Introduction
It is a matter of Scripture that Judah will
be converted in the Last Days and the hardening of their hearts will be
removed.
A hardening came upon the hearts of Judah,
and the Messiah had to be killed in accordance with prophecy. Judah had to be
removed from Israel and the physical Temple destroyed because of their
blindness on the first part and the Plan of God in relation to the Temple on
the second part. The sequence was done in accordance with prophecy we see from
Daniel regarding the Temple and as explained in the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History
of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013). The blindness that came
upon Judah is detailed in the paper War with Rome and the Fall of the
Temple (No. 298).
In the Last Days the blindness will be
lifted and the Holy Spirit will be poured out on Judah so that they are
converted and the Plan of God is implemented.
The sequence of the changes of Judah’s
beliefs and the trials they have suffered when seen in context of Scripture and
prophecy are recognisable as fitting into the overall structure. They need not
have suffered as much outside of the Plan of God but they are a stiff-necked
people and a hardness did come upon their hearts.
Soon they will repent and their eyes will
be opened.
They still have a number of trials to
endure (see the paper War
of Hamon-Gog (No. 294)).
However, Judah will survive and they will
overcome and be restored.
Their story is Scripture and Scripture
cannot be broken (Jn. 10:34-35).
In the same way prophecy deals with the
Church and with the other nations surrounding the Holy Land. The prophecies
cover the Middle East, including Egypt, Persia, and the nations allied with, or
placing themselves in league with, those nations.
There has always been a question of freedom
and persecution for Jews. For an example of their handling we will turn to
England.
The
Jews in England
The year 2006, or
29/120, marked the 350th anniversary (equal to 7 Jubilees) of the
decision by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector to readmit the Jews to England.
Their expulsion, lasting about 366 years, had been by edict of King Edward I
enacted on All Saints’ Day in 1290. England was thus the first European country
to formally expel the Jews following several hundred years of persecution.
Their readmission came
about mainly through the efforts of one man, Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel of
Amsterdam. In 1655 he presented a petition to the Council of State in England
asking that the Jews be granted freedom of trade, freedom of religion –
including their own synagogues and cemeteries, and the right to operate under
Mosaic Law – and calling for the revocation of all anti-Jewish laws. However,
no decision was made by the committee formed to look at the question of their
readmission. Most of the members of that committee of judges, merchants and
clergymen were in fact opposed to the idea, but Cromwell himself gave
permission in 1656. Cromwell and his Puritans had also sensibly supported an
earlier parliamentary ban on the celebration of Christmas, Saints’ days and
other non-biblical holy days.
It was noted that the
ban by Edward was by royal prerogative only and not by any Act of Parliament,
hence there was no actual law of expulsion to revoke. It wasn’t until over 200
years later in 1858, however, that Jews in Britain received full and equal
rights as citizens. Cromwell, who died in 1658, sought to readmit the Jews for
a number of reasons. Many of his fellow Puritans had a sincere interest in the
Hebrew language and literature and felt a certain sympathy for the ‘people of
the Old Testament’, while for others it was a matter of political expediency.
The primary reason was apparently for straightforward commercial advantage, as
there was a lucrative trade operating between Holland and England at the time
and the Jews were recognised as master traders and merchants who could
facilitate that trade. Lucien Wolf, founder of the Anglo-Jewish Historical
Society, wrote early in the 20th century on what he considered was
the motive for readmission: “It was really the deficiency of bullion in the
country which, as early as 1643 … suggested to Cromwell the desirability of
settling Jewish merchants in London.”
And settle they did, in
ever-growing numbers. Expelled earlier from Spain and Portugal during the
Catholic Inquisition, the Jews had set up business in Amsterdam and had been
instrumental in making the city one of the busiest ports in the world at that
time. Following Cromwell’s decision many of these Sephardi and other Jews began
moving to England and reintroducing some aspects of Torah-observance to
Britain. Someone who visited the Sephardi Synagogue in Creechurch Lane, London
in 1662 was told: “One year in Oliver’s time, they did build booths on the
other side of the Thames and keep the Feast of Tabernacles in them.” In October
1663, the famous diarist Samuel Pepys also visited this Sephardi Synagogue, the
immediate successor of which, Bevis Marks, remains the oldest in Britain today.
Since their formal
readmission, the Jews have become fully integrated into British society and
have proven themselves loyal servants of the Crown and an invaluable asset to
the country in a great number of ways. Today there are about 300,000 Jews in
the UK, out of an estimated 13-14 million scattered throughout the world. There
are more Jews in the USA than in Israel and the US and British Commonwealth is
the true home for the majority of Judah today. In that sense the Jews are being
reunited with Israel and the nation called Israel is really a section of the
Commonwealth. It is ironic that Israel and Australia are grouped together in
the same division of the world by the Rome agreements.
In The Times (London)
of 1 June 2002, Rabbi Jonathan Romain wrote an article entitled ‘Pariahs,
heroes and a loyal people: how England’s monarchs saw their Jewish subjects’,
part of which reads as follows.
When
the late Princess Margaret visited Maidenhead Synagogue ten years ago - the
first Jewish worship she had attended - she admitted afterwards that what had
amazed her most was not the Hebrew or the rituals, but the discovery that Jews
recited a Prayer for the Royal Family at every Sabbath service. …
It
is not just the present Queen for whom the Jews have prayed; it has been a
long-standing tradition to ask for God’s blessing on the monarch as the symbol
of national stability, although, frankly, some kings and queens have deserved
it less than others.
The
relationship between the Crown and the Jews started with William I, when a
settled community was established here after he brought across Jews from
Normandy to help colonise his new kingdom. They were seen as a trustworthy
element in an otherwise unstable population, with Anglo-Saxons wishing to be
rid of him and his own nobles vying for power. Their relations with William II
were even more cordial and he even jested that he would consider converting to
Judaism if they could out-debate his bishops - much to the horror of the
latter, although it was never put to the test.
As
newcomers to the country, the Jews … were formally declared to be “the
chattels” of the Crown, responsible directly to the Throne and belonging to it.
This definition held many advantages, giving Jews rights of residence and protection.
…
Subsequent
kings abused this special power, levying punitive taxes on the Jews … For her
part, Elizabeth II has treated her Jewish subjects as they would wish: exactly
the same as everyone else. …
Most
Jews would be delighted to see a multi-faith element to any future coronations,
with Orthodox and Progressive rabbis participating alongside other religious
leaders, but for now they are more than happy to join in the acclaims of ‘Long
live the Queen’ (emphasis added).
Such dedication and
respect for the Monarchy is rarely to be seen among the most loyal of her other
subjects, Christian or otherwise. Perhaps unknowingly, the Jews are actually
praying for their own kin, as it has been proven that members of the present
Royal Family are direct descendants of King David of Israel and are therefore
of the tribe of Judah. See the paper From David and the Exilarchs to
the House of Windsor (No. 067) and the Sabbath Message 16/4/27/120 at: http://www.ccg.org/_domain/ccg.org/Sabbath/2004/S_07_03_04.htm
Many royals know this
fact, as there is a genealogical table in Windsor Castle actually showing their
descent from King David. Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901) was fully aware
that she occupied the throne of David. The majority of the subjects of the
Crown, however, remain in ignorance to this day.
As a point of interest,
the present Queen, Elizabeth II, began her reign in February 1952, so that the
year 1977 was her official jubilee (albeit a silver one, i.e. a half
jubilee). Her silver jubilee coincided with the true year of Jubilee. The first
year of the new jubilee in 1978 was the beginning of the true 120th
Jubilee of God’s Calendar.
David’s
everlasting throne
Both kings David and
Solomon were told that the throne they had been given would be everlasting
(2Sam. 7:13,16; Jer. 33:17).
2Samuel
7:12-17 When your days are fulfilled and
you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who
shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my
son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the
stripes of the sons of men; 15 but I will not take my steadfast love
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your
throne shall be established for ever.'" 17 In accordance
with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to
David. (RSV)
It could be inferred
from some Scriptures that total obedience to God and His Laws was required for
the promise to remain in force regarding the physical throne of Israel (e.g.
1Kgs. 2:1-4; 2Chr. 6:16; Ps. 132:11-12). However, verse 45 of 1Kings 2 suggests
the throne would be established forever from its inception, irrespective
of obedience by the kings (and queens) who would ascend it.
In verse 14 of 2Samuel
7 above, it appears that Solomon and the kings after him would be chastised
severely for their sins, but the promise regarding the continuity of the royal
line on Israel’s throne would never be revoked.
1Kings
2:1-4,45 When David's time to die drew
near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 "I am about to go
the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and
keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his
statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is
written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and
wherever you turn; 4 that the LORD may establish his word which he
spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk
before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there
shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.' … 45 But King
Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established
before the LORD for ever." (RSV)
And again in the Psalms:
Psalm
89:35-37 Once for all I have sworn by my
holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 His line shall endure for
ever, his throne as long as the sun before me. 37 Like the moon
it shall be established for ever; it shall stand firm while the skies
endure." (RSV)
An analogy can be made
between the throne of David and God’s Laws. The latter have not been
repealed for the last two thousand years since the death of Messiah, only to
become enforceable, as Scripture unequivocally indicates they will, in the
coming Kingdom of God. Neither has the physical throne of David disappeared for
2600 years or so (i.e. since the captivity of Judah in 586 BCE), only to
reappear when Messiah comes to take up his kingship. Rather, both the royal
line on the throne and God’s royal Law have been in continuous operation from
their inception.
