“Paul’s letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).

While traveling on the road to Damascus, the man who would later become one of the most powerful instruments in God’s hands to preach the gospel to the Gentile nations had a literal blinding encounter with the Lord Yeshua.  That man was Saul, or Paul as he was known in Greek (“Paulos”).

Having been spiritually blinded to the truth by the false traditions of the Pharisees, Paul had spent his entire life being raised and educated in the depths of man-made religion.  Now literally blinded by the reality of Yeshua being the true Messiah, Paul had to relearn those things he had been raised to believe.  After spending some time in Arabia (very likely at Mount Sinai), the man who had been exceedingly zealous for the traditions of his fathers (see Galatians 1:11-18) grew to become even more zealous for the truth of God’s Beloved Son.

Paul traveled far and wide preaching the good news of Yeshua Messiah, reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jews in their synagogues (see Acts 17:2) and also preaching to the Gentile nations the beautiful message of salvation from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The same man who had once been the star pupil of the great Jewish Rabbi Gamaliel (see Acts 22:3) was now reaching out to Pharisee and pagan alike with the same word of truth Peter, James, John, Andrew, and the other apostles of the Messiah were delivering.

With one possible difference:  Paul was exceptionally intelligent.

I am not saying that Peter, James, John, and Andrew were not intelligent men.  They most certainly were—intelligent, wise, and personally called, taught, and qualified by the Master himself.  But they had also been raised to be simple fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.  Paul had been raised to be one of the greatest rabbis of the Pharisees.  Peter and the other apostles would’ve heard the Torah and the Prophets preached on the Sabbath in the synagogues.  Paul would’ve literally memorized the Torah and the other sacred books to quote them verbatim.

Paul’s intelligence and familiarity with the Hebrew Scriptures (known to Christians as “the Old Testament”) is clearly seen throughout his thirteen letters (or “epistles”).  He quotes from the Torah a total of 45 times.  He quotes the Prophets 53 times, with Isaiah being quoted the most at 36 times.  The Psalms are quoted 23 times.  Additional books of the Hebrew Scriptures are quoted or referenced an additional 10 times.  In total, Paul either directly quotes or paraphrases the Scriptures 131 times.

Put simply, the man was brilliant.  And like all brilliant men, their own intelligence can prove to be a stumbling block to others.  Paul’s epistles—while perfectly true and never contradicting God’s Torah—have proven to be the most difficult of all the Biblical books to properly understand, which makes it easier for the ignorant to misinterpret or even the deliberately devious to distort.  This misinterpretation or deliberate distortion of Paul’s letters can prove to be extremely dangerous, even damning to the soul if it leads to a rejection of YeHoVaH’s commandments and obedience to His ways.

Peter, who knew Paul personally and understood that his epistles never taught anything contrary to the Torah of God, warned his readers of this reality, saying, “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.  He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.  His letters contain some things that are HARD TO UNDERSTAND, which ignorant and unstable people DISTORT, as they do the other Scriptures, to THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION” (2 Peter 3:15-16, emphasis added).

In the very next verse, Peter then sternly warns his readers to never be carried away by the lawless (literally, the Torah-less):  “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by THE ERROR OF THE LAWLESS and fall from your secure position” (2 Peter 3:17, emphasis added).

Yeshua Messiah prophesied that many such people would come—those who would call him their “Lord” but they would “not do what [he says]” (Luke 6:46).  Such people will not enter the kingdom of heaven, because they have pursued a Torah-less lifestyle and not done the will of the Eternal Father while on the earth.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you that practice LAWLESSNESS!’” (Matthew 7:21-23, emphasis added).

Let it be known that I love and cherish Paul’s letters.  His letters are beautiful, true, and filled with great wisdom from the Almighty.  I simply understand the same thing the apostle Peter understood:  Paul is the most difficult of all the Biblical writers to properly interpret.  Because of that, my personal encouragement to all would be to make Paul the LAST author in the Holy Bible that you read, never the first.  Never start your Biblical studies with Paul nor establish your doctrines with his letters.  The likelihood of distorting his message and intent is simply too great if you do.

Instead, I would encourage everyone to start their studies with the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and with the direct words of Yeshua Messiah (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).  Afterward, pursue a study of literally every additional book in the Bible.  Then, after obtaining a proper understanding of the same Scriptures that Paul knew so well, study Paul.  By so doing, the likelihood of distorting his epistles and being “carried away by the error of the lawless” to your “own destruction” (2 Peter 2:17, 16) is significantly reduced.

Shalom, my friends, and YeHoVaH God be with you all.