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Basic Messianic Apologetics
Some of the most frequent questions I am asked from people are: Why Messianic apologetics? Why is it important? Why do all that hard work?
Apologetics is the field of study which defends our faith. For the most part, Christian apologetics focuses on the inspiration of Scripture, the Person of Yeshua/Jesus, and issues like Creation versus Evolution, abortion, homosexuality, and now transgenderism. Messianic apologetics is often substantially different.
Whereas Christian apologetics largely focuses on issues which deal with secularists, atheists, agnostics, and those outside the realm of Biblical faith—Messianic apologetics largely focuses on issues and theologies which deal with those inside the realm of Biblical faith. Much of what Messianic apologetics focuses on is defense of Messianic doctrines and lifestyle practices. For us, this would include things like understanding the plurality of God in an Hebraic context, the validity of the Torah in the post-resurrection era, what our relationship is to both Judaism and Christianity, and the understanding that the Lord is in the unique process of restoring the Kingdom to Israel, as asked by the Apostles in Acts 1:6.
Apologetics is a very broad area of study and Biblical research, but hopefully this gives you an idea about some of the subjects which it includes.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
Does the New Testament Annul the Biblical Appointments?
Do the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) truly direct God’s people not to celebrate the Biblical holidays? Are the Biblical holidays no longer of any value to us as Believers? What might a closer reading of the Biblical text reveal?
It is important that we examine the three common Scripture passages (Galatians 4:9-11; Colossians 2:16-17; Romans 14:5-6) which are often given to support the premise that Believers in Israel’s Messiah are not supposed to remember the moedim or appointed times of the Torah, placing them in some proper context. These words were originally given to distinct First Century audiences with some specific issues facing them, and not necessarily Twenty-First Century people. Knowing that Yeshua the Messiah upheld the validity of the Torah as a standard for good works (Matthew 5:16-19), and that remembering the appointed times is a worthwhile matter of outward obedience, is it possible to see how the majority view out there has missed some things? Let us read these verses and investigate their background a bit more fully.
reproduced from Torah In the Balance, Volumes I&II
What Are the Lord’s Appointed Times?
One of the first areas of significant change which comes into play—certainly when outside people enter into the Messianic movement and commit themselves to a Messianic lifestyle—is that of the holidays. The appointed times guide the yearly cycle of events which help to form Messianic identity. Messianic Believers do not observe mainstream Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter, but rather remember the Biblically-prescribed holidays of God’s Torah, which are first fully detailed in Leviticus 23. This can, unfortunately, be an area of high contention between Christians and Messianics (because of misunderstandings on both sides), but when emphasized properly, celebrating the God-ordained appointed times of Scripture can be a great blessing—a blessing which many have unfortunately missed out on. It can be a unique way of testifying to others of God’s ongoing plan of salvation history—the past and future redemptive acts involving Yeshua the Messiah.
Many Christians today are aware of the Messianic movement, but they are not really aware of what it stands for, or of various Messianic views relating to the Scriptures. Some Christians today, however, are fascinated by it, and such fascination often abounds in the area of the Biblical holidays.
reproduced from Torah In the Balance, Volumes I&II
Introducing the Biblical Appointments
Why are holidays important? A holiday, as we call it in English, is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as, “A day on which custom or the law dictates a halt to ordinary business to commemorate or celebrate a particular event.” Another definition is very simply, “A holy day,” meaning a day set aside to remember something religious. The holidays which we find in the Holy Scriptures give God’s people a great opportunity as Believers to commemorate Biblical history and the work of the Messiah.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
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Thinking Big Picture:
Does the Messianic Movement Truly Think Salvation Historically?
It is declared in Psalm 8:3-5, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor” (NRSV). Given the vastness of our universe—with its billions of stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies—our Creator pays close attention to His human creations. Not only does our Creator pay close attention to His human creations, by listening to their prayers and pleas for intervention, but He intends to see redeemed humanity rule as His viceroy, right beside Him in the New Creation.
Every one of us has had a different spiritual or theological experience, when it comes to us as mortals relating to our Eternal God. I suspect, though, that far too many of us—including various leaders and teachers—gloss over the statements of Psalm 8:3-5, and we just pay attention to human uniqueness, set against the animals (Psalm 8:6-8). Our Eternal God, who is concerned with everything in Creation—from the microscopic atom, to clusters of thousands of galaxies—actually takes the time to have a relationship with us as humans. But how often do we properly reciprocate? How often do we fail to consider our place, as His human creations, within His large cosmic plan? Or, are we so focused, at times, on our own little worlds or universes, that we fail to step back and consider the role that we, as members of the Body of Messiah, are to play in the wider series of events?
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
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The Christmas Challenge
No matter who you are or what religious ideology you hold to, the Winter holiday season involving Christmas will be a challenge. It is first a challenge to non-Believers as they are continually presented with the message of the birth of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) into a world which is lost in sin. Secondly, the Christmas holiday is a challenging time for many Christian people who seek to remember the birth of the Messiah, but at the same time all too often indulge themselves in overly frivolous gift-giving. And thirdly, the Christmas season is a challenge to a great number of Messianic people, as we largely choose not to celebrate or acknowledge this holiday.
reproduced from the Messianic Winter Holiday Helper
The Importance of Chanukah
The subject of what Messianic people are to be doing for the Winter holiday season can be very controversial. On the one hand, Messianics should not be celebrating Christmas, because it is non-Biblical and was created to be one of the replacements for observing the appointed times of Leviticus 23. On the other hand, should all Messianic Believers celebrate Chanukah, or the Festival of Dedication? Primarily, debate surrounds the fact that often the celebration of Chanukah can become a replacement for Christmas, and that Chanukah is not a Biblically-mandated holiday, as it is not in the Leviticus 23 list.
If there is anything we must consider regarding this issue it is two things: (1) We must have an attitude which brings glory to our Heavenly Father, and (2) our actions must foster unity and understanding between Jewish and non-Jewish Believers. Sadly, like many of the issues which we face, the subject of whether or not we should celebrate Chanukah has two extremes. There are those who vehemently oppose its observance, and perhaps might even consider it a “gross Jewish error.” And, there are those who go overboard in encouraging its celebration, in an effort to prove that they are “better” than Christians who celebrate Christmas in ignorance. Neither one of these positions is appropriate.
In this article, we examine the historical origins of the celebration known as Chanukah, Chanukah and Yeshua, and Chanukah as a special time for those who who are a part of the Messianic community.
reproduced from the Messianic Winter Holiday Helper
A Summarization of Chanukah Traditions
The holiday of Chanukah, or the Festival of Dedication, is full of many customs and traditions which give our celebration great life and depth. During this time of year, we have the awesome opportunity to commemorate the work of God from some 2,200 years ago during the time of the Maccabees. If they had not fought against the Seleucid invaders of Israel, the Jewish people would have either been destroyed through war, or would have disappeared via cultural assimilation. Chanukah, as attested in the historical record, was mandated as a national celebration, so that the community could remember the sacrifice of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem:
“Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev” (1 Maccabees 4:59, RSV).
All Messianic people have the wonderful opportunity to join with their Jewish brothers and sisters, and celebrate in the historical triumphs which are given in the story of the Maccabees. There is much for us to celebrate during this time, as we remember how God inspired a rag-tag army to fight a vastly superior force, and never give up until the goal of victory was achieved. We are to remember how the Maccabees fought off the cultural assimilation which they faced, having required them to deny the Torah and its commandments on threat of death. We are to remember how the Maccabees rededicated the Temple to the God of Israel, restoring the vessels of worship and sacrifices to their rightful places. And, we are also to remember how Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid king who thought he was a god, was ultimately judged by the One True God he was trying to destroy.
As you can imagine, many customs and traditions have developed over the centuries as the Jewish community has remembered Chanukah. We have compiled the following list of elements which are included in traditional observance, followed by some things which we have adapted in our own family observance as Messianic Believers, which we believe will be helpful for you.
reproduced from the Messianic Winter Holiday Helper
When Did “the Church” Begin?
In the annals of Christian teaching, Protestant or Catholic, one common thread often runs throughout: the institution known as “the Church” sees itself as being separate from Israel. As some would dogmatically declare, “The Church is not Israel!” (Tim LaHaye)—and depending on your view, this is correct. The Church institution by-and-large does not consider itself part of, or at times even related to, Israel. While there are some who do recognize that our faith is connected to Israel, that is about as far as it goes. In many ways Christian theologians have incorrectly “divided” and have mishandled the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), favoring to “pick-and-choose” which Scriptures “apply to them” and to Israel, leading to inconsistencies regarding their understanding of the Bible. At times, this causes Bible teachers to dangerously ignore the Tanach or Old Testament in spiritual instruction.
Are these observations intended to accuse all Christian people of anti-Semitism or an anti-Israel spirit? Absolutely not. There are many sincere, born again evangelical Believers who do consider themselves “related” to Israel in some form, and they are supportive of the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and interreligious dialogue. Rather, we question the centuries-old concept of a division or wide gulf being placed between “the Church” and Israel. As the world gets more and more uncertain and news stories of Israel, the Middle East, and sermons on the Second Coming become far too frequent, the question of ecclesiology, or the study of God’s elect, should become relevant to a Christian person seeking truth. How is the one who has put his or her trust in Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus), related to Israel?
Arguably, the study of the identity of “the Church” might be the most important doctrine outside that of salvation. This study determines what group of people, or elect, the born again Believer belongs to. It has a direct impact on the continued relevance of the Torah or Law of Moses in the sanctification of Believers, and whether or not doctrines such as the popular pre-tribulation rapture are Scriptural. It also determines whether or not the Believer is a part of the Commonwealth of Israel, or is separate from it (cf. Ephesians 2:11-13).
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
Is Circumcision for Everyone?
When today’s Christians think about the physical circumcision of males, they often do not know what do to. While on the one hand, it is properly acknowledged that Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was circumcised, as were His Jewish Disciples, on the other hand it is frequently thought that physical circumcision—perhaps in any capacity—is not really that important any more. For myself, I remember the first day of the first course I took at Asbury Theological Seminary, in Spring 2005 (Kingdom, Church, & World), and how the instructor showed the class a slide image of Michaelangelo’s statue of King David. He asked everyone what was wrong with this picture. Most people answered something along the lines of: “The statue is naked!” While a valid answer, it was not the one he wanted. He then told the class: “David was a Jew. This statue of David is uncircumcised.”
Today’s Messianic movement generally has a more favorable view of circumcision than its contemporary Christian counterparts. It is firmly acknowledged and defended that male Jewish Believers should not only be circumcised per the Biblical injunction (Leviticus 12:2-3), but that as a part of their ethnic heritage and traditions, that they should hold the appropriate circumcision rites and customs for their male infants, and actively continue the practice for posterity. Concurrent with this, various medical benefits of circumcision are often recognized as being useful for males, as the practice of circumcision is witnessed not only in the Scriptures, but was present in societies pre-dating Ancient Israel. There can be controversy in some quarters, though. Some believe that the relationship of God’s people to circumcision has not changed at all with the arrival of the Messiah, and others think that circumcision, while being important, is not as important for the post-resurrection era as it once was.
What is an appropriate, Messianic perspective on the issue of circumcision? How do we avoid the scores of abuses and misunderstandings which have been manifested in Biblical and religious history surrounding circumcision? Hopefully in our discussion, we can have a better handle as Messianic people with this controversial topic.
reproduced from Torah In the Balance, Volumes I&II
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Answering the “Frequently Avoided Questions” About the Divinity of Yeshua
Anyone who has surveyed the broad Messianic movement—whether it be Messianic Judaism or the independent Hebrew/Hebraic Roots movement—knows that it is very diverse. There is a huge array of theologies and opinions evident in the Messianic movement, just as in Christianity or Judaism. There are those who are theologically conservative, and those who are theologically liberal. There are those who believe that God has the ultimate control over their lives, and those who believe that they can determine their own destiny and dictate to God who He is, ignoring His direction. There are those who think deeply, and there are those who think simplistically. There are those who let themselves be tossed and swayed by religious politics, and there are those who do not allow entangling alliances to have an influence over them.
Since the 1990s and 2000s, it is not surprising that an age-old theological controversy, going back to the Second and Third Centuries C.E., has arisen in the broad Messianic movement: Who is Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ)? Is He God—or is He just a human man?
This has now developed into a debate that is not so easily delineated along any kind of denominational, organizational, ministry, or even at times congregational lines, as it affects everybody. While various Messianic associations and ministries have rightfully taken strong stands against those who would deride Yeshua the Messiah as being the Divine Savior—the fact is that individual people who may attend congregations which officially affirm Yeshua as God, may themselves only think of the Messiah as a good man who was connected to God in a special way, or some kind of exalted supernatural being, yet ultimately created. It is certainly true that there are many Christian people who attend church every week, being members of denominations which officially affirm the Divinity of Jesus, who themselves do not believe in it and only think that Jesus was a good teacher. So, individual people denying Yeshua’s Divinity is not at all an isolated incident, nor is it uncommon to the world of Christian religion, at least.
reproduced from Confronting Yeshua’s Divinity and Messiahship
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What is the Problem With Easter?
It comes every Spring, usually sometime in March or April. You know it because in stores you see the baskets, candy, rabbits, eggs, and the annoying fake grass which goes in those baskets. You see the Cadbury cream egg commercials on television with the rabbits gobbling like chickens. Its name is Easter.
Most sincere, evangelical Christians celebrate the season of Easter not as a time to fawn over rabbits or eat candy, but as a serious time to remember the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). They commemorate His death on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday. Certainly, of all the events in our faith, the resurrection of our Lord is the most important. The Apostle Paul validly wrote, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Messiah has been raised; and if Messiah has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, NASU). However, when we consider the likely pre-Messianic and pre-Christian origins of “Easter,” God’s people do need to reevaluate it.
It comes as a shock to many evangelical Christians, but Messianic people do not celebrate Easter. We do not see this holiday mandated in Scripture as one of the Lord’s moedim or “appointed times.” Messianics commonly believe Easter to be a substitute holiday in place of what God has asked His people to do in the Spring. By celebrating Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Messianics often think that it can communicate a view of Yeshua coming to die as a random man or a common criminal on the cross at Golgotha (Calvary), in a “generic” manner for the sins of humanity. He does not necessarily come as the Messiah of Israel, in fulfillment of our Heavenly Father’s appointed times. The common celebration of Easter today often downplays how Yeshua is the blameless Passover Lamb sacrificed for sin, and the unleavened, sinless Bread of Life who was scourged for our iniquities.
There are certainly various Christian people today who criticize Messianics, without any mercy or careful thought, for not celebrating Easter. Yet as it has sadly been the case, many Messianic people usually respond to these Christians without mercy as well. They may accuse Christians of participating in pagan “fertility rites” or that they are worshipping the Babylonian goddess Ishtar or the Sun god. Likewise, because Messiah Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection may not be emphasized at enough Messianic Passover seders, such Christians may feel that we have lost hold of this monumental event, and perhaps can rightfully say of some people that they treat Yeshua’s resurrection with disgust (cf. Hebrews 10:29).
How are we as fair-minded Messianic Believers to handle Easter? How are we to be mature, Spirit-filled, Torah obedient Believers who follow the example of Yeshua the Messiah? At what time are we to appropriately remember what He did for us on the tree two millennia ago? Easter or Passover?
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
To Eat or Not to Eat?
Many subjects arise when today’s Messianic Believers often talk about their faith and practice to their evangelical Christian family and friends. We should try to do our best to emphasize common beliefs and convictions as they relate to who Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah is as our Savior, what He has accomplished for us, and the richness we possess in seeing Him throughout the pages of the Tanach (Old Testament) as opposed to just the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament). Likewise, we should also emphasize the Messianic prophetic fulfillment, both past and future, which we see in the Biblical holidays that God gave in Leviticus 23 (cf. Colossians 2:17). But unlike much of mainstream Christianity, we do not believe that the New Testament gives God’s people the place to eat anything they want, and that it annuls the dietary laws of the Torah.
This third set of Messianic convictions is quite easy to camouflage in day-to-day activities, unless friends and associates are over-inquisitive about one’s eating habits. But nevertheless, many Christians believe that the New Testament says that God’s people can now eat whatever they want, with the kosher dietary laws being a thing of the past. Is it truly this way, though?
The issue of eating the way God has prescribed is one where we need to realize whether or not God has the right to tell His people what they can and cannot ingest into their bodies, and why He specifically issued these commandments. Messianic practice directly challenges much of modern Christian thought as it relates to “food.” Why does one need to follow the dietary commandments the Lord issued? What lessons might we learn from following them, in addition to how the kosher laws may affect our health?
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
The End-Times: What Should We Expect
When a person becomes a new Believer in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and embarks into his or her own study of the Scriptures, there can be many questions, as answers to many topics are sought, especially in regard to the Last Days or the end-times. A critical question asked by many who are searching is: “What should I expect?” A person may confide is his or her friends or Bible teachers with various questions and inquiries, and in many cases may accept their views at face value. But after further examination, though, a Bible student may find such views of Scripture to be inaccurate or incomplete.
As we tread into the Twenty-First Century, many are expecting prophetic related events to occur, such as the rapture or a great evangelistic revival, so the question “What should we expect?” poses some legitimate concern in light of what many are predicting and anticipating.
What should you expect? The answers can be found in the pages of the Bible. Not surprisingly, the Disciples asked Yeshua a similar question:
“As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” (Matthew 24:3, NASU; cf. Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7).
Yeshua then proceeded to speak in what is commonly called the Olivet Discourse. It is recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Matthew 24 is widely considered the most thorough of all the chapters, and provides an excellent outline of what God’s people should expect concerning the End of the Age. I will follow the dialogue the Messiah gives in this text, and provide my own commentary. While you will see many things which you have probably already heard in others’ teachings on the Last Days, you will also encounter some of my own unique approaches, some of it from an interpretation of the text, and all of it conditioned by my Messianic experience.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
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The Faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah
New things are being proposed in today’s contemporary Bible scholarship, and they are opening some unique doors to the developing theology and spirituality of our maturing Messianic movement. One such phenomenon is the proposal that when “works of law” (Grk. ergōn nomou) was referred to in the Pauline Epistles (Galatians 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10; Romans 3:20, 28), it was not speaking about “observing the law” (NIV) as such, but more specifically about the halachah of an ancient sect of Judaism (cf. 4QMMT). This has enabled various examiners to see how the issue Paul confronted in Galatians, to be specific, was not necessarily about the Galatians being forced to follow the Mosaic Torah for salvation—but rather the Galatians being made subject to halachic rulings which would have required them to become formal proselytes to Judaism, in order to be fully accepted among God’s people.
Paul spoke against “works of law” in order for people to be reckoned as a part of God’s community in Messiah Yeshua. This was because identity was to be found elsewhere. But if the principal identity as God’s people was not to be found in man-made “works of law,” then where was it to be found? Paul gave Peter the answer in Galatians 2:16:
“[N]evertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Messiah Yeshua, even we have believed in Messiah Yeshua, so that we may be justified by faith in Messiah and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Galatians 2:16, NASU).
The Apostle Paul said how Believers were not to be justified, or reckoned as a part of God’s people, via “works of law.” Instead, as it has been commonly quoted to us, we are brought into relationship with God “through faith in Christ Jesus.” We have to place our trust in what Yeshua did for us on the tree at Golgotha, performing what Romans 10:9 tells people to do: “if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (NASU). It seems pretty straightforward, right?