Jeremiah
33:14-26 "Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the
house of Judah. 15 In those days
and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and
he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and
Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called:
'The LORD is our righteousness.' 17
"For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the
throne of the house of Israel, 18
and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt
offerings, to burn cereal offerings, and to make sacrifices for ever." 19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 20 "Thus says the LORD: If you can break
my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night
will not come at their appointed time, 21
then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not
have a son [or sons] to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the
Levitical priests my ministers. 22
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be
measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant, and the
Levitical priests who minister to me." 23
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 24
"Have you not observed what these people are saying, 'The LORD has
rejected the two families which he chose'? Thus they have despised my people so
that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25
Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night
and the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26
then I will reject the descendantsof Jacob and David my servant and will not
choose one of his descendants to rule over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy upon them."
(RSV)
In anticipation of widespread
scepticism, God offers a challenge in verses 20 and 21. Day and night have come
at their appointed time with absolute certainty since the Earth was renewed,
hence God’s covenant concerning them has never been broken – and neither has His covenant of putting an
unbroken line of David’s descendants on the throne of Israel (cf. vv. 25-26).
The Levitical priesthood mentioned is now (since the destruction of the Temple
at Jerusalem) the elect among the Churches of God, who have performed the
continuous spiritual service since the Holy Spirit was given in the new era.
The elect in fact are of the superior Melchisedek priesthood, of which the
Levitical was only a temporary subset. We see also that the Levitical
priesthood is never referred to as royal, unlike that of Melchisedek
(1Pet. 2:9). The Law of God is similarly called royal (Jas. 2:8).
Royal
obligations
This royal aspect
brings with it certain privileges as well as duties, in the same way that the
present Royal Family has obligations to the United Kingdom and the entire
Commonwealth, which currently consists of about 54 nations and is undoubtedly
the Ephraimite company of nations spoken of in Genesis 48:19.
If there are any
‘privileges’ of royalty they are ones associated with selfless dedication and
service to the nation, of noblesse oblige, which the present Queen in
particular has consistently demonstrated. She was born to a job she never
wished for and which is thankless at the best of times, as alluded to in a
recently-released film The Queen, starring Helen Mirren in the
title role.
The Chief Rabbi of the
United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Professor Jonathan Sacks, had
something to say about things ‘royal’ from a biblical perspective.
The
Bible suggests that royalty isn’t about privilege and wealth, splendour and
palaces. It’s moral courage. Moses, in discovering that he is the child of
slaves, finds greatness. It’s not power that matters, but the fight for justice
and freedom. Had Moses been an Egyptian prince, he would have been eminently
forgettable. Only by being true to his people and to God did he become a hero.
Freud
[author of Moses and Monotheism, in which he tried to prove that Moses
was actually an Egyptian] … failed to see that he had come face to face with
one of the most powerful moral truths the Bible ever taught. Those whom the
world despises, God loves. A child of slaves can be greater than a prince.
God’s
standards are not power and privilege. They are about recognising God’s image
in the weak, the powerless, the afflicted, the suffering, and fighting for
their cause. … the story of Moses is one of the great narratives of hope in the
literature of mankind (The Times (London), 23 June 2001).
Judah’s
pre-eminence
As mentioned earlier,
the Jews have made an enormous contribution to the UK and most other countries
as well. They have been pioneers in virtually every field, from science and
medicine (since the mid-1800s, about 25% of the world’s scientists have been
Jewish), to invention and commerce, and to the law, art and music (both as
composers and performers). They possess natural intelligence and great energy
which, for instance, has helped them to literally make ‘the desert bloom as a
rose’ in the State of Israel, in marked contrast with many of its neighbouring
states. From an objective and unprejudiced viewpoint we see that the Jews, who
together account for only about 0.23% of the world’s population, must surely
rank as the most talented and productive group of people, bar none. They
thereby invite envy if not outright hatred from less-energetic and
less-creative peoples.
However, Rabbi Harold
S. Kushner, in his book To Life! A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking
(Warner Books, NY, 1993), had this to say about the Jews who, as a result of
their accomplishments, might consider themselves to be superior to other
people:
What
does it mean for us as Jews to consider ourselves a “chosen people”? It
certainly does not mean that we think we are better than other people, either
individually or collectively. I was a congregational rabbi for thirty years,
dealing professionally with Jewish families, and if there is one thing I know
beyond the shadow of a doubt, it is that Jews are just as flawed, just as
average, just as imperfect as anyone else. There is no claim of Jewish
biological superiority … We have no way of knowing how many of today’s Jews are
the pure biological descendants of Abraham and Sarah, though we are all their
spiritual descendants. …
But
it is a historical fact that the Jews, and no one else, gave the world the
Bible … God, for reasons of His own, chose to make the Jewish people the
instrument of His self-revelation to the world (p. 32).
The fact is that only
about a third of Jews are actually even Semitic let alone Jews. The origin of
the Jews is detailed in the paper Genetic Origin of the Nations
(No. 265) 2nd edition.
Judaism is a religion
now and not a single people.
The key there is that God
chose, as He is the Master Potter who fashions and selects human vessels
for use according to His will (Isa. 64:8), and it is no one’s right to question
that or be envious toward those whom He has chosen. They should be and will be
praised.
Judah’s pre-eminence
and pioneering spirit were demonstrated in former times by the fact that they
were required to march in the vanguard of the armies of Israel (Num. 2:2-3,9),
and were the first to move out of the camp following the Ark of the Covenant.
Their ensign or standard was a young lion (cf. Gen. 49:9). Messiah is referred
to as a Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and is himself set in the vanguard of
spiritual Israel.
During the wars of
conquest and possession in the Promised Land, Judah uniquely was given
its inheritance in the territory which that tribe had conquered (Jos. 14:6-15;
15:13-17). The reason for this is contained in verses 8,9 and 14, and was
essentially because Caleb the son of Jephunneh (of the tribe of Judah) had
“wholly followed the Lord God”, as noted also in the Book of Numbers.
Numbers
14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a
different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into
which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. (RSV)
Even though Joshua the Ephraimite
was also loyal and apparently had the right spirit, his descendants were not to
possess the land on a continuous basis, as were the generations of Caleb, the
representative of the tribe of Judah.
It is estimated that
Judah actually occupied one-third of the entire western side of the Jordan once
all the tribes had been settled in their respective areas. The tribe of Simeon
also came to be incorporated or enfolded into Judah’s territory (Jos. 19:9),
although it retained a separate identity. Just as the term Joseph most
often applies to the combined tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, it appears that
when Judah is spoken of in Deuteronomy 33 it includes Simeon, as this
tribe is included with Judah in their inheritance and was scattered amongst
Israel. (cf. Jos. 19:1; Jdg. 1:3). There was also the close historical
relationship between Simeon and Levi (Gen. 49:5), so there is a great deal of
interconnection between the tribes. The name Judah means praised (SHD
3063), and perhaps suggests that this tribe will one day be praised by its
brother tribes and the rest of the world as having been a vital instrument of
God’s salvation, quite apart from Judah having provided the Messiah through
King David.
Judah’s
enemies
Just as spiritual Israel,
the true Unitarian Law-keeping Church of God, has suffered intense persecution
over the centuries, so too Judah, as the most readily-identifiable part of physical
Israel, has suffered horribly. On several infamous occasions Judah has even
been the target for attempted annihilation by its enemies: once by the
Amalekite Haman, whose plan was thwarted by Esther and Mordecai (Est. 3-9), but
even then the Jews had to fight for their lives; and secondly, in the 20th
century, with the anti-Jewish pogroms in both Tsarist and Communist Russia,
along with the mass extermination in Hitler’s Germany and its occupied (and
often complicit) territories in Europe.
More recently, we have
seen the unequivocal call by President Ahmadinejad of Iran for the
extermination of the State of Israel (and presumably all the Jews with it), as
if this would somehow solve the chronic and intractable problems in the Middle
East. It is a call which conveniently overlooks the fact that the most vicious
wars in that region have been fought (and continue to be fought) between
so-called Muslim brothers, such as Iraq and Iran in the 1980s, and more
recently between the differing sects of Islam, namely Shia and Sunni, within
modern Iraq.
The origins of these
people and the determinations of what is to happen to them is dealt with in the
other papers in the series dealing with those countries. Much of the conflict
is between sons of Shem and between Elam and Ishmael and Keturah as well as
Judah. Iran is dealt with in Sons
of Shem: Part I (No. 212A) and in the papers concerning the coming of
the Messiah and also World War III.
On the Middle East
question, it is worth reading what Rabbi Sacks wrote in The Times (London)
of 7 September 2001 regarding the permanent and often violent friction between
the Jews and the sons of Ishmael, all descendants of the Patriarch Abraham:
We are both
the same race, both Semites. It is purely a political matter. We have to
co-exist. Islam is closer to Jewry than Christianity. If Jews and Christians
can live together, there’s no reason why Jews and Muslims can’t. Israel is not
going to go away. Palestine is not going to go away. And shared tears do bring
people closer together. Jews are not optimists, but we never give up hope for
Israel.
Professor Sacks said in
a subsequent article:
It is not that
religion is intolerant. Rather, we must learn the hard way that religion must
never have recourse to power.
Nowhere
is this told more dramatically than in the story of Elijah. He had come to the
mountain fresh from a decisive and bloody victory over the prophets of Baal.
God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” The prophet replied, “I have been very
zealous for Your sake.” He then witnessed a whirlwind, an earthquake and a
fire. But “the Lord was not in” the wind
or the earthquake or the fire. Then came the “still small voice” that was the
voice of God.
The
zealot believes that God is power. That is why zealots must learn. whether
through a vision or a tragedy of history, that God lives in the still small
voice of reason, compassion and peace (The
Times, 20 April 2002).
Words of wisdom, and
therefore almost certainly bound not to be heeded in this age at least
(and without divine help) for “the way of peace they know not” (Isa. 59:8), as
evidenced by man’s entire history, not just that of the chronically troubled
Middle East.
However, when Christ
gets here he most certainly will take power and enforce a religion and one that
is not kept on this planet at present except for a very few people who are
persecuted for that faith.
