Messiah, forgive them and have mercy on them. They don't see you yet, but I recognize your master plan in bringing the gentiles to you, the God of Israel, and during this time they have hard hearts and strong ties to tradition and man-made religion. Bring them back to you -- not in some distant century, but in modern day! I want to see this while I'm still alive!
Master Messiah, it hurts to see them like this. Show yourself and your power to them, that there will be no denying Yeshua HaMoshiach, Messiah of Israel, Hope of Israel, Suffering Servant, son of Joseph, son of David. Show yourself to your people Israel, so that they'll know the Lord their God is with them and that Messiah is for them, not against them. Heal the wounds inflicted by both Christianity and Judaism; over the centuries we've persecuted Israel in your name, Messiah, can you ever forgive us for that terrible thing? And now it's in full turn: Israel persecutes Messiah. If you can forgive us, forgive them. Heal these wounds and tie us together as one body, a complete Israel: both Jews and those grafted in by Messiah. Show yourself to Jerusalem! Reveal Messiah to Tel-Aviv! Let all Israel know that Messiah lives, the God of Israel and the son of David stands with them even today! So be it!
I'm reminded of what Paul said in his letter to the Romans regarding Jews who've reject Messiah:
I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what's going on and arrogantly assume that you gentile believers in Messiah are royalty and the Jews are just rabble, out of God's plans for good. But that's not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is only temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the gentiles so that we end up with a full house. Before it's all over, there will be a complete Israel, Jews and gentiles the same, together making up a holy people for God. As it is written,
A champion will stride down from Mt. Zion;
he'll clean up the unrighteousness in Israel.
Here's my commitment to my people Israel:
removal of their sins.
From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Messiah, it almost looks like Jews are God's enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God's overall purpose, they remain God's oldest friends. God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty--never canceled, never rescinded.
There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God: living rebelliously, doing whatever felt good, living for yourself. But then Jews slammed the door on Messiah and things opened up for you. Now Jews are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.
What amazing wisdom! Giving discipline to those who rebel and generous grace to those who are lost, making us all come back to Him, one way or another.
Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor
that God has to ask his advice?
Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
Yes!
One thing that must be understood - Israel is a Jewish state. If you want to be a christian and not a Jew, you need to go live in a Christian country. These people are only trying to protect others from going astray. Their actions are no different from those of Christians who have battled "Adult Book Stores" in their communities. They have shut down those businesses and driven the people out of town because such a place is an abomination to God. According to the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish understanding of them, christianity is an abomination to God, there is really very little difference.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference: these people are Jews. They are Jews who believe in the Jewish Messiah. All the first "Christians" were Jewish. Most every person in the New Testament, including Messiah himself, were Jewish.
So when you say Israel is a Jewish state, I agree it is Jewish. But Israel is full of secular, atheist, occult, and other Jews, yet having Jews that believe Y'shua is the Messiah of Judaism is not tolerated.
Also, when Christians war on "adult book stores", they don't torch the place, as the Orthodox did to the Messianic Jewish group's meeting place.
I understand your point of view. Sadly, not all of these people are actually Jewish. And, the staement that "all the first christians were Jewish" doesn't mean that Christianity is "Jewish". It is not so much that believers are not to be tolerated as it is that proselytizing is not to be tolerated. If they kept thier beliefs to themselves, they would not have been persecuted. There is a whole community of believers in Afula who are accepted by their secular Jewish neighbors because they aren't overtly trying to change everyone's beliefs. The "believers" in Arad could learn a good lesson from them. And my understanding is that the firebombing only happened after the christians baptised a Jewish CHILD. Although proselytizing isn't illegal in Israel, proselytizing children is. Can you imagine if a Hare Krishna initiated your child behind your back?
ReplyDeleteJudah,
ReplyDeleteIt is a two edged sword. Everyone hates to see people persecuted, but there is no other thing that will cause Christianity to spread faster. Remember what Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Take care,
Gary
Anonymous, most if not all the believers in Arad are Jewish. Even if one was Jewish, it would invalidate your original point, which is that Israel is meant to be Jewish.
ReplyDeleteYou speak of the firebombing as if it's excusable because the Messianics are spreading their message of Messiah.
Don't you know that the Orthodox are also trying to spread their message? Not only that, but they've re-instituted the Sanhedrin and are attempting to overthrow the government and replace it with a kingship monarchy. Yet you paint Messianics as the ones in the wrong. Nice.