None of us should ever deny how important it is to place faith and trust in Yeshua for redemption. Ephesians 2:8 so astutely summarizes it: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (NASU). But what if I were to tell you, that just as there have been background and translation issues present with properly understanding what “works of law” meant to Paul and Peter, so might there be something more to investigate with what “works of law” were contrasted to?
reproduced from The New Testament Validates Torah
Addressing the Frequently Avoided Issues Messianics Encounter in the Torah
Focusing on God’s instructions in the Torah is an undeniable part of not only the Messianic lifestyle, but also the Messianic experience. Ever since the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon, the public reading of the Torah, to instruct God’s people on what was acceptable and unacceptable behavior, has been a regular practice (Nehemiah 7:73-8:12). This is something which is also witnessed in the Apostolic Scriptures (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:15), and continues in the traditions of today’s Jewish Synagogue. The repetition of hearing Moses’ Teaching is important for men and women of faith, particularly in understanding the fuller meaning of, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44, NASU). The statutes and commandments of the Torah are to make God’s people different from the rest of the world, possessing qualities and wisdom which attract outsiders to Him (Deuteronomy 4:6).
The Messianic community has grown significantly over the past several decades, especially via the great interest in evangelical Protestants embracing their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures. Such people know that their (exclusive) examination of the New Testament Scriptures, while in Church, has been incomplete without a foundational basis in the Torah and Tanach. While the Holy Spirit has often convicted such individuals about the need to consider the importance of things like the seventh-day Sabbath/Shabbat, the appointed times or moedim, and the kosher dietary laws—as they grow in faith, and desire to be more like Yeshua and His First Century followers—Torah observance is obviously much more than these three aspects of one’s faith practice. A great deal of following Torah involves one’s ethics and morality, and how a person interacts with others, demonstrating God’s kindness and love (Mark 12:28-34; Matthew 22:36-40; Luke 10:25-28; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).
The anticipation of the Jerusalem Council was that after the new non-Jewish Believers would “abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood” (Acts 15:20, NASU), that they would be seemingly cut off from their old social and religious spheres in paganism. This should have resulted in them being attached to a new sphere of social and religious influence, where “Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (Acts 15:21, NASU). The Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:20, 29) included four areas of instruction with a significant Torah background, and the need for these former pagans—now having received salvation in Yeshua—to be attached to a community which acknowledged the One God of Israel, and included a vital code of morality and ethics in Moses’ Teaching, could not be more overstated. Most of today’s Christian commentators on the New Testament, are clearly aware of the fact that these non-Jewish Believers would have had to have been somewhat familiar with the story of Ancient Israel in the Old Testament, for the Apostles’ teachings and epistles to have made any sense. For example, the Apostle Paul appealed to the Exodus in telling the Corinthians, “our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1, NASU).
Many non-Jewish Believers in today’s Messianic community do not need the same kind of instruction in the Torah and Tanach, which the first non-Jewish Believers had, who came out of First Century paganism and were often totally ignorant of the God of Israel. Most of the non-Jewish Believers in the Messianic movement today received a basic understanding of the stories and history of Ancient Israel from Sunday school, even though such basic understanding can certainly be expanded upon and more thoroughly explored. This is being accomplished quite well by those following the Jewish tradition of reading the weekly Torah portion, and reading through the Torah on an annual cycle.
When the Torah is examined in this way, though, and not just surveyed for people, places, and events—it becomes quite clear that Torah observance is much more than just outward matters such as Shabbat, the festivals, and kosher. A great number of ethical and moral issues/commandments become significantly conscious to the Torah reader. Likewise, a person has to encounter a world going not only back some 3,500/3,300 years to the time of the Exodus, but multiplied millennia to the Creation of the universe itself. The questions and the controversies which the first five books of the Bible present to us, not just as students of God’s Word, but specifically as Messianic Believers—are quite significant. Many people do not know what to do when the social norms of the ancient period are different than those of today, and are often at a loss when reading the Torah. Not infrequently, such issues are just avoided or outright ignored in Messianic Torah study.
Only diligent discipleship and study can adequately address all of the issues which the Torah presents to a person, pertaining to what such issues meant against their ancient context, and what they mean for modern people today. It is very good that today’s Messianics have submitted themselves to the instructions of God’s Torah, and people have become familiarized, or even re-familiarized, with its foundational accounts and histories. Yet, as the Messianic movement continues, in both its spiritual and theological development, it is clear that there is much in the Torah which still needs to be explored by us. Ironically enough, these are the areas of the Pentateuch which both Jewish and Christian Bible scholarship have largely resolved to one degree or another. Today’s Messianic community need not find itself (unnecessarily) lagging behind in these areas, as having a better handle on them, will help us in both our Biblical Studies and in understanding the mission which the Lord has laid out for us—to be a kingdom of priests and a light, which can make a difference in the world (Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 42:6)!
This analysis of frequently avoided issues which Messianics encounter in the Torah, by no means can be the “end-all” of our examination of the Torah. But this analysis does intend to provoke some important questions. These questions should be a part of future Messianic discussions, and our engagement as a faith community in larger sectors of conversation on the Scriptures. I do intend to ask some questions regarding the Torah of today’s Messianics that, at least on the whole, our movement has been largely unprepared to consider (2008, 2024). These are questions which any reader of the Biblical text will encounter, they are by no means hidden, and they are by no means inappropriate—as both the Synagogue and the Church have already had to consider them. So certainly, as a movement which has its spiritual and theological origins in both of these institutions, a critical part of our maturation process is for us to consider them as well.
reproduced from the Messianic Torah Helper
Our Messianic Future: Something Similar, Something Different
One of the scariest, and most ominous words, that many people make a sizeable effort to avoid or dismiss, is the word future. When many people conjure up the word future, they quickly tend to associate it with other words, including, but not limited to: health, heart attack, stroke, disease, taxes, debt, separation, divorce, will, death, burial, environment, pollution, war, asteroid collision, apocalypse, extinction. Individually, most of us are inclined to not want to think about the future. Corporately as a human species, we also have a tendency to not think long term. The future is depressing, and it is likely to be something worse than the present. The issue of the future, and what is coming, has been especially on my mind the past few weeks, as we have just started Calendar Year 2022.
A few weeks ago, something very important took place: I was officially ordained as a Messianic Teacher by the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS). In 2018, as our ministry was surveying the various options available for my ongoing education, we saw that the IAMCS offered the position of Messianic Pastor or Messianic Teacher for non-Jewish leaders. Messianic Teacher was the most logical position for me to apply for (not to mention the fact that this was also quite economical). I submitted an application, I was interviewed and approved at the 2019 IAMCS Rabbis Conference, and throughout 2019 and 2020 I took the necessary courses. Most of the classes I took were on topics that I could not have studied at seminary, as they related to Messianic congregational ministry, the Messianic Jewish mission, and the contemporary Jewish community. Everything was actually in place for me to be officially ordained at the end of 2020, but due to the ongoing world situation, the 2021 Rabbis Conference was canceled, and so this ordination had to be postponed a year.
Over the past five to seven years (2015-2022), I have been especially aware of the mixed reactions that those following Outreach Israel Ministries and Messianic Apologetics, have had to our involvement with Messianic Judaism. We did get our start in the Messianic movement at a Messianic Jewish congregation in 1995! But like many others, we were also, at one point, involved with some of the various non-Jewish offshoots. When we moved back to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex in 2012, we reassociated with our old friends whom we had known, and this got us reengaged with the Messianic Jewish movement. Many people who had been following our ministry were very encouraged, and could see the hand of the Lord! They recognize the positive difference we could make in Messianic Jewish circles. Others, however, distanced themselves from us, being quite skeptical. For a wide number of non-Jewish Believers associated with things “Messianic” or “Hebrew Roots,” the Messianic Jewish movement has a stereotype of it being unwelcoming of most non-Jewish Believers, discouraging of them embracing things of Torah, and often releasing poorly written and vindictive white papers. My experience by interacting with people on the ground, has been that the Messianic Jewish community is much more pluralistic and diverse, than those who simply read books or articles may realize.
So today in 2022, here we are, and I have been ordained as a Messianic Teacher by the largest, most well known Messianic Jewish organization in the world (IAMCS). What have I learned over the past several years, and what is Our Messianic Future going to involve? What will be similar, and what will be different? While I do not claim to have all of the answers, I do believe that in light of what has taken place in our world in 2020-2021, some things do need to be put on the table..
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
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The Gospel According to Torah: It Happened At Shavuot!
As we approach the End of the Age, many people are being restored back to their faith heritage in the Scriptures of Israel. It is an exciting time to watch, as scales fall off of the eyes of many brothers and sisters in the Lord, as Jewish people come to faith in Messiah Yeshua, and non-Jewish Believers embrace a return to the First Century ways of the early Believers! People are returning to the ancient paths! People are starting to fully walk the way Yeshua walked!
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
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The Role of History in Messianic Biblical Interpretation
In the Messianic community today, we often hear a high emphasis placed on the need for us to follow the lifestyle practices of our Messiah Yeshua, rooted within the traditions and customs of Second Temple Judaism. However, for many generations of Believers which have preceded us, this has not always been the case. Many who have gone before us in the faith have not seen the same things which we have. This has been the case for a variety of reasons, but most notably it has been because Twentieth and Twenty-First Century people have had access to information, which the Protestant Reformers and some of the early Christians who settled America did not have. They did not have the benefit of archaeology, renewed contact with the lands of the Bible and the Middle East, and especially the excellent Jewish-Christian relations which we have been present in the world of Biblical Studies. At most, what these people had access to, were the classical works of Greece and Rome and the writings of the early Church. Today we have a much larger information base, including not only the classics and early Christian works, but also Jewish works.
As Believers and students of the Word of God, a major part of our mission is to have an as accurate as possible view of the Bible and the world in which its events took place. The Prophet Jeremiah admonished those of his generation, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, “We will not walk in it”’” (Jeremiah 6:16, NASU). God wanted His people to remember the way things were before sin crept into the community of Israel, and to return to His blessings. The same is largely true for us today. The Lord wants us to remember how our goal as individuals is to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, and follow Him as the Apostles did. The challenge is that in order to do this, we must “ask about the various paths of history” (ATS), and deal with a diverse array of Biblical and extra-Biblical literature spanning across three millennia or more. We have to put ourselves back into societies and cultures, which are largely foreign to us, and then be able to apply what we learn to our modern societies and cultures today.
These things are admittedly challenging to us as human beings. When we come to faith in Messiah Yeshua, we turn to Him because we know that we are sinners and that we are in need of reconciliation with God. We know that we need a heart change which will cause us to love Him and love others like never before. But once we receive a heart change, we need to begin a life of consistently studying the Bible, God’s Instruction for us. As we study the Bible, our minds are transformed, and hopefully we can begin to see the world from our Creator’s point of view. As we continue in our study of the Bible, then God should supernaturally give us the ability to deal with increasingly more difficult ideas and concepts.
The existence of the Messianic movement today demonstrates that at least some people want to deal with some difficult theological concepts. Because we live in a time when Jewish-Christian relations and Christian support of Israel is at an all time high (mid-1990s-early 2020s), we have a responsibility not just to ourselves, but also to posterity, to truly consider the historical context of the Scriptures. This presents many obstacles, not just in our understanding of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), but also of the Tanach (Old Testament). We have to come to grips with the fact that things may not be as simplistic as we want them to be, and not only will we have to deal with new information, but we will also have to use our minds and think at deeper levels than we may be used to. This article will explore some of the key facets of examining the historical context of Scripture, and how it affects our emerging Messianic theology.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
Controversies Involving Biblical and Jewish Holidays
as a Messianic Believer
For people throughout the broad Messianic movement, the appointed times or moedim of the Torah, and the various traditional Jewish holidays and commemorations, are significant moments of celebration, enrichment, and enlightenment. Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah are often reconnecting with deeply significant traditions and customs, practiced not only by their ancestors, but by their immediate family which has yet to recognize Yeshua. Non-Jewish Believers called by God, into the Messianic movement, are embracing things which were practiced by Yeshua and His first followers. When the Biblical and Jewish holidays take place, these are supposed to be seasons of great personal, familial, and congregational unity and spiritual growth. As we reflect upon what the Lord has done in the past, we are to all embody the Psalmist’s grand word, “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1, NRSV).
A majority of you who commemorate the Biblical and Jewish holidays experience precisely this: a sense of spiritual fulfillment and unity when they appear in the annual cycle. Yet, it would be entirely inappropriate to introduce you to the appointed times, without also letting you know that these can be periods of division and discord within the Messianic community. Many of you already know this to be the case, if for any other reason because you have volunteered at your local Messianic congregation or fellowship to help, in some capacity, during the Fall high holidays or with the congregational Passover seder. You probably got a quick lesson in how it is one thing to remember the Biblical and Jewish holidays within the privacy of your own home; it is another thing to remember the Biblical and Jewish holidays in a much larger venue of people who have opinions about the “right way” things are to be done.
Unnecessary divisions and tensions are a part of human living, and whenever you have to help out, usually behind the scenes, with a large group of people remembering something important—it is inevitable that an incident of some kind will take place. This especially involves gatherings where large quantities of food have to be prepared and served, different people have been asked to cook the same item, but each has probably altered a recipe here or there to his or her liking. For a great number of you remembering the Biblical and Jewish holidays at a congregational level, the controversies you will encounter are likely to be involved with the logistical details of how a larger gathering of people can get the most out of them.
I wish all of the controversies involving the Biblical and Jewish holidays in today’s Messianic movement solely concerned “the menu” of traditional foods and recipes offered at congregational gatherings. Most of the controversies involving the holidays actually tend to concern individual people investigating particular aspects or components of a season, either on their own or usually via some Internet source, which challenges a traditional Jewish understanding. While the Messianic Jewish movement, because of its affirmation of Yeshua as Israel’s Messiah, has certainly challenged traditional views of the Synagogue—a wide array of traditional Jewish practices and customs are still observed. In our information age, though, it is very easy for those involved in a Messianic congregation to see the appointed times observed according to a philo-traditional model, but then have such a model either criticized or condemned, by encountering some online media. While not always offered by those within the independent Hebrew/Hebraic Roots movement—and sometimes even presented by evangelical Christians opposed to Messianic Judaism—those who tend to challenge Messianic Jewish employment of mainline Jewish traditions and approaches to the appointed times, are not too concerned with the Messianic movement’s original vision of Jewish outreach, evangelism, and Israel solidarity.
Titus 3:9 does astutely communicate, “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about Torah, for they are unprofitable and useless” (TLV). Yet at the same time, whether it be the weekly Shabbat service, or seasons such as the Fall high holidays or the Passover—the appointed times tend to be the major periods when one’s local Messianic Jewish congregation is able to reach out to the Jewish community with the good news of Yeshua. You need to know what a number of the common controversies associated with the Biblical and Jewish holidays are, so when you encounter them, you can not only not be disturbed—but you can help stop potential problems before they start. Our list is by no means extensive, but will highlight some of the most common problems you are likely to witness.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
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The Waters of Immersion
How do today’s Messianic people approach the issue of water immersion? There are varied Jewish and Christian traditions and customs we have doubtlessly been affected by, in both direct and indirect ways, when approaching this. In Judaism, water immersion, or the usage of the mikveh bath, is rooted within Torah instructions regarding ritual purity, for both the Levitical priests and the people in general. In Christianity, the process of being baptized has normally been employed to signify an outward identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), and often takes place after a public commitment of trust in Him has been made. In Judaism, water immersion of some kind is often a regular process for the faithful. In Protestant Christianity, baptism is considered a sacrament, and as such tends to only be a one-time or singular practice.
Where does today’s Messianic community stand? We stand somewhere in-between the recognition of water immersion or mikveh as a regular, important practice for the people of God, as well as recognizing that what is commonly known as “Believer’s baptism” is also quite significant for men and women of faith. Too frequently, however, Messianic people have not adequately explored some of the particulars of water immersion. For much of today’s Messianic community, our understanding of water baptism is cosmetic: we speak more in terms of “immersion” or “mikveh,” and a surface-level comprehension of various evangelical Protestant cultures of baptism are given a Messianic veneer. While appreciating many Christian emphases present surrounding water immersion, for those who have made a confession of faith in the Messiah is important—there is much more about the waters of immersion, often represented by today’s Messianics as mikveh, to be considered.
reproduced from Torah In the Balance, Volumes I&II
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The Contours of Jewish Evangelism
The original mission and purpose of the Messianic movement has always been to provide a venue for Jewish outreach, evangelism, and Israel solidarity. While reaching diverse groups of people with the good news or gospel message of salvation is not easy, no matter what one’s intended audience, the Apostolic Writings (New Testament) give ample testimony of how many Jewish people in the First Century were resistant to the news that the Messiah of Israel had arrived. So great was the agony of a figure like the Apostle Paul, that he actually wished himself accursed, to see his own flesh and blood redeemed:
“I tell the truth in Messiah—I do not lie, my conscience assuring me in the Ruach ha-Kodesh—that my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart unending. For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people—my own flesh and blood” (Romans 9:1-3, TLV).
While corporately in the First Century, and even until today, the Jewish people have largely dismissed Yeshua of Nazareth as the anticipated Messiah—it is not as though this has not been without a purpose. Paul noted that there has always been a remnant of Jewish Believers, himself being among them (Romans 11:5). He also detailed how “If their trespass means riches for the world, and their impoverishment means riches for the nations, how much more will their fullness mean!” (Romans 11:12, Kingdom New Testament). If a widescale Jewish dismissal of Israel’s Messiah means a massive salvation of those from the world at large—how great will it be when a concentrated salvation of the Jewish people is witnessed? There are complications to this taking place, however, notably as it involves the behavior of the wild olive branches, non-Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah, grafted-in to Israel’s olive tree (Romans 11:17-21). History is replete that rather than being moved with mercy and compassion and understanding for Jewish people, who need the salvation of Yeshua (Romans 11:31), arrogance, disdain, discrimination, persecution, and even terrible atrocities have been committed by far too many of those “claiming Christ.”
Every Messianic congregation or assembly, whether it is in Israel, North America, or elsewhere, is going to have some vehicle for Jewish outreach and involvement in the local Jewish community. Obviously each Jewish community is different. Here in the United States, the Jewish community in the Northeast, South Florida, Southern California, or other urban centers, is going to be a little different than the Jewish community in North Dallas, where my local congregation of Eitz Chaim is located. But regardless of how large, how small, how established, or how conservative or liberal one’s local Jewish community is—there are significant contours and facets which those who are a part of a Messianic congregation need to be aware of, when involving themselves in Jewish outreach. Jewish Believers for certain need to be involved in Jewish evangelism, as they testify not only to the salvation they possess in Yeshua—but most especially how believing in Yeshua does not mean an abandonment of one’s Jewish heritage or traditions. Likewise, non-Jewish Believers should also be involved in Jewish evangelism, as non-Jews in today’s Messianic community can not only be used by the Lord to provoke Jewish people to faith in Messiah Yeshua (Romans 11:11), but as those who have joined in common cause and unity with Jewish Believers, as a tangible sign that past centuries of Christian anti-Semitism and discrimination are indeed something in the past.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
What Contribution Are You Making to Jewish Evangelism?
