His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1 advises on Faith in Yeshua, The Messiah, (Jesus the Christ) and The Way, or Biblical Christianity.

I would tell a person that is considering the claim of Christ for the first time, that it is necessary to have faith in the Almighty; that it is necessary to have love, and it is necessary to conduct oneself in a manner that we have been taught to do in the Bible. I would also advise him to read and study the Bible.

…With the birth of the Son of God an unprecedented ( never before occurred ) and unrepeatable ( never to occur again ) and a long anticipated phenomenon occurred.

…When he sacrificed Himself at Golgotha for the atonement of our sins. He prayed with His last breath for forgiveness for those who tortured Him, saying, “Lord forgive them for they know not what they do”.
Shame on us who are Christians and do not follow the Way of the Saviour of the World, whose life was filled with kindness, humility, and martyrdom. If we lived by the laws he gave us and were worthy of being called Christians, peace would have reigned on this earth.

… So that the spirit of the cursed will not gain predominance over the human race whom Christ redeemed with His blood, all peace loving people should cooperate to stand firm in order to preserve and promote lawfulness and peace.

… We Christians living by the Faith of Christ, the Head and Pillar on which the Church is founded…( for more of the advise of our King regarding Yeshua, see book ‘Testimony His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie1, Defender of the Faith’)

Greetings my beloved Brothers and Sisters. I Greet all once again In the precious name of our (Master) Lord and Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who has revealed Himself to us through the personality of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie1, King of Kings, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Light of the World.

I must first give thanks that the Most High has spared me through His infinite mercy to be able to testify of Him once again. Thanks also to the Father for the Patriarchs; Melchezedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all His chosen spokespersons and the elder Rastafarians who were before me. May Peace be upon them.

I am urged to write again only because the understanding and obedience to the words of our King, H.I.M Haile Selassie1, is crucial to our redemption from stagnation and the continuous journey in the wilderness of darkness, ignorance and sin.

History, ethnicity, and geography all point to the fact that Yeshua The Messiah, was Hebrew, a man who must have looked like the family that descended from him, the Royal family of Ethiopia. The fact that the Europeans have misrepresented Yeshua, the Christ, does not excuse us from taking up the Scriptures, of whatever language and version in which it is written, and searching our souls to understand and appreciate the life and Mission of this Man.

Although many wrongs have been even perpetuated in the name of Rastafari, this does not make Rastafari a bad faith. In fact Satan has hijacked all the major religions of the world. Many so-called Jews have hijacked Judaism, many so-called Muslims have hijacked Islam, and in like manner many so-called Christians have hijacked Christianity.

However, this does not excuse us as Rastafarians, who claim His Imperial Majesty, Defender of the Faith, and leader of the most ancient historically Christian nation from examining the message, relevance, life and teachings of Yeshua, the Messiah. I must emphasize that what men have done in the name of religion does not preclude or excuse us from accepting the advice of our King whom we claim to follow. A careful and honest study of His utterances shows that His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, has clearly identified with the Faith of Yeshua. It is known and accepted by us that Ethiopia represents one of the first nations to have accepted the teachings of Yeshua and embraced Him as their Messiah and Saviour. In fact, we have so often boasted of Ethiopia being the most ancient Christian nation on earth. So the question that pricks our conscience is: Who is the true historical Yeshua or Jesus that His majesty speaks of and our forefathers embraced with such totality?

I must ask our Global Rastafarian Community, especially our elders and the educated scholars; what does His Imperial Majesty mean when he clearly instructs us?:

…Therefore, Oh Christians, let us arise and, with the spiritual zeal and earnestness which characterized the apostles and early Christians, let us labour to lead our brothers and sisters to Our Saviour Jesus, Who only can give life in its fullest sense.

In my soul searching efforts to follow the teachings of my spiritual leader, who I embrace as the Almighty’s anointed King, in our dispensation, I was compelled to search for the true Historial Yeshua or Jesus, and what my King meant when he said “Our Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in the fullest sense”.

It was clear that Yeshua was not this blond hair, blue eyed image imposed on our fathers by Rome. From my studies it was also clear that after the destruction of the early Church of the Way and Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the martyrdom of the first apostles who were of Judah and Israel, a dark cloud descended on the light of the true Gospel. This dark cloud of Greek Hellenistic and Roman doctrinal misinterpretation transformed what was essentially a Messianic Movement. They subtly introduced ‘another gospel’ contrary to the Gospel heralded by Jesus about Repentance, the impending Restoration of the Kingdom of God to earth, Divine Judgment, and the consequent overthrow of the existing Satanic world order. All the prophets spoke of this final restoration through the coming of The Messiah, The Redeemer.

The Gospel of Yeshua: The Restoration of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

The key message of the Scripture was that of Restoration; the restoration of the creation to the original state of paradise that was lost due to the disobedience of our first father and mother. Our first father, called Adam in the Scriptures, was made Lord of Creation and made in the very image and likeness of Jah, possessing a Glorious immortal body. The creation too was perfect and balanced and yielded vegetation without toil and sweat. The creatures were in harmony and the lion and the lamb did lie down together.

But when our father and mother were deceived into disobeying the command of The Most High, they (and therefore us) were cast down from this high state of ‘livety’, and had to travel the road of mortality, suffering and toil and the very creation was cursed to bring forth thorns.