You say they baptized a Jewish child behind the parent's backs. Citation? I read nothing of that kind, and suspect is is a red herring by the Ultra Orthodox to paint Messianics in a negative light, when in fact the worst thing they've done is help the poor, feeded the needy, and provided shelter to those without it.
It's OK though. The followers of Messiah will see this through to the end and will not cave to mocking, the stalking, the lies, and the persecution spouted by these religious men.
By their persecution, the good news that Y'shua is the Messiah will grow. Until the time when even the Ultra Orthodox see, Messiah will be taught to the poor and needy, just as Isaiah put it:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
Indeed, only Messiah has been able to bring 1/3 of the whole gentile world to the God of Israel, and only Messiah will bring Israel out of ritual religion and back to God.
Gary, thank you so much for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my favorite portions of scripture and THE one that God used to open His plan to me as being much greater than my personal destiny.
I have not read it in that particular translation though. It seems to bring out the true meaning and not seem so convoluted as the writing of Paul can seem at times, especially in KJV!
Hi anonymous
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like that particular translation as well. It's mostly from the Message translation, you can read it on biblegateway.com.
The Message translation is easy to read, although sometimes too dumbed down for my tastes (e.g. "a song for singing the blues", instead of "a lamentation", "putting a band-aid on sin" instead of "only a covering for sin", and so on.
Hi Judah,
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my favorite portions of scripture and one that changed my entire theology. God opened up His plan to me in those few verses.
Pam
This is because most messianics in the area aren't Jewish, nor do they even have Jewish beliefs.
ReplyDeleteMost messianic doctrine is very Torah centered but misses the mark completely because it comes saying "We believe Yeshua is Messiah, and that Yeshua is G-d.. if you would just believe these things then..."
You see, the Jews believe the same thing. But not the way Christians do. This is why we do not set up any image, man or anything and call it G-d. We beleive yes, Moshiach will be completely Torah observant. Yes he will be sinless, and he will attract all nations. He will have a spirit elevated to that of Elokim in creation who hovered over the waters. He will be a pure conduit for G-d and all that comes from his mouth and hand will be that of G-d... but he alone is not G-d. But more like a drop of water which perfectly reflects the ocean from which he came from.
The Christians do not portray Yeshua this way and more than half of the interpretation of our bible and even the NT has a very grecko-roman spin on it. The same words that can mean different things.
A Jew will not worship Bhudda, Jesus, Krishna, or an Angel, but will recognize G-ds voice when it proceeds from the lips of such figures.
Even Yeshua himself taught how to discern what is from G-d. Our G-d is One. We are to realize that G-d is in everyone, in everything. To be a diciple of Messiah, is to stribe to be exactly like him. Not to a fruitless end but to actually be like him. Our bodies are a vessel for G-d. It is what conseals and reveals Him. Unfortunatly most of the time we see the consealment.
These are core truths to Judaism. Messianic Judaism does not grasp these things enough to be considered a Judaism. Unfortunatly it is still wolves in sheeps clothing to Jews... asking Jews to bow to a finite being as G-d in totality, and complety mis understanding the reason for creation in the first place.
So that G-d can share himself with us created in his image.
If you're all alone, create and pour your soul into it.
To a Jew if you want to meet G-d, go greet a stranger, and say hello to a neighbor. You are a fish, and G-d is the Ocean, and you are part of that ocean.
This is G-d's purpose with creation. Any teaching that undermines it is false.
In reality It's not Yeshua we say is false, but everything the Church in the past has said he stands for.
This here right here is G-d's kingdom. And only by doing what is Godly and good can we bring more G-d into this world so everywhere is Eden again. If you look very hard that is what Yeshua was teaching. "The kingdom is in our midst." and "Teshuvah" (repent).
If the world would just return to Torah in a way that even Yeshua perscribed... the very laws of nature would support a world where there would be no death only eternal life... because there would be no sin.
You know it and I know it, there is work to do. Do you want to look at your bible again and truely find out what a Jew named Yeshua set out 2000 years ago to do? Do you want to blaze a trail and follow what some ex-pagan Roman guy 2000 years ago tells you what a Jewish Yeshua is to do, what Jewish faith is, and what a Jewish Moshaich is to do?
This is the problem with Messianic Judaism. It's not Judaism, but it can be. But it never will be as long as blatently breaks the most important rules in Torah.
