Month: November 2020

David Anointed Twice

One of the stumbling blocks to Jews considering Jesus to be the Messiah is the fact that he didn’t do most of the things that the Messiah was expected to do. The primary expectation of the Messiah (anointed one), based on the prophetic scriptures, was to set up the promised kingdom of God and reign from David’s throne in Jerusalem. Jesus certainly did not do that in the first century C.E.

Many of us who follow Jesus and consider him to be the Messiah believe that he will return and do exactly that at some point in the future. Jesus was a teacher of Judaism, and he announced the prophetic kingdom as being near, with himself as the king. When that kingdom was rejected by the Jewish leaders of the time, the plan changed. Jesus became the sacrificial servant described in Isaiah 53. But the plan for the kingdom was delayed until a future time.

This delay can be seen to be illustrated in the experience of David, the prototypical king of Israel, to whom it was promised that his descendants would retain the throne of Israel forever. (II Samuel 7:16) David was anointed by Samuel to be king when he was just a boy. Saul had recently been chosen as Israel’s first king. But Saul had disobeyed God’s commands on a couple of occasions. God rejected him as king, and sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king. Jesse’s seven older sons were presented, but each one was rejected by God for the role. Finally David, the youngest, was summoned from watching the sheep, and anointed by Samuel as God’s choice.

Interestingly, it was many years before David actually assumed the throne. During the intervening years David played the harp for Saul, defeated Goliath, and was loved by the people to the extent that Saul became jealous and tried to kill him. These efforts were not successful, as David, in a way, defeated death. Many years later, as David and his followers were living among the Philistines, the enemies of Israel, Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle against the Philistines. David then was recognized as king over Israel, and anointed again to that position.

These events in David’s life could be taken to illustrate the past and future appearances of Jesus. He was proclaimed as the anointed Messiah during his lifetime. But he actually was killed and was resurrected. Those who claim to be his followers have often opposed the people of Israel. But many of us believe that the time is coming when Jesus will return and set up God’s kingdom over Israel. At that point, if not before, Jews will recognize him and embrace him as their promised Messiah. That is the message that his first century followers taught.

Just as David’s actual reign was delayed for many years after his anointing by Samuel, so Jesus’ kingdom has been delayed for thousands of years. But events such as the establishment of the state of Israel imply that maybe the time is coming soon for the kingdom to be established. As Jesus announced at his first coming, “Repent, and turn to God, for the kingdom is near.” He commanded his followers to pray for the coming of the kingdom. In the same way, we pray, “Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city and dwell therein as You have promised; speedily establish therein the throne of David Your servant, and rebuild it, soon in our days, as an everlasting edifice. Speedily cause the scion of David your servant to flourish, and increase his power by Your salvation, for we hope for Your salvation all day.”

Moving from Secularism to Biblical Faith

Perhaps you are someone who hasn’t claimed to be an adherent of either Judaism or Christianity, or of any religious system. Many of the people addressed in the New Testament letters had been in that situation.

When Paul was in Athens (Acts 17:16-34), he addressed people in the town square. He saw that they had an altar “to an unknown God.” So he told them that he would explain this God to them. This was the God who created the world and everything in it. He also has moral standards that he expects humans to meet. Unfortunately, all people who ever lived (except Jesus) have broken God’s moral standards repeatedly, and deserve only God’s judgment. But the death of Jesus, the sinless servant of God, has paid for the sins of every person who accepts that payment for himself. (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)

God raised Jesus from the dead in order to affirm that he accepted Jesus’ payment for sin. For many centuries prior to that time God had been working primarily with a specific group of people, the Jews. He had called Abraham to leave his country and go to a new land. Even though Abraham had no children, God miraculously gave him a son in his old age. God promised that his descendants would become a great nation, they would be God’s special people, and God would give them the land of Canaan as their eternal possession.

Through this group of people, God communicated how he wanted them to live and to worship him. He made many promises to this people, including that in the last days he would bring them from all over the world to the land he had promised them, and he would establish a kingdom for them, ruled by a descendant of King David.

Jesus was born as a descendant of David, and he announced to people that he was the promised king. The word “Christ” means “anointed one”, after the ritual that was used to establish someone as the king of Israel. Jesus did not come to start a new religion, as many people seem to think. He came in fulfillment of the words of the Jewish prophets who predicted this end-times kingdom.

When the Jewish leaders rejected his offer of this kingdom, his role and message changed. At that point he became the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity. After his resurrection, although he assured his followers that he would set up this kingdom eventually, he ascended to heaven, leaving his followers to spread the good news of how he had paid for the sins of anyone who would accept that payment for himself.