It may seem to many
that the Jews remain insular and aloof, if not arrogant, and that they thereby
invite persecution upon themselves. Under the headline “The Burning Question”,
the Russian author and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn said that the Jews were
unique in never assimilating with another nation in 2,000 years of history,
adding that this was their most striking and admirable characteristic (The
Times, 20 June 2001). It is certain that God arranged the separateness of
the Jews that way for a number of reasons; however, it has also allowed them to
be singled out from much of the rest of the population, as on the occasions
mentioned.
However, they have
absorbed a number of people and their diverse DNA structure proves that fact.
The fact is that only
very few people are actual Jews of those claiming Judaism and when they cease
to practise the religion they are simply Gentiles within Judah claiming
protection under the Laws of God.
The
Holocaust
Many secular Jews today
consider themselves either atheistic or agnostic. Those in the State of Israel
take the view that their country has survived for nearly 60 years in a
supremely hostile environment due to their own efforts and a particularly
effective military force; in other words, by a not-unjustified pride in their
own power, but without acknowledging God’s undoubted help and protection during
their many battles for survival.
This is a rather
dangerous position to take, as even the Gentile Assyrians were to discover
(Isa. 10:12ff.). They were punished by God for exalting themselves and their
own abilities without reference to their Creator and the fact that they were
merely a tool in His hands. At any time, God may choose to remove His
protection from individuals or from a nation, including the State of Israel,
because of an arrogant attitude on their part.
The secular Jewish
rejection of the God of their fathers is perhaps understandable considering the
number of deaths in the concentration camps both immediately before and during
the Second World War in Europe. Many faithful Torah-observant Jews in those
camps prayed to God for deliverance and even marched into the crematoria
praising Him; many asked where God was at a time like that and how He could
allow them to suffer as horrifically as they did if they were His chosen
people. As a result of what they’d witnessed, many who survived these death
camps simply deserted their faith altogether.
Judah and his brothers
sold their half-brother Joseph into slavery in ca.1727 BCE. About 3664 years
later, Judah itself was sent into captivity in the Third Reich and brother
Joseph (basically modern America and the British Commonwealth) was instrumental
in rescuing their remnant from the death camps. For more information, see the
Holocaust Revealed website at:
http://www.ccg.org/_domain/holocaustrevealed.org
The Jews had been sent
like lambs to the slaughter, to be ‘holocausted’ in their millions in the
crematoria like so many animals of the burnt offering (cf. Lev. 1:13) which,
although an unfortunate analogy, is nevertheless fitting. The Jewish adults and
children were literally made to pass through the fire, as their
forebears had unwisely done with their own children during the worship of pagan
gods centuries earlier (2Chr. 28:3). In order not to compare these more recent
events with the burnt offerings of the sacrifices, the term Holocaust is
not used in some modern Hebrew texts; instead, it is often referred to as the Shoah
or Calamity.
Rabbi Kushner had this
to say on the subject:
It
is nearly impossible for non-Jews to appreciate the meaning of the scar that
the Holocaust, and the centuries of persecution leading up to it, have left in
the Jewish soul. I don’t know of any other people that wakes up virtually on a
daily basis wondering if the world will let them live. … But after the Nazi
experience, Jews understand that no matter how economically successful or
socially integrated we are, we can never feel totally secure. …
This,
I suspect, is why so many of us react so defensively when Israel is criticized:
because we are always afraid that criticism will lead to a withdrawal of
approval of Israel’s right to exist at all … It is not hypersensitivity on our
part to notice that no other country is called on continually to justify its
right to exist. (Does anyone call for the dismantling of Pakistan and giving
the land back to the tens of millions of Hindus who were displaced when a
Moslem state was created there in 1947?) (op. cit., pp. 247-9).
Earlier in his book
Rabbi Kushner dealt with the age-old question, Why does God permit evil?
Sometimes
bad things happen to good people because laws of Nature can’t tell a good
person from a bad one, and sometimes they happen because God will not interfere
to take away our human freedom, no matter how destructively we intend to use
it.
Even
something as monstrous as the Holocaust comes to be seen as Man’s doing, not
God’s. “Why did God let it happen?” Because God determined at the outset
that He would not compromise our human freedom to choose between good and evil,
no matter how atrociously we misused it. If we didn’t learn from history, from
experience, from the voice of conscience, we would go on hurting and killing
each other. ‘Couldn’t God have made an exception to that rule in this one case,
to save so many millions of lives?’ … would that mean He should also have
intervened to stop Stalin and Pol Pot from killing millions of people in Russia
and Cambodia? … on what grounds would God suspend the rules in one case and not
in others? For me, the Holocaust is not a theological issue: “Why didn’t God
stop it?” For me, it is a psychological issue: “How could human beings have so
grossly misused their freedom to decide how to treat each other?” It does not
challenge my faith in God. If anything, it makes it harder for me to believe
in man without God (ibid., pp. 162-3; emphasis added).
Hence, despite the
understandably horrific memories and intense grief engendered by the Holocaust
(or Calamity), there are those who demonstrate a certain dignity in being able
to be more understanding, if not forgiving, about this most unpleasant episode
in Jewish history.
God’s
displeasure with Judah
While R. Kushner and
others may not blame God, the chronic persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust
itself may actually have been direct punishment from God (for, at the very
least, He did allow it to happen). However, this should not be construed
as His hatred for or abandonment of the Jewish people. Quite the contrary, in fact,
as God says through His prophets and in the Writings that He chastens those
whom He loves, as any loving parent chastises his son for the son’s ultimate
benefit, irrespective of how harsh that punishment may appear at the time.
To quote the words that
Jesus Christ gave to the angel assigned to the Church at Ephesus in Asia Minor,
“Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first
love” (Rev. 2:4). He could just as easily be speaking to Judah or the Jews
today, as they also have left their first love – Eloah, the One True God –
and have suffered for it.
God is clear that He
doesn’t only want our ‘hands’, i.e. merely following the letter of the
Law as many adherents to Judaism do. More importantly, He requires our ‘hearts
and minds’ as exemplified by adherence to the spirit of the Law. Among
the called of God, the Holy Spirit is presently conducting ‘a campaign to win
hearts and minds’, with far greater meaning than the present clichéd military
term. However, it won’t do so by loud insistence. We are told rather that it
will be as a still, small voice behind us saying, “This is the way; walk you in
it” (Isa. 30:21).
For all Judah, Yom
Kippur, the holiest day of the year, should have been a time for reflection
and re-evaluation along with Godly repentance. However, this fast wasn’t
actually being observed on the correct day according to the original Temple
calendar anyway. (See
the papers God's Calendar
(No. 156) and The
New Moons (No. 125).) The correct days for
worship do seem to matter to God and His Messiah, and there are definite
consequences for devising one’s own agenda, as King Jeroboam of Israel was to
discover when he commissioned a festival one month later than the God-ordained
Feast of Tabernacles; his whole house or heritage was later cut off (see 1Kgs.
12:32-33 and 13:33-34).
Maybe as a result of
the postponements of His ordained Holy Days and Sabbaths and non-observance of
the New Moons for centuries past, God has postponed the deliverance and
salvation of Judah … until these Last Days, when He will once again have mercy
upon them.
When God tells us to
keep the Sabbath holy, which includes not speaking idle gossip, He means just
that. It’s not a matter of simply observing the Sabbath as a duty or
weekly ritual; instead, it is the spirit in which it is kept that most pleases
God, as He says quite plainly.
Isaiah
58:13-14 "If you turn back your foot from the
sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a
delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your
own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you
shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of
the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the
mouth of the LORD has spoken." (RSV)
Neither does He want
people exchanging financial advice and business ideas on the Sabbath like modern-day
equivalents of the money-changers in the Temple. That task can be done on any
other day of the week. Jesus, or Yehoshua ben Yoseph, adhered to this
injunction when he forcibly drove the money-changers and other Sabbath-breakers
from the Temple precinct (Jn. 2:13-17). The same could apply in many Synagogues
today where a good deal of worldly business is conducted on the Sabbath.
The Qur’an also forbids
trading on the Sabbath yet on both Friday and Sabbath on the Temple Mount to
this very day money-changers charge people access to the Al Aksah mosque in
direct violation of the Koran and the Scriptures.
The undoubted
money-making ability of the Jews today was evident much earlier in their
history, when the Patriarch Judah suggested to his brothers that they sell Joseph
into captivity rather than kill him (Gen. 37:26-28). It may have been to save
Joseph’s life, however, financial gain seems to have played a large part in
Judah’s motivation and thinking … and perhaps still does, although they are far
from alone in that in today’s world, where materialism and love of money hold
unprecedented sway. Through His prophets, God promises that our idols of silver
and gold –the riches and
possessions that have become our little gods – will be thrown to the bats and moles at the
culmination of this age, when they are finally recognised as being of so little
real value (Isa. 2:20).
Jesus, or Yehoshua, had
a great deal to say on the subject of money and riches.
Matthew
6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (RSV)
Mark
10:17-25 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man
ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher [didaskalos,
SGD 1320; or Rabbi], what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God
alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit
adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your
father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all
these I have observed from my youth." 21 And Jesus looking upon
him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you
have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me." 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went
away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked
around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who
have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the
disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God." (RSV)
Rabbi Saul/Paul of
Tarsus, who apparently studied under Gamaliel the Elder, was also certain that
love of money was a primary cause of people separating themselves from God and
forsaking their Faith.
1Timothy 6:6-11 There is great gain in
godliness with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world,
and we cannot take anything out of the world; 8 but if we have food
and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire
to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful
desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the
love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that
some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.
11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (RSV)
Similarly, the
pseudepigraphical work called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (R.H.
Charles, SPCK, London, 1917; translated from Armenian), which was supposedly
written in the second century BCE and was therefore contemporary with the Dead
Sea Scrolls, contains some incisive observations and warnings. The
Testaments are based upon the supposed deathbed comments of the sons of
Jacob to their children. Of particular relevance here are those made by the
Patriarch Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and his first wife Leah. (Known
interpolations have been removed from the text.)