When Outreach Israel Ministries began in 2002-2003, we cast a very large net of thoughts and ideas, about what we believed that God could accomplish through us. In 2004-2005, we discovered that experience can be a very firm teacher, and we found out those things which we could legitimately accomplish and perform, and those things which were clearly not ever going to get off the drawing board. Some things which we were not able to do would simply exhaust our human energies and our budget—but other things we can definitely say that we were supernaturally prohibited from doing, and that the Lord was indeed protecting us from being harmed and demoralized over the long term. Quickly, in the first two to three years of ministry, Outreach Israel developed into an educational ministry producing resources for today’s Messianic people.
As circumstances would direct it, the types of materials, which we would be producing for Messianic people, would mainly include things which we—as non-Jewish Believers from an evangelical Protestant background—would have wanted to see, upon us first entering into the Messianic community. In our early years of participating in the Messianic movement (1995-2000), being exposed to the Messianic lifestyle and lifecycle, we made mistakes. A big reason why we made mistakes was because we lacked the information and perspective of someone else having sat down, and having thought deeply enough to thoroughly inform others about what the Messianic movement was all about, some of its unique theological perspectives regarding the Tanach or Old Testament, and how the virtues of our shared Judeo-Protestant heritage can be employed for what God is doing. For much of our ministry life, the audience that we have been serving has primarily been non-Jewish Believers whom God has called into the Messianic movement. Using our own gifts, talents, and temperament—we have had to help many of these people become acclimated to the Messianic experience, to their faith heritage in the Scriptures of Israel and in Judaism, and how to best interact with their Christian family and friends who may not see things the way that they do.
When we relocated from Central Florida back to North Texas in 2013, and found ourselves reintegrated into the Messianic Jewish community and socially interacting with Messianic Jewish Believers on a regular basis—Outreach Israel Ministries started going through some shifts in its focus. Was there anything that we were not doing, which we needed to be doing? If you can believe it, while we emphasize that non-Jewish Believers are truly a part of the Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13) or Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), grafted-in to the olive tree (Romans 11:16-17)—I had been disturbed for a long time why a ministry called “Outreach Israel” did not contribute more to the original Messianic mission of Jewish outreach, Jewish evangelism, and Israel solidarity. While we definitely knew of the importance of presenting the good news of Israel’s Messiah to our Jewish friends and neighbors, our situational context of getting started in Messianic ministry was to help non-Jewish Believers like ourselves get acclimated to the Messianic movement. Our research and writing was more likely to deal with the post-resurrection era validity of God’s Torah, and responding to errant Christian conclusions about the Law being abolished—than whether or not Yeshua was the prophesied Messiah of Israel. That would be the kind of issue that others could focus on. We had to do everything else…
In 2016 as I was finishing up the commentary 2 Corinthians for the Practical Messianic—and as new doors were opening up for our ministry within Messianic Judaism—I pragmatically recognized that we would not have a “right” to these new opportunities, unless we harnessed our energies to make some important contribution to Jewish outreach and evangelism. Just as we had written extensive analyses on the validity of the Torah, the seventh-day Sabbath, the appointed times, kosher dietary laws, and other aspects of the Messianic lifestyle we believe God is restoring to His people—what would we need to contribute to in terms of Jewish outreach? Being a deep thinker and theologically minded, it did not take much for me to figure out what we were supposed to do. The three significant areas which theologically affect Jewish outreach and evangelism involve (1) the Divinity of Yeshua, (2) the Messiahship of Yeshua, and (3) the reliability of the Holy Scriptures. Yet, I can recognize that in the course of my writing, how making a sizeable contribution to these areas of Messianic theology would not be possible without the work which has preceded it.
The modern Messianic movement got started as an outreach of Jewish Believers, to see the Jewish people come to saving faith in Israel’s Messiah. To be sure, there are other things which have taken place since, such as non-Jewish Believers entering in and more tangibly embracing their Jewish Roots. There are theological and spiritual issues, which the original leaders could not have anticipated being discussed. We pray that God raises up the right people to perform the diversity of tasks before us. The original mission of seeing Jewish people come to faith in Israel’s Messiah still has not gone away. And, if you are a part of today’s Messianic movement, you have to ask yourself, “What contribution am I making to Jewish evangelism?”
reproduced from Messianic Beginnings: An Introductory Study
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A Summarization of Jewish Kosher Traditions
To most outsiders who encounter the Messianic Jewish movement, when hearing something about kosher or kashrut, what they mostly think about are instructions within the Torah or Law of Moses, which prohibit the consumption of unclean meats such as pork or shellfish. Much of the Messianic community has promoted what it considers to be “Biblically kosher,” which primarily begins and ends at not eating pork and shellfish. In traditional Judaism, however, what it means to be kosher, is much more involved than observant Jews not eating certain meats labeled to be “unclean.” Kashrut involves classification of unclean meats to be sure, but also involves some significant traditions regarding the butchering of animals, how meat is to be prepared, what can and cannot be eaten together, and separation of utensils and cookware. It also involves a variety of theological and philosophical reasons proposed for the institution of these Biblical instructions, and their subsequent interpretation and application over the centuries, by Jewish religious authorities and diverse Jewish communities.
Much of the broad Messianic movement considers kosher to just involve not eating pork or shellfish, yet it is clear even from a reading of instructions in the Torah, that this is a rather simplistic and under-developed approach to this issue. Likewise, even with a diverse number of internal Messianic views on the theological aspects of the Torah’s dietary laws—but ones which are more positive than not regarding their continued validity in the post-resurrection era—there is not a huge amount of understanding for what it means to be kosher in much of traditional Judaism. Even if many Messianic people, for example, do not think that it is necessary to separate meat and dairy, or have multiple sets of dishes or utensils, or that most food items they purchase have an hechsher or official symbol of kosher approval—they still, as members of a movement, with an explicit mandate to declare the good news of Israel’s Messiah to the Jewish people, need to know a few things about Jewish kosher traditions and observance. Given the importance of the kosher dietary laws for Judaism and the Jewish people throughout the centuries, every Messianic person, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, should have a familiarity with how the Torah’s dietary laws have been interpreted and applied over the centuries.
How are any of us to understand how the kosher dietary laws have been approached by Judaism? It has been noted how many contemporary Jewish people, actually can struggle with the dietary laws. This is, as one should see, true for any number of reasons. Orthodox Jewish interpretation and application of the Torah’s dietary laws, is highly restrictive when it comes to interactions with the outside world, as Orthodox Jews will have to be widely constrained to their own communities, to find food items and products which have been prepared according to their standards. On the exact opposite side of this is a Reform Jewish community, which makes up the majority Jewish population in the United States, thinking that the dietary laws were only important for Ancient Israel and today communicate no significant sense of holiness for Jewish people—and a majority of Reform Jews today do not keep any degree of kosher. There are other, more graded levels of kosher observance, present in other branches of Judaism, such as the Conservative movement, allowing for more flexibility than the Orthodox. There are Jews who keep kosher for cultural, not Biblical reasons, and those who keep kosher for ecological, health, or some other personally preferred reasons.
Given the diversity of approaches, both communal to various branches of the Synagogue and personal to individual Jewish people, it might not be possible for any one of us to understand all Jewish kosher traditions. But, it is very possible for us to have a better understanding and appreciation for how kosher has been widely followed and approached by the Jewish people at large. For, whether today’s Messianic community is aware of it or not—a great many Jewish kosher traditions are observed by those who claim to only be following Holy Scripture! Many significant interpretations and applications of the Torah’s dietary instructions, as actually instituted by the Rabbinical authorities, are observed by those who even just avoid pork and shellfish in their eating habits.
reproduced from Messianic Kosher Helper
Being Realistic About Kosher
The subject matter of the kosher dietary laws is one which, I have to admit, tends to bring about a wide degree of personal consternation within me when I see it discussed. I do not think that when the issue of kashrut being valid for God’s people in the post-resurrection era, is brought up by contemporary Messianics, it tends to be addressed that well. There are many passages of the Apostolic Scriptures or New Testament which remain quantitatively ignored by those of the pro-kosher side, or are at least addressed in a sub-standard manner, with important details left out (i.e., Mark 7:19; Acts 10, 11; Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 10:24-33; 1 Timothy 4:14-16; Titus 1:14-16; Hebrews 9:8-10; 13:9-10; et. al.). Too many Biblical passages, which may seemingly imply that the kosher dietary laws were intended only for the pre-resurrection era, have been either shuffled off by the wayside, or too overly-simplified, by many teachers and leaders within the Messianic community.
More important to be sure, regarding one’s dietary or eating preferences, is how many on the pro-kosher side can have a tendency to over-magnify the importance of this issue, beyond what is reasonably acceptable. Yeshua Himself said, about eating anything which enters into one’s mouth, “Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is ejected into the sewer? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy” (Matthew 15:17-18, TLV). Yet, there are many Messianic teachers, Hebrew Roots aficionados, and certainly scores of individuals—who either subconsciously or consciously place eating bacon or shrimp, at the same offense level as murder or adultery. They consider themselves to be ethically and morally superior to many of their evangelical Protestant brothers and sisters, because they do not eat the meats classified as unclean or tamei on the lists of Leviticus 11 or Deuteronomy 14—and many have no problem expressing a degree of malice or hatred toward them: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander” (Matthew 15:19, TLV).
Neither my family nor myself, in our Messianic quest—as we come from an evangelical background, have embraced our faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures, and have striven to live more like Messiah Yeshua in obedience to God’s Torah—have denied that the kosher dietary laws have a role in such obedience. We are hardly people, especially serving in full time Messianic ministry, who are going to tell others in our faith community that kosher has been abolished. But, too many on the pro-kosher side have just not made their case. Many of them are tainted by negative attitudes toward those who do not share their convictions, and others have done a sub-standard job at offering some reasonable, alternative explanations in detail, of Biblical passages which have traditionally been viewed as abrogating the dietary laws. Furthermore, not a huge amount of patience or graciousness have been demonstrated toward those trying to implement a kosher or kosher-style diet in on-the-ground life circumstances, and are struggling to do so in various ways—with rigidity rather than reason too often prevailing or being forced upon them.
How do any of us, in a still-emerging and still-maturing Messianic movement, sort through some of the issues regarding “kosher”? How do we get a little more realistic about what we see among the Jewish and non-Jewish Believers within our faith community, remembering that not all people share the same views as we do, and allow for a little more grace and mercy to come forth—rather than any unfair or unnecessary condemnation? How many of our challenges have been caused by an insufficient or under-whelming handling of Bible passages—versus having been caused by an under-whelming level of spiritual maturity on behalf of too many people?
reproduced from Messianic Kosher Helper
How Do We Properly Keep Kosher?
Eating is something every human being must do for survival. Without the ingestion of food into our bodies, we will not receive the nutrients we require to continue living. It may come as a surprise to many of you, but there is no specific commandment in the Bible “to eat.” The fact that people will eat is already assumed by the Biblical authors. However, simply because there is no command “to eat,” does not mean that God does not have some specific instructions on how His people eat. In the Torah, both Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 lay out the main laws of kashrut (pronounced kashrus in the Askhenazic tradition), specifying those animals fit for consumption.
Observing and/or adopting kosher eating habits is admittedly one of the most difficult things for many Messianic people to do. There are many theological arguments made from the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), which when viewed a particular way, can seem to suggest that the importance of the dietary laws was rendered inoperative via the work of Yeshua the Messiah. Once a person has overcome many of these theological hurdles in his or her Messianic quest, and sees the validity of the dietary laws in the Bible and how the Apostles continued to eat a degree of kosher, the question of how one is to follow these instructions in a Twenty-First Century world needs to be asked.
reproduced from Messianic Kosher Helper
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The Last Seder and Yeshua’s Passover Chronology
The season of Passover was my late father’s favorite time of year, because being a licensed lay preacher at Christ United Methodist Church in Florence, KY, Holy Week was the time when he was able to conduct educational Passover seders and expose many evangelical Christians to their Hebraic and Jewish Roots. Kimball McKee was able to show many how Jesus Christ held an intimate Passover seder meal with His Disciples prior to His death as the Lamb of God. He recited some of the various blessings, held up a piece of real unleavened bread or matzah to people who had never seen it before, and explained in a very edifying way the connection between the themes of the Exodus and the Messiah’s work in delivering us from sin. The presentation would end with a communion service completely unlike what any of the attendees had ever participated in before.
I am very blessed to be able to think back on what my father did over thirty years ago, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in helping people see the relevance of Passover to their Christian faith. Looking at what has transpired since, especially that I am now a Bible teacher in the Messianic movement, the Passover is one of the most important aspects of our relationship with God. If we understand the Passover, we understand a huge part of His salvation history plan. Many Jewish people have been able to understand the sacrifice of Yeshua and His atoning work, far more from the typological connections made via the traditional Passover seder, than from the standard Christian traditions of Holy Week. And, many Christians have been stimulated by the Holy Spirit to do far more than just attend a presentation on Passover, or even participate in the yearly seder of a local Messianic Jewish congregation—investigating their connection to the Torah and its commandments even further.
No Messianic person today denies that the Exodus, Passover, and this season of deliverance is important to our faith. It is very important. But over thirty years ago, the controversy which my father witnessed was that there would be a few dissenting voices in the local church about why Christians would be considering something “Jewish.” There would be people, obviously not attending his teaching presentation, who would very much frown upon evangelical Believers hearing about how the message of Jesus was seen in the Passover—even in spite of Paul’s own word, “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7, NASU). Today, in our Messianic faith community, while the relevance of the Passover is not at all questioned, we nevertheless do commonly face some controversies when the Spring holiday season arrives.
What kind of issues present themselves when the Passover season arrives? Would you believe that there are some people in the Messianic community today who do not believe that the Last Supper was a real, or even a kind-of, seder meal? How many of you have been engulfed in the argument that we need to do exactly what Yeshua did, and not any “traditions of men,” making Passover a bit unexciting? While there are longstanding disagreements on halachah between the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish traditions on what is kosher for Passover, think about some of the new Messianic disagreements which have arisen on what actually took place in those days leading up to Yeshua’s betrayal and execution. How long is three days and three nights? Was the Messiah really crucified, or put to death another away? And this is only a short list of what often gets discussed…
Reasonable theological inquiry and discussion are things which are very good, and as a teacher I encourage them. Every maturing Believer has a responsibility to go to the Biblical text, and do his or her best to interpret what is read, and when appropriate consider the relevant extra-Biblical histories or opinions of trusted scholarship. The challenge with much of today’s Messianic generation, though, is that this is often not achieved. Because of the easy access to information on the Internet, blogs, YouTube, or discussion forums—many people, including congregational leaders, get their teachings from less-than-reliable sources. There might be a few things quite necessary for the discussion which get left out, as they may not be found in electronic venues, but rather in (expensive) physical books. Because of this, Messianic leaders and teachers may find the Passover season to have some “issues,” which in the past might not have been issues.
Many Messianic congregations and fellowships truly make Passover into a blessed time for all who are involved. Jewish Believers get to once again connect with various traditions and customs which are familiar to them, being a part of their childhood. Non-Jewish Believers get to consider the Exodus and the deliverance of Ancient Israel in a much more tangible way, that simply reading something from Scripture does not fully convey. Everybody gets to see connections to the gospel message of salvation, which they did not get to see before. Some get to see aspects of deliverance and freedom, beyond that of just salvation from sin—such as helping the oppressed or impoverished—that they might not have thought of. Most of today’s Messianics, including myself, do believe that the Last Supper was some kind of a Passover seder meal. For many of those same, when we “eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28, NASU), we are each reminded of many meaningful and supernatural things at such a solemn point in our commemoration.
I will not hide the truth from you: there are debates among interpreters as to what actually took place in the final moments prior to Yeshua’s arrest. No one is fully agreed as to whether or not the Last Supper was a seder meal, or the exact day on which the Lord was executed. There are disputes over whether three days and three nights is a full 72 hours, a little over 36 hours, or some other time interval. Some of today’s Messianic leaders (even myself at times), quite sadly, have looked at the Passover season with a little bit of dread—not because of its great themes of salvation from sin, deliverance from bondage, etc.—but because there will be debates over issues like the Passover chronology, which in all likelihood may never be fully solved. They want the Passover week to end as quickly as possible, and get back to the normal routine. (Of course, even this is a bit of wishful thinking, considering the fifty-day counting of the omer, and whether it is to begin on the 16th of Nisan or the first Sunday after the weekly Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.)
We may not have all of the information which we need to support, with one-hundred percent accuracy, the opinions which we hold. And what happens when we get so focused on the minutiae of the chronology of the Last Supper, trial, execution, and resurrection of the Lord? We run the risk of forgetting about the substance of what took place. It is a salvation requirement that we affirm that Yeshua died and was resurrected (Romans 10:9); it is not a salvation requirement that we affirm that it took place on a particular day of the week, or even at a specific hour, minute, and second of the day.
I want all of us as Messianic people to step back from our opinions for a moment, and focus first on what we can agree upon. I think we can all agree that the substance of what we need to be considering is found in Peter’s summary,
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Yeshua the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24, NASU).
We all agree that believing in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua is what is essential to our faith. I would submit that our attention during this season of Passover needs to be focused more on the severity of what took place, so we do not forget what the Lord has accomplished for us. If we can all recognize how He was scourged for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5), then we should be able to reasonably offer some proposals for how it took place. The patterns of prophetic fulfillment admittedly might not be found in some nice little package with a big bow, or seen in a chart with 0 and 1s accuracy. We have to consider the perspectives of all four Gospels, and also recognize that Twentieth and Twenty-First Century vantage points of specificity are not the same as those of ancient times. We also have to recognize the uniqueness of the year Yeshua died, and how in the years following things returned to their relatively normal routine.
This article will consider various aspects of what many call the “Passion Week,” or the final days before Yeshua’s execution: the Last Supper meal, His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His trial and humiliation, and His crucifixion and death, then followed by His resurrection. While I will be interjecting some of my own thoughts and opinions as to how and when this took place, we should be more concerned with recapturing an appreciation for what actually occurred, recognizing the timing of it as secondary.
During the Passover season, some of today’s Messianic teachers and leaders could make all sorts of dogmatic conclusions regarding Yeshua’s Passover chronology—but not enough reflective thoughts on what He endured, and how His followers should live in response to His atoning work as faithful men and women of God, will probably be offered. We should hope to see this trend altered. It should be our desire to probe the multiple aspects of how Paul asserts, “Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and…He was buried, and…He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, NASU).
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
Is Sunday “the Lord’s Day“?
It appears on countless church bulletins, newsletters, and is frequently referred to by many Christians, both Protestants and Catholics. It is “the Lord’s Day,” believed to be Sunday when most Christians believe that Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was resurrected from the dead. Because of Yeshua resurrecting from the dead on this day, Christians assemble in worship, some to obey the Forth Commandment: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12). Other Christians believe that the Fourth Commandment has been annulled and are of the position that they should observe Sunday, as was the pattern of the Second and Third Century Church.
We as Messianic Believers come into direct contrast with many Christians because we do not observe this “Lord’s Day,” as they call it. We keep the Biblical seventh-day Sabbath or Shabbat, the day of rest that God established for His people going back to the start of human history (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:11).
