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Jewish/Hebrew Christians - Are they Jews or not?

This is a terrible weapon of fear that the Jews use against fellow Jews who come to believe in Jesus and believe He is the promised Messiah. The Jewish community will ostracize them and even the Supreme Court of Israel has stated that any Jew who believes in Jesus (labeled a "Messianic Jew") does not have the right to emigrate to Israel under the Right of Return law, as they are considered "Christians" and are no longer considered as Jews.

Some Jews have reported that they have had long-time friends and neighbors spit in their faces when they learned of their belief in Jesus Christ. Some have even suffered physical assault by these neighbors and former friends because of their belief as they are considered traitors to their heritage. Some families have even gone so far as to hold actual funerals for the believer, as they are considered "dead" to the rest of the community.

This brings up several interesting questions.

First, what constitutes a Jew, the lineage, or the religion?

If it is the lineage, then no matter what religion they claim to follow (if any), they will still be Jews.

Would a black African who abandons the tribal demon gods and accepts Jesus as Messiah no longer be considered to be black, or African?

I find it interesting that a Jew can be a Buddhist, an atheist, or even follow New Age beliefs and they are still considered to be a Jew. Yet if any Jew believes in Jesus, immediately they are no longer considered a Jew! Why? Why does believing in Jesus as the promised Messiah create such hatred against those who seek to follow Him? Hold that thought for a bit.

If it is the religion that make a person a Jew, then any Gentile who follows Torah (the five books of Moses in the Old Testament) and accepts all 613 laws of Judaism should then become a Jew.

However, any Gentile who accepts Judaism and follows Torah is labeled as a "righteous Gentile". They are not considered Jews.

An interesting quandary arises here.....

If following another belief or religion causes a person to no longer be Jewish, king Solomon should have been overthrown as soon as he began worshiping the gods of his wives, for he abandoned the Torah and Judaism to do so.

As Scripture records;

1 KINGS 11:1-10

1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites

2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.

7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.

8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.

Yet Solomon is counted among the kings of Israel, and is still considered to be a Jew.

Throughout Scripture, God dealt with the Jews for their worship of Baal;

JUDGES 2:8-15

8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.

9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;

12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.

13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.

15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

God punished the ancient Jews for their unbelief and worship of other gods, but He never rejected them as Jews. He instead brought down on them the calamities He had promised through Moses that He would do to them if they disobeyed His commandments, calamities reserved only for the Jews.

God apparently still considered them as Jews even though they worshiped other gods!

That being the case, where do the Jews of today feel they have the authority to strip any Jew of their lineage and heritage because they believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah? Are the Jews of today greater than God that they can do what He never commanded or did Himself?

And again, why is it that only Jews who believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah are subjected to this humiliation?

Jesus Himself predicted that this would happen, when He prophesied to the Jews of things to come;

LUKE 21:5-17

5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said,

6 "These things which you see the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."

7 So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"

8 And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them.

9 "But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

10 Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

11 "And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

12 "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.

13 "But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

14 "Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;

15 "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

16 "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.

17 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.

Note carefully verses 16 and 17 above. The venomous hatred of Jesus Christ by some Jewish people is legendary, and they base their reasoning on the persecutions that they have endured at the hands of those claiming to be "Christians".

Let's consider that point for a moment.

The word "Christian" is a label given to those who claim to be followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, while a person may claim to be a Christian they many times perform works that are diametrically opposed to the teachings of the One they claim to follow.

A good example of this would be the Crusaders - merciless, brutal, ignorant, greedy men who slaughtered the Jews at the behest of equally merciless, brutal, greedy, ignorant, power-hungry Popes and priests who claimed to have the authority to promise them glory in Heaven and forgiveness of sins on Earth if they did the Pope's bidding.

Another good example would be the Nazis, who also claimed to be "Christians".