Maybe you have a hard time accepting the idea that an infinitely small and dense piece of nothing exploded for no reason, and became the universe that we see. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe that the complexities of life and the unique intelligence of humans happened entirely by random chance. Don’t worry; you don’t have to accept that. The Bible tells us that there was a God who created the whole thing, perhaps by initiating the “big bang”. It also tells us that this God loves and cares about each one of us, and wants us to acknowledge and worship him.

In the years after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God had his followers spread the message to people outside of the nation of Israel. The Jews continue to be God’s special people, but the rest of us who are not Jews are invited to join with Israel in becoming God’s greater people. Many people have accepted that invitation.

Unfortunately, in the centuries after Jesus, many of his followers were misled, due to heavy Roman taxes on Jews, to repudiate God’s people Israel and the instructions that God had given to them. As a result, much of Christianity took a wrong turn that affects them to this day.

I recommend that in finding a group of believers in Jesus to worship with, you try out a local Messianic congregation. Another option is to meet in a home study group. One I particularly recommend is the Torah Club system, sponsored by First Fruits of Zion. These groups can help you to learn about Jesus in his Jewish context, and how to follow him as a disciple. Embrace the God of Israel, the people of Israel, the faith of Israel, and the Messiah of Israel. May God bless you in your journey of discovery.

Moving from Judaism to Biblical Faith

It’s a shorter move from Judaism than from Christianity because Jesus and all his immediate followers were proponents of biblical Judaism. They affirmed Torah. They worshiped in synagogues and the temple. Paul called his version of faith, “the Way”, which was considered a form of Judaism. (Acts 24:14) He spends the last few chapters of Acts insisting that what he is teaching accords with the law and the prophets. (26:6, 22)

Jesus, too, when asked if he was teaching something new, something different than the prophets and rabbis taught, responded by saying that you don’t fix an old coat with a new patch and you don’t fill an old wineskin with new wine. (Luke 5:36-37) The old coat and wineskin represented the Judaism of his day and he was denying that he was adding anything new. The only thing he was declaring was how he fit into that package, as the Davidic king that the prophets announced.

If your present faith is Judaism, there are two things I would recommend in order to embrace the Tanakh that Jesus taught, as well as the New Testament. The first is to take Torah seriously. Only you know what your current relation to Torah is. Jesus preached almost exclusively to Jewish audiences, and his message was, “Repent”, i.e. get right with God and his commands, “for the kingdom of heaven (God) is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) The kingdom was subsequently delayed because the leaders didn’t accept it. But it will come, and Jesus wanted his followers to live in light of that coming.

The second thing I would recommend is that you open your mind to the possibility that the teaching of Jesus and the rest of the New Testament is continuous with Judaism. Jesus offered a kingdom that the prophets announced. When this kingdom was rejected, as God knew it would be, Jesus took the role of the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. This is totally consistent with the Hebrew scriptures. The whole sacrificial system pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

When Isaiah writes abut the servant of God, he seems to be speaking of Israel as a nation. (Isaiah 41:8) But on the other hand, he seems to be speaking of an individual who represents the nation. (Isaiah 42:1) Both aspects of this servant are illustrated in Isaiah 49 where verse 3 seems to speak of the nation of Israel, and verses 5 and 6 seem to be speaking of an individual. As we go on to chapter 53 we see a description that fits Jesus perfectly. I’m not going to cite the entirety of Isaiah 53, but I urge you to read it. The role of Jesus in being the lamb of God (John 1:29) who bore the sin of many (Isaiah 53:12) is the core message of the New Testament.

In the book of Acts and the New Testament epistles the opportunity to turn to God because of what Jesus had done was opened up to non-Jews as well. The prophets reported that in the last days people from the nations would embrace Israel’s God and worship him. That is why Paul and the other disciples of Jesus urged the Gentiles not to become circumcized and convert to Judaism. (Acts 15; Galatians) If they converted, they would be Jews, and not people of the nations any more. Since the last days began, according to Paul, with the resurrection of Jesus, it was important to Paul that these new worshipers of God continue to be people from the nations, and not Jews. He did say that once they embraced the God of Israel, through Jesus, they would be like wild branches grafted into the Jewish olive tree (Romans 11) and become part of the covenant people of greater Israel. But they continued to be Gentiles, people of the nations.

I am not recommending that you “convert to Christianity.” Since the second century C.E., traditional Christianity has mostly abandoned the Torah and God’s promises to Israel. But the New Testament doesn’t support that. The early believers worshiped in synagogues, and if you’re happy with your synagogue, there’s no reason you should leave it. But the early believers also met together in homes, besides their synagogue meetings. If you can find a Messianic Jewish congregation, you may want to try them out. Another option is to connect with a Torah Club sponsored by First Fruits of Zion. These are small groups that meet in homes and follow a guided study that examines the Jewishness of Jesus and his followers. I recommend them highly.