Some uninformed Christians may accuse Messianic people of being legalistic about Shabbat, perhaps implying that because we do not assemble on Sunday, as they do, that we cannot be true Believers. (Many others simply do not understand what Shabbat is all about.) Various claims issued against us can be very serious because we do believe in the shed blood of the Messiah as being our sin covering, and that salvation comes by grace through faith. However, obeying God should come as fruit of a true salvation experience. Christians who may accuse Messianic people who keep God’s Sabbath as not being “saved” are on extremely dangerous ground—coming against things that He, not mortals, have established. Messianics today keep the Sabbath because Yeshua Himself did.
It has never been my position to criticize Christians unfairly or “attack back,” as might some Messianic people when Christians tell them that they are “trying to earn their salvation” or somehow committing sacrilege, often relating to Shabbat. However, we do have a very definite position on why we should keep the Biblical Sabbath, and not “the Lord’s Day” as instituted by those who came after our Lord. This needs to be discussed in a fair and reasonable manner, where Messianics are given a hearing.
Let us detail what the Creator God has established for humanity, and answer some of the major claims given by Christians as to why we should not keep the Biblical Sabbath. We will examine the fact that Messiah Yeshua’s atoning work does not annul the Sabbath, and why He did not break it during His ministry on Earth. We will also discuss why Sunday, or the first day, is not really “the Lord’s Day.”
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
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Matthew 5:17-19: Has the Law Been Fulfilled?
Matthew 5:17-19, which prefaces the Sermon on the Mount which follows, are some of the most important verses of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) for today’s Messianic movement. These verses speak of the Messiah’s intent to fulfill, and not abolish, the Mosaic Law. But what does it mean that the Messiah was to come and fulfill the Law? Does it just pertain, as is commonly thought, to the prophetic agenda of accomplishment which has been realized by the Messiah’s arrival? Or, is there a multi-layered dynamic of the Messiah’s coming to “fulfill” the Torah, which must be taken into consideration? Has the Law been “fulfilled and thus abolished,” as many people today conclude? If this is in error, then what might need to be corrected in some Believers’ view of the Torah?
Immediately prior to stating that His intention was to fulfill the Law, Yeshua told His audience that they were the light of the world, responsible for spreading light to all in the world (Matthew 5:14-15). The Lord said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NASU), and He proceeded to speak on how His ministry had come to fulfill the Torah. The Sermon on the Mount itself was deeply rooted within the instruction of the Torah and Tanach, the Old Testament; it either expanded and deepened principles originally given by Moses and the Prophets, or clarified some First Century misunderstandings of their teachings. Nowhere do we see in Matthew chs. 5-7 any kind of explicit denial of the relevance and supernatural inspiration of the Tanach Scriptures. On the contrary, now that the Messiah has arrived, their importance for guiding men and women of faith into greater holiness is only intensified.
Various evangelical Protestants today, who read Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount, admittedly struggle when they encounter Matthew 5:17-19. The Messiah’s explicit claim in coming to fulfill, and not abolish His Father’s Instruction in the Torah, is something which they wrestle with. Much of today’s contemporary Christian theology has asserted that at best, the Law of Moses was something for a previous era, and it is not something which has continued validity in the post-resurrection age. Is this a conclusion which aligns with the Messiah’s own words on the matter? Thankfully, there are Christian people today who do think that the Mosaic Law has various degrees of validity for New Covenant Believers, and will recognize that the contemporary Church’s widescale dismissal of the Torah has not at all aided it. Some kind of return and re-appreciation of the Torah needs to be enacted.
Yet even while many evangelicals will agree in principle that the smallest stroke of the Torah is to not lose importance—how are born again Believers to uphold its authority? Does it mean that they are to follow more than just the Ten Commandments, and other ethical and moral statutes? Does it mean that commandments typically classified as being “ceremonial” should be considered relevant too? What does it mean that those who teach from the Torah will be considered “great” in the Kingdom of God?
These three short verses have been responsible for convicting many of today’s Believers that they need to reconsider prior positions held about the Law of Moses. The Holy Spirit has used Matthew 5:17-19 to convict many evangelical Protestants to return to a foundational understanding of the Torah, leading them into the Messianic movement and setting them on a course of wider Torah obedience. Many Messianic Jews, especially if they were raised in a liberal Reform Judaism, have also been stimulated by the thrust of Matthew 5:17-19, to take the Torah and their Jewish heritage a bit more seriously (especially in lieu of their possible testimony to fellow Jewish family members, and the false belief that believing in Jesus means that one’s Jewishness gets jettisoned).
Like many of today’s Messianics, I believe that the Torah remains relevant instruction for God’s people today. I believe that part of being salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16) means being Torah obedient as the Messiah was Torah obedient—foremost in how we love others. Yet, our Messianic faith community probably throws Matthew 5:17-19 around a little too much, without really probing what it has directed Messiah followers to understand. I think it is appropriate that we take a closer look at Yeshua’s teaching on the validity of the Torah, not only recognizing how He emphasized its ongoing importance, but that we engage with an array of opinions present in Matthean scholarship. Is it possible that we have overlooked, over-emphasized, or under-emphasized any of the various dimensions in how our Savior “fulfills” the Torah?
reproduced from The New Testament Validates Torah
Men and Women: Answering Evangelical Questions
Anyone who receives a broad-based theological education today, will quickly find that there are a number of issues upon which scholars, congregational leaders, and laypersons not only disagree about—but will starkly divide over. One of the biggest, divisive issues in contemporary evangelical Protestant theology, involves women in ministry. There are denominations which support females serving alongside of males as co-leaders of the assembly, ordained as pastors, and there are other denominations which strongly oppose females serving in such a capacity. When it comes to marital relationships, there are those who believe that a husband leads the family while the wife follows behind him, and there are others who support partnership marriages where husband and wife are co-leaders of the family.
More books, articles, analyses, refutations, counter-refutations, blogs, and op-ed pieces, have been composed on men and women in the Body of Messiah, than one frequently knows what to do with! Over the years, I have gathered and collected many pieces of information on debates over women in ministry, husbands and wives in marriage, and the differing and complex feelings of people involved—which have certainly overwhelmed me at times. As someone who likes to be well-informed and logically sort through the different perspectives involving a debate like how males and females should relate to one another in the community of God—I have had to definitely pace myself and choose my words carefully. Like many on both sides of the discussion, I have been affected by emotionalism, and cannot say that I have never been offended by some of the positions I have seen represented or opinions expressed. I have also wondered how in the world I should best present the relevant issues to those, who are not too familiar with the main components of the theological debate.
Evangelical Christian complementarianism (equal in value, separate in roles) is an ideology which on the whole, has been responsible for seeing many capable females being restricted from not only high leadership positions in the Body of Messiah, but also placed into a distant, secondary role in the family. Evangelical Christian egalitarianism (equal in value, open in opportunities) has helped to see many capable females raised up as leaders and teachers, and has also greatly enhanced the effectiveness of many marriages, where husbands and wives share leadership responsibilities, and look out for each other as equal partners. Each position, for sure, thinks that its point of view is the one which is more Biblical and edifying. Certainly, there are many different interrelated topics and issues associated with males and females in the Body of Messiah, regarding sexual conduct, dating and courtship, as well as divorce and remarriage. However, the considerable bulk of discussions involving men and women concern leadership and teaching within the ekklēsia, and how husbands and wives are to relate to one another within the family. Has a complementarian ideology truly aided contemporary evangelicalism, or is an egalitarian ideology something especially worthy of consideration?
reproduced from Men and Women in the Body of Messiah: Answering Crucial Questions
Men and Women: Answering Messianic Questions
Many people in today’s broad Messianic community are willing to question just about everything. There are ongoing debates as to whether or not Yeshua the Messiah is genuinely God, or if He is just a supernatural yet ultimately created being. There are people who believe in doctrines such as psychopannychy (“soul sleep”) and annihilation. There are discussions about the origin of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), and whether they were originally written in Hebrew or Greek, and what texts should be considered canonical or spurious. There are people who think it is acceptable to include Medieval Jewish mysticism as a part of their regimen of Bible study, considering the Kabbalah to be “okay.” There are people who try to synthesize every single saying of Yeshua the Messiah with the Jewish Sages of many centuries later—and then there are those who want nothing to do with the Jewish Sages. There are those who have put together their own restored “Biblical calendars.” There are even people you will encounter, from time to time, who believe that Planet Earth is a flat disk and not a sphere. And of course, may we never forget all of the ongoing and increasingly diverse series of end-time prognostications we encounter…
Certainly with some of the open-mindedness and variance of opinion “out there”—on a whole host of issues—mainstream discussions and debates taking place in academic Jewish and Christian settings, would seemingly be permitted. It has to be observed, in my family’s quarter century of being a part of the Messianic movement (since 1995), that there is one huge issue which Messianic people, congregational leaders, and teachers of note are seldom willing to discuss or evaluate. In fact, this issue is often considered to be off-limits, if not completely verboten. In spite of there being a range of issues that Messianic people feel free to discuss—including at times strongly questioning the Divinity of Yeshua—it is odd that contemporary discussions over men and women in the Body of Messiah, and specifically women in ministry, cannot frequently be brought up. If there are people we may encounter in our midst who think that certain books of the New Testament might not be too inspired of God, then surely we can discuss whether or not husbands and wives should be co-leaders of their families, and whether or not males and females can be co-leaders of the local assembly.
reproduced from Men and Women in the Body of Messiah: Answering Crucial Questions
Answering the “Frequently Avoided Questions” About the Messiahship of Yeshua
The Messianic community of faith presently finds itself at a very serious crossroads, not just a crossroads in determining its long term purpose and where it is going to be in the next few decades, but most seriously in its theology and how we are to approach the Bible. The enemy desperately wants us to get off course and away from the mission of seeing the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel accomplished (Acts 1:6). He does not want to be a movement of positive change and transformation, where people are empowered by the Lord to accomplish His tasks in the world—but rather be one of mischief, confusion, and apostasy. The enemy wants us to seriously “mess up” and gain a bad reputation so that people will (rightly) stay away.
One of the most significant ways that this has happened since the early 2000s, has been seen when various Messianic individuals deny the Divinity of Yeshua the Messiah. There have been both Messianic teachers and laypersons who have decided that Yeshua the Messiah was nothing more than a human being empowered by God, but certainly not God in the flesh. They have stripped away the reality of His Incarnation, and made Him little more than a mortal like one of “us.”
It is not all that surprising, but among a significant number of those who deny Yeshua’s Divinity are those who later deny His Messiahship. Not content with their entirely human Yeshua, these people then question whether or not Yeshua is even the Messiah and whether they truly need Him. Outsiders to the Messianic community who witness this trend, often believe that the Messianic movement is not something that God has raised up to restore the lost Hebraic and Jewish Roots of the faith, or even just see a generation of Jewish people brought to Yeshua—but rather is a move of the Adversary to lead people away from the salvation available in Yeshua and the truth of the good news. Is this truly the case? Are we nothing more than a revolving door, leading people into our midst for a short season, and then into the open arms of a Messiah-less Synagogue?
What are some of the “frequently avoided questions” about Yeshua’s Messiahship that we must answer to prevent any further apostasy? How might the issue of Yeshua’s Messiahship shake us out of our complacency in other areas of theology?
reproduced from Confronting Yeshua’s Divinity and Messiahship
How Do We Know that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah?
Why do any of us believe that Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, is the prophesied Messiah of Israel? As I have asked this question among many people in today’s Messianic movement over the years—while I have found many people who have sincerely done their homework, and have investigated various Tanach prophecies and Second Temple Jewish expectations—I have found far many more who will give subjective answers based on their supernatural experiences. While it is commendable for us to know that on a particular date we were cleansed of our sins and redeemed by the atoning work of Yeshua, our supernatural experiences can never be used as a substitute for theologically processing why we believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. When visiting the synagogue in Berea, it is said that the people “received the message with goodwill, searching the Scriptures each day to see whether these things were true” (Acts 17:11, TLV). They heard the message that the Messiah of Israel had arrived, and they checked it against the Tanach. Unfortunately for far too many of today’s Believers, we have simply been given Yeshua as the Messiah, and have not been forced into thinking through why we should even place our trust in Him.
Today’s Messianic community is a venue for Jewish outreach and evangelism. Unlike more customary Protestant evangelism, where the main purpose is to reach out with the love of the Lord to a hurting world beset by sin—the Messianic community has to go further, in invoking the First Century dynamics of “God brought to Israel a Savior—Yeshua” (Acts 13:23, TLV), in actualy proving to some significant degree that Yeshua is the anticipated Messiah. For most of today’s Messianic people, when presenting and/or defending the Messiahship of Yeshua of Nazareth, they will find themselves mainly resorting to various “proof texts” of Messianic prophecy. While not at all improper, many of us have little or no understanding as to why, and most especially how, the concept of a Messiah had developed by the period of Second Temple Judaism. We do not often consider how at various points, particularly crisis moments, in Biblical history, the concept of a Messiah who would resolve the problems of Israel and humanity, would substantially advance.
Many of today’s Messianic people are involved in Jewish outreach and evangelism via their local congregation, and/or one of the many opportunities available through a major ministry operating in Israel or in a large Diaspora Jewish sector. These people do tend to be prepared, somewhat, for having to explain why they believe that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel. Others, however, who are interested in Jewish outreach, may not be as adequately prepared. More disturbing, to be sure, would be those in positions of Messianic congregational leadership and teaching, who are not as well equipped as they ought to be, regarding the Messiahship of Yeshua of Nazareth. Fortunately, regardless of where we have been in our individual studies, the Lord will use circumstances to focus our attention on the necessary investigations that we need to undertake, in order to be ready to best declare the good news of Israel’s Messiah to His Jewish people.
At one point in your Messianic experience, it is likely that you have encountered different materials or books or social media circulate in your local assembly, which at least questions whether or not Yeshua of Nazareth is the prophesied Messiah. It is no more inappropriate to ask whether Yeshua is the Messiah, than it is inappropriate to ask whether or not there is a God. All of us, in trying to figure out who we are as spiritual human beings, need to ask the question of whether Yeshua is the Messiah. Not infrequently, in thinking themselves to be prepared to speak of the good news of Yeshua to various Orthodox Jews, for example, one can encounter various Messianic people begin to seriously question whether He is truly the Messiah of Israel. When you see Messianics being influenced more by the people they are hoping to influence, it is a serious cause for concern. Every person, Jewish or non-Jewish, who is a part of today’s Messianic movement, is a target for being influenced by the Jewish anti-missionary movement: Jewish groups whose mission it is to specifically speak out against the Messiahship of Yeshua of Nazareth.
What do we do when any of us hear some seemingly convincing arguments against Yeshua being the Messiah? Whether we realize it or not, the Lord does not intend us to cover our ears, hide under our beds, and hum very loudly as though we did not hear anything. Instead, this is a time for us to learn, to truly consider why we believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, and to have theological confirmation in our minds of what we know in our hearts. Believe it or not, this is not something limited to an individual here or there; this is a group effort. The belief that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel is something that Messianic congregations are to boldly declare to the Jewish community and to the world. But what does your congregation, fellowship, or study group do about this?
Does your assembly regularly have Shabbat messages, during the main service, on the Messiahship of Yeshua? Some Messianic congregations certainly do, but some Messianic congregations do not. What is the location of your assembly and its demographic profile? Some Messianic congregations’ leadership are able to fairly balance the main Messianic mission of Jewish outreach and evangelism, while at the same time welcoming in non-Jewish Believers wanting to take hold of their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures. Yet, some Messianic congregations can be so utterly overwhelmed with non-Jewish people, that the assembly becomes more about Hebrew Roots or Jewish Roots or Torah study, than it does about Jewish evangelism. A congregation focused on Jewish evangelism, will by necessity be teaching its people about the Messiahship of Yeshua. None of us wants to be open season for a personal visit from a Jewish anti-missionary, and see our faith shaken, when hearing claims against Yeshua—because little or no study on the Messiahship of Yeshua of Nazareth has been conducted.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
The Significance of the Messiah Event
If you were to ask a great number of contemporary Messianic people—but most especially those within the (rather legalistic) One Torah/One Law sub-movement—what the most important event in human history has been, you are probably going to be told that it was the giving of the Torah to Ancient Israel on Mount Sinai. There is no doubting, to be sure, that the Exodus of the Ancient Israelites from Egypt, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the codification of the Torah or Pentateuch, is absolutely imperative to understand and appreciate Biblical history and God’s plan of redemption for humanity. Up until the First Century C.E., the Exodus and the giving of the Torah was, without question, the most important event in human history. Yet as Paul would say in Romans 3:21, “But now God’s righteousness apart from the Torah has been revealed, to which the Torah and the Prophets bear witness” (TLV). Previously, God’s righteous vindication had been principally seen in the event of the deliverance of His people via the Exodus—but later His righteousness would be seen in an event quite distinct from the recorded history of the Torah, but something most imperatively testified to come by the witness and typologies of the Torah and Prophets.
Given the significance of the Exodus of Ancient Israel and the giving of the Torah, for much of the Biblical narrative of both the Tanach and Apostolic Scriptures—is there at all an event in human history which can exceed its importance? Yes! Romans 3:22 further speaks of “the righteousness of God through putting trust in Messiah Yeshua, to all who keep on trusting” (TLV). If the genitive clause (case indicating possession) pisteōs Iēsou Christou is taken as a subjective genitive, then the verse reads as “the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah for all those who believe; for there is no distinction” (author’s rendering), as the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah should be taken to represent His obedience to the Father unto death, to provide permanent atonement for the sin of all human beings.
Outreach Israel Ministries and Messianic Apologetics have always held to the truth that the most important event in human history is the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. The significance of the Messiah event is imperative for each of us to contemplate, because without it we would have no permanent atonement and forgiveness available for our sins. The Messiah event is to be what decisively defines us as men and women who have acknowledged Yeshua (Jesus) as our Redeemer and King. This reality is to be what we recognize as the climax of salvation history, to perhaps be only surpassed by the future arrival of the Eternal State itself.
reproduced from the Messianic Torah Helper
Introduction to Things Messianic
In studying the Bible, many Christians unfortunately find themselves only reading the New Testament or the Apostolic Scriptures. Although these important Scriptures speak of the gospel message, testify to the works of our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), and speak of issues that the First Century Believers had to contend with, these writings comprise less than one-third of the Bible. Those whose focus is almost exclusively in this part of the Bible can have an unbalanced approach to our Creator and His plan for the ages.
Although the Messianic Scriptures were written down in Greek, their very nature is Hebraic. The figure who authored more than half of these writings was the Apostle Paul, a Rabbinical scholar who studied with Gamaliel (Acts 22:3; Philippians 3:5), a revered sage of Judaism (b.Megillah 21a).
Our Messiah Himself was a Hebrew, as are many of His expressions and sayings. Consider the following examples:
“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29, NASU).
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23, NASU).