Yet Jesus, the One they claimed to follow had said;

MATTHEW 5:38-48

38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

39 "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

41 "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

42 "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

47 "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Does that sound like the Jesus Christ the "Christian" Crusaders, priests, Popes and Nazis claimed to follow? Of course not! They did their own will in His name, creating a Jesus of their own making to justify their actions.

Yet Jews hate the true Christians who are their strongest supporters, and who love, honor and respect the Jews as being "elder brothers" in God's family. Why? Because they claim it to be a "Gentile religion" and either refuse to read the New Testament for themselves to see what it really says, or rely on twisted and deliberately distorted versions of Christian doctrine!

Many Rabbinical scholars who have studied the New Testament have claimed it as "another of the First Century Judaisms". And many Jews who read it are astonished that it was originally written to Jews, for Jews, by Jews. For when Christianity first started, according to the New Testament, the word was preached only to the Jews.

Some examples;

Jesus commanded His twelve disciples to preach the message of the Kingdom;

MATTHEW 10:5-7

5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

A Jewish follower of Jesus (after His crucifixion and resurrection) named Stephen was brutally murdered by the Sanhedrin because of his belief in Jesus, and because he powerfully refuted the members of the Sanhedrin to their faces in defense of his belief. As a result, a great persecution against the Christians broke out in Judea and the Jewish believers were scattered. And as Scripture records;

ACTS 11:19

19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.

So how did the Gentiles become Christians?

The apostle Paul had traveled to the city of Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor, present-day Turkey) to preach the word to the Jews in the synagogue there, and in that synagogue were both Jews and Gentile converts (proselytes) to Judaism. And according to Scripture, after he was done preaching;

ACTS 13:42-52

42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

47 "For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the Earth.'"

48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.

50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

A major stumbling block to the Jews of Paul's time (and even today) is God's salvation being extended to the Gentiles. Apparently some Jews believe that this lessens their uniqueness as God's chosen people, but this doesn't lessen their position one bit.

Is God wrong to show mercy to the Gentiles? Did He not create all men? Did not God Himself say through Isaiah that He would bring salvation to the Gentiles through His Chosen One?

ISAIAH 42:1-9

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.

4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the Earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

5 Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the Earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it:

6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles,

7 To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

8 I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Contrary to what I have heard, the Scriptures above do NOT apply to Israel as a nation as some Rabbis teach. They refer to a specific person, chosen by God to bring salvation to the Gentiles. And as we know, only God Himself is the author of salvation, therefore God is speaking of someone equal to Himself.

People have pointed to verse 8 as proof that Jesus cannot be the Son of God, for God states that He will not give His glory to another. But if Jesus is indeed God's Son and equal to God Himself, He is not giving His glory to another just as a king does not give his glory to his son, but the son shares the glory of his father.

Isaiah also states;

ISAIAH 49:1-6

1 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.

2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.”

3 “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’

4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’ ”

5 “And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength),

6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the Earth.’ ”

Again God speaks of raising One who would be a light to the Gentiles. And while I have heard that some Rabbis teach that this set of verses refers to Israel as a nation because of verse 3, yet how can the nation of Israel raise up the tribes of Israel? How can Israel be formed in the womb to bring Jacob again to Him, when Jacob IS Israel?

God is again referring to His Son, the promised Messiah who would raise the tribes of Israel and be a light of salvation to the Gentiles.

Paul understood the fulfilling of the prophecies of Isaiah concerning God's salvation being brought to the Gentiles through the rejection of the Jews as a nation and that He would extend His salvation and mercy to the Gentiles.

At another time when the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem had falsely accused Paul concerning his preaching to the Roman procurator (governor) of Judea named Festus, Paul as a natural-born Roman citizen exercised his right to plead his case before Nero Caesar. Festus, forced by Roman law to honor Paul's request sent him to Rome, where Paul was allowed to enter the synagogue there.

Paul requested to be heard by the elders of the synagogue concerning the word he preached, as he felt certain that the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had sent word on ahead concerning him. As Scripture records;

ACTS 28:21-31

21 Then they said to him, "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

22 "But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere."

23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;

27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."'

