The Road Map to Heaven

An exhibit on 2 Timothy 3:15 — you would be lost without it

καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ βρέφους τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας, τὰ δυνάμενά σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

“And that from infancy you have known the Kitvei HaKodesh, which are able to make you wise unto yeshu’ah through emunah in Moshiach Yehoshua.”

2 Timothy 3:15

Seek help at the graves of the dead?

At the Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch in Old Montefiore Cemetery, many visit the grave of a dead rabbi to pray and make petitionary requests.

The Ohelis the actual burial site, where putrifaction is in progress.
Not a place of coronation. Hardly a throne to ask the deceased for intercession with a torn-up kvittel. The only deceased tzaddik who can function as an intercessor is the One who rose from the dead.
τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματαthe holy writings
The phrase Greek-speaking Jews such as Philo and Josephus used for the Tanakh. Before a page of the Brit Chadasha reached Timothy’s family, the Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim were already pointing the way to Moshiach.
οἶδαςyou have known
Perfect-tense knowledge, 2 Timothy 3:15: settled, possessed, still in force. Not a passing glance at the Road Map to Heaven but a lifelong familiarity with it.
τὰ δυνάμεναwhich are able
The power is in the writings themselves. The map does not merely describe the road; it has the ability to bring the traveler home.
σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίανto make wise unto salvation
Not wise for a career, but wise for eternity: rescue from Gehinnom and arrival in the Olam Haba. The destination is printed on the map.
διὰ πίστεως … ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦthrough faith in Moshiach Yehoshua
The map does not save by being owned; it saves by leading to the One it points to. “I am the Derech” (John 14:6).

The route Timothy travelled

2 Timothy 3:14–17 traces the journey in order.

  1. Handed the map

    From infancy, at a mother’s knee (3:15a; 1:5).

  2. Trusting the Mapmaker

    “Continue in what you have learned … knowing from whom you learned it” (3:14).

  3. Made wise

    The Scriptures open the eyes to the way of yeshu’ah (3:15b).

  4. Trusting the One the map points to

    Emunah in Moshiach Yehoshua, the only Derech to the Father (3:15c; John 14:6).

  5. Fully equipped for the road

    All Scripture, God-breathed, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in tzedakah, so the man of G-d is ἄρτιος, complete, fitted out for every good work (3:16–17).

  6. Home

    “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of tzedakah” (4:8).

A map with no errors

A road map with one wrong turn printed on it can kill you. The Mapmaker does not lie (Num 23:19), and neither does His map.

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος

All Scripture is God-breathed. 2 Tim 3:16

אִמֲרוֹת ה׳ אֲמָרוֹת טְהֹרוֹת

The words of Hashem are pure words, silver refined seven times. Ps 12:7 (Eng 12:6)

תּוֹרַת ה׳ תְּמִימָה מְשִׁיבַת נָפֶשׁ

The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul. Ps 19:8 (Eng 19:7)

כָּל־אִמְרַת אֱלוֹהַּ צְרוּפָה

Every word of G-d is tested. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you and you be found a liar. Prov 30:5–6

Not one yod, not one kotz, will pass from the Torah until all is fulfilled. Matt 5:18

οὐ δύναται λυθῆναι ἡ γραφή

The Scripture cannot be broken. John 10:35

No prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from G-d as they were carried along by the Ruach HaKodesh. 2 Pet 1:21

Without the map, you are lost

Every traveler comes to the same fork in the road.

The way that seems right

יֵשׁ דֶּרֶךְ יָשָׁר לִפְנֵי־אִישׁ וְאַחֲרִיתָהּ דַּרְכֵי־מָוֶת

There is a way that seems straight to a man, but its end is the ways of death. Prov 14:12

Broad is the road, and many enter it. Matt 7:13

Ends in Gehinnom, where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48; Isa 66:24)

The Derech HaKodesh

נֵר־לְרַגְלִי דְבָרֶךָ וְאוֹר לִנְתִיבָתִי

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Ps 119:105

Narrow is the gate, and few find it. Matt 7:14

Ends in the house of the Father, with many rooms (John 14:2)

Turns the map never marks

The Bible is the instruction manual. When a teaching sends you down a road that is not on the map, check the map.

Pray to the Mother?

The map does not say to pray to the Mother. It says to pray to the Father.

What the map says

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς

Avinu shebashamayim, Our Father in heaven. Matt 6:9

Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. John 16:23

When a woman blessed the womb that bore Him, Moshiach answered: rather, blessed are those who hear the word of G-d and keep it. Luke 11:27–28

לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם

Cakes and offerings “to the Queen of Heaven” drew Hashem’s rebuke through Yirmeyahu. Jer 7:18; 44:17–25

Pray to a Tzaddik?

The map does not say to pray to a Tzaddik. It says human tzidkanut is like filthy rags.

What the map says

וּכְבֶגֶד עִדִּים כָּל־צִדְקֹתֵינוּ

All our righteousnesses are like a soiled garment. Isa 64:5 (Eng 64:6)

כִּי אָדָם אֵין צַדִּיק בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה־טּוֹב וְלֹא יֶחֱטָא

There is not a tzaddik on earth who does good and never sins. Eccl 7:20

בְּבֶן־אָדָם שֶׁאֵין לוֹ תְשׁוּעָה

Do not trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no yeshu’ah. Ps 146:3

εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων

One G-d, and one Mediator between G-d and men, the man Moshiach Yehoshua. 1 Tim 2:5

Seek help at the graves of the dead?

The map does not send the living to the dead. It sends them back to the map.

What the map says

בְּעַד הַחַיִּים אֶל־הַמֵּתִים

Should a people not seek their G-d? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? Isa 8:19

לְתוֹרָה וְלִתְעוּדָה

To the Torah and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no dawn. Isa 8:20

Peter refused Cornelius’s homage, and the angel refused Yochanan’s: “Worship G-d.” Acts 10:25–26; Rev 22:8–9

Take up the map

Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή

“I am the Derech, and the Emes, and the Chayyim. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Timothy was handed the map as a child. It is not too late to be handed it now. Open the Kitvei HaKodesh, follow them to Moshiach, and you will not be lost.

Take up the map. Follow the Derech. Come home.