There are 3 religious classes: prophets, priests, and followers. Prophets have understanding, priests lead, and followers follow. Examples of prophets include Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jesus. Examples of priests include Aaron, Samuel, Ezra, and Paul. Muhammad was both prophet and priest, and Jesus was also somewhat of a priest.
The Old Testament was originally written for both prophets and priests. The commands, like don't eat pork, were aimed at priests. But since conditions have changed, the commands no longer make sense. What remains is the ideas which require understanding. So currently the Old Testament only has value for prophets. The Old Testament did inspire Jesus and Muhammad. When priests try to interpret the Old Testament, the result can only be disaster, the Talmud being a perfect illustration of this. This is because priests lack understanding. Priests need a simple formula that they can use for leadership that doesn't require understanding. Both the New Testament and the Quran are suitable for this.
The Old Testament is full of prophets who failed. These prophets understood what was happening and recorded this in the their writing, but they were unable to anything about it. The reason is that it is not enough to find the truth and post it (to the Bible or the internet or whatever). The prophets who succeeded were those who were able to influence priests.
I never understood the relationship between Moses and Aaron until recently. Moses needed Aaron to succeed because Aaron was the talker who people liked and followed. Moses could only rule through fear, and that isn't enough. People followed Aaron because they liked him. Aaron was the talker, the salesman. Moses was the thinker. So they were a team. Without Aaron, Moses would have failed.
Jesus obviously had some priest skills since he managed to get his own following. But without Paul, Jesus would have been forgotten. Paul was the best salesman in history. Paul had no real understanding, but he was very driven to lead. So Paul was the ideal priest. Jesus, above all, was a prophet with deep understanding of the Old Testament. He revolted against the priesthood of his time which didn't understand the Old Testament.
Muhammad was a mix, a mediocre prophet and good priest. Muhammad clearly got the core message of the Old Testament which he used as the basis of the Quran. He made the Quran work through his skills as a leader/priest.
Mikraite is currently a religion designed for failed prophets. We understand the Old Testament, complain about the state of the world, and have no impact on anything. The idea of forming a Mikraite community isn't going to work with this approach. I complained about only having 4 members, but if we think of this as 4 prophets, then the number 4 isn't so bad after all. The goal shouldn't be finding more prophets, the goal should be having enough of an impact to form a meaningful community. History shows how prophets should work. Prophets should influence priests. Then together, they can influence followers.
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