28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"

29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

And so it continues to this day, with the false "Christians" persecuting the Jews, and the Jews in turn persecuting the true Christians because of the actions of these "false" Christians.

In fact, it was just recently that a leading Rabbi stated that Christians should no longer be held responsible by the Jews for the actions of the Nazis who had also claimed to be "Christians".

There are some in the Christian churches today who say that the Christians have replaced the Jews as God's chosen people (replacement theology) creating much animosity and bitterness between Jews and Christians. I say that those who preach this are ignorant of the Scriptures, for there is nowhere in either the Old Testament or the New Testament in which God says He will abandon the Jews as His people. In fact, He says just the opposite. (I have devoted a special study called “Chosen People” to this issue for those who are interested.)

The Christians have learned much from the Jews concerning God and His commandments, and if the Jews would in turn lay aside their bias, they could in turn learn much from the Christians.

Those who sarcastically call Christians "missionaries" and tell other Jews to avoid them, let me ask you this:

If God commanded you to preach His word to others, would you refuse to do so? And if you did as God had commanded you, wouldn't you want them to listen to you with an open mind, carefully considering what you said and comparing it to God's written Word?

God sent the prophets to your fathers, preaching the Word to them. Were they "missionaries" too? And if God did indeed send the Christians to reach out to the Jews, are you not as guilty as the fathers who opposed the prophets who preached to them?

Instead, the Jews should be like those of the city of Berea in Greece to whom Paul preached, after he had been driven from Thessalonica by disbelieving Jews. As Scripture records;

ACTS 17:10-12

10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

Note that the Jews in Berea searched the Scriptures daily, with an open mind, to verify the truth of the word that Paul preached. How many Jews of today have ever read the New Testament for themselves? Or better yet, have read it with an open mind?

I have read the arguments of many who have read the New Testament with the mind set of looking for supposed "errors", and to seek accusations against it. If you look into the Scriptures for these reasons you will never come to the truth, unless God in His mercy opens your mind to the truth. You will be looking at the New Testament through the filter of your own bias, and will reject anything outright that you don't believe in.

Instead, we should be as Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin who asked his fellow members concerning Jesus;

JOHN 7:51

51 Does our law judge any man, before it hears him, and knows what he does?

Like it or not, every Jew of today needs to determine whether Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, or a fraud. If He is indeed the Messiah sent by God as promised and you reject Him, you reject God's plan of salvation for you.

Please read this next section carefully, and above all, please read it with an open mind.

Everyone knows that it is impossible to keep all 613 laws of the Torah all of the days of your life, as the Torah requires. For as Moses said;

DEUTERONOMY 27:26

26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ”

The Torah curses anyone who does not perform the works of the Law as written. Therefore anyone who does not sacrifice to the Lord is cursed, everyone who does not stone any man or woman who takes the name of the Lord in vain is cursed, etc.

There is no salvation in the Torah, for God made it impossible for man to keep all 613 laws, thereby ensuring that Man could never be righteous through his own works.

The animal sacrifices were a reminder to the fathers that they could never attain righteousness through the Torah, so the sacrifices were a reminder that God, through His grace alone, made a substitute upon which the sins could be placed which through death would satisfy His justice for sin. He allowed the use of animals, for animals have no sins of their own, thereby showing that a perfect sacrifice needed to be sinless in His sight.

But animal sacrifices were not sufficient to take away sin, for even though the death of the animal satisfied His justice concerning sin they could never remove the sins, they could only cover them, much as paint covers stains on a wall, but doesn't remove the stains. They are still there.

Therefore, even though the fathers followed the Torah laws, they still weren't righteous enough to enter Heaven, for even though they were considered righteous for their obedience to the Torah laws, they were not yet perfect.

And the inability of the sacrifices to remove sin was shown by the fact that they had to be offered over and over again to cover offenses. A perfect sacrifice would only need to be offered once.

Therefore a better sacrifice was needed, one which could remove sins forever, with one offering.