Even though “Christians” from the second century on have separated from Judaism and been in the forefront of persecuting Jews, they don’t represent Jesus or the teaching of the New Testament in that regard. Israel continues to be God’s chosen people. Paul and other New Testament writers predict that eventually the Jewish people as a whole will recognize Jesus (Yeshua) as their promised Messiah. (Romans 11:25-29) Then the promised kingdom will come, with Messiah reigning from the throne of David in Jerusalem. May it come soon.

Moving From Christianity to Biblical Faith

Christianity as we know it didn’t exist during the ministry of Jesus and his apostles. It came about during the late first and second century when the pressure of the Fiscus Judaicus, the Roman tax on Jews, motivated non-Jews who believed in Jesus to distance themselves from Judaism. Nevertheless, Christianity gets some important things right, particularly the importance of faith in Jesus and his sacrificial death as payment for our sins.

While Christianity has correctly identified the Messiah of Israel, the issues where it has historically struggled are with the People of Israel and the Faith of Israel. It has not typically recognized Jews as co-religionists with it. It has commonly downplayed the grafting into the Jewish olive tree that Paul discusses in Romans 11. And it often doesn’t portray Jesus the way the New Testament presents him, as a practitioner and teacher of Judaism and Torah observance.

If you have a background in traditional Christianity and you want to move toward biblical faith and practicing the life that God commanded for his followers, good for you. A key is to learn to see the New Testament from a Jewish perspective. Don’t necessarily leave your church home, at least not right away. But if you can find a Messianic congregation to worship with, that could be a big help in developing a Jewish perspective on Jesus. Some Messianic congregations, however, seem to exist for the sole purpose of converting Jews to Christianity. This is not good nor appropriate. You will do much better if you can find such a congregation that exists for the purpose of helping you to live and worship in a God-pleasing way, following God’s instructions throughout the Bible.

If you can’t easily find such a congregation to worship with, another avenue is to find a weekday Torah Club meeting. First Fruits of Zion (ffoz.org) sponsors Torah Clubs all over the world, and that is a great opportunity to interact with others who are trying to become disciples of Jesus in a biblical way.

Acts 15 seems to give a model for non-Jews to move from a Gentile lifestyle to one that follows God’s Torah. There seem to be two elements to this model. Start following Torah little by little, a few issues at a time. And also, be getting regular training in how to expand your obedience to God.

An easy way to begin is to read older posts in this blog. Clicking on the menu item “Chronology” will give you links to all the posts since this blog was started. That will give you a chance to internalize the concepts involved.

A good place to start your Torah observance is with the Sabbath. This command was important enough for God to include it in the ten that he spoke from Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20. And yet most Christians have ignored the Sabbath that God gave, the seventh day of the week, and have treated the first day of the week as something special. Even if you keep attending your Sunday church, you can start treating the Sabbath day as holy. From sundown on Friday evening until sundown on Saturday, avoid working your job or business if possible. Avoid doing regular tasks and use it as a day of rest. Reading the Bible or other spiritual material, or doing things for relaxation are appropriate.

The biblical festivals may be something that you haven’t given much thought to in the past. Begin by just being aware of when they occur on the calendar, the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles), as well as Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. As you learn more about them, you can start observing them in appropriate ways, either alone or with your group. The minor holidays of Purim and Hanukkah, although not commanded by God, are appropriate to observe as well.

A good thing to take note of is the list of things that God commanded his people to avoid eating. You can find this information in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. If you want to study further on this issue, a good book to read is “Holy Cow! Does God Care About What We Eat?” by Hope Egan.

To learn continually more about following God’s commands, read the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) regularly. The five books of Moses give the basic history and instructions for how to live. The prophets are important to read to see the future that God has planned for Israel and his Gentile followers. I recommend reading the New Testament from a translation like David Stern’s “Jewish New Testament”. Traditional translations often have a lot of Christian assumptions built in. Reading Paul’s epistles is tricky, since most of Christianity has misunderstood parts of them for centuries. The author of II Peter points out that Paul’s epistles are hard to understand, and that people have distorted them and been carried away by the error of lawless men. That is exactly what has happened with many interpreters. Recently Mark Nanos, a Jewish scholar, has pioneered understanding Paul within Judaism. I recommend reading anything by Mark Nanos, especially “The Mystery of Romans”.

For further education, you can do online study with courses at the college level. Two sources I would recommend for this are Torah Resource Institute (torahresource.com) and Israel Bible Center (israelbiblecenter.com). Both of these organizations offer a lot of fine training in biblical backgrounds.

Wherever you are on your pilgrimage, the important thing is to love God and want to please him. Take a step or two in the right direction and he will continue to lead you as you walk with him.