The above quotations are just two examples of the Hebraic nature of our Savior’s teachings. In theological studies they are generally referred to as Hebraisms or Semitisms in the Biblical text. For centuries, readers have debated verses such as those above. Many have been confused. Do they require such a literal viewpoint that demands a physical “plucking out” of eyes? Not at all. To a First Century Jew, the eye can mean more than just an organ with which one sees. It can be a person’s mind, emotions, will, or good sense, depending on the context. There can be a very deep meaning to Yeshua’s statements when one understands that there is an Hebraic nature behind them. This is where the Messianic movement steps in and where a First Century Jewish perspective of the Scriptures is crucial.
Although the Messianic movement is composed of people from many theological traditions: largely Conservative and Reform Judaism, and evangelical Protestantism, the emphasis concerning the ancient roots of our faith in the Messiah is very important concerning the times in which we live. In the 1970s or 1980s, if one uttered the name “Yeshua,” very few would have known who, or for that matter, what the person was talking about. However, many evangelical Believers by the late 1990s and early 2000s became aware of the fact that Yeshua is the original Hebrew name of the Messiah. Why has this come about? Because many have realized the fact that understanding the Jewish Roots of our faith is important.
Why is it important to understand our collective faith heritage in the Scriptures of Israel, the Tanach or Old Testament? Yeshua the Messiah is returning to Jerusalem and the gates of New Jerusalem are named after the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:10-12). The Apostle Paul himself said that if one is in the Messiah, he or she is a part of the Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-12) or the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). Our faith in Messiah Yeshua is undeniably connected to Israel and to the Jewish people, as it was indeed regarded as a sect of Second Temple Judaism (cf. Acts 24:14). Knowing about the origins of our faith is imperative if we are to return to truly having an “Apostolic theology.”
Knowing about “things Messianic” and distinctively Hebraic is the first step toward having a more wholistic view of our faith, from Genesis to Revelation. By understanding the Hebraic origins of our faith, many of the obscure parts of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) should begin to become clear and take on a new depth, as Bible students consider their background and the lifestyle practices of the first Believers in Yeshua. The first Believers in the Messiah lived out the missional expectations of the Tanach or Old Testament in evangelizing the ancient world (Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 4:6; Isaiah 42:6; 49:6), something that we are to surely continue today.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
What Does It Mean to Participate in a Messianic Congregation?
Many of us have been told, in our spiritual experiences, and rightfully so, that “There are no Lone Ranger Believers!” Each one of us needs to be in regular fellowship and accountability with fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, to whom we are not familialy related. By being in weekly fellowship with other Believers, be it during a congregational Shabbat service, and/or some other weekly gathering for prayer or Bible study, we can more consciously appreciate the thrust of Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another” (NRSV). It was actually reported of the first Messianic Believers in the Book of Acts, that “all who believed were together, having everything in common” (Acts 2:44, TLV). The first Messianic Believers, in the emergent Body of Messiah, were a very tight knit group of people—so much so that others generously provided for the needs of those who were lacking. Due to the relatively small size of today’s Messianic movement, Believers functioning in closer quarters, being aware of the life activities and pursuits of others for certain—and able to be there as spiritual support mechanisms during times of difficulty—are dynamics that we frequently encounter.
Each one of us, who find ourselves attending a Messianic congregation or assembly, brings our own series of expectations, needs, and wants. Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah have certain needs—and indeed requirements—as they involve the local Messianic congregation not only being a “safe space” for them to maintain their Jewish heritage and traditions, not assimilating into a non-Jewish Christianity, but most especially as a place where they can bring their non-believing family and friends to be presented with the good news of Yeshua. Non-Jewish Believers called into today’s Messianic movement, from evangelical Protestant backgrounds, bring a selection of needs as they become involved in Messianic congregations. Some of these concern a genuine, supernatural compulsion to reconnect with their spiritual heritage in Israel’s Scriptures, participate in Jewish outreach and evangelism, and to some degree reproduce the First Century experience of Jewish and non-Jewish Believers fellowshipping in one accord in mixed assemblies. Other non-Jewish Believers entering into the Messianic movement, do so only for a season, usually being attracted to Messianic congregations because of the music, Davidic dance, intriguing teaching, or the food—but then later move on to something else.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
My Family’s Messianic Experience: 1995-2022
Where we are today in our relationship with the Lord, our comprehension of His Word, and our understanding of His plans for history—needs to be substantially different then when we first came to salvation and were initially growing in faith. When this resource, Introduction to Things Messianic, was initially released in 2005 as a spiral-combed volume, I had spent less than two years in full-time ministry, and had just started classes at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. When this resource was released into paperback in 2009, I had just graduated from seminary, and so I logically made some updates to the material, reflective of some of my new skills, and what I had learned in my studies. Now (2022), it has been over seventeen years since Introduction to Things Messianic was first released. Much has changed for me, both professionally and personally—and much has changed for the Messianic faith community which I am still definitely a part of.
Many of you have just reviewed a series of chapters which discuss various aspects of Messianic theology and the Messianic lifestyle. It is very easy to recognize that a great deal has happened within the Messianic sphere of influence, when these materials were first written, and even later updated. How are we to best consider what has taken place within the Messianic movement over the past quarter century or so, in order to properly consider where we are moving, and what we think the Lord intends to do with us? As I have seriously thought and prayed about the best way to discuss the Messianic condition, and what some of you might encounter—as you might just be entering into things Messianic—it is best that I simply take you through some of the journey that I have been on.
What you are about to review is my personal experience, not just as an individual, but also as a Messianic teacher and leader. Do I believe, as I am frequently asked, that the Messianic movement is something that every single non-Jewish Believer from an evangelical Protestant background needs to be a part of? Likely not. I believe that at this point in the development of the Messianic movement, its mission, and its future—that if you are a non-Jewish Believer you have to be specially called, summoned, and possibly even assigned by our Heavenly Father to be a part of this special, unique, but also challenging faith community. There is an idealism that many have when reconnecting to their faith heritage in the Scriptures of Israel, and in being genuinely blessed and enriched by the seventh-day Sabbath/Shabbat, the appointed times or moedim, a kosher style of diet, and the discipline of regular Torah study. Within several years, though, this idealism can quickly dissipate, as the realities of the Messianic movement being a still-maturing and developing move of God will set in.
Please allow me to do my best, in guiding you through our family’s Messianic experience from 1995-2022. Revelation 12:11a states of the future end-time Believers, “they overcame…because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony” (NASU). With this noted, perhaps by reviewing my testimony of persevering in things Messianic—something which has not always been easy for us the past twenty-seven years—you will know more about the faith community you are either already a part of on some level, or the Lord is prompting you to considering joining in a significant way. What you are about to read is, in no uncertain terms, my own experience and “take” on things Messianic. The experiences, feelings, and thoughts of others you may read or encounter in today’s Messianic community, might be a little different. However, this is probably the most practical and reasonable way that I can guide you through some of the blessings, hopes, but also anxieties and fears that many people, who enter into the Messianic community from an evangelical background, tend to go through.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
Adopting a Messianic Lifestyle
Up to this point in our study introducing the Messianic movement, we have examined some of the aspects of Messianic theology and lifestyle practice. Some of the most obvious differences, between your standard evangelical Protestant Believer and Messianic Believer, is that Messianics believe themselves to be associated to the community of Israel and not part of a separate “Church”; Messianics believe in the continued validity of the Torah or Law of Moses for God’s people; and all Messianic Believers tend to know that future events concerning the restoration of Israel in the Last Days will somehow involve their participation. It is imperative that before we move forward that we discuss the various aspects of the Messianic lifestyle, steps which you need to take if you are new to all this, challenges which you will face, and the appropriate attitude which you should have should you be criticized.
You should be motivated to pursue Messianic things first and foremost, because the Holy Spirit has convicted you and personally shown you that there is indeed “something” to all of this. You have been Divinely called into the sphere of “things Messianic.” Your motivation should be wanting to get the most out of your relationship with the God of Israel, pursuing full compliance with Holy Scripture, and living as a disciple of Messiah Yeshua. You should be motivated out of a strong desire to grow and mature in your faith, and because you are not satisfied with having a stagnant faith. You want to know more about the mysteries of God, and indeed know God better yourself, being more sensitive to His leading. You want to be an active participant in the salvation of the Jewish people and redemption of Israel.
It is likely that a majority of you, as readers, come from an evangelical Protestant background, as I do. As such, we need to recognize the fact that regardless of what denominational tradition we came from, that denomination had both truth and error. The Protestant Reformation was birthed out of the inherent need for the ekklēsia to return to a strong Scriptural foundation and eliminate any non-Biblical, Roman Catholic practices from the faith. This was certainly accomplished to a large extent as your conservative, Bible believing Protestant denominations do not practice Mary veneration, prayers to the saints, confession to a priest, a belief in purgatory, and veneration of images—among other things. Bible believing evangelicals rightly teach that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the only way to salvation. They rightly teach that we must receive Him into our lives for the forgiveness of our sins and that we must emulate Him and His love.
The challenge which people face is the fact that when you are completely honest, and you recognize who the Messiah actually is, you recognize that as the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1) that He embodies all of Scripture in His teachings, actions, and deeds—and He in no way contradicts it. The foundation of all of Scripture is found in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible more commonly called the Law of Moses or Pentateuch. One thing that the Messianic movement emphasizes quite strongly is a return to a Torah foundation in our faith. When an inquisitive evangelical Believer begins to study the Torah on a consistent basis, and then begins to examine the Messiah’s words in light of the Torah’s instruction, he or she often has many questions. The person’s understanding of our Lord’s ministry and teachings may be challenged. This is because the person does not see Yeshua contradicting the Torah, but rather living it out properly (cf. Matthew chs. 5-7). This runs contrary to much of contemporary Christian theology, which teaches that the Messiah came to abolish the Law—when in fact the Messiah upholding the Law is one of the definite proofs of His Messiahship (cf. Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-3; Romans 3:31).
The biggest challenge that a person will face as he or she enters into the Messianic movement, is encountering criticisms regarding the Messianic lifestyle. This is different from one’s theology concerning God’s elect or Torah study or even the end-times. The criticism which you will face regards how you practice your faith on a daily basis, and the actions which others see you perform (cf. Matthew 5:16).
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
The Messianic Mission
Why are any of us involved in today’s Messianic movement? The answers that we might provide to this question are likely varied, and they each involve a number of distinct life circumstances and encounters. Hopefully the main answer that each of us would have to this question is: God wants us here. If you are a Jewish person raised with a knowledge that your ancestors definitely stood at the base of Mount Sinai, hearing the Ten Words from the Almighty, then you have found your promised Messiah and may be considered a completed Jew. If you are a non-Jewish person, likely raised in an evangelical Protestant home, then you have connected with your Hebraic Roots in the ancient Scriptures of Israel, your Jewish Roots in the Synagogue, and have joined with your Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters in an important move which will culminate in the return of Israel’s Messiah.
My family has been involved in the Messianic movement since 1995, has been called into full time Messianic educational ministry since 2003—and in the process we have encountered many valuable, but also varied, approaches to what the Lord is doing in this hour. For many of today’s Messianic Jews, the modern Messianic movement has been a significant lifeline, not only as a faith community where they do not have to give up on their Jewish heritage as Believers in Israel’s Messiah, assimilating into the larger pot or tossed salad of non-Jewish Christianity—but where they can anticipate being part of a significant salvation historical trajectory, involving not only the salvation of many more of their fellow Jews, but the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel as anticipated by the Disciples (Acts 1:6). For many of today’s non-Jewish Believers, specially called by the Lord into the Messianic movement at this phase of its development, the Messianic movement has provided them a venue to not only tangibly partake of things like the Passover seder or a weekly Shabbat rest, but for them to connect with the Tanach (Old Testament) and the ways of Yeshua and His first followers in a very significant manner.
The Scriptures direct us regarding the truth of how, “Without a prophetic vision, the people throw off all restraint” (Proverbs 29:18, CJB/CJSB). At the close of the 2010s, it is fairly witnessed that many people across the Messianic spectrum have their own view(s) about what the Messianic movement is all about, or will become. Far too frequently, the perspectives that people have regarding the future vision, mission, or purpose of the Messianic movement are a bit too individualistic, meaning that they do not tend to take into account what God is doing with the corporate Body of Messiah. Many of us are conditioned by a modern Western mindset which is so hyper-individualistic, that we think that our faith in God only concerns our individual selves and God—and not our individual selves, our fellow brothers and sisters in the Messiah of Israel, and God’s Kingdom purposes for this hour. In Romans 12:1, the Believers were actually admonished to look at themselves not as individual living sacrifices, but as individuals making up a corporate living sacrifice: “I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (TLV). If there is any big difference between Judaism and Protestantism, it is that the former will emphasize the interconnectivity of the people of God involved in the purposes of God, as they anticipate the world to come.
The Prophet Habakkuk was communicated Divine messages from the God of Israel, who directed him to record His word, with it stressed that what was to take place would take place: “Write down the vision, make it plain on the tablets, so that the reader may run with it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time. It hastens to the end and will not fail. If it should be slow in coming, wait for it, for it will surely come—it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, TLV). This chazon or vision would only take place at the Lord’s pre-determined “season” (YLT), yet it would be up to the people of God to have the perseverance for God’s plan to take shape on God’s timetable. Many of us, Jewish and non-Jewish alike—with our many gifts, talents, and skills endowed by our Creator—are indeed part of the end-time move of God. But it is also required of us to know how we got to this point in history, so that we can be effective and not grow weary, with the work and labor that are necessary as we see this unique and special Messianic movement enter into its own.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
Navigating Through a Very Small Messianic Movement
Many of us, at some significant point or another, have been greatly touched by the sentiments of Ephesians 3:17-19: “that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God” (author’s rendering). What Paul communicates here is that the love of Messiah is something which is broad and deep, and is undoubtedly something which will take a great deal of effort for Messiah followers to fully comprehend. A parallel passage to this would be Job 11:7-9:
“Can you discover the mysteries of God? Can you find the limits of Shaddai? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea” (TLV).
Our God is big, in comparison to us small mortals. Given the greatness and majesty of God and His love for us—and our finality—we should each, as maturing Believers in Israel’s Messiah, be able to give others some space and maneuverability as they advance in their understanding of Him and His ways. Throughout a great deal of religious history, both Jewish and Protestant, people have been able to give others—particularly with those whom they might disagree on secondary and tertiary issues—the room that they need to accomplish the particular work or vocation they believe that they have been given by God. This is especially true of the different denominations and theological sectors of Protestantism, which is large enough to permit for there to be differences of opinion on various issues and for people to be spread out or part sufficiently so there are not unnecessary clashes or incidents.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
The Wild and Wonderful World of the Broad Messianic Movement
Any one of us, who has read the Gospels and Acts, is undeniably struck by the fact that the message of the arrival of Israel’s Messiah, was first proclaimed to the Jewish people—and the necessity of proclaiming the good news to today’s Jewish people is hardly on the spiritual radar of contemporary evangelicalism. With a handful of exceptions (i.e., Matthew 8:9; Luke 7:8), the quantitative declaration of the good news, to those of the nations, did not take place until after Peter’s vision in Acts ch. 10. Of course, as a Tanach prophecy like Isaiah 49:6 would declare, “It is too trifling a thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. So I will give You as a light for the nations, that You should be My salvation to the end of the earth” (TLV). However, given some of the controversies regarding the inclusion of Greek and Roman Believers in the First Century Body of Messiah—particularly as seen in parts of Galatians and Romans—many of the Jewish Believers did not consider the anticipated restoration of Israel’s Kingdom (Acts 1:6) to be intertwined with the salvation of people from the masses of humanity.
History has borne out that by the mid-First Century, more people from the nations at large were receiving Israel’s Messiah, than the Messiah’s own Jewish people. In Romans chs. 9-11, the Apostle Paul was distraught over the widescale dismissal of Yeshua by his fellow Jews, but did recognize that it had to be a part of God’s plan. Non-Jewish Believers would have a responsibility, though, of provoking Jewish people to jealousy for faith in Yeshua (Romans 11:11), not be arrogant against the natural branches (Romans 11:18), and be vessels of grace and mercy to the Jewish people (Romans 11:30-31). Unfortunately, Paul’s direction has not been implemented over the centuries—and rather than seeing non-Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah demonstrate His love to the Jewish people, instead discrimination, persecution, and atrocities have taken place. Only in our generation, perhaps, have some of the directions of Romans chs. 9-11 been taken more seriously by non-Jewish Messiah followers.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
A Survey of Messianic Theology
Every one of us, as a mature Believer in Yeshua the Messiah, should recognize the importance of regular, Bible study and reflection. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword—piercing right through to a separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, TLV). While people in today’s Messianic community tend to be committed to a regular study of the weekly Torah portion or other parts of Scripture, what do we do about theology? Theology is the technical “study of God,” or of matters relating to Biblical doctrine. While theology can, at times, be a term reserved for more academic or scholastic settings, people in today’s Messianic community tend to have a genuine interest in more specialized and detailed studies, not only of the Holy Scriptures, but of issues that pertain to their understanding of God, His Word, who we are as His people, and what we are to actually believe.
Today’s Messianic movement, as a still-developing and emerging move of God, has many areas of its theology which are sufficiently developed, and others which are presently in various stages of maturation. Over the course of the past two decades, general resources such as Voices of Messianic Judaism (Baltimore: Lederer Books, 2001; ed. Dan Cohn-Sherbok) and Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013; David Rudolph and Joel Willitts, eds.) have, in broad terms, laid out a number of critical topics, and presented a selection of diverse perspectives. The authors of the workbook Messianic Judaism Class, following their local congregation’s statement of faith, summarize a number of issues including, but not limited to: the nature of God, the Divinity of Yeshua, the power of grace in salvation, the future resurrection, Jewish and non-Jewish Believers in the Body of Messiah, and even marriage and homosexuality. This section of our workbook will mention these, and some other issues, presently being discussed in Messianic theology or soon to be on our horizon.
When people enter into the Messianic community, whether that be from a background in the Jewish Synagogue or evangelical Protestantism—it would be an understatement to say that there can be some tension, and even fights, over major matters of theology. One’s local congregation, or assembly, is likely to be a microcosm, of the diversity of opinion and perspectives witnessed in the wider Messianic world. (This has especially become even more complicated in our information age, and with the wide array of online venues spouting off theological opinions and perspectives.) What are some things that you certainly need to be aware of, as you continue in your Messianic walk?
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
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What is the New Covenant?
Everyone who expresses trust in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) believes that we are a part of what is commonly called “New Covenant faith.” But what is New Covenant faith? We all recognize that at the Last Supper, our Lord said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20, NASU). The sacrificial work of Yeshua has surely inaugurated the reality of the New Covenant, which includes complete forgiveness and permanent redemption from the power of sin, as well as people being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yet, not enough evangelical Protestants today are familiar with the fact that the expectation of the New Covenant, as it is commonly called, is something rooted within some distinct prophecies of the Hebrew Bible or Tanach.
Messianic Believers, who are of the conviction that God’s Torah remains relevant instruction for His people today, are often refuted with the concept that since we are living in the age of the New Covenant—the Old Covenant or the Old Testament is not something which is to really govern or control our lives, or possibly even inform us that much about proper spirituality. The problem with this commonly held opinion, is that even though a transition has surely taken place for those of us in this post-resurrection era, it is not a transition which completely divorces God’s people from the Law of Moses, and certainly not from the Tanach. Yeshua explicitly said that He did not come to abolish the Torah (Matthew 5:17-19), immediately after directing His followers to demonstrate good works to the world at large (Matthew 5:14-16). The witness of the Tanach is to point people to Him (Luke 24:44).