The Law required that the animal to be sacrificed be without spot or blemish, symbolizing perfection of the sacrifice. Therefore God was showing the fathers that the only sacrifice He would accept which could truly remove sin needed to be perfect in His sight.

We also know that no flesh can be perfect in His sight, for God cursed the ground for Adam's sake after his sin in eating the forbidden fruit, thereby cursing all of His creation to destruction through death. As Scripture states;

GENESIS 3:17-19

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

However, Man has an eternal spirit and animals do not, so even though Man dies, his spirit lives after the death of the body. Animals when they die, cease to exist.

As Solomon stated;

ECCLESIASTES 3:19-21

19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.

20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the Earth?

If therefore a perfect sacrifice was needed, it would have to be a perfect spiritual sacrifice as well as a fleshly one. For even though sin attacks only the flesh, it is the spirit that bears the ultimate judgment before God for the sins and deeds of the flesh.

Where am I going with this? Bear with me for a few moments, please?

We have determined so far that the Law requires a person to follow all 613 laws all of the days of their life, and that animal sacrifices could only cover sins, not remove them for they were not perfect sacrifices before God. Therefore the Law is also not perfect, for it makes it impossible for Man to attain salvation and has no provision for a sacrifice which can remove sin.

God's justice requiring a perfect sacrifice for sin dictated that someone be able to follow the Law all of the days of his life and that this person be sinless (spiritually perfect) before Him. This person would fulfill the Law concerning sacrifice, would satisfy His justice concerning sin, and would by sacrifice be able to destroy sin once and for all. And the only one who could fulfill these requirements is God Himself.

Therefore in His wisdom He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be that perfect Man, the perfect sacrifice required to forever remove sin from Mankind, allowing Man to be perfect after death so he could enter Heaven and be a child of the living God.

How do we know this?

Consider what I have said above. The perfect sacrifice cannot be an animal for all Creation is subject to sin from God's original curse on His creation for Adam's sake. The sacrifice must be able to follow the Law perfectly all the days of his life. The sacrifice must be sinless before God. The sacrifice must be able to remove sin from Mankind forever.

Isaiah speaks of such a Man being the perfect offering for sin, when he prophesied;

ISAIAH 53:1-12

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked— but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; he has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Note Isaiah's first statement; "Who has believed our report? " Even then, God knew that the Jews as a nation would reject His Messiah even though the Scriptures following his statement clearly point to a perfect man being the sacrifice required by God for sin.

Note carefully that he said in verse 10 that this man would make his soul an offering for sin to God, and verse 11 says he will bear the iniquities of many.

People say, "God would never accept a human sacrifice!"

True, He would not. But carefully consider what Jesus' sacrifice really meant.

Sin can only attack the flesh. For without a body, where is greed? Lust? Covetousness? Murder? Therefore when a person dies, sin no longer has effect on them.

As the apostle Paul said;

ROMANS 6:7

7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

However, the spirit of the person who is dead must still face the Judgment and be judged by God for the sins they committed. Therefore the consequences of sin must be paid by the spirit of the dead person.

Jesus took the sins of the world in His flesh when He went to the cross and when that flesh died, the sins died with it, just as the animal sacrifices had the sins of the people laid on them and were killed, their blood offered for covering of sin.

But the price of sin still had to be paid for to satisfy God's justice for sin. Therefore just as the sacrifices were offered by fire to the Lord to atone for sin, Jesus went to Hell to pay for those sins, suffering fire for our cleansing.

David prophesied of this when he said in the Spirit;

PSALMS 16:8-10

8 I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.

10 For You will not leave my soul in Hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

David was obviously not speaking of himself for he was not holy, but was speaking of someone who was holy before the Lord, someone who would be in Hell, obviously dead, but whose body would not see decay.

Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion by the glory of the Father and his body never experienced decay. And with His resurrection death was conquered and sin was destroyed, for the perfect sacrifice demanded by God's justice had been made.

Therefore, it is Jesus Christ that we must all face at the Judgment, for as He said;

JOHN 5:22-23

22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

This fits well with Daniel's vision;

DANIEL 7:13-14

13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.