XVII. And now
I command you, my children, not to love money, nor to gaze upon the beauty of
women; because for the sake of money and beauty I was led astray to Bathshua
the Canaanite.
XVIII. 2.
Beware, therefore, my children, of fornication, and the love of money, and
hearken to Judah your father.
3. For these
things withdraw you from the law of God,
And blind the
inclination of the soul,
And teach
arrogance,
And suffer not
a man to have compassion upon his neighbour.
4. They rob
his soul of all goodness,
And oppress
him with toils and troubles,
And devour his
flesh.
5 And he
hindereth the sacrifices of God;
He hearkeneth
not to a prophet when he speaketh,
And resenteth
the words of godliness.
XIX. My
children, the love of money leadeth to idolatry; because, when led astray
through money, men name as gods those who are not gods, and it causeth him who
hath it to fall into madness. 2. For the sake of money I lost my children, and
had not my repentance, and the prayers of my father been accepted, I should
have died childless. 3. But the God of my fathers had mercy on me, because I
did it in ignorance. 4. And the prince of deceit blinded me, and I sinned as a
man and as flesh, being corrupted through sins.
XXVI. Observe,
therefore, my children, all the law of the Lord, for there is hope for all them
who hold fast unto His ways.
There is an obvious theme here, and
the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes had this to say on the same subject:
Ecclesiastes
5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with
money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity. (RSV)
However, Rabbi Kushner
then ties this issue to the perennial problem of latent anti-Semitism often
arising from envy.
If
some Jews are loud and aggressive or guilty of unethical business practices (as
are lots of gentiles), one is entitled to dislike them as individuals but has
no right to extend that dislike to innocent members of the larger group.
Antisemitism, like all racial and religious prejudice, is a sign that something
is wrong with the hater, not with his victim (op. cit., p. 262).
Jewish
advocacy
The Patriarch Judah
showed great compassion and impressive verbal skills as the advocate for his
half-brother Benjamin (Gen. 44:16-34), so much so that he melted Joseph’s heart
in Egypt. Judah nobly took upon himself the role of protector, and his
Christ-like act of intercession on behalf of his brother probably bound the two
so closely that, at the break-up of the Kingdom following Solomon’s death,
Benjamin became allied with Judah (along with half the tribe of Levi) rather
than with his full-brother Joseph’s tribe. It was obviously God’s doing as part
of His unfolding plan.
This arrangement had
been ratified and given permanence earlier by David (of Judah) and King Saul’s
son Jonathan (of Benjamin), as recorded in 1Samuel 20:42. The name Benjamin means
son of the right hand, so it seems he and his descendants were always
destined to be the right-hand man of Judah. It is ironic that they were
predominantly left handed-people and were almost destroyed for their
perversity. The right also means the South, as the ‘front’ is always
facing the East in Hebrew. It is interesting that the royal city of Jerusalem
was apparently located within the historical boundary of the tribe of Benjamin
rather than Judah, as might be expected. Also, Joseph may have had the primacy
in Egypt, but it seems Judah is to have the ascendancy in Jerusalem (metaphorically referred to as Egypt).
Justice must be done
and done correctly and the perversion of justice by Judah or the other tribes
will be punished, in the same way the Talmud perverts the Laws of God and will
be destroyed.
The basic purpose of
advocacy was supposed to be the defence of the innocent and needy (Ps. 82:2-4)
or to try and mitigate the sentence of a guilty person; it was assuredly not to
get the guilty off on a legal technicality. It is not incumbent upon any lawyer
to search out and exploit legal loopholes or defend the indefensible, to the
detriment of a nation’s system of justice and of the society in general. That
sort of unethical behaviour, by deliberately flouting the spirit of the
law, will be punished by God in the Last Days. He says He hates injustice and
the perversion of the justice system (cf. Job 8:3; 36:17). In order to be most
effective, justice must also be swift and the truly guilty punished as a
warning to others. The Torah is quite specific on the need for true justice
for all people.
Exodus
23:6-8 "You shall not pervert the justice due to
your poor in his suit. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not
slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8 And
you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the
cause of those who are in the right. (RSV)
The prophet Isaiah was
aware of the situation in his time and foresaw the same thing happening in
these Last Days, in line with the dual application of much of Scripture.
Isaiah
59:4 No one enters suit justly, no one
goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive
mischief and bring forth iniquity. (RSV)
It would appear that
truth, justice and equitable treatment are extremely important to God as such
requirements of the leaders and the people are mentioned often enough in
Scripture (e.g. Jer. 23:5; Ezek. 45:9).
Proverbs
21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable
to the LORD than sacrifice.
For without justice (tsedek,
SHD 6664) there can be no righteousness (tsedek), and vice versa. And as
the writer of Ecclesiastes warns and the prophet Isaiah enjoins:
Ecclesiastes
5:8 If you see in a province the poor
oppressed and justice and right violently taken away, do not be amazed at the
matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher
ones over them. (RSV)
Isaiah
56:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Keep
justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my
deliverance be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the
son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and
keeps his hand from doing any evil." (RSV)
Again, justice and
righteousness here are synonymous and interchangeable.
Torah observance
It appears that Judah
or Levi was assigned to be God’s scribes or lawgivers (chaqaq, SHD 2710). Some Kenites also had this task. Scribes have been referred to as Sopherim (from saphar, SHD 5608) since Ezra’s time, and were given the task of faithfully preserving
Scripture down through the centuries (Pss. 60:7 and 108:8). It is recorded that
the Jews and Levites were appointed custodians of the Oracles of God from the
beginning (Rom. 3:1-2), however, that was only until the death of
Messiah and the formation of the Churches of God from the Apostles onwards (see
the paper The Oracles of
God (No. 184)).
It was perhaps the
Jews’ and Levites’ natural abilities, with their dedication and thoroughness,
which particularly fitted them for the task of transcribing the holy texts. By
tradition, a detailed and reverent ritual for copying the Scriptures was
required, whereby each letter was considered holy in itself, so no adjoining
letters were permitted to touch; each word was to be read aloud from an
original version of the text; and every letter and word were counted to ensure
that none had been added or omitted, in accordance with the injunction in the
Torah (Deut. 4:2).
Christians naturally
owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Scribes for faithfully copying and
preserving the Hebrew Scriptures (the Tanakh) for hundreds of years, so
that, at the appropriate time, they might be translated into all the languages
of the world, as is still being done today. They did, however, take liberties
with the Scriptures but preserved those texts for a permanent record and which
we know today (see for example The Companion Bible notes to the texts).
In addition, the rest
of Israel seemed more inclined to water down the Laws of God, until finally
deciding that these Laws had been done away with altogether and that we are
solely under “grace” within the new Christian dispensation. It seems
pseudo-Christianity is in such a rush to disassociate itself from everything
Jewish and the Jews (even until fairly recently known as “Christ-killers”),
they have forgotten that the majority of first-generation Christians were Jews
or Hebrews of all twelve tribes of Israel, located both within Judaea and in
the Diaspora, and who didn’t suddenly give up their keeping of Torah when they
became baptised Christians. They continued to worship in their local
Synagogues, although many were later expelled as Jesus/Yehoshua said they would
be (Jn. 16:2; cf. also Jn. 9:22), perhaps for mentioning the “heresy” that the
long-awaited Messiah of their liberation had already appeared, yet had been
ignominiously killed. It wasn’t the sort of information that many people wanted
to know (see Acts chap. 7).
In Acts 24, Paul stated
unequivocally before the Roman governor Felix and many eminent Jews that he
still observed the Law.
Acts
24:14 But this I admit to you, that
according to the Way, which they call a sect [heresy: KJV], I worship the God
of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the
prophets. (RSV)
It simply wasn’t a case
of Paul believing everything in the Law but then not acting upon that
belief. It was quite the opposite in fact, and his statement here refutes the
antinomian opinion that Paul denigrated the Law in his numerous other epistles.
In contrast to the
pseudo-Christians’ willingness within just a few centuries to abrogate the Law,
Judah often went to the other extreme. They had a tendency to introduce more
and more man-made ordinances and restrictions, albeit with noble intent,
perhaps, claiming these were part of the Oral Law given to Moses. Certain
strands of Judaism also saw the need to put a fence around the Laws of God as
shown, for example, by their 39 Sabbath prohibitions, few of which bear any
resemblance to the original injunctions regarding the Sabbath in the Torah as
given directly by the Angel of the Covenant (who became the Messiah).
Geza Vermes, in his
book The Religion of Jesus the Jew (SCN Press, London, 1993), had this
to say about the prohibitions.
“We have to wait until
the Book of Jubilees (50.6-9) in mid-second century BC, and the statutes of the
Damascus Document (10.14-12.6) half a century later, before encountering the
first attempts at systematization, and until the relevant section of the
Mishnah (Shab. 7.2) before receiving a detailed list of thirty-nine classes of
proscribed action.”
(fn. p.12)
The Mishnah was
compiled about 200 CE, long after the fall of the Temple. Hence it was long
after the written Torah was produced that this so-called Oral Law was codified.
This making of laws more binding and unnecessarily burdensome was what Yehoshua
condemned (cf. Mat. 23:1ff.). He obviously recognised the difference between
the Laws he had given to Moses and those added afterwards by over-zealous, and
often hypocritical, religious types.
R. Kushner gave the
Jewish perspective on God’s Law or Torah and why it is still binding upon all
who claim to love God and act as His servants today.
“We
learn two lessons from the stories we tell about ourselves: that God loves us
and that God needs us.