It is important that we take a look at some of the main Scripture passages, which specifically deal with what the “New Covenant” is, in both the Tanach and Apostolic Writings. What have some perhaps missed or overlooked in their reading of the Bible? Is the New Covenant something completely separate from the Torah? How much continuity is there throughout the Scriptures, and what new things has this post-resurrection period specifically brought to God’s people? What are some of the similarities and differences between the Sinai Covenant and this New Covenant?
We will be examining four specific areas of Scripture (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Hebrews 8:7-13; Hebrews 10:14-18), a selection of the main passages which clearly articulate the concept of the “New Covenant.” We will discuss the previous ministry of death or condemnation, which composed the “Old Covenant.” We will also consider the dynamics of the New Covenant, how we might properly consider them in relation to the current development of today’s Messianic community, and how we should approach the subject of “Torah” for the future.
reproduced from The New Testament Validates Torah
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Approaching One Law Controversies: Sorting Through the Legalism
Today’s broad Messianic movement has many admirable qualities for which it should feel most spiritually gratified. The Messianic movement has been used mightily by the Lord, to see many Jewish people come to saving faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, and it has also helped many evangelical Protestants associate with their faith heritage in the Scriptures of Israel. The Messianic movement definitely stands against the common, yet errant thought in much of modern Christian theology, that the Law of Moses was exclusively for the era prior to the Messiah, and has now been nullified with His arrival.
While it is safe to say that a majority of the Messianic community believes that God’s Torah is valid instruction, in a general sense, and that we should all be studying the Torah and be educated by its principles of holiness—there are varied degrees of praxis and halachah to be certain. There are a number of Messianic congregations which are quite close to following an Orthodox Jewish level of Torah keeping, others which shun a great deal of Jewish tradition and custom, and then others which stand somewhere in the middle. If there is anything which all congregations or fellowships have in common, it is that there is a panoply of different interpretations and applications of commandments. The order of the Shabbat service could be very different from one assembly to another, the way kosher is kept is probably not going to be the same, and the way people dress and groom themselves will certainly not be uniform.
Because of the uniqueness of Messianic congregations, which in the North American Diaspora are mixed assemblies of Jewish and non-Jewish Believers, a significant discussion and debate is ongoing about the relevance of Moses’ Teaching to the broad Body of Messiah. While it is only natural to expect Messianic Jews to keep the seventh-day Sabbath or remember the appointed times of Leviticus 23, being a definite part of their ethnic and cultural heritage, are these practices—and various others—things which non-Jewish Believers in the Messianic community should also be taking seriously, as they mature in the Lord? There are, to be certain, a wide selection of views present within today’s Messianic Judaism, regarding non-Jewish Believers and their relationship to Torah practices like remembering Shabbat, the appointed times, or a kosher style of diet. Some leaders are very welcoming of non-Jewish Believers being Torah observant, others are not so welcoming, some are indifferent, and some are hostile.
Throughout much of the 2000s and into the 2010s, anyone who would be found discussing the issue of non-Jewish Believers and God’s Torah, was likely pulled—in one way or another—into discussions and debates, where Torah passages employing terms such as “one law” or “one statute” were featured. Frequently, from Torah passages such as Exodus 12:48-49; Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 9:14; 15:15-16, 29-30, it has been advocated that there was one basic law to be followed by the native Israelite and sojourner within the community of Ancient Israel, and thus non-Jewish Believers drawn by God into the Messianic community should not be discouraged from keeping God’s Torah. An entire sub-movement was seen to have spun off the Messianic community, labeling itself as either “One Law” or “One Torah,” making Torah declarations of there being “one law” its principal focus of theological and spiritual attention. The One Law/One Torah sub-movement has advocated that there is “one law” for Jewish and non-Jewish Believers, and hence that all should be Torah observant.
As the 2000s came to a close, one could witness a selection of writings defending a One Law/One Torah theology, as well as those being negatively disposed toward it. It was very hard not to be influenced by some of the ministry posturing and denominational politics, likely to manifest, when Torah passages employing terms such as “one law” or “one statute” would be quoted. Sadly, in all of the years I have witnessed a great deal of debate and division emerge over what “one law” means as a matter of Torah jurisprudence, there has not been a huge amount of attention focused on the relevant Bible verses themselves, in spite of them being liberally (mis)quoted. There has been much written about the One Law/One Torah sub-movement in the forms of position papers, refutations, and counter responses—but hopelessly absent has been a way which today’s Messianic people can have some fair resolution, as we each desire to serve the Lord and obey Him out of a love for Him.
I believe that all of today’s followers of Israel’s Messiah should be educated in the Torah as a means of their Bible studies, just as all of those in the community of Ancient Israel were to be gathered together, hear from Moses’ Teaching, and heed its words (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). In today’s Messianic movement, if you are a Jewish Believer in Yeshua—and especially one who was raised in a rather liberal Reform Judaism, where participation in a life of Torah was nominal—you should be encouraged to follow the Torah as a part of your ethnic and cultural heritage, and not just your spiritual heritage. Messianic Judaism has been right to emphasize that Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah do not have to assimilate into a non-Jewish Christianity, which would often see them dismiss with Moses’ Teaching. Today’s Messianic Jews have not only a responsibility, but a unique connection, to follow the Torah.
Over the past few decades, as the numbers of Messianic Jews have grown, the Lord has also sovereignly moved upon many non-Jewish Believers to embrace their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures, and they have become an important part of the Messianic movement as well. The Lord has been drawing people from the nations to Zion to be taught the Torah, as has been prophesied (Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 2:2-4). This is an observable reality throughout the Messianic movement. Torah passages emphasizing “one law” or “one statute” for the native and sojourner in Ancient Israel, were presented by some as the answer for how Jewish and non-Jewish Believers are to relate to each other within the Body of Messiah. But rather than bringing unity, mutual honor, and mutual respect—proponents of a One Law/One Torah theology were instead too often responsible for judgmentalism and a fundmentalist mode of operation to prevail.
reproduced from the Messianic Torah Helper
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A Summarization of Passover Traditions
The Spring festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread are an extremely important time of observance and reflection in Jewish communities all over the world. It is a time of both communal and family fellowship, where one often observes the Passover meal with a congregation or synagogue, in addition to extended family. This is the time when the Jewish people commemorate zeman heruteinu or the “Season of our freedom.” Every morning Exodus 20:2 is to be remembered, which admonishes, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (NASU). Even though non-Jewish Believers, who were not raised in the Synagogue or necessarily exposed to Passover since their youth, can feel separated during this time of traditional observance, Passover has a message to all peoples, as it presents the God of Israel as the God of Freedom, interested in releasing all human beings from injustice.
Certainly, when Believers in Messiah Yeshua sit down to partake of the Passover meal, they are not just remembering the Exodus of the Ancient Israelites and the plagues which God dispensed upon the Egyptians. Each of us sits down to remember great events in the salvation history of the world. The primary event we remember is the slaying of the Passover lamb, God’s mercy toward His people in Egyptian bondage, and how He led them to freedom through the Red Sea. This is a heritage which all those who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob partake of, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1, NASU).
But Passover takes on an all new depth and dimension when we recognize how Yeshua and His Disciples partook of the seder meal prior to His arrest and execution. And of course, the elements of the Passover typify His redemptive sacrifice. But how did Yeshua actually observe Passover? Biblically speaking, there are only two principal elements of the Passover meal: the lamb (Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16) and matzah or unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:17). Of course, by the First Century C.E. some distinct traditions regarding Passover had advanced, which found their way onto the seder plate of Yeshua. Certainly since then, as the Second Temple was destroyed and as the Jewish people were dispersed all over the world, new traditions developed in the new places where many found themselves. As Messianic people, what place are these traditions to have in our Passover observance? How important is it for us to understand some of them, so that we might be enriched and encouraged?
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
You Want to be a Pharisee
How many of you, in being a part of the Messianic community and living a Torah obedient lifestyle like Messiah Yeshua—have ever been accused by various Christian family or friends of being a “Pharisee”? How many of you have been told that you are being a hypocrite and should not only not be concerning yourself with God’s Torah, but that you are falling into the same mistakes that others in the First Century fell into, which the Apostle Paul refuted in his letters?
Having the accusation of being a “Pharisee” is one that is not only commonly used by various Christians against Messianic people, but has become integrated into the vernacular language of many Christians relating to any individual or group which is perceived as being legalistic and/or archaic in its approach to society and the Bible. It is asserted among many that being “Pharisaical” is a status that no born again Believer should even try to attain to, because after all, were not the Pharisees the primary antagonists of Jesus Christ? Did not Yeshua have most of His conflicts with the Pharisees and the Pharisaical religious system? Did He not rebuke the Pharisees time and time again for their keeping of the Law?
The example which many readers see of the Pharisees in Scripture is exemplified well in Matthew 12:14: “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him” (NASU). Easton’s Bible Dictionary well-summarizes the thoughts of many contemporary Christians: “From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear his doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy his influence among the people.” Many Bible readers, very seldom having any background information in Second Temple Judaism, fail to understand that the Pharisees were too broad of a group to be considered the “persistent enemies of our Lord.” NIDB validly points out, “the discriminating Bible student should bear in mind that not everything about every Pharisee was bad. It is perhaps not just to say that all Pharisees were self-righteous and hypocritical. Many Pharisees actually tried to promote true piety.” Unfortunately, far too many contemporary Christians are in the dark about this, and it has caused some problems to erupt between them and many people in today’s Messianic movement.
The key in being able to combat the claim which is often made against Messianic people—that we are Pharisees and are thus hypocritical, legalistic, and perhaps even opposed to the liberating message of the gospel—is to understand that the Pharisees of Second Temple Century Judaism were a very complex group of people. Just like the different Protestant denominations of today—Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, or Episcopalians—so were there different types and subsets of Pharisees, just as there were similarities among them. Bible readers must put themselves back into the First Century context of the Gospel writers, who would have assumed that their audience and readership would already have known certain things about the Pharisees, which today many Christian pastors and Sunday school teachers are not that informed about. (Or, at least choose to remain uninformed about by failing to consult modern Bible encyclopedias, dictionaries, and various commentaries, which may indeed have a sufficient amount of information on the Pharisees.)
It is important for Bible readers and students to have the appropriate background information in relation to Second Temple Judaism, who the Pharisees were, what the Pharisees believed, how Yeshua the Messiah interacted with them, and how the Apostle Paul was one of them. Were all of the Pharisees hypocritical, evil people, as is commonly believed in a great deal of today’s Christianity? Or, have things perhaps been oversimplified, and Bible students need to instead look at the Pharisees as being composed of multiple sects—each of which existed under the broad umbrella as being “Pharisaical”—but had differing applications of the Scriptures of Israel? Keep this in mind as we review what it actually means to be a Pharisee.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
Is Polygamy for Today? The Case Against Polygamy
Over the past several decades, a number of pertinent issues have hit various sectors of the broad Messianic community. Each one of these debates has had a variety of distinctly negative effects, as people have denied Yeshua’s Divinity, questioned His Messiahship, and have questioned whether certain books of the Apostolic Scriptures are trustworthy. Outreach Israel Ministries and Messianic Apologetics have stood firmly against the many false teachings that have entered into our midst, standing up for Yeshua’s Divinity and Messiahship, and engaging with the text of various Biblical books under fire to provide reasonable answers. We have done our best to stop the tide of error sweeping through parts of our faith community, knowing full well “if the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any of them, they are taken away in their iniquity…their blood I will require at the sentinel’s hand” (Ezekiel 33:6, NRSV). People who see extreme problems, possessing the skills and abilities to address them—and who do nothing—will be held accountable by the Almighty.
There are an entire host of issues seen in the Torah that leaders and teachers in today’s Messianic movement are either unwilling or unable to address. Some of it has come about because they just don’t want to “go there” or “open that can of worms.” Others do not know what to do. But avoiding the controversial issues seen in the Torah is not an appropriate course of action. The Lord Himself has said, “this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11, NASU). With a little research into the Scriptures, and with some basic engagement of Ancient Near Eastern history, many of the tough questions we have about the Pentateuch and its instructions can be adequately answered.
Messianic people are often seen to quickly jump over issues like murder, genocide, and slavery as seen in the Torah. You cannot totally blame people for wanting to not discuss these sorts of things, as they are surely not pleasant subjects for one living in the Twenty-First Century to contemplate. But they are a part of the Biblical narrative, and if we are mature Believers we will consider them (cf. Hebrews 6:1-2). Yet many of those issues can be relegated to the more philosophical disciplines. We do not practice slavery or indentured servitude in modern society today, and very few of us will ever have to serve on a jury where the prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
However, in 2008 a controversy arose regarding a subject that is seen in the Scriptures, was practiced by some people within Ancient Israel, and could adversely affect not only the future growth of our faith community—but also severely shake up families and our youth. It has the capacity to grind much of the Messianic movement and the work God has called us to do to a grinding halt if not stopped. Even if people just hear echoes about it, it will still stir up tension and a great deal of discomfort.
No one who reads the Bible denies that polygamy—the practice of a man having more than one wife—is seen within the text. The Patriarch Jacob, who was the progenitor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, had two wives and two concubines (Genesis 31:17; 37:2). King David, who was testified by the Lord to be “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, NASU), had multiple wives (1 Samuel 18:17-30; 25:38-43; 2 Samuel 3:2-5). King Solomon, whom many consider to be the wisest man who ever lived, had hundreds of wives and concubines (1 Kings 3:1; 11:3) that made up an entire harem (Song of Songs 6:8).
Some of the most important figures in the Tanach Scriptures had multiple wives, so what is the problem? There are, in fact, many problems to be explored when considering whether or not polygamy is an acceptable practice for today’s Body of Messiah. Was it the ideal at Creation for the man to have more than one wife? When a man has more than one wife, is he truly fulfilled emotionally and spiritually with his multiple spouses? Is the family where one man has multiple wives and children from those multiple wives, truly a place of love and affection, or one of discord and suspicion? Does the Bible portray men who had polygamous relationships as being genuinely fulfilled, and children who were true examples of godliness? Does a man having multiple wives express the sentiment that he places great value on women, or that they are simply property to be acquired? And, how many in the Biblical period actually had the financial means to afford more than one wife? Does the Bible really lend support to the practice of polygamy today?
In this critical article, we will directly answer these questions and many more. Make no mistake about it, while polygamy is recorded to have been practiced in Scripture—it by no means is endorsed by Scripture! Not a single commandment in the Torah condones the practice of polygamy. (More specifically, the practice of polygyny or a man having multiple wives, compared to polyandry or a woman having multiple husbands.) God never intended a man to have more than one wife, families where the husband is polygamous have suffered immensely from it, and male polygamists today are widely motivated by uncontrollable sexual urges that demean women and the equality that Messiah Yeshua has restored to the genders (Galatians 3:28). And not only will we consider these factors, but we will also take a look at many of the Tanach examples where polygamous relationships are portrayed, later weighing in the teachings and thoughts of Yeshua and the Apostles. How do we stand against this new wave of aberration?
reproduced from Men and Women in the Body of Messiah: Answering Crucial Questions
A Summarization of Purim Traditions
The holiday of Purim is a relatively minor festival in the Tanach (Old Testament), yet it portrays a very important story which all of God’s people need to understand. Having been dispersed into Babylonian exile in 585 B.C.E., the Jewish people found themselves under Persian rule. While many found their new Persian rulers more tolerant than the Babylonians, the Jews were still a minority and were often subject to harassment and persecution. In the Book of Esther, King Ahasuerus’ (or Xerxes’) grand vizier, the evil Haman, devised a plot to kill the Jews when he was not worshipped by Mordecai. But Ahasuerus’ new wife, the Jewess Esther, was placed in just the right position at just the right time to see that this scheme did not come to pass. Instead, Haman was executed using the very means which he intended to use against the Jews.
As can be imagined, a great sense of relief engulfed the Jewish people in Persia when Haman’s plans were thwarted. God’s people were preserved from mass genocide. Esther 9:20-28 summarizes how the festival of Purim was instituted by Mordecai to celebrate the Jews’ deliverance from Haman:
“Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually, because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually. So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants” (Esther 9:20-28, NASU).
Concerning the observance of Purim, Esther 9:22 is most significant: “They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor” (NJPS). Purim was to be a time of rejoicing and doing good to one another, as God’s faithfulness was revealed to the Jewish people through the actions of His followers. Even though “God” or “the Lord” is not mentioned specifically in the Book of Esther, one undoubtedly sees Him work through individuals who are committed to Him.
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
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A Summarization of Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah Traditions
Yom Teruah or Rosh HaShanah is the first of the Fall (Autumn) appointed times, and it begins a very serious season of personal reflection and repentance for the individual, leading up to Yom Kippur. It occurs on the first of Tishri on the Hebrew calendar, and along with Yom Kippur, constitutes one of the most sacred times for the Jewish community. The instruction for this day appears twice in the Torah, in Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6:
“Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord”’” (Leviticus 23:23-25, NASU).
“Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs. Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord” (Numbers 29:1-6, NASU).
There is a great deal of significance attached to this day in Jewish theology, as it is most often emphasized as a time when God looks down from Heaven and reconsiders where He stands with people. It is a time when His people are to rejoice and celebrate, remembering His goodness, but also begin a sober examination of their humanity, and consider faults and sins which must be rectified. Deuteronomy 11:12 explains, “the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year” (NASU), and this has been interpreted as meaning that at this time of year, when crops are gathered and the final harvest begins to come in, that the Lord considers where He stands with His own. The Talmud explains the severity of this concept in Jewish thought:
“Said R. Kruspedai said R. Yohanan, ‘Three books are opened [by God] on the New Year: one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for middling [people]. The thoroughly righteous immediately are inscribed and sealed for [continued] life. The thoroughly wicked immediately are inscribed and sealed for death. Middling [people] are left hanging from New Year until the Day of Atonement. If they [are found to have] merit, they are inscribed for life. If they [are found] not [to have] merit, they are inscribed for death’” (b.Rosh HaShanah 16b).
Of course, how God exactly considers or reckons the relationship which human beings have to Him, is something which we cannot fully know. What thoughts like this should convey to us as mortals, though, is that we are very limited, we need to be in awe of God’s holiness, and as the Apostle Paul’s words may remind us, “each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12, NASU). He would further say, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12, NASU).
The need for each of us to reflect on ourselves, and maintain an active and vibrant relationship with God, is a key theme of the teachings of Yeshua and the Apostles. While this is to be happening every day of the year through prayer, meditation, and study of the Bible—this is a particular season when we have the opportunity to overhaul where we might stand with our Heavenly Father and with one another. Each year at this time, religious and observant Jews are forced to consider where they stand with the Almighty. Even though as Believers we have experienced the salvation available in Yeshua, we still commit sin and errors, and we still need a yearly reexamination of where we are in our spiritual walk. This reexamination begins on Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah. We get to improve where we are with Him, and remember that He is the One who will provide for us in the coming year. A Talmudic sentiment asserts how, “A person’s entire allotment [for the year] is determined [by God] between New Year’s Day and the Day of Atonement” (b.Beitzah 16a).