14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

He also told the Jews during His time on Earth;

JOHN 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

And as He told the Pharisees;

JOHN 8:23-24

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

There is much more proof of Jesus being the promised Messiah that I have included in other studies in this Web site, especially in the Jewish Studies section. I hope you will carefully consider these studies, and will maintain an open and inquiring mind as you do so.

For every Jew needs to ask themselves; "What if the Christians are right?" I'm not talking about the actions of those who call themselves Christians but speak of going to the source material for Christian beliefs, namely the New Testament.

Are you willing to gamble on your eternal destination without checking carefully to see what is right, especially since God told Jeremiah;

JEREMIAH 31:31-33

31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

BOTTOM LINE:

Is Jesus the promised Messiah, or not?

Are you willing to do the research and find out? Or will you reject Him outright and keep following the Torah, hoping that what you are doing is pleasing God?

Remember, Jesus said that if you do not honor the Son, you also do not honor the Father which sent Him. And He also said that if you do not believe in Him, you will die in your sins.

God prophesied through Jeremiah that He would create a new covenant with Israel, an inward Law written in the heart, instead of on tablets of stone. The Law of Moses was a physical law, the Law of Jesus Christ is a spiritual Law. The Law of Jesus Christ provides for salvation from sin, the Law of Moses did not.

And did not Moses himself state;

DEUTERONOMY 18:15-19

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,

16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good.

18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

Isaiah also spoke of one to come;

ISAIAH 9:6-7

6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 53 quoted earlier above speaks of the Messiah first coming as a "suffering servant", the perfect sacrifice required to destroy sin forever and take back the mastery of the world from Satan who had usurped that mastery from Adam when Adam sinned.

He conquered sin, Satan and death all at once with His death and resurrection, and now sits at the right hand of His Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, waiting for the permission of His Father to return in glory to claim His kingdom.

The Old Testament refers to the coming of the promised Messiah in numerous places, and yet people fail (or willfully refuse) to see and make the connection. Or they refuse to read the New Testament, and see the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him.

The Rabbis teach that the Messiah will return and rebuild the Temple at some future date. But let me put this question to you......

Malachi states;

MALACHI 3:1

1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

If the Messiah is to build the Temple as the Rabbis teach, how can He suddenly come to it if it hasn’t been built yet? Unless He came during the days of the Second Temple while it was still standing!

For those interested, I have created a study proving how the timing of Jesus' birth fulfilled the "70 weeks" prophecy of Daniel, showing that He did indeed appear at the Second Temple as prophesied.

One other thing. For those who say that God has no Son, please carefully consider the following Scriptures.

DANIEL 7:13-14

13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.

Here we see a man whom Daniel calls the "son of man" coming to God to receive an eternal kingdom, one in which all people shall serve him.

Couple that with;

ISAIAH 9:6-7

6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah speaks of a Son given to the world (ever wonder who's Son that would be?) That would have titles accorded only to God Himself, a Son that would be equal to the Father, who would rule an eternal kingdom.

Add to that;

ZECHARIAH 12:10

10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Note carefully the phraseology here. They will look upon Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Clearly God was speaking of TWO persons in this sentence, Himself and another whom He considers equal with Himself. And remember, Jesus Christ was crucified (pierced) for the sins of the world.

I challenge you - are you willing to search the Scriptures to see if these things are true? Are you willing to read the New Testament to see what the Christians really believe? Are you willing to see if Jesus truly is the promised Messiah, or not? Are you willing to see if the New Testament really is the promised New Covenant that God promised through Jeremiah, a covenant that replaced the Old Testament Law?

Or are you willing instead to hope that you are right in following the Torah, not being able to follow all 613 laws perfectly all of the days of your life, and hope that God will allow you into Heaven?

Only YOU can decide. And please choose carefully. Ask God for wisdom and understanding and be satisfied in your own mind as to the truth.

Questions? Comments? E:mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com

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