Shema Yisrael Jacob’s Divine Messiah

By Richie Cooley

This booklet reviews the life of the patriarch Jacob. While looking at his story, abundant proof becomes evident of a divine proto-Messiah in the Torah.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richie Cooley
• Release date: Mar 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463149546

Richie Cooley

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Shema Yisrael

Jacob’s Divine Messiah

by Richie Cooley

Licensed by:

Richie Cooley (2020)

Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International

Email: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

I. Cult Growth

II. Jacob’s Early Days

III. Jacob In Bondage

IV. Jacob’s Latter Days

V. Bad Beginnings

VI. Citations

VII. Works by Me

Before getting started, let’s review a few notes that are common to my writings…

Bible Versions…

*Old Testament Scripture is normally taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

*New Testament Scripture is normally taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament: Third Edition (ALT3). Copyright © 2007 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry. Previously copyrighted © 1999, 2001, 2005 by Gary Zeolla.

*For the sake of harmonizing the format, slight changes are sometimes made to the NASB and ALT3 verses.

*The ALT3 distinguishes between singular and plural second-person pronouns by means of an asterisk (*).

Writing Style…

*British spelling is often used, except for the quoted material, which normally employs U.S. spelling.

*The terms LORD, GOD, and Hashem are all ways to describe the personal name of God, also rendered as Yahweh or Jehovah.

*Divine pronouns are normally not capitalized, unless they appear that way in Bible versions or other quotes.

*As a general rule, words that appear in brackets within quotes are not found in the original texts, and were added by the translators or are my personal comments, etc.

I. Cult Growth

Over the past few decades there have been many, many strange groups and aberrant religious sects that went on to commit unthinkable crimes. Yet it seems as if the same handful of cults continue to chiefly fascinate people. Near the top of this list is The Peoples Temple, and its leader, Jim Jones.

There are several obvious reasons why The Peoples Temple [no apostrophe]/Jonestown tragedy has been such a popular topic. The nine hundred dead made for a gruesome scene, setting macabre records. The imagined horror of the last few hours evokes amazement, especially since the actual audio footage has been preserved. To top it all off, there was a congressional ambush—and a crazed leader in the jungle, similar to Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

It was an exotic, breath-taking tragedy that happened to the people next door, thanks to the pastor next door.

When the dust settles, the most pressing query of all is, How did Jim Jones enrapture his victims? There has been a lot of good research conducted over the years, furnishing plenty of answers.

There was a group of decent people who wanted to fight racism and demonstrate against war-mongering. There were people who needed help, who received help, and who wanted to help others. Yet Jim Jones was the leaven in the loaf—a master manipulator, a selfish charlatan; also, many of his most loyal followers were in on the deceptive acts.

For example, he would have people produce chicken innards, claiming they were actually cancers that had been removed from sick congregants.¹ He even mistreated the people he had claimed to cure. One woman was drugged, fitted with a cast, and then told that she had fallen—breaking her leg. In a public service the cast was cut off and Jones told the woman she was healed of the broken leg. She proceeded to run up and down the church building, with the crowd applauding and breaking out in general pandemonium.² In actuality, because of the drugging, she was the victim of assault.

Ultimately, Jim didn’t even believe in the Bible, but constantly ridiculed it from behind the pulpit. He believed in himself, and also that the ends justified the means. He could do whatever he wanted, as long as ultimately there was some subjective sense of a greater good having been accomplished. Of course, divorced of traditional Judeo-Christianity, a greater good can be anything—and it will almost always be incredibly selfish.

Stepping back, there have indeed been many cases of dangerous cults; yet there is normally only one story—the story of a vain, pernicious,