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper
The Calling of Ruth and Non-Jewish Believers in Today’s Messianic Movement
The place of non-Jewish Believers, in today’s Messianic Jewish movement, has tended to invoke any number of responses or reactions, some of them being positive, and others of them being negative. With only a handful of exceptions, non-Jewish Believers have never been summarily dismissed from attending Messianic Jewish congregations. Most Messianic Jewish congregations would affirm, that in some way, non-Jewish Believers are grafted-in to the olive tree (Romans 11:16-17), and are co-members of the Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13) along with Jewish Believers. What that means, to be sure, is not entirely agreed. Some think that it means that non-Jewish Believers are “fellow citizens with the saints” (Ephesians 2:19, NASU) in an enlarged Kingdom realm of Israel, per the Tabernacle of David having a rule that extends beyond Israel proper (Amos 9:11-12; Acts 15:15-18). Others think that it means that non-Jewish Believers are part of the Christian Church, which along with the Messianic Jewish community, constitutes one of the two sub-peoples of God. Discussions and debates over ecclesiology, the study of God’s elect, will internally continue among Messianic people until Yeshua the Messiah returns.
One common thread that is easily detectable in today’s Messianic Jewish movement, regarding the place of non-Jewish Believers, is the wide affirmation that non-Jewish Believers need to be genuinely called by God into the Messianic movement. The original vision and purpose of the Messianic Jewish movement is to serve as a venue for Jewish outreach and evangelism. So, it is not inappropriate, that if non-Jewish Believers are coming into Messianic congregations—even if initially that their reasons for doing so involve their connecting to their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures—to make sure that such people really are there, because God wants them there. Messianic Jewish leaders, whose main focus rests in focusing congregational activities toward presenting local Jews with the good news that Yeshua is Israel’s Messiah, do not want to be overwhelmed with non-Jewish issues so that the main reason for the congregation existing in the first place gets totally forgotten. Even though non-Jewish Believers, who are genuinely supposed to be a part of Messianic congregations, will go through a season of acclimation—they need to be quite conscious of how they are going to contribute to the mission of reaching out with the good news to their Jewish neighbors.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
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How Did We Lose the Sabbath?
When many of us think about some of the most significant theological debates of the past three or five decades, we are probably immediately drawn into thinking about conservatives and liberals sparring over the reliability of the Holy Scriptures, creationists and evolutionists fighting about the origins of humankind, Scripturalists and cultists warring over the Divinity of Yeshua, and most recently the controversy which has been rising up over homosexuality and gay marriage. How many of us are consciously aware that there has been a debate ensuing among evangelical Protestants, and various others, for over three decades or more surrounding the Sabbath? Books written in favor of continuance of the seventh-day Sabbath have been written, along with cross-examinations and refutations.
Certainly, the controversy of the seventh-day Sabbath, and the widespread Christian observance of Sunday Church, might seem a bit mundane to various people. At the same time, if the widespread practice of Sunday Church is in error to some degree—then even with many other evangelical Protestant doctrines widely correct—a significant opportunity for physical rest and spiritual refreshment for God’s people has been too often lost, or even outright forfeited. Further to be realized is how a dismissal of the seventh-day Sabbath, by many in the emerging Christian Church of the Second and Third Centuries, would be shown to be the result of an unwarranted anti-Semitism and purposeful distance from the Jewish Synagogue and Jewish Roots of Messiah faith.
reproduced from The Messianic Sabbath Helper
Sacred Name Concerns
How many of you have been in some sort of religious setting, where you have heard someone use the words God, or Lord, or even Jesus Christ—and then someone gets up and publicly chastises the person? Have any of you ever been told that if you do not use Hebrew names and terms for the Father and the Son that your prayers will neither be heard nor answered? How many of you may have directly witnessed various people forget the love and compassion of our Savior, and whose faith is now tied up in pronouncing His name “correctly”? These sorts of occurrences are quite commonplace across the independent Hebrew/Hebraic Roots movement—and it definitely affects people in the Messianic community as well.
Some are not familiar with what the Sacred Name issue is, while others are all too knowledgeable. In this article we will discuss various aspects surrounding this debate, including: what the Divine Name of God is, various interpretations and views of the Third Commandment, titles for our Creator used in Scripture, where the English name Jesus really comes from, and concerns which many have in regard to what can be a very divisive subject. Our goal is to gain a scholastic perspective which encourages Believers to follow the example of the Apostles, who lived within the framework of Second Temple Judaism. Many of today’s Messianic people believe that there has been a strong lack of Biblical scholarship in this area, both linguistic and historical.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
The Assurance of Our Salvation
People investigate the Messianic movement and their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures, for an entire host of reasons. People who enter into the Messianic movement should do so because they are seeking God’s truth, and they are seeking to be in greater compliance with His Word. They enter into the Messianic movement because they have discovered that they are not entirely satisfied with what much of evangelical Protestantism today has taught them, and they instinctively know that there is more to their faith and in living like Yeshua (Jesus). Most importantly, these are people who know that Christian theology has been incomplete in many areas, and they are lacking spiritual fulfillment. And, these are people who should be specially called into the Messianic community, not only to experience a growth in their own faith—but to participate as co-laborers in the salvation of the Jewish people and end-time restoration of Israel’s Kingdom.
Those of us who have been called by God into the Messianic movement, from evangelical backgrounds, and have been in this faith community for some time—have certainly experienced more spiritual fulfillment as Messianics, then we did while we were average Church-goers. While it may have been a process—and that process was longer for some and shorter for others—we nevertheless sought God’s truth, and sought greater compliance with Scripture. We changed our lifestyles and overcame the hurdles of keeping the seventh-day Sabbath or Shabbat, the Biblical holidays of Leviticus 23, and eating a kosher style of diet, among other things. We study the Torah portions now on a consistent basis, and examine the Bible unlike never before. We have reevaluated things we were taught in the past, like the any-moment pre-tribulation rapture, and found that they were not supported by Scripture.
Sadly, one issue which is often not reevaluated from a Messianic viewpoint is that of salvation. Far too frequently in the Messianic movement, the understanding of “asking Jesus into your heart,” is only cosmetically changed to “ask Yeshua into your heart.” The salvation message of far too much of the Messianic movement, is quantitatively indifferent than what is presented in much of contemporary evangelicalism. This is a problem, because what you will discover is that the modern gospel message, like so many other things, is incomplete. As Messianic people who have a Torah foundation in our walk of faith, we have a responsibility to present a fuller salvation message to others, and most importantly have the assurance ourselves that we are redeemed children of God.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
A Spiritual Scavenger Hunt
Every single one of us, as a redeemed man or woman of faith, has been on some kind of life journey that has led us to the salvation of Yeshua the Messiah, and hopefully into a place of contributing to the purposes of the Kingdom of God. One of the questions that I frequently ask myself, as a person who has been involved in the Messianic movement since 1995, very much is: How did I get here? A follow up question to this is: What does God actually want me to do here?
I truly came to dynamic saving faith on August 8, 1995. While this concerned dealing with some demonic issues from my family’s past, as well as some issues involving the death of my father in 1992—within several months of repenting of my sins and being born again I was in the Messianic movement. My mother Margaret, and her new husband Mark Huey, had gone on a Zola Levitt tour to Israel in December of 1994, where they had the impression that when returning to the United States, they needed to be focusing on the Biblical feasts of the Lord (Leviticus 23). And, by the Fall high holidays of 1995, we were attending a Messianic Jewish congregation, and getting acclimated to things like the weekly Shabbat, a kosher-style of diet, and various mainline Jewish traditions and customs.
One of the things that was very appealing for Mark and Margaret Huey, entering into the Messianic movement, was the fact that my mother was an Arminian, and my new stepfather was a Calvinist. While we all came from a broadly evangelical Protestant background, this new blended family knew that it was going to have to chart a new spiritual course. Throughout the second half of 1995 and into 1996, we tried attending Shabbat services on Saturday, while also going to Sunday Church. By the Spring of 1996, we had fully crossed over to the Messianic Jewish congregation. Not only was our faith in the Messiah being enriched and enlivened at new levels—with there being significant “hands on” spiritual activities to be considering—the Jewish community is one which indeed likes to talk about significant issues. Fellowship times either before or after the service, or getting to know new friends at their homes, was a substantial blessing. We were a family that liked to talk about the Bible, things of the Lord, and current events.
Our full transition into the Messianic movement was also enjoined in the Spring of 1996 by our family encountering a number of—at the time—compelling voices, “quasi-Messianic” we would say now, who were making significant predictions about the end-times, the return of Yeshua, and the Middle East peace process. In the Summer of 1996, my parents made a point to attend both the MJAA Messiah conference in Grantham, PA and the UMJC conference in Sturbridge, MA, mainly with the purpose of getting acclimated to this movement we were getting involved with. But when they returned home to Dallas, they got plugged in more and more to the prophecy teachings and predictions. Certainly for a new family, with three children who had lost their father several years earlier, the thought that Yeshua was soon going to return, was something that grabbed our attention. In fact, it grabbed our attention for a number of years!
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
A Summarization of Jewish Shabbat Traditions
If there is any area where today’s Messianic movement tends to absolutely excel, it is with integrating a wide selection of the mainline Jewish traditions and customs for observing the Sabbath. Regardless of their background before coming to Messiah faith, religious or secular, today’s Messianic Jews tend to remember Shabbat with the common elements of lighting candles, breaking challah, drinking wine, and attending synagogue services with traditional liturgy and Torah readings. Non-Jewish Believers who have been led by the Lord into the Messianic movement, seeking to embrace more of the Jewish Roots of their faith, have also taken a hold of Shabbat, the opportunity for rest it offers to the people of God, and many of the significant traditions which can make the Sabbath a very holy and sanctified time.
reproduced from The Messianic Sabbath Helper
Being Realistic About Shabbat
That the seventh-day Sabbath or Shabbat is to be a holy time, sanctified unto the Lord, is clear enough from the Torah: “Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as Adonai your God ordered you to do” (Deuteronomy 5:12, CJSB). It is also stated how “the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, in which you shall not do any work” (Deuteronomy 5:14, WMB). Frequently in much of today’s Messianic movement, what is witnessed is that the seventh-day Sabbath is simply a time for Believers to attend services at their local Messianic congregation or synagogue, and for various other congregational activities.
While congregational activities such as corporate worship, teaching, and fellowship do provide a legitimate way for people to consciously honor Shabbat—many questions do arise regarding work, permissible and non-permissible activities, and most especially what to do when “life happens.” Tension can arise between people inside and outside of one’s local assembly, with some thinking that one type of Shabbat observance is too lenient and liberal, and others thinking that another type of Shabbat observance is too rigid and inflexible. Surely, as we evaluate Biblical instruction, some traditional interpretations, and weigh some of the realities of Twenty-First Century living—the possibility does exist for us to come to a realistic orientation of making the Sabbath a holy and blessed time.
reproduced from The Messianic Sabbath Helper
How Do We Properly Keep Shabbat?
How the Messianic community is to properly keep Shabbat, or any Biblical commandment for that matter, is a mystery for many. There are many issues and questions which have to be weighed and taken into consideration when establishing a proper halachic orthopraxy for oneself, one’s congregation, and the movement as a whole. In the Jewish community, whether you are Orthodox or Conservative, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is an important sign of who you are as a Jew. It is a major sign God gave the people of Israel from Mount Sinai to distinguish them from the world. When one goes to Israel today, stores close, public transportation stops, and the Old City of Jerusalem comes to a virtual standstill for a full twenty-four hours. When some people in today’s Messianic movement see how our Jewish brothers and sisters keep the Sabbath, it can seem almost foreboding and something which needs to be minimized. When many of our evangelical Protestant brothers and sisters see how Orthodox Jews keep the Sabbath, they often run away, believing it to be a time of forced “unwork,” legalism, and anything but rest.
But as you can imagine, this is not what God originally intended. The Lord gave His people the gift of Shabbat so that they might rest and abstain from their labors, focus exclusively on Him, and be rejuvenated for the week of work ahead. Yeshua the Messiah said, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NRSV). God gave Shabbat to human beings so that it would be a special time for them, not a time which is burdensome or intended to place men and women into bondage. The Lord told His ancient people, “Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Ezekiel 20:20, NASU). Anything surrounding Shabbat is to be focused on this end: the Sabbath is to be a time so that we might “know” the Lord. Yada is a common verb in Biblical Hebrew not only used to describe knowledge, but most importantly is “used for the most intimate acquaintance” (TWOT). On Shabbat, people of faith are to be intimate with their Heavenly Father, and with other Believers in the community of faith.
While those of us who have salvation in Yeshua, and have the gift of the Holy Spirit present inside us, should leap inside when we realize that the Sabbath is to be a time when we can specially commune with our Father—how we keep Shabbat is another story. It begs many difficult questions. When many, for example, become convicted that Sunday Church is not what God originally intended, and that His people should be keeping Shabbat, various changes begin to take place. The transition to Shabbat is difficult for many, especially given the many Christian misconceptions about what the seventh-day Sabbath is, and why originally God established it. While on paper many Messianic Believers say they keep the Biblical Sabbath—keeping Shabbat is not just transferring a Sunday Church experience to Saturday. While the Sabbath has elements of worshipping God involved with it, Shabbat is not about “worshipping on Saturday.” It is, rather, one of the appointed times or moedim of Leviticus 23. It is to be “a sacred occasion” (NJPS) or “a sacred assembly” (NIV). But being these things involves much more than just worship.
reproduced from The Messianic Sabbath Helper
A Summarization of Shavuot Traditions
Shavuot is one of three pilgrimage festivals commanded in the Torah (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). In Hebrew, its name means “weeks,” derived from the command in Deuteronomy 16:19, “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain” (NASU). Many Christians know Shavuot from its Greek-derived name “Pentecost,” as Pentēkostē means “fiftieth,” indicative of the fifty days which are to be counted between Passover and this time.
In Biblical times, Shavuot was originally celebrated as a harvest festival. The Torah calls it “the Festival of the Harvest, first fruits of your labor that you sow in the field” (Exodus 23:16, Alter). It would occur at the end of the barley crop and the beginning of the wheat crop, also known as Chag haKatzir or Harvest Festival. In Rabbinical literature it is commonly referred to as Yom haBikkurim or the Day of First Fruits to commemorate the new wheat crop. The Mishnah records that this was a time of great rejoicing:
“Those [who come] from nearby bring figs and grapes, but those [who come] from afar bring dried figs and raisins. And an ox walks before them, its horns overlaid with gold, and a wreath of olive [leaves] on its head. A flutist plays before them until they arrive near Jerusalem. [Once] they arrived near Jerusalem, they sent [a messenger] ahead of them [to announce their arrival], and they decorated their firstfruits. The high officers, chiefs, and treasurer [of the Temple] come out to meet them. According to the rank of the entrants, they would [determine which of these officials would] go out. And all the craftsmen of Jerusalem stand before them and greet them, [saying], ‘Brothers, men of such and such a place, you have come in peace’” (m.Bikkurim 3:3).
Surely, when we come to celebrate Shavuot as one of the Lord’s appointed times as Messianic Believers today, we are to remember how it was commemorated in ancient times. Wherever we may be from, we are to open our arms to our fellow brothers and sisters and tell them “Shalom, you have come in peace!” and be hospitable in the Spirit of the Lord.
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper
How Do You Study the Bible?
Each one of us as a man or woman of faith, continually treading on a spiritual journey, has a certain series of expectations when we read the Holy Scriptures. All of us affirm the great power of the Word of God to change lives, the need for each of us to be diligent students of the Word, and the requirement for us to be informed from the Word as it involves the interactions with God and humanity—and especially what the Bible teaches us about God’s character. We can identify with how Paul directed Timothy “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to encouragement, and to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13, TLV). But aside from spiritual people all agreeing that the Holy Scriptures are to be the place where we turn for some decisive answers to life’s questions—how do we study the Bible? As we are considering some of the issues present in Messianic theology, it needs to be fairly noted that some of the controversies that we are facing today, come as a result of inadequate, and perhaps even inappropriate, ways of reading and interpreting Scripture.
Many people in today’s Messianic movement have been taught, either externally or internally, that the Bible is God’s “love letter” to them personally. None of us want to be caught dismissing how the Bible indeed conveys God’s good character and good intentions for humanity. Psalm 19:8(7) properly emphasizes, “The teaching of the Lord is perfect, renewing life; the decrees of the Lord are enduring, making the simple wise” (NJPS). There are many passages of Holy Scripture which the Lord has doubtlessly used to help you through a difficult time. Many of you can likely identify with how, when experiencing some crisis, you were guided to a passage like Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans that I have in mind for you,’ declares Adonai, ‘plans for shalom and not calamity—to give you a future and a hope’” (TLV). However, while it is important that God’s love has been conveyed to you via His written Word; those who study Scripture seriously, and especially those who are engaged in technical Biblical Studies, tend to absolutely cringe when someone says that the Bible is God’s “love letter” to humanity. The reason, that such persons do not like to hear others saying these sorts of things, is because the Bible was not written directly to Twenty-First Century, modern individuals, who can then interject their subjective feelings into various cherry-picked verses or statements. The books of the Holy Scriptures were composed for ancient audiences beginning with the Israelites who left Egypt—to the Jewish, Greek, and Roman Believers who made up the First Century ekklēsia.
It is to be commended that a significant majority of the people, in today’s Messianic movement, genuinely want to study the Bible at a deeper level. But, in order to study the Bible at a deeper level, a variety of guidelines do have to be followed. Simply picking up an English Bible version, and having a Strong’s Concordance by one’s side, is entirely insufficient in order for today’s Messianic people to study the Bible at the level that they want to study it. Indeed, one needs to be able to read multiple English versions of the Bible and catalogue astute observations, have access to up-to-date Hebrew and Greek lexicons, if necessary be able to access Hebrew and Greek language tools, and also be able to access a selection of up-to-date Bible dictionaries and commentaries. The simple, yet complicated rule, of Biblical interpretation, involves (1) reading and interpreting the text for what it meant to its original audience, and (2) applying it in a responsible manner for modern people. Many of us will find, that when making the significant effort and attempt to read the Bible for what it meant to its original audience(s) first, that Scripture will actually be more relevant and critical for us living today, and not less.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
A Summarization of Sukkot Traditions
The festival of Sukkot or Tabernacles (also commonly called Booths) begins on 15 Tishri and is intended to commemorate the time which the Ancient Israelites spent in the wilderness after the Exodus. Images of the post-Exodus period, God wanting Israel to remember what happened in the desert, and perhaps most importantly the need for His people to physically be reminded of His desire to commune with them, are all themes which are seen throughout one’s observance. The Feast of Tabernacles was considered to be so important in the Torah, that God gave it the distinction of being one of the three times of ingathering, along with Passover and Shavuot (Leviticus 23:39-43).
The first probable reference to the festival of Sukkot appears in Exodus 23:16, when the Exodus generation was told that “the Feast of the Ingathering [is] at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field” (NASU). Sukkot is closely connected to the agricultural year throughout the Torah (Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:34-36, 39-43; Numbers 29:12-38; Deuteronomy 16:13-15), and consequently there are strong connections made between agricultural produce and its traditional festivities. In the Tanach, it is also seen how Sukkot is the season when the Temple of Solomon was consecrated, adding to its significance among the moedim, and the theme of God wanting to dwell with His people. Note that at this dedication, Solomon decreed,
“[C]oncerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name” (2 Chronicles 6:32-33, NASU).
