Who gets to decide that a verse is Messianic? You, or God?

Who gets to decide whether a verse carries a theological obligation? You, or God?

Who gets to decide whether a verse is prophetic, or narrative? You, or God?

Who gets to decide what happens if the Jewish people sin?  What happens if the Jews break the Covenant- and who gets to decide?  Who gets to decide whether the Jews are rejected by God?  Who decides what the Jewish people should do if they find themselves without temple, king, or land?  You, or God?

If it’s the reader who decides, let him say, with honesty and trustworthiness, “These verses don’t prove my worldview in the least.  After all, they’re just a personal interpretation. Obviously, my own interpretive choices cannot send anybody else to heaven or hell. However, it feels good to give this verse a double-meaning, like a clever pun, or a satisfying turn of phrase.”

If it’s God who decides, then I won’t claim a verse is Messianic, unless the verse claims to be. I won’t say a verse is prophetic, unless it says it is. I won’t say the verse is teaching us the nature of God, or how Man is to relate to God, unless the verse says it is.

This is why Orthodox Jews spread between 100s of communities, separated for 1000s of years, and speaking/dressing/eating in the diverse cultures that nurtured them, have IDENTICAL beliefs theologically. An IDENTICAL belief about what constitutes correct or incorrect thought (though we might disagree about what kind of wrong belief labels you a heretic).  What a neat trick!

But the secret to Jewish belief is easy.  We never made it up ourselves; we checked the word of God instead. (Is it just me, or is it hard to find 2 Protestant Churches where each believes the other isn’t eternally damned?)