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A Message for Jews and
Gentiles |
Before proceeding further, I would like to
give, ever so briefly, my definition of Messianic Judaism. It is
composed of two terms: Messianic, which means we believe in the Messiah
(who we believe to be Yeshua), and Judaism, a Anglicized contraction of
the term Yehudah (Yehudi meaning a “praiser of Yah” – God)
and -ism (meaning “the condition of being”). Therefore, Messianic
Judaism involves being “a praiser of Yah (God) who believes in Yeshua.” I hasten
to add: Judaism without Torah is not Judaism. Therefore, Messianic Judaism
without Torah is not Messianic Judaism.
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Richard ‘Aharon’ Chaimberlin, Litt.D. |
Jewish
is a religion. However, it is much more. It is also an ethnicity, composed of
the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As an ethnicity, someone
can be an atheist, and still be Jewish, much as an Italian can be an atheist.
There is also Jewish culture. In addition, there have been many over the
centuries who have converted to Judaism. They and their descendants are also
Jewish. The Jewish “trinity” is described in an ancient Jewish text with the
statement, “God, Torah, and Israel are echad (one).”
There
have been Jews who came to believe in Yeshua, who subsequently renounced their
belief in Him. In some cases, they witnessed so called Messianic Jewish
organizations devoid of Torah. Ellen Kamentsky, is formerly of Jews for Jesus.
Today, she is an anti-missionary. She wrote a book, Hawking God – A Young
Jewish Woman’s Ordeal in Jews for Jesus. Although I very strongly disagree
with her current rejection of Yeshua, she occasionally had gems of insight. She
now pits Judaism and Christianity against each other as two mutually exclusive
religions. She writes, “Mixing Judaism and Christianity, I feel, is like mixing
green and red; you get mud (p. 123).”
Many
people think of Messianic Judaism as being a mixture of Judaism and
Christianity. Such folks overlook the fact that Messianic Judaism is older than
Christianity. Yeshua was a Jewish rabbi. All of His Disciples were Jews! The
Messianic Jews of the First Century were all Torah-observant Jews, according to
Acts 21:20. It is an irony of history that a movement founded by a Jewish rabbi
and his Jewish disciples would eventually morph into a movement that was often both
anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic. Back in the 1970’s, Edith Schaeffer wrote a
rather remarkable book, Christianity is Jewish. It was a good
book, but should have been titled, Christianity Was Jewish,
in the past tense, because Christianity had changed onto something that was no
longer Jewish.
The
first persons to be called Christians were those from among the Gentiles
in Antioch who became believers in Yeshua. You can read about them in Acts
11;20-26. These Gentile believers were expected to observe minimal standards of
Torah, per the edict written by Ya’akov (James) at the council in Jerusalem,
which you can read about in Acts 15:13-20. However, in the following verse, we
read: “For Moses from ancient times has
in every city them that preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
We learn in Acts 13:43; 14:1; 17:4,17; and 18:4 about the presence of Gentiles
in the synagogues. This is where Gentiles went to learn about God. It was assumed
that Gentiles would continue to attend synagogues after becoming believers in
the Jewish Messiah, and as they learned more, they would incorporate more of
Torah in their lifestyles.
In the First Century,
Christianity was still very much a sect of Judaism. Gentile Christians were
often persecuted as Jews, such as having to pay the fiscus judaica
(Jewish tax) that Roman authorities imposed upon Jews after the defeat of
Israel in 70 CE.[1]
In order to avoid paying the Jewish tax, Christians began instituting changes,
such as eliminating the observance of the Sabbath in favor of Sunday, and
eliminating the celebration of the Biblical holidays. The end result is that
Christianity became the establishment religion under Constantine. Instead of
being persecuted, Christians became the persecutors.
The
Messianic Judaism of the early centuries eventually died out as a result of
persecution from both the Jewish and the Christian communities. Although there
have been Jews throughout the centuries (including rabbis) who came to believe
in Yeshua, there really