God
shows His love for us by reaching down to bridge the immense gap between Him
and us. He shows His love for us by inviting us to enter into a Covenant with
Him, and by sharing with us His precious Torah. The idea that giving us laws is
a sign of God’s love is one of the fundamental theological differences between
Judaism and [mainstream] Christianity. … Laws are seen [by the latter] as the
instrument of a harsh, restrictive, punishing God, and need to be superseded by
the rule of love and forgiveness. Judaism – while admiring love and forgiveness … – sees the role of the Law totally differently.
In our view, a loving parent does not show his or her love by telling a child,
“Do whatever you want, and I will still love you.” That is not love but an
abdication of responsibility. … Jews have understood from the beginning that
ours was a religion of love because it did not leave us to find our way through
life unaided. It offered advice, insight, and guidelines.” (op. cit., pp. 47-8)
He goes on to share a
few thoughts that should be noted by the antinomian Christians in particular.
We
tend to think of laws as restricting our freedom. … But Judaism insists that
living by God’s laws is a matter not only of obedience, but of a more important
kind of freedom.
It
may seem strange to speak of the Torah, with its myriad regulations and
prohibitions, as a source of freedom. … The freedom the Law offers is the freedom
of the athlete who disciplines his body so that he is free to do things
physically that you and I are incapable of. It is the freedom of being the
master of appetite rather than its slave. … The freedom the Torah offers us is
the freedom to say no to appetite. …
The
Law does not make us sinners. The Law tries to make us strong enough to resist
the many temptations to sin to which the human being is subject daily. … The
second gift of the Law is the reassuring message that we and our moral choices
are taken seriously at the highest level. …
But
what the Jewish way of life does by imposing rules on our eating, sleeping, and
working habits is to take the most common and mundane activities and invest
them with deeper meaning, turning every one of them into an occasion for
obeying (or disobeying) God (ibid., pp. 50-4).
This is certainly good
advice for taking care of most aspects of life. It’s true that, through
self-discipline and self-denial, we are able to keep the Law in its physical
aspect; however, there is still the more important spiritual application that
needs to be addressed.
The problem is that
Judaism as a religion has corrupted the Laws of God by tradition. That practice
must be stopped and Judah’s and Levi’s conduct corrected.
Yehoshua
as a Torah-observant Jew
Geza Vermes was also unequivocal
with regard to Jesus/Yehoshua’s observance of the Law of Moses:
… Jesus not only was not
hostile to the Torah in principle or refused to abide by it in practice, ready
when necessary to choose between conflicting obligations, but that he
acknowledged the Law of Moses as the foundation-stone of his Judaism (op. cit.,
pp. 188-9).
Vermes continues with
this theme on page 194:
As
has been clearly demonstrated in chapter 2, Jesus made no attempt to restrict,
or interfere with, the Torah; he rather embraced it as the recognized framework
of Judaism. What he strove to emphasize was inward piety for the individual
devotee of the Kingdom of heaven. In brief, he adopted, intensified and sought
boldly to inject into the Judaism of ordinary people the magnificent prophetic
teaching of the religion of the heart (cf. Isa. 29.13) (emphasis
added).
Earlier in his book,
the above author made the following comment, which concurs with the views
expressed above by Rabbi Kushner regarding Torah observance.
To
be brief, the survey of Jesus’
preaching in parables, proclamations and sayings has shown that, the essential
requisites are detachment from possessions, unquestioning trust in God and
absolute submission to him. The fact that the duties imposed are generally
expressed in ethical rather than ‘legal’ terms should not lead one to imagining that
Jesus’ eschatological
preaching conflicts with his attachment to the Law. It is approval of his
recapitulation of the Torah as love of God and love of men that brings the
sympathetic scribe ‘near to the Kingdom’ (Mark 12.34). Perhaps even more pregnantly, in
the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6.10)
the petition, ‘Thy Kingdom come’, is followed by, ‘Thy will be done’, a divine will seen by Judaism of all ages as being
expressed and manifested in the commandments received by Moses on Mount Sinai
(Vermes, ibid., pp. 148-9; emphasis added).
Messiah came to
introduce the vital spiritual dimension that is impossible to engender
within ourselves. In doing so, however, he did not “shatter the letter of the
Law” as claimed by Ernst Kaesemann in Essays on New Testament Themes
(transl. by W.J. Montague, Lond., 1964). Vermes countered Kaesemann as follows,
and his footnote speaks of Jesus explaining the true meaning of the Law:
Incidentally,
Jesus’ antitheses do not
differ structurally from that which, according to Mark 7.10-13 (Matt. 15.4-6),
the Pharisees are said to have propounded their doctrine concerning qorban:
‘Moses said … but you [Jesus] say’ (Mark), or even more strongly, ‘God commanded … but you say’
(Matt.). One can, needless to say, debate the nature of the contrasts in
question, but the point at issue is that if Jesus’ teaching ‘shatters
the letter of the Law’, that of the Pharisees
seems to do the same, which is of course nonsense.28
Footnote 28: In the words of a well-known New Testament
scholar, the scribes and Pharisees were ‘tampering with God’s Law’, whereas in the case of Jesus, it was a matter of ‘the Son elucidating its real
meaning’ (C.E.B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to Saint Mark (1959), 237).” (ibid., p. 31, emphasis added)
The one known as Jesus
Christ was referred to by his fellow Jews as a Rabbi on numerous occasions
(Mat. 23:7-8; Jn. 1:38,49; 20:16, etc.), so perhaps respect is due for his
wisdom and teaching ability as for any other Rabbi before or since, such as
Gamaliel, Akiba or Rashi. As a Rabbi he was speaking almost exclusively to
other Jews of his day, and may have been the expected Teacher of Righteousness
mentioned by the Essenes.
It is known absolutely
that he didn’t abrogate Torah either when he was alive or by his death and
resurrection, as so many Christians incorrectly claim today. He didn’t say to
the wealthy Jewish leader who was seeking the best way to eternal life, “Keep
all the Commandments for now but, know this, that my death and resurrection
will abolish all those Laws of God that most people find so burdensome and
difficult anyway, for everyone will come under grace from that time forward”
(see Luke 18:18-30). It is worthy of note also that the Fourth Commandment
requiring seventh-day Sabbath observance was too obvious to be mentioned here
at all, yet could in no way be considered abolished by Christ’s silence on the
matter.
The Patriarchs and prophets
were among the few people in the Hebrew Scriptures recorded as having received
God’s Spirit, the power of God. Abraham was called “a friend of God”
(2Chr. 20:7), while David was known as “a man after God’s own heart” (1Sam.
13:14). They were given God’s Spirit and were led by it. They were among the
first to receive the Spirit but were to be far from unique in this. This is the
reason that Messiah had his Advent and began his teaching about the higher
aspects of the Law and the availability of the Holy Spirit to a far greater
number of people than the mere handful of specially-favoured men and women who
had received it up until that time, in order to allow a more faithful keeping
of the Law than ever before possible.
Through the Messiah,
God is actually giving all of us the chance to become “a friend” of His and “a
person after His own heart”. It is His intention that all human beings who ever
existed are to be called into the Body of Israel at some point, given the
Spirit so that they are better able to keep the full intent (i.e. the spirit)
of the Law, and then to be finally transformed into spirit beings on a par with
the angels in Heaven and thus become full Sons of God; and thereafter have
eternal life.
The
Advent of Messiah
Jews generally have never
accepted that the man called Jesus Christ, or Yehoshua ben Yoseph, was the
promised Messiah, despite many references to him in the Tanakh. One
example is from Zechariah, where the Messiah is prophesied as one who is to be
killed by being pierced.
Zechariah
12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so
that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for
him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps
over a first-born. (RSV)
He is not about to be
pierced at his glorious Advent as King-Messiah, so it seems logical that the
person spoken of here must have been pierced in the past, then resurrected to
life in order to be seen again by those who pierced him at some time in the
future. He is the same one pierced by the Jews (by proxy) and the Gentile
Romans (by commission), thus he has already had one Advent … and most of the
Jews, then and now, knew it not or refused to accept it. John, the disciple
whom Jesus loved, who was a Levite, stated categorically that the above
Scripture referred to this same Jesus or Yehoshua ben Yoseph.
John
19:37 And again another scripture says, "They
shall look on him whom they have pierced." (RSV)
The text in Zechariah
undeniably alludes to two separate Advents of the one person, the person whom
the first Jewish converts and all subsequent Christians have acknowledged as
the long-awaited Messiah. (See also Commentary on Zechariah (No. 297).)
Hence his first Advent according to Judah will actually be his second, when he
will appear as an all-conquering King-Messiah. When they arise in the Second
Resurrection of the dead, all those who pierced Messiah, or who called for that
to happen, will come under judgment before him. This is dealt with in the paper
Advent of the Messiah (No.
210).
Another Scripture that
implies two Advents from an historical point of view is found in Daniel
2:31-45. It is generally acknowledged that the iron legs of this image
represent the Roman Empire, the fourth kingdom extant in Messiah’s time, and
that the stone uncut by human hands is Messiah himself. The stone is
shown striking the great image on its feet of mixed iron and clay rather
than on the legs; in other words, Messiah didn’t destroy the Roman Empire and
the occupiers of Judaea at his first Advent as Jesus Christ. That Empire was to
last several hundred years after his death and resurrection, without the
promised physical Kingdom being set up on Earth during that period.
Incidentally, besides
speaking of two Advents of Messiah, the prophet Zechariah (Ezekiel also) talks
about a definite raising of the dead to life, so the Sadducees are without
excuse when attempting to deny any future resurrection (cf. Mat. 22:23; Lk.
20:27ff.). Also, Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, spoke to the Roman
governor of Judaea, Felix, and his Jewish wife, and raised some uncomfortable
issues regarding justice and a resurrection to judgment.