Solomon prayed that the fame of the Temple he built for the Lord would spread abroad and that foreigners would come to a knowledge of Him and know Him as their God. As a festival of ingathering, Sukkot has a broad-sweeping theme of God not just wanting to dwell with Israel—but also with the entire world.
The Feast of Tabernacles is specified in the Torah as lasting “seven days” (Leviticus 23:34), even though in the Diaspora it is often observed in eight days. The first day of Sukkot is to be a High Sabbath (Leviticus 23:35). In traditional Judaism, on the seventh day of Sukkot, special Hoshanah Rabbah celebrations are conducted, and on the day after the seventh day of Sukkot a separate holiday known as Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day Assembly, occurs. Finally, the commemoration of Simchat Torah has been added over the centuries, as the yearly Torah cycle ends, and a new cycle of Torah reading begins. While the counting of the days can sometimes be confusing for those in the Diaspora, please be aware that the Jewish community at large also notices a blurring as well, and it is best to consult one’s congregational leader or rabbi for proper halachic instruction on how one’s local assembly is to observe these events.
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper
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Is Messiah the Termination of the Torah?
A foundational principle of Christianity is supposed to be “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASU). In theory, a majority of evangelical Believers claim to honor the Bible as if all of it is the inspired, inerrant Word of the Lord. However, in practice, the same cannot often be said, especially when it comes to the attitude that many have concerning their approach to the Law of Moses or the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), and by extension the Tanach or Old Testament.
The Psalmist declared, “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8, NASU), and “If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction” (Psalm 119:92, NASU). Yeshua (Jesus) said in Matthew 19:17, “if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (NASU). These concepts are admittedly hard to understand for many of today’s evangelical Believers. They show us that God’s Law is to play some role of importance in the lives of His people.
Have we not also been taught, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, NASU), and “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Messiah died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21, NASU)? These too are important concepts of our faith not to be disregarded.
The Apostle Paul instructed, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASU). We are to be very careful when handling Holy Scripture, especially if one claims that certain parts of it, such as the Law of Moses, are no longer relevant for today’s Believers to pay attention to. As Yeshua warned, “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19, NASU).
What is the average Christian to do about what can appear to be contradictions in the pages of the Bible? From one perspective, we could argue that the Torah is not relevant instruction for Believers today, whereas from another we could come to the conclusion that Believers must and should be observing God’s commands, with His judgment ready to strike the disobedient at a moment’s notice. Rather than be dogmatic about a particular persuasion, let Biblical continuance be our quest. Let us understand that the Bible has no contradictions regarding God’s purpose and plan for His people—and that it is our job to seek what is true above all else—even our own opinions. We must synthesize what appear to be opposing viewpoints among Scriptural passages.
Through the advent of the Messianic movement and many Believers embracing their faith heritage in Israel’s Scriptures, many have been convicted to study and keep God’s Torah. But at the same time, there are concerns that exist, the first one often being, “you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14, NASU). Letting the whole of Scripture be our guide, we will attempt to set straight many of contemporary Christianity’s misconceptions of the Law in this article, as “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7, NASU). As Yeshua told a group of Pharisees, “if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46, NASU), as they seemingly forgot to read what the Torah said of Him. Have many we know made the same mistake, failing to see Yeshua for who He is in the Torah of Moses? How much do today’s Christians not understand human sin, and the Savior who came to redeem them, because they do not study God’s Torah (cf. Galatians 3:24; Romans 3:20)?
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
A Torah Foundation
When people attend a Messianic congregation, they are immediately struck with a connection to traditions and practices of not only today’s Jewish Synagogue, but of antiquity long standing. For Jewish Believers in Israel’s Messiah, entering into a Messianic congregation for a Saturday morning Shabbat service—there is an instant connection not only to one’s Biblical heritage, but also one’s ethnic and cultural heritage going back millennia. When the traditional liturgy and prayers are recited—which incorporates Scripture, hymns once sung in the Temple, and compositions from post-Second Temple Judaism lauding the Creator—Jewish Believers feel a strong comfort level, as they seek to live out their Messiah faith by embracing and not rejecting their Jewish heritage.
Non-Jewish Believers from Protestant backgrounds, visiting or attending a Messianic congregation, have varied reactions to the traditions of the Shabbat service. Many are sincerely intrigued, and they appreciate the structure and reverence of a worship time with Hebrew and English liturgy. Many indeed appreciate the ancient tradition of reading from the Torah scroll, seeing that canting the Hebrew aloud to the assembly is an ancient art to be greatly cherished. Others, however, do not see the value of liturgy or canting from a Torah scroll, considering these to be vain human practices. In fact, many—visiting a Messianic congregation almost entirely out of curiosity—are actually quite negative toward anything having to do with the Torah.
There is no question when reading the historical record of the Tanach (Old Testament) that obedience to God’s Instruction is required of His people. Israel’s obedience to the commandments of God’s Torah or Law was to bring it great blessings and fame (Deuteronomy 4:5-10), but disobedience would bring judgment (Deuteronomy 30:1-2). The history of Israel throughout the Tanach is, unfortunately, one of frequent disobedience—and Bible readers often witness the required punishment or chastisement of Israel by God (Deuteronomy 27:26). As soon as the Ancient Israelites entered into the Promised Land, one encounters how the period of the Judges was one where “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, ESV). The Kingdom of Israel was split in two by the disobedience of King Solomon to God’s Law (involving incessant polygamy, idolatry, and child sacrifice!), although there was a period of critical reform during the reign of King Josiah, which saw a renewed appreciation for God’s Torah (2 Kings 22:1-23:28; 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27). Following the Southern Kingdom’s return from Babylonian exile, the custom of publicly reading the Scriptures to the community became established (Nehemiah 8:1-3). If the exile was caused by disobedience to God’s Word, then it is logical that the Jewish community assemble to hear God’s Word, so that such disobedience would never take place again.
reproduced from The Messianic Walk
Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 2:2-4: “The Torah Will Go Forth From Zion”
Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4 both contain a very important prophecy, speaking of the significant influence of Israel in the “end-times,” and how the nations are to be instructed from God Himself in the ways of peace. Both of these passages feature prominently within the Jewish liturgical tradition, but they have had significantly more influence in motivating faithful Jews and Christians to be active in care for the downtrodden, humanitarian efforts, and in helping to foster world peace. Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4 are very well known to Jewish and Christian philosophy, even though in today’s Messianic community these passages are probably not probed as much as they should be for their theological, spiritual, and missional significance. This prophecy, delivered via two prophets, anticipates great changes which will affect the entire world, directly involving God’s Torah.
Not enough of today’s Christian laypeople—or even various Messianics—are aware of the profound message which Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4 communicate (as opposed to theologians and Bible teachers). Too frequently, our level of engagement with these verses is just limited to the words of various praise songs. In some cases, in hearing about how God’s Word will go forth from Zion, Christians will associate it with the proclamation of the gospel of salvation in Yeshua—yet some key details of what this involves are noticeably left out. This prophecy speaks to the need for the nations to be instructed from the Law of God, specifically so that conflicts can be moderated and that His shalom will prevail. Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4 have a great deal of importance for today’s Messianic movement, especially in terms of the relevance or non-relevance of the Torah for non-Jewish Believers. With some of the discussions witnessed as to whether non-Jews should be Torah observant—or whether following the Torah is only relevant for Jews—it is quite surprising that this prophecy has not been given a great deal of attention.
reproduced from the Messianic Torah Helper
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What Does “Under the Law” Really Mean?
Those of you who have been involved in Messianic things, for any elongated period of time, know that we can be a controversial group of people. Particularly, those of us who were raised in evangelical Protestanism, and have now become a part of the Messianic community, have questioned much of what we were taught in the past, testing it against Scripture. While contemporary evangelicalism did indeed give many of us a foundational grounding in the Word of God, and thankfully and gratefully presented with us the gospel of salvation available in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), it is nevertheless a human religious system, and as such did present us with some non-Biblical teachings.
A huge struggle which has manifested today involves the place of the Old Testament, and in particular the Law of Moses, in the life of contemporary Believers. Many are of the firm belief that Jesus came to abolish the Torah or the Law of Moses, and see His followers be removed from the standard of holiness seen in the Old Testament. Today’s Messianic community of faith does not believe this to be true! Messianic people notably practice many of the things that historical Christianity has deemed unimportant but were adhered to and kept by Yeshua’s early followers. We keep the seventh-day Sabbath or Shabbat, we celebrate the appointed times of Leviticus 23, and we follow the kosher dietary laws. These are just a few Torah practices that most contemporary Christians believe are unimportant.
Many in the independent Hebrew/Hebraic Roots movement are seen to vehemently criticize, berate, and harass Christians who believe that the Law has been abolished. I am more reserved, in that there are many sincere Christian people who actually do follow a great deal of the Torah’s ethical and moral code, perhaps without realizing it sometimes—but then there are other Christian people who believe that it is necessary for Believers to be completely severed from God’s Instruction in the Tanach. Many have been subjected to bad theology regarding the whole of Scripture, with many unwilling to reconsider previous belief systems.
I do my best to focus on common beliefs and values first (Ephesians 4:1-6)—yet one of the reasons why problems can erupt, at times, between Christian and Messianic people, is because many Messianics do not know how to properly defend their faith and practice. Rather than examining Scripture, insulting terms are usually thrown around and fights ensue. This is most evident when Christians who oppose Torah obedience claim that we are “under the Law,” and that this is not a position in which born again Believers should want to find themselves. Sadly, in my opinion, much of the Messianic handling of this one phrase has been anything but proper. We must be able to properly respond to this and see how it is used in the New Testament.
This article addresses the clause “under the Law” (Grk. hupo nomon), how it is used, and what it means in its appropriate context in view of what both the Tanach and Apostolic Scriptures instruct about the significance of God’s Torah. We will examine Yeshua’s words on the matter of the Law of Moses. We will consider how a variety of Christians and Messianic teachers have handled this term. We will then test these claims against what the Apostle Paul says in his letters. When you finish reading, the next time a Christian may say that you as a Messianic person are errantly “under the Law,” you should be able to properly respond.
reproduced from Introduction to Things Messianic
What Does “Under the Law” Really Mean? — A Further Study
In the discussion over the validity and relevance of the Torah for today’s Believers in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), there is one particular issue which is a cause of significant confusion and consternation: Is it not true that we are not under the Law? No responsible Bible reader can ignore or deny what passages like Romans 6:14 communicate: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (RSV). If we want to be honest with what the Bible tells us, then it is true that born again Believers are not under the Law.
Within a great deal of contemporary speech and jargon employed today, using a phrase like “under the law” is a colloquialism akin to “according to/in accordance with/by/defined by/via the law.” This is something which we have all used at one point or another. When we watch the news and see a reporter say something like “Under the law of the State of Texas murderers can expect to be given the death penalty,” the usage of “under the law” is intended to more accurately mean: “According to the law of the State of Texas murderers can expect to be given the death penalty.” For some reason or another, though, using the terminology “under the law” is a bit more common for some modern people than “according to the law.”
Challenges can certainly exist when terms, phrases, or expressions which are used in modern English (and in particular American English) are automatically assumed to mean the same thing in the Bible. When readers encounter the phrase “under the Law” employed in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), does it mean “according to the Law”? It is probably safe to say that “under the Law,” meaning some kind of obedience or adherence to the Mosaic Torah, is deeply engrained into the minds of many Bible readers, being rather calcified into their psyche—and this is even found among some of the best expositors and theologians. Only by carefully analyzing the Biblical text can any of us get a good feel for not only what “under the Law” really means, but also recognizing where it legitimately appears in the original language. It also behooves us to be able to fairly diagnose what the issues were, which necessitated the original Biblical use of the phrase “under the Law.”
A significant obstacle to be overcome as it regards the proper meaning of “under the Law,” is what it means to our overall reading of the Scriptures. Is not being “under the Law” intended to convey that God’s people no longer have to obey any of God’s Law? Yeshua the Messiah not only upheld the validity of the Torah of Moses in His teachings, but He actually will assign rewards and penalties to those who teach obedience to it, versus those who discount and disobey it (Matthew 5:17-19). In contrast to this, it is commonly concluded that when someone like the Apostle Paul taught that Messiah followers are not to be “under the Law,” it meant that they should not be concerned with keeping that much (if any at all) of the Torah. If “under the Law” is interpreted as meaning obedient to the Law, then would someone like Paul be found to not only contradict the Messiah—but would he also be found to merit some kind of “least” status in the Kingdom?
I have certainly written on the topic of what “under the Law” really means before, providing some worthwhile answers to the various Pauline passages, which if viewed carefully do not stand in contradiction to Yeshua’s words upholding the relevance of the Torah. The issue largely pertains to what Bible readers interpret “under the Law” to mean: being Torah obedient or being something else. If born again Believers not being “under the Law” means something else, how does it affect our reading of various verses which are largely interpreted as meaning that Torah obedience was a thing of past, pre-resurrection history?
Because of how important Torah observance is—including practices like honoring the seventh-day Sabbath/Shabbat, the appointed times of Leviticus 23, and eating kosher—to the broad Messianic movement, some further study on the issue of what “under the Law” really means is in order. More dialogue and consideration of what various theologians have said is needed. More consideration for the ancient historical setting of the passages must be factored in. More reflection on the proper application of the instructions issued in the Apostolic Scriptures is doubtlessly required. But perhaps most critical of all, what is imperatively needed is a significant identification of those verses which actually use the Greek clause hupo nomon for “under the law”—and those verses which do not use hupo nomon, but where an English version has used the rendering “under the law” for some (errant) theological reason.
This further study, of what “under the Law” really means, will consider some of the strengths and weaknesses today’s Messianic people have, especially when a Christian family member or friend exclaims “We’re not under the Law!” Not only will this analysis provide some more detailed answers to those who are skeptical of a Messianic’s Torah obedience, but it is engaged with contemporary thought and opinion surrounding the terminology “under the Law,” and why “under the Law” meaning “obedient to the Torah of Moses” is a poor conclusion. Most of all, for the purposes of this further study, be aware of how that I have used the Revised Standard Version (RSV). You will see that the RSV uses the phraseology “under the law” far more frequently than a version like the New American Standard (NASU) does, which I more commonly use. Using the RSV for this article will enable us to examine more Biblical passages, and consider whether or not a rendering like “under the Law” was chosen on linguistic, or some other grounds, by its translators.
reproduced from The New Testament Validates Torah
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What Are “Works of the Law”?
I remember the first time I ever heard the possibility that “works of the Law” in the Pauline Epistles could be anything other than just keeping the Mosaic Torah. I disregarded it immediately. Why? Because I heard this from someone, who read an article, whose author had read an article in a theological journal, an article which had likely been misinterpreted and misrepresented. Like the game of telephone—one person gave a message, and then it had been passed down to four or five people—sounding nothing like what had originally been said by the Biblical scholar who made the original proposal. Hearing things fourth or fifth-hand can make it pretty easy to disregard what has been said, especially if the person passing on the information is not a part of the theological conversation, who is able to go to the source, seeing what was originally proposed, and engage on any kind of reasonable level.
Anyone who enters into Pauline theological studies today will easily encounter the fact that there are scholars and exegetes who think that the term “works of law” or ergōn nomou—appearing first in Galatians (2:16[3x]; 3:2, 5, 10), and then appearing again in Romans (3:20, 28)—actually does designate something other than “works/deeds/actions required by the Mosaic Law,” or at least something a bit more specific than just “observing the law” (NIV) in general. These proposals, though, have been met with a great deal of criticism, and even some hostility, by those of particular theological traditions. Alternatives to the customary meaning of “works of law” have been proposed more frequently, as New Testament theologians, over the past half century or so, have had greater access to ancient Jewish literature and resources, and this information has had to be considered in their exegesis. Their thoughts, suggestions, and conclusions have just in the late 2000s been discussed by normal lay people in evangelical Protestantism.
Did the Apostle Paul use ergōn nomou as a polemic against Jewish observance of the Torah, against a kind of salvation-by-works doctrine? Or did he use ergōn nomou in reference to something like ancient halachic matters which affected a faith community, which should have been welcoming of non-Jewish Believers in the Messiah, but were not?
Today’s Messianic movement has grown in leaps and bounds significantly, because Believers want to know more about the First Century place and setting of the Apostolic Scriptures. While this has certainly affected much of how we view the teaching style of Yeshua the Messiah as a First Century rabbi, it has unfortunately not affected as much of how we view the Pauline letters. The Pauline letters are a part of the Bible which too many of us do not deal with, either because we just do not know what to do with them, or because entering into the world of contemporary Pauline scholarship is too much of a minefield and a hassle for us to do. Too few of our congregational leaders and teachers are aware of the considerable progress which has been made in the past few decades within Pauline theology, and how it opens up parts of Galatians and Romans—which have traditionally been interpreted as being anti-Torah—to really not be anti-Torah at all. They included, rather, specific critiques of practices and attitudes which impeded the work of the good news or gospel, among the nations in the First Century.
In this article, we will discuss some of the various proposals made regarding “works of the Law,” and see how they play out. Are “works of the Law” just observing the Mosaic Torah? Are “works of the Law” some kind of legalism? Or, are “works of the Law” various identity barriers set up by an ancient sect of Judaism? How might knowing about these things bring greater clarity to passages in Galatians and Romans? What kind of contemporary application might help us to be a vibrant Messianic faith community, which can positively impact society at large?
reproduced from The New Testament Validates Torah
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A Summarization of Yom Kippur Traditions
Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement occurs ten days after Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah, and is considered to be the most holy day of the year in Judaism. It occurs on the tenth of Tishri on the Hebrew calendar, and is considered to be a High Sabbath or Shabbat shabaton:
“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute” (Leviticus 23:29-31, NASU).
Yom Kippur is a very serious day, as it is considered to be the time when Israel is to be cleansed of sin before God. There are a variety of specific animal sacrifices and offerings which Ancient Israel was to make on the Day of Atonement, listed in Leviticus 16, the procedures of which are described in Yoma 1-7 in the Mishnah. Yom Kippur is a required fast day, when one reflects on his or her status before the Lord, and rights any wrongs which have been committed during the previous year.
It is easy for some Believers who have received salvation in Yeshua to balk at the need to seek further forgiveness for their sins, but a specified time of personal introspection has been frequently sought by many in the evangelical Protestant community wishing to restore a sense of reverence and piety to the Church. While there have been many seasonal movements among people seeking to focus on one’s need to rely upon God, and they have done some good in helping Believers’ sanctification, their effects are often temporary. Is this because too many Christian people have overlooked and forgotten the importance of Yom Kippur?
The Day of Atonement for Messianic people can equally be a challenge, because of a possible emphasis on celebration at Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah, instead of a serious attitude and call to reflection from the sounding of the shofar. Many Messianic people likewise have difficulty reverently focusing on their relationship with the Lord, and in considering where they need to improve in their spiritual walk. For us, while recognizing that our ultimate forgiveness is indeed found in Yeshua, we still need to know that we are limited human beings with a fallen sin nature, and that we need the Lord to empower us for good works. We need to be reminded that without Him, we are nothing, and we need to intercede for the salvation of others.
