of carefully copying the text of the Holy Book with seventy elders observing the copy and comparing it to the original continues to this day.

Other Peshitta Versions

What has been referred to as "Peshitta" among members of the Assembly of Jerusalem and other groups consist only of a fragment of the rich truths found within the original text of the Holy Book. Over a long period of time the Babylonian Jews and the Masoretes added marginal notes to the main text of the Scriptures. Chronology, names and facts were changed by the Masoretes and by certain Assyrians who, to this day, assert that their respective texts are the most faithful.

The Israel Museum of Eastern Antiquities (IMEA) holds a copy of what we call "Codex Yosip". Codex Yosip is an Aramaic version of the Holy Book translated by Patriarch Yosip from the ancient Hebrew text in 350 CE. The version held in trust by the IMEA is an "exact hand written copy of Aramaic Codex Yosip" which was made around 1000 CE under the guardianship of the seventy elders (Beit Knushta d'Shemishqo). This copy has "the first three or four pages with the sofer's personal notes" extremely damaged or missing. This means that parts of Beresheth (Genesis) is missing from this particular copy of Codex Yosip. Assembly of Jerusalem soferim have used this particular copy for years to make panels for use in the congregations for their weekly Torah reading because the Beit Knushta and those entrusted to guard the Original Text do not permit scribes to view it. This has changed recently as noted above.

Codex Yosip is the most authentic copy of the original text, but it is an Aramaic translation rather than an actual word for word copy in ancient Hebrew text, thus there was a need to have a copy of the original. The original has not been copied since before Patriarch Yosip's time.

Sefer Shekhina

Today we are seeing the fruits of those who have labored for centuries to preserve and guard our Holy Book. With the publishing of the Holy Book, being referred to as "Sefer Shekhina" (Book of Presence), we are getting, for the first time in the history of the Assembly since Sinai, a printed version of the actual text along with a translation in many different languages. Living in the age of the internet the possibilities of making the Holy Book available to the public is phenomenal.

When made available to the public, Sefer Shekhina will be recognized as a faithful copy of the original Holy Book composed by Mar Ya'aqub ha'Tzadik in the first century CE. Plans are underway to make photographs of portions of the original text as well as the scroll being copied down now. Translators for the Holy Book are standing by to provide their services to make the Holy Book available in as many languages possible. Oda Alaha!

The Book of Daniel says: "Close the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many will run here and there, and knowledge shall be increased...I heard, but I did not understand; then I said, O Adonai, how will these things be concluded? And He said, Go for now, Daniel; for the words are closed and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves like light, and be refined; but the evil ones will act wickedly; and none of those among the evil will be able to comprehend this; but they that are wise shall understand...Blessed is he that waits."

The time has come! The book is being opened. Knowledge among those who have not understood these matters will certainly increase and all who are patient and found faithful in the eyes of the Father shall be purified and blessed through their study of the Holy Book of the Assembly of Jerusalem. Oda Alaha!

In a previous message H.Ex. Rabban +Mar Andreos discussed how portions of the text of the Holy Book have been sealed away or hidden in different locations. The original text of the Holy Book, the scrolls, clay tablets and other forms, is hidden away in different locations. Only recently has permission been granted for them to be copied into one form. The last time this was done was by Patriarch Yosip which I mentioned above.

Here is an excerpt from an unpublished book by HH +Mar Michai in English:

The Purity of the Essene Text

We know that the Essenes had a Canon of Scripture as early as 92 CE. Copies of these Scriptures, identified as "Peshitta", were written in both Aramaic and Hebrew simultaneously. In the early 200's CE, the Assembly of Jerusalem Apostle Yusef I wrote in a letter to Bishops in the Orient that he had personally viewed manuscripts of both the original Hebrew and Aramaic and that both were identical. Later, Apostle Yosip III made copies of the Aramaic text in his own version of the Peshitta. The work of Mar Yosip III was carefully observed by a council of seventy Bishops who consisted of the Beit Knushta ("House of the Assembly"/the Essene Sanhedrin). The only difference between the original and Mar Yosip's version was that he had added pages prayers to his codex. That very same Peshitta, coming down to us from the First Century CE, is copied over and over again by faithful scribes. Their work is scrutinised and diligently examined line by line by the Beit Knushta, the Seventy Essene Elders of Israel. To this day not a single copy can be found with Greek words or phrases except in the case when an individual or Greek city is being referred to - and even then the margins usually indicate the Aramaic or Hebrew equivalent.

Many people mistakenly believe that the Masoretic text is the ORIGINAL text of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Tanakh). However, the Masoretic text did not come into existence until as late as 1000 CE! When Rabbeinu Yeshua and the Apostles quoted from the Tanakh, they were not quoting from the Masoretic text because it didn't even exist for almost a thousand years AFTER the first Apostles. They were quoting from the original text of the Scriptures preserved by faithful Israelites who were not taken into captivity in Babylon. Those Israelites who were taken into captivity, as mentioned in my post above, CHANGED the Scriptures in accordance with their new found beleif system incorporating Babylonian mythology.

Later the Masoretes took this same Babylonian text which was changed by the unfaithful Israelites and made their own EDITED VERSION, adding vowel points and incorporating marginal notes into the main body of Scripture. The vowel points were NEVER a part of the original text. They were probably added around the 5th century CE. By devising their own vowel pointing system the Masoretes, in the footsteps of the unfaithful idol worshiping Israelites who were residing in Babylon, were able to change major concepts of the Scriptures. They made original words that meant one thing, mean something entirely different. They also added their own comments and traditional Babylonian Talmudic interpretation to the Scriptures, thus making it nothing more than a COMMENTARY instead of a faithful copy of the original.

What this means is that the Masoretic text is nothing more than a COMMENTARY and a VERSION of Scripture, rather than a COPY. Even the script (the alphabet) in which the original was written, was changed in later versions. The original script resembled the Phonecian script rather than the block Hebrew or Aramaic script.

Here's an interesting quote from Adam Clarke, a Christian commentator from the 18th century concerning the Masoretic text:

"The Masorets were the most extensive Jewish commentators which that nation could ever boast. The system of punctuation, probably invented by them, is a continual gloss on the Law and the Prophets; their vowel points, and prosaic and metrical accents, &c., give every word to which they are affixed a peculiar kind of meaning, which in their simple state, multitudes of them can by no means bear. The vowel points alone add whole conjugations to the language. This system is one of the most artificial, particular, and extensive comments ever written on the Word of God; for there is not one word in the Bible that is not the subject of a particular gloss through its influence. This school is supposed to have commenced about 450 years before our Lord, and to have extended down to AD 1030. Some think it did not commence before the 5th century A.D." Copyright © Temple of Alhym - Alhym.org - BookOfPresence.org