Acts
24:24-25a After some days Felix came
with his wife Drusil'la, who was a Jewess; and he sent for Paul and heard him
speak upon faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he argued about justice
[righteousness; KJV] and self-control and future judgment, Felix was alarmed …
(RSV)
At some stage we are
all required to acknowledge that Messiah has indeed already come once to this
Earth. And the understanding that he would set up the physical Kingdom there
and then, and therefore that Yehoshua ben Yoseph could not have been the
promised Messiah, is erroneous. Instead, he set up the Kingdom spiritually in
the hearts and minds of a number of faithful disciples at that time, with the
millennial Kingdom on Earth not to be set up until after his Second Advent.
Revelation
1:4-7 John to the seven churches that
are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to
come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from
Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of
kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming
with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him;
and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (RSV)
Again, Revelation 1:7
contains a dual meaning. “Every one who pierced him” may not be there to
personally witness Messiah coming in great glory in the clouds; however, they
and everyone else will most certainly see him sometime after they’ve been
resurrected to life again, in either the First or Second Resurrection.
It is even possible
that some of the Roman soldiers and others who had a part in the death of
Messiah will be in the First Resurrection and thus will literally meet him in
the air at his second Advent. Several Scriptures hint at this (Mat. 27:54; Mk.
15:39; Lk. 23:47). For instance, the Gentile centurion verbally acknowledged
Jesus/Yehoshua as the Son of God, so it is quite conceivable that he was later
converted and became a disciple along with many other witnesses to the
crucifixion.
Matthew
27:54 When the centurion and those who were with
him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they
were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
(RSV)
It seems strange that a
Gentile should recognise the Messiah when so many Jews of the time didn’t. In
fact, this was the second recorded occasion on which a Gentile knew Christ to
be the Messiah, the other being when he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the
well (Jn. 4:4ff.). Many of the leaders of Judah were jealous of Yehoshua ben
Yoseph, and this was perhaps a major reason for wanting him dead (see Mat.
27:18). As the saying goes, ‘What goes around, comes around’ or, in Hebrew, mida
keneged mida (lit. ‘measure for measure’, i.e. the repayment in kind by God
for good or evil). The Jews persecuted the Church endlessly and that was why
they wanted the prophet Muhammed and the small group in Arabia killed so that
it was wiped out. This envy and murder was to be returned with interest upon
their own descendants’ heads over two millennia leading up to the Holocaust of
the 20th century.
The
Servant Songs
Another Jewish author,
Stuart Sacks, in Revealing Jesus as Messiah (Christian Focus Publ.,
Scotland, 1998, p. 89), made this observation:
Some Talmudic
writers have recognized the likelihood that suffering is bound up with
Messiah’s work [Babyl. Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin 98b]. Among the ancient
prayers said for the Day of Atonement may be found the words of Eleazar ben
Qalir (perhaps as late as AD 1000): ‘Our righteous Messiah has departed from
us; we are horror-stricken, and there is none to justify us. Our iniquities and
the yoke of our transgressions he carries, and is wounded for our
transgressions. He bears on his shoulders our sins to find pardon for our
iniquities.’ (cf. Isa. 53:4-5).
Hence it appears that
some Jewish writers acknowledged (albeit rather quietly) the fact that the
Messiah had actually come and gone. Geza Vermes, in his book Jesus the Jew
(SCM Press Ltd, Lond., 1983, p. 135), also mentioned this possibility.
In addition to the royal concept, Messianic
speculation in ancient Judaism included notions of a priestly and prophetic
Messiah, and in some cases, of a Messianic figure who would perform all these
functions in one. On occasions, furthermore, Messianic brooding and reflection
went hand in hand with the belief that the Anointed had already come.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
show that the understanding of the community there was that the Messiah was the
same person, being of two Advents. The first Advent was as the Priest- Messiah
and the second was as the King- Messiah. The texts are examined in the
symbolism of the High Priest on Yom Kippur and are examined in the paper
Day of Atonement (No. 138) and Azazel and Atonement (No. 214).
Isaiah 53 is one of a
small series of texts recorded by the prophet Isaiah and usually known as the Servant
Songs (also Isa. 42; 49; 50; 52:13-15; part 40 and 61 also). Stuart Sacks
had this to say about the last of these Songs:
Although
the Jewish community has traditionally thought of this final Servant Song in
messianic terms, how wonderful it will be in that day when multitudes of the
household of Israel accept the Scripture’s reliable witness through such men as
Luke and Philip [cf. Acts 8:34-35]. The fact remains that the final Song’s
fifteen verses [52:1-53:12] fit none other so well as the Messiah as he
was revealed in first century Palestine; if they do not refer to Jesus, we
do not have the remotest idea of whom Isaiah is speaking (ibid., p. 68, emphasis
added).
This author added that
the latter Song “clearly identifies individual suffering in place of a
rebellious people”, and the person known as “Jesus (Yeshua) is the perfect
embodiment of the word yasha” (meaning to save), for it is
recorded that Jesus (Gk: Iesous) will save his people from their sins
(Mat. 1:21).
Returning to the Tanakh,
the Psalmist gave a specific description of the hallmarks, so to speak, of the
Messiah who was to come.
Psalm
22:16 Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of
evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet (RSV)
That is just one small
example from a whole set of criteria required for Yehoshua/Jesus to be fully
acknowledged as the promised Messiah. Besides the piercing of his hands and
feet by the nails, there were also puncture marks around the head of this
crucified one from the crown of thorns that had been jammed onto his head.
These holes in his scalp allowed blood to trickle down his face and settle on
his earlobes, while the wounds in his hands and feet allowed blood to run down
onto his thumbs and big toes. God thereby arranged for Yehoshua ben Yoseph to
be fully consecrated as a Priest, in accordance with the solemn ordination
ceremony of Aaron and his sons (and all their priestly descendants) as
described in Leviticus 8:23-24 (see also the paper Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106b)).
Even now, as High
Priest in the Melchisedek priesthood, Yehoshua is willing and able to make
intercession directly to God the Father on behalf of the called-out and chosen
ones alive on the Earth, as Timothy showed.
1Timothy
2:3-6 This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave
himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper
time. (RSV)
Jews
for Jesus
God surely wants
everyone of Judah to become “a Jew for Jesus”. But He certainly doesn’t want
the Jews to dispense with their Monotheism and embrace the false gods of the
Trinitarian concept adhered to by the overwhelming majority of ‘Christians’,
whose Jesus is one of three co-equal members of an exclusive Godhead. If this belief takes some swallowing and
appears to run contrary to the ‘Shema Ysrael, that is because it most
certainly is at odds with it.
If we have accepted
that Messiah has already had one Advent and died for the salvation of all
people in the world, then there is no longer a need to struggle with the alien
concept of the Trinity of ‘Father, Son and Holy Ghost’ as it is totally
unscriptural, found in neither the Tanakh nor, surprisingly, in the
books of the Christian New Testament.
A typical Trinitarian
thesis might include the following, though perhaps with a little less honesty
than found in the opening sentence. This is actually a rather brave admission
considering the Trinity concept is supposed to be pivotal to Christian belief.
As Christians are also meant to be People of the Book, one would reasonably
expect the doctrine to be plainly laid out in the New Testament Scriptures.
It
is now generally acknowledged that the doctrine of the Trinity is not found in
the New Testament. At the same time, it is more commonly recognized than it has
sometimes been, that the New Testament contains the materials out of which the
doctrine of the Trinity took shape; and these are to be found, not so much in
the texts in which the names of the three “persons” occur together …, as rather
in the outlines of a Trinitarian pattern which can be discerned, especially in
the thought of Paul and the Fourth Evangelist (The Holy Spirit in Christian
Theology, George S. Hendry, SCM Press Ltd, Lond., 1965, p.30).
That is not so. The
only pattern which can be discerned, apart from in men’s fertile
imaginations, is analogous to the pattern of DNA found in all living creatures.
The basic building blocks are the same, i.e. we use the same scriptural texts
in expounding doctrine, but the conclusions reached can be totally different,
just as a human and a gorilla possess a similar make-up of DNA (sharing about
98% of genes) but only one will inherit eternal life.
Some pseudo-Christians
have even claimed that the idea of a Trinity is implicit in the Old Testament
or Tanakh, when that is not the case at all. One such point concerns the
use of the term echad instead of yachid in the ‘Shema Ysrael
when speaking of the ‘one and only’ God. The paper Consubstantial with the Father
(No. 81) should be studied for an explanation of the use of the term echad
in the ‘Shema.
The original Christian
faith, such as being expounded by the Christian Churches of God, provides a
scripturally-based alternative to the paganised and syncretic or pick-and-mix
beliefs of the so-called Christians.
Reconciliation
of Judah and Israel
Despite its persistent
sinfulness, rebellion and an unhealthy love of wealth and status, it appears
that Judah holds a special place of affection in God’s heart.
Psalm
114:2 Judah became his sanctuary [SHD
6944: holiness, sacredness], Israel his dominion. (RSV)
And, of course, out of
Judah and from the lineage of Jesse and David, Messiah was born for the
salvation of the entire world.
Isaiah
11:10-13 In that day
the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the
nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious. 11 In that day
the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is
left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from
Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12
He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13
The jealousy of E'phraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut
off; E'phraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass
E'phraim. (RSV)
We see in 2Chronicles
28:9-15 that Ephraim had a change of heart when it and the other tribes had
warred with Judah and taken many captives. Although God was angry with Judah
and allowed them to be defeated, Israel had been over-zealous in its treatment
of the captured Jews. Therefore God strongly advised them to show compassion.
We are often judged on how we treat our enemies, for to be magnanimous in
victory is a Godly characteristic.
Some time soon, there
will be a foretold reconciliation of Judah and Israel, as we see in Hosea 1:11
and Ezekiel 37:15-22.