To truely learn and get into Yeshua's head you won't be able to "remodel" or "renovate" Christianity to fit. You will have to tear everything down to the foundation. And start again with Torah as the cornerstone which someone seemed to toss out along the way.
You cannot have Moshiach, without the Torah... they are hand in hand. If Moshiach is Torah in the flesh, how can you have a Moshiach who doesn't reflect that Torah?
I think too many years of xtian dogma and learning are stuck in most Messianics heads and it shows. To gain a foot hold they need to undo that and really learn something.
Da"I
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteWe agree on the Greco-Roman spin put on the NT; I've been fighting against that in Christianity for years now, just look at my blog posts where I debate Christians over such false interpretations. But what can one expect when the religion of Messiah-followers were hijacked by a "Holy" Roman Emperor, who transformed the belief into a new gentile religion in 325 CE. :-)
We also agree that you cannot have Moshiach without Torah; when Christianity moved from being a Jewish sect to a world-wide gentile religion, this point was sadly lost, as you point out. (Perhaps "lost" is misleading; Torah observance was outlawed in the new Roman religion.)
That isn't to say God isn't restoring what was lost. I've met hundreds of gentile Christians now who are starting to keep the Torah, celebrate the Feasts, and better understand their Hebraic roots.
You said Jesus alone isn't God. I agree. God is infinite and our understanding of him is not; Christians may say God is 3 (Father, Messiah, his Spirit) while folks who study Scripture will know that Daniel and Isaiah (and Revelation in the New Testament) all speak of the 7 spirits of God.
In any case, though, we cannot box God in by our finite understanding of him.
Messiah is from God, and Messiah is God's son. God is in Messiah, and Messiah is in God, together they are one. Therefore, when I worship God, I am worshiping Messiah because he is in God and God is in him, there is no distinction required when worshiping God.
Friend, you said,
"This is the problem with Messianic Judaism. It's not Judaism, but it can be. But it never will be as long as blatently breaks the most important rules in Torah."
I don't believe that Judaism is the original religion; much like how Christianity has been perverted from its original form, Judaism as it exists today is also perverted, filled with man-made rituals and traditions not found in Scripture. Rabbis over the centuries have truly hijacked the religion (albeit with good intentions) and filled it with a heavy burden of oral law, which is not from Scripture. By making the word of rabbis equivalent to the word of God, Judaism has committed an act on par with Catholic Christianity's blasphemous act of creating a Pope, a supposed "Jesus Christ-on-earth".
Thus, whether folks who believe in Messiah are deemed part of Judaism means little; it is only a label. I do hope and believe that those folks that love God and love others are closer to the original faith than modern Ultra Orthodox, such as the ones portrayed in this video, harassing and persecuting other Israelites.
You stated that Messianic Jews are breaking the most important rules in Torah.
Yet when Messiah walked this earth, he said the most important rules in Torah are to love God and love others.
Given that these Messianics are feeding the poor, helping the needy, and praising God despite Haredi persecution, I find them fulfilling 2 of the most important commands of Torah, regardless of what your theology makes you think of them otherwise.
Comment by Ezer.
ReplyDeleteMessianic Jews are the acutal Jews. There is no such thing called the Oral Law in the Tanak. Rabbinical Judaism wrote the Talmud which was not inspired by God. Messianics serve in the IDF and do a lot of good things in Israel unlike the welfare parasite Herdim who live on goverment hand outs. No one has the right to disqualify another Jew as a non-Jew. Some followers of the late Lubavicher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Sneershen consider him as the Messiah and expect his return. Some of them even expected him to resurrect. Why these Jews are still Jews if the Orthodox community apply the same standards to the Lubvichers also. What about Karites? Are they not Jewish just because they reject the concept of Oral Law. There is no need to hate the Messianics just because they believe in Y'shua
Ezer,
ReplyDeleteThanks man for posting. Good insight!
Indeed, some Haredi are Messianic, in that they believe Schneerson was the Messiah. I do believe it to be a double-standard that Schneerson's misled followers are treated with kindness while the real Messiah's followers are persecuted.
You also correctly point out that there are other Jewish groups, such as the Karaites, who do not accept the rabbinic writings of the Talmud as God's word.
The fact that only those who follow Yeshua are singled out points me to believe the truth in their hope is not in vain.
I'm so glad to see Messianic Jews. I've been watching videos about it on youtube.com. And I've seen the Orthodox Jews persecuting some of them. I remember thinking to myself, "God, they don't know what they're doing. Please, don't blame them."