THE REEDEMER OR GO’EL:

However, the infinite vision and ‘far- I’ of The Most High, (the adversary Ha Satan, the Hebrew word for The Satan, proposes evil while Jah disposes) we were promised Restoration or redemption through the coming of Ha Masheahk,(MAH-SHE-AHK) the Hebrew word for The Messiah or Christ.
The Messiah’s task would be to act as the Agent of the Most High, and be the Redeemer called the Go’el in Hebrew. In ancient Israel the Go’el was an individual, a close relative who was able to pay the debt for the individual who lost his or her property or freedom and thus could redeem them. In the case of mankind, the debt owed was obedience to our Creator. The penalty we paid for failure to totally obey His will was the loss of eternal life and a world of paradise.

Now my beloved community of brothers and sisters, please take careful note: Although there were many Messiahs, i.e. anointed persons by the Most High to be His Spokespersons, (such as King David and the Prophets and Patriarchs) the Redeemer would have to be without sin to pay for the sins that man had committed with the highest price i.e. innocent blood. By the total obedience of this Redeemer to His Father, he would inherit the blessing of Adam i.e. immortality. He would also regain the Promised Key to open the Gate for all the faithful to enter into the Garden of Eden and once again partake of the Tree of Life.

This I found to be fulfilled in the perfect life of Yeshua, clearly spelt out in the Gospels. Yeshua was the only Messiah to have fulfilled this specific mission. He, Yeshua The Master Messiah was in the immortality business. It is through Him that all our fathers of the Faith such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David and all the martyred Saints will be restored to life in the Age to come, and given a glorious immortal body to rule with Him when he returns to inaugurate the Government of Jah on this earth.

Until that time, as the scriptures teaches, the Kingdom will remain in the hands of the descendants of David who are represented today by the Royal House of Ethiopia, which has been so dignifiedly manifested in the life and person of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1. As His Majesty has advised us;

…let everyone realize and be convinced that it will be accomplished at the proper time and Age and that it is impossible to have it fulfilled either by just desiring it or by rushing it unduly.

However, for now the Heavens must retain Him Yeshua, who was victorious over death as death has no power over a sinless man. He was taken up from us to receive the reward and Book from Him that sits upon the throne in the Heavenly Zion. There He sits at the right hand of His and our Father as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, making intercession for us daily, as the High Priest of our Faith. The scepter, i.e. the authority of Jah given to the Kings of the Royal House of David, will not depart from the House of Judah, until He, Shiloh, meaning He whose right it is to inaugurate the everlasting Kingdom, comes.

In this dispensation in which we live all governments and kingdoms are temporary and transitional. However the One to come, the One promised, will be everlasting. A resurrected immortal King, and His restored immortal Saints will rule over this Kingdom of righteousness without end.

…And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Daniel 2.44

And He shall reign over the House of Jacob forever: and of His Kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1.33

Now, the significant and crucial importance of the first coming of Yeshua must never be understated, underestimated or brushed over. We as Rastafarians have been found wanting and hanging in a balance for this omission. If Yeshua had not paid the price of shedding His blood and dying, as a ransom for our transgressions, ( yet restored to life by His Father because death has no power over an innocent obedient servant unlike Adam and his descendants, us) then we would have no justification to stand before a Holy God.

This is why Yeshua kept telling His disciples that the Messiah must first suffer and be crucified as the Lamb of God without blemish, to bring about reconciliation between God and man. The old ceremonial Mosaic system was just a shadow, a temporary system of atonement so that God would overlook the sins of the Nation. But this could not redeem us. To the contrary, because of our failure it condemned us to death. The wages or penalty for sin was death, the curse of the Law. All had fallen short of total obedience to the Laws of Moses. This is why One, Give thanks to Jah, Yeshua the Redeemer had to come and break the cycle of death, defeat Ha Satan by resisting his temptations.

By the disobedience and deception of one man, Adam, sin and death entered the world. Through the obedience of one man, the Redeemer, Jesus the Christ, the man without sin, immortality or salvation is again available to all who repent and believe the Gospel.

When this Gospel, this seed of immortality, This Word, is conceived in us even if and when we sleep with our fathers there is the hope of resurrection in the Age to come when Messiah Jesus returns. And my brothers and sisters if He had already returned then the Evil Age or dispensation would have ended and the reign of peace and justice would have begun. The meek would have inherited this earth, and a new Divine world Government would have been in place. The faithful would have been resurrected to life and would now be reigning with Christ for a thousand years on earth. The world would not be in turmoil. This is the promise of the Kingdom Age. All before was and is but a shadow of Him and what is to come. Many of us have held to a shadow, a temporary manifestation, hoping that it was the real thing in our time.

This was a legitimate and understandable hope. Whenever a king from the Royal House of David was crowned it was always the prophetic expectation of dispersed and exiled Israel to see their redemption from the Diaspora through that king. But as the progressive revelation of Jah has shown, the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant was not in the Messianic personages of King David, King Solomon, nor His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie1’s dispensation. But will be fulfilled in David’s greatest Son, Jesus or Yeshua the Christ who triumphed over death and is alive forevermore and being retained in Heaven at the right hand of His father from whence he shall come with His reward in His hand.

…And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive until the restoration of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3: 20, 21.

Now I can hear my Assembly asking how or in what form shall he come. I can only reply to this that I am more sure that he is coming than I am sure that I am here writing. And every eye shall behold Him, not just some. And we need not gaze into the sky, because this same Yeshua, that was witnessed by his disciples leaving, will come in like manner as they had seen Him go. Not a reincarnated form but the resurrected immortal form. He will return in the same immortal glorious body. Yes beloved, it is the same Yeshua, yesterday, today and forevermore. In this form He is neither bounded by space, time or gravity. And for all the doubtful questions I do not have all the answers. But of this I am sure:

Beloved , now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him;
for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as He is pure. John 3:2,3

Karl Phillpotts Naphtali.