Hosea
1:11 And the people of Judah and the people of
Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one
head; and they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of
Jezreel. (RSV)
Ezekiel
37:15-22 The word of the LORD came to me: 16
"Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, and the children of
Israel associated with him'; then take another stick and write upon it, 'For
Joseph (the stick of E'phraim) and all the house of Israel associated with
him'; 17 and join them together into one stick, that they may become
one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, 'Will you not
show us what you mean by these?' 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord
GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of
E'phraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will join with it
the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20
When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21
then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of
Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from
all sides, and bring them to their own land; 22 and I will make them
one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be
king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer
divided into two kingdoms. (RSV)
In the prophecy given
by Jacob/Israel to his sons on his deathbed, Judah’s hand is said to be on the
neck (or back) of his ‘enemies’.
Genesis
49:8-12 Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your
hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down
before you. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you
have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who
dares rouse him up? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor
the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and
to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 Binding his foal to
the vine and his ass's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes; 12 his eyes shall be red
with wine, and his teeth white with milk. (RSV)
The last verses of this
text refer to the death of the Messiah in Jerusalem. By his death he
accomplished the washing of his vestments and the vestments of all of his
people as the vineyard of the House of God (cf. Isa. 5:7).
In view of the words brothers
and father’s sons elsewhere in verse 8, it appears that the reference
here is to Judah’s hand being on the neck or back of his brothers also (as
former enemies) in order to draw them to him; that is, to embrace them and to
weep upon each other’s necks (cf. Gen. 33:4; 45:14) in a spirit of
reconciliation rather than enmity. Isaiah 11:13 states prophetically that,
“Ephraim [representing the 10 Tribes] shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not
vex Ephraim”. As mentioned earlier, this alludes to the jealousy and dislike of
a group of people (in this case a brother tribe) toward Judah (the Jews), just
as Judah may have envied Joseph (father of Ephraim) as the favourite son of
their father, the Patriarch Jacob. The term enemies thus appears to be
in the same sense as enemies shall be of one’s own household (Mic. 7:6;
Mat. 10:36), i.e. one’s own blood relatives. Had there been a negative
connotation to this part of verse 8, it would probably have spoken of Judah
having his foot upon the necks of his enemies (Jos. 10:24), or a yoke of
bondage upon their necks (Gen. 27:40; Jer. 27:12).
The
Just of the Nation of God
We know that the
essence of Torah is the love of God and the love of man, as Geza Vermes restated
above. Similarly, while speaking primarily to fellow Jews, R. Kushner sees the
need for all of us to imbue everything in our daily lives with holiness in
order to please God.
One of the
fundamental teachings of Judaism is that the search for holiness, for the
encounter with God, is not confined to the synagogue. Everything we do can be
transformed into a Sinai experience, an encounter with the sacred. The goal of
Judaism is not to teach us how to escape from the profane world to the
cleansing presence of God, but to teach us how to bring God into the world, how
to take the ordinary and make it holy. (op. cit., p. 49)
It is not a matter of
washing our hands of this world because of its seemingly insoluble problems, or
simply waiting for the promised Kingdom to come in order to have Messiah clean
up the mess on the Earth and solve everything for us. There is a vital need to
work in this world, right here and now, to make it a better place, as R.
Kushner would attest.
But
the danger of believing too fervently in a World to Come is that you may come
to care less about the imperfections of this world. So what if there is rampant
crime and disease? So what if widows and other poor people are taken advantage
of by the rich and powerful? This world is only God’s waiting room. In
Eternity, people will get what they deserve and the last shall be first. Almost
universally, Jews reject that perspective. Our creed would seem to be that God
so loved the world that He lavished upon it immense care in creating it, making
it an orderly, beautiful, precious place. And if we love God, we should feel
obliged to treat with love the world He loves so much … the reader of the Bible
is told that the abstract concept of justice is meaningless unless it is
translated into the lives of every citizen.” (ibid., pp. 44-45)
As the Rabbi would have
it, there is a nobler way in which to make a personal and positive impact upon
the world: through study and implementation of all that we have learned, at
least as a place from which to start.
Judaism has
always insisted that knowledge has the power not only to make people smart but
to make them good. Having studied, we should commit ourselves to live
differently as a result of what we have learned. And having resolved to live
differently, we should then go forth to bless God’s world and sanctify it.
(ibid., p.304)
While no one is good
but God alone (Mk. 10:18), the New Testament Scriptures concur with R.
Kushner by telling us that God so loved the world that He gave up to a violent
death His only human-born Son (Jn. 3:16-17), who came not to condemn the world
but ultimately to save it. This is quite a different concept John later gave at
1John 2:15 and which apparently contradicts the former text by telling us not
to love the world. However, it can be explained simply as an injunction to
hate the man-made and Satan-inspired systems (which are not of God, but are
certainly allowed by Him to exist) of this world yet, at the same time,
to love and care for other human beings as God Himself loves all His creation.
Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) make the distinction in their definition of the Greek
term for world, namely kosmos (SGD 2889):
5)
the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family; or …
7)
world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly
7a) the whole
circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which
although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause
of Christ.
There has often been a
certain high-principled idealism exhibited by the Jewish people. Speaking as an
American Jew, Rabbi Kushner made this observation:
We tend not to
vote for Jewish candidates, or for the most pro-Israel candidate. Jewish voters
tend to support the candidate who seems most committed to making the world a
better place.
In
the early part of the twentieth century, many Jews were attracted to the
Communist party not only because it replaced a cruel, viciously antisemitic
czar in Russia, and certainly not because Jews are by nature revolutionaries,
but because it promised to make the world better. When communism turned out to
be a “god that failed,” when Stalin’s Russia turned out to be as brutal and as
antisemitic as any czarist regime, they withdrew their loyalty. But they
continued to look for a cause to follow, because they believed that the purpose
of human beings on earth was to do for God the one thing He could not do for
Himself, to crown His creation with goodness, and make this world, not some
other far-off world, the Kingdom of God.” (op. cit., pp. 46-7)
That is obviously a
very worthy view to hold, although it must be increasingly obvious that man
alone will not be able to solve the multitude of problems this world faces.
However, it demonstrates that Jews (among many others) often have a
highly-developed sense of justice and empathy for their fellow man.
The claim that
God needs us is not so much a statement about God as it is about us. We are
called on to do something for God and for the world. We are important; we are
empowered. The foundation story of Judaism [and all biblical Israel] teaches us
these two lessons. It is our obligation to be a role model for all nations,
showing them what the God-oriented life looks like, and it is our obligation to
make God’s world complete by giving Him the one thing He cannot do for Himself,
by freely choosing to do good. God depends on us to complete and sanctify His
world, and we disappoint Him cosmically if we fail to respond to His challenge.
(ibid., p. 48)
In the Mishnah, there
is a saying attributed to Hillel, an older contemporary of Jesus/Yehoshua:
Be
of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind (ha-beriyot)
and bringing them near to the Torah (mAb 1,12).
In his comment on
Isaiah 60:3,6f., Geza Vermes states:
Here
the coming of the Kingdom entails an element of mystery: the salvation of
Israel is presented as a magnet attracting the rest of mankind to God (ibid.,
pp. 123-4).
Salvation
to the Jews first
Again we see the
pre-eminent position in God’s grand scheme given to Judah. Salvation was open
to them first, beginning with the 42-plus years from the preaching of John the
Baptist until the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Paul
reiterated this fact.
Romans
1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the
power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith; as it is written, "He who through faith is
righteous shall live." (RSV)
Judah was thus given ‘first refusal’
on the truth and salvation through Jesus the Messiah; however, pre-eminence was
to prove a two-edged sword, in that it meant Judah would also be the first to
be punished for rebellion such as, for example, at the time of the destruction
of the Temple and in the Holocaust centuries later. The rest of Israel may yet
have to experience their own punishment.
Romans 2:9-13,
17-29 There will be tribulation and
distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the
Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for every one who does
good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no
partiality. 12 All who have sinned without the law will also perish
without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the
law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous
before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified…. 17 But
if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to
God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you
are instructed in the law, 19 and if you are sure that you are a
guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a
corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment
of knowledge and truth-- 21 you then who teach others, will you not
teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22
You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who
abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do
you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written,
"The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." 25
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law,
your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is
uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be
regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically
uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and
circumcision but break the law. 28 For he is not a real Jew who is
one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29
He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the
heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.
(RSV)
When Paul spoke about
the true circumcision (i.e. of the heart) required of all people, not just the
Jews, he was echoing Jeremiah’s words.
Jeremiah
4:3-4 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not
among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the
foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest
my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the
evil of your doings." (RSV)
Similarly, Yehoshua
restated Jeremiah’s words when he gave the parable of the sower in Matthew
13:3ff., which speaks of the seed or the word of God being broadcast or
distributed abroad and whether or not it finds root in fertile ground. The call
is going out at present, and it is up to individuals within Judah to allow
those words to take root in their hearts and minds and to respond to that call.
It seems that when we scratch the
skin of a self-confessed atheistic or agnostic Jew we find not too far below
the surface a rather spiritual person who might readily respond to God’s
calling of him or her. Rabbi Kushner gave a hint of the latent spirituality in
many secular Jews.
...
Israel is not a new, forty-year old country, but is in fact one of the oldest
countries in the world …
That explains
why Jews were moved to tears in June 1967 when the Old City of Jerusalem, the
Western Wall of the Temple, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and other
biblical sites became part of Israel. It connected them to their biblical
origins, and even non-religious Jews were thrilled by that. Within two months
of the end of the Six-Day War, fully half the population of Israel, most of
them non-religious Jews, had come to Jerusalem to pray at the Western Wall.
(Kushner, ibid., pp. 252-3)
Like all of God’s children, they
undoubtedly have a strong innate desire ‘to find their way back home’ to Him.
They are ‘prodigal sons’… as are we all. And while it is noble and right to
have a strong connection with the physical land of Israel, there remains the
more vital connection we are required to have with spiritual Israel.
R. Kushner in To
Life! explains how (mainstream) Christianity and Judaism can learn valuable
lessons from each other.