ReplyDeleteI just recently found out that there are a growing number of Messianic Jews in Israel. I wonder, is this prophecy being fullfilled??
~Stephanie (USA)
Stephanie, thanks for taking the time to post. Hope you hang around and enjoy the posts.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the growing Jewish followers of Messiah is a fulfillment of prophecy, absolutely. Sha'ul (Paul) said that a partial hardening of heart of the Jewish people has happened for a time and a specific purpose: until the fullness of the gentiles come in. When that happens, the hard hearts of the Jewish people will begin to soften, praise the God of Israel for that!
I think that's what we're seeing in our day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWho is behind this Jew on Jew Anti-Semitism? Is it just the Orthodox and Hassetic Rabbinical Jews? Rabbinical Judaism is built in with itself a racism or bigotry for anything different: Messianic Judaism, Karaite Judaism or Ancient Judaism Adherents (Ethiopians, Zimbabwians). This is anti-Semitism at the top level, Jew on Jew Anti-Semitism. Please tell me the Reform and other liberal Jews do not believe in this hatred. You know when Anti-Semitism started, it started almost exactly at the same time Yeshua our Savior founded his Church and almost all members at the time, before Rabbi Paul, were Jews and the pagan rabbinical Pharisees and Saducees hated these JEwish followers of Jesus. We know that 2/3 of these Jews who do not know will be fooled, subjectgated and slaughtered by the antichist who will be a Jew poser, he is said in Daniel to come from the lost tribe of Dan and he will kill 66 percent of them. The other 33 percent 1/3 of all Jews will cry out to Yeshua ha Moshiach and be saved: spiritually and literally. With every famous Messianic Jew, these anti-Semitic Rabbinical Jews try to discredit his or her background in Judaism. I could not believe it. You want proof, bring up the Karaites, they hate the Karaites because they are Arabic and reject the Talmud and pagan Khaballah. That is the reason.
ReplyDeleteJewish Chat:2 on Yahoo Chat is a man staging ground for Jewish Anti-Semitism activities against Messianic Jews, Karaites and Ancient Judaism adherents in Africa because I have called them out on all this. We are all completed Jews in Yeshua, before I was saved by grace and faith in Yeshua I had no interest in the Judaism of the early Church but then my interest was sparked. These Jews, who hate Jews who do not believe in Rabbinical Judaism, believe in such things like a Christian Conspiracy to convert Jews well they better blame the Evangelicals and Pentecostals for that one because I know we Missionary Baptists and our Methodist, Presbyterian, Nazarene, AOG and Messianic brothers and sisters in Yeshua are not even aware of this. Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians are both represented in Scripture with the Old and New Testament, Law and Grace, Two Witnesses of Moses (Moshe) represents Law, the Old Testament, and the faithful Messianic Jews, Elias who represents Christians, Brit Hadassah and Grace. It was the Messianic Jews who first helped the rest of us understand the Old Testament it is not set aside, instead Yeshua, Jesus Himself put it in its proper place, He fufilled it and gave it new meaning to us through Him.
ReplyDeleteThis hatred of Christians in the most radical sects of Judaism, not all of Judaism. It is my view that these anti-Semitic or anti-christ Jews are a minority in Judiams like the cultic groups posing as Christian see LDS JWWTS WCG SDA UPCI. Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder told his faithful Jews that if our Church was wrong we would fade, if we were right we would continue and his openess to all of us as Christians and Messianic Jews should be an example to all these Jews who themselves are spewing anti-Semitic hatred. Did they forget the honored Gentile Christians who have helped them? Did they forget Lord Balfour, Oscar Schindler, King Christian X of Denmark, the Dutch Christians who hid Jews like Miep Giles and the Belgians who protected Jews. Three nations in the Holocaust protected Jews: Denmark, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. They have to stop this because there is no reason for it. We do not seek to take any Jews from Judaism but welcome those who first Christ on their own independently and welcome them in fellowship. There is no Baptist Messianic conspiracy they need to smoke some weed and calm down. Please leave the Karaites and Ancient Judaism Jews alone too they are good people.
I wonder where in Israel this is taking place. I noticed the same jewelry store (Jewelry Leon) in some videos on Youtube showing Orthodox Jews heckling Christians. Perhaps this is just one small group in one small settlement. I hope soPeace.
ReplyDelete