Christianity
needs Judaism to remind it of what pure, uncompromised ethical monotheism looks
like. … Christianity needs the example of the Jewish community actually
striving to do what the Torah calls upon us to do.
But Judaism
needs Christianity to remind us that the word of God is not meant to be kept
for ourselves alone. We are called on not merely to live by God’s ways, but to
do it in such a manner that the world will be persuaded to turn to God. (ibid.,
p. 290)
In point of fact, the Christian
Churches of God bring together those vital strands of religious belief and
practice, by being both Torah-observant and by promulgating God’s ways as
widely as possible with the ultimate aim of encouraging the whole world to turn
to Him.
Awaiting
Judah
The elect cannot be
sealed, and the world in general cannot be saved, until a certain number from
the tribe of Judah are brought into God’s true Church. It has already been
decided that a full 12,000 people from the tribe of Judah will be inducted into
the central core of God’s chosen or elect, numbering 144,000 in total (Rev.
7:3-5).
The Great Multitude of
the First Resurrection (Rev. ch. 7) is to consist of members of all tribes and
nations of the Earth. We know that forgiveness from God is available at any
time and not just on a specific day of the year such as Yom Kippur,
provided that repentance is genuine. This has been demonstrated many times
throughout the history of Israel and Judah.
2Kings
22:18-19 But as to the king [Josiah] of
Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus
says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words which you have
heard, 19 because your
heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you
heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they
should become a desolation and a curse, and you have rent your clothes and
wept before me, I also have heard you, says the LORD. (RSV)
2Chronicles
20:3,18-21 Then Jehosh'aphat feared, and
set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all
Judah…. 18 Then Jehosh'aphat bowed his head with his face to the
ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the
LORD, worshiping the LORD. 19 And the Levites, of the Ko'hathites and
the Kor'ahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very
loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into
the wilderness of Teko'a; and as they went out, Jehosh'aphat stood and said,
"Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your
God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed."
21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those
who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy array, as they went before
the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love
endures for ever." (RSV)
A prophet of Judah was
once used by God to warn Israel’s king of impending disaster (1Kgs. 13:1-3).
Yet, even today, when God calls Judah to return to Him through Yehoshua the
Messiah, He doesn’t want to see His prophets, those bringing the message of the
recall to God, ignored, abused or even murdered as happened on numerous
occasions in the past.
2Chronicles
24:18-21 And they forsook the house of
the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Ashe'rim and the idols. And
wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. 19 Yet
he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; these testified
against them, but they would not give heed. 20 Then the Spirit
of God took possession of Zechari'ah the son of Jehoi'ada the priest; and he
stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, `Why do you
transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because
you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'" 21 But
they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with
stones in the court of the house of the LORD. (RSV)
Little was to change in
subsequent years, as when Stephen made the truth known to Jews from many parts
of the Near and Middle East in the first century CE (Acts 6:5-7:60). He too was stoned to death for his
efforts; and a certain Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus was consenting to his
death (Acts 8:1), although this led inexorably to Saul’s belief in
Jesus/Yehoshua as the Messiah and to his miraculous conversion on the road to
Damascus. Saul repented and was baptised and renamed Paul. God is not mocked.
And He eventually deals with all people’s games and their refusal to
acknowledge Him or listen to His servants; but in His own time He will deal
with each person to their own good.
It is perhaps
appropriate that Second Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Tanakh,
as it contains pertinent messages for these Last Days of the present age. And,
as so often before, Judah may be required to set the example and march in the
vanguard, this time in the much more-important campaign to deliver the true
message of salvation to all. Judah’s renowned advocacy skills could be useful
also in persuading the rest of Israel to return to God, as they tried to do
before with limited success (see 2Chronicles 29 and 30). A more successful
campaign had been implemented by King Asa of Judah.
2Chronicles
15:1-9 The Spirit of God came upon Azari'ah the son of
Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me,
Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you, while you are with
him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he
will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God,
and without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in
their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he
was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace to him
who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the
inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces, nation
against nation and city against city, for God troubled them with every sort of
distress. 7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak,
for your wrk shall be rewarded." 8 When Asa heard these words,
the prophecy of Azari'ah the son of Oded, he took courage, and put away the
abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities
which he had taken in the hill country of E'phraim, and he repaired the altar
of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD. 9
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from E'phraim,
Manas'seh, and Simeon who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted
to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. (RSV)
Similarly, King
Jehoshaphat of Judah finally saw the need to teach and implement the Laws of
God throughout Israel as an essential part of any restoration process.
2Chronicles
17:6-10 His heart was courageous in the ways of the
LORD; and furthermore he took the high places and the Ashe'rim out of Judah. 7
In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-hail, Obadi'ah,
Zechari'ah, Nethan'el, and Micai'ah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and
with them the Levites, Shemai'ah, Nethani'ah, Zebadi'ah, As'ahel, Shemi'ramoth,
Jehon'athan, Adoni'jah, Tobi'jah, and Tobadoni'jah; and with these Levites, the
priests Eli'shama and Jeho'ram. 9 And they taught in Judah,
having the book of the law of the LORD with them; they went about through all
the cities of Judah and taught among the people. 10 And the fear
of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about
Judah, and they made no war against Jehosh'aphat. (RSV)
Jehoshaphat later set judges in all
Judah to administer righteous judgment and thereby true justice for all.
2Chronicles
19:4-11 Jehosh'aphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the
people, from Beer-sheba to the hill country of E'phraim, and brought them
back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 5 He appointed
judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and
said to the judges, "Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but
for the LORD; he is with you in giving judgment. 7 Now then, let the
fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no perversion
of justice with the LORD our God, or partiality, or taking bribes." 8
Moreover in Jerusalem Jehosh'aphat appointed certain Levites and priests
and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the LORD and to decide
disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. 9 And he charged
them: "Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, in faithfulness, an
with your whole heart: 10 whenever a case comes to you from your
brethren who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment,
statutes or ordinances, then you shall instruct them, that they may not incur
guilt before the LORD and wrath may not come upon you and your brethren. Thus
you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. 11 And behold, Amari'ah
the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadi'ah the son
of Ish'mael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; and
the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be
with the upright!" (RSV)
Thus the restoration
must be according to the Laws of God.
The overall mission of
Yehoshua the Messiah was put very succinctly by Geza Vermes.
For
the magnetic appeal of the teaching and example of Jesus holds out hope and
guidance to those outside of the fold of organized religion, the stray sheep of
mankind, who yearn for a world of mercy, justice and peace lived in as children
of God (The Religion of Jesus the Jew, op. cit., p. 215).
The writer of
Chronicles noted that all Israel, including Judah, was directionless and
lacking a shepherd or guide, and the fact that the prophet Micah “saw” this
hints at a prophetic significance for today.
2Chronicles
18:16a And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered upon
the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; (RSV)
This was echoed later by
Yehoshua/Jesus, who saw that Judah was a lost nation:
Matthew
9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had
compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd. (RSV)
However, at his next
Advent, Messiah will come as the Redeemer from enslavement to sin as a result
of rebellion to God.
Isaiah
59:20 "And he will come to Zion as
Redeemer, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the LORD. (RSV)
Of vital importance
though, is the fact that if we wait until Messiah makes his appearance upon the
Earth before we finally commit to recognising and acclaiming him as the
expected Anointed One, it will be rather too late for us to be included in the
First (and greater) Resurrection. Which is why Christ says there will be a
weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat. 8:11-12), as those who didn’t accept him in
the period between his two Advents will be distraught at having ‘missed the
boat’ through their indecision, disbelief or lack of a repentant attitude when
they knew the Truth and where to find it, or smugly imagined themselves
to be sons of Abraham by heritage and thus with one foot in the Kingdom
already. We are told that the proud or haughty of Judah will be
removed, including the Rabbis and the Zionists teaching untruths (Zeph. 3:11),
and the Jews will be converted in spite of their unbiblical traditions. These
aspects are also covered in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137).
It will be easy enough
to accept the King-Messiah as the Anointed One when we are standing before him,
not without some trepidation perhaps. But it is when he is out of sight right
now that we are expected to believe the reports about him and to walk by faith.
We don’t need faith to believe in someone or something that is in front of us.
Solomon’s prayer at the
dedication of the Temple is arguably the most beautiful and moving in the entire
Bible (1Kgs. 8:22-53; 2Chr. 6:12-42). Of particular note is the verse:
“whenever they call upon you”, presumably with a genuine desire to return to
God instead of merely going through the motions of religiosity, that is, with a
heart far from God (Isa. 29:13; Mat. 15:8). Refer to the paper Rule of the Kings Part III:
Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C) for the full text of Solomon’s
Temple prayer and the fact of its application to the Gentiles as well as to
Israel.
Just as God listened
and heeded Solomon’s prayer, we are reminded that He sees all and rewards
accordingly.
2Chronicles
16:9a For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is
blameless toward him. (RSV)
He is also in a state
of readiness to listen to heartfelt prayer, and is willing to act upon it.
Jeremiah
29:12-14 Then you will call upon me and come and pray
to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me; when
you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you, says
the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations
and all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you
back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (RSV)
A particularly relevant
part of the Amidah Prayer may be worth remembering here also.
5.
For Repentance: Bring
us back, O our Father, to Your Instruction;
draw us near,
O our King, to Your service;
and cause us
to return to You in perfect repentance. Blessed are You, O Lord, who delights
in repentance.
6. For
Forgiveness:
Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned;
pardon us, O
our King, for we have transgressed; for You pardon and forgive.
Blessed are
You, O Lord, who is merciful and always ready to forgive.
To you who have given
mankind so much already: God can certainly use your undoubted talents in His
work for the salvation of the world. You are encouraged to take up your
position in the vanguard of Israel’s return to the Promised Land and to God’s
favour.
The
world awaits you, Judah. You have to be prepared so that Messiah can return to
His own tribe and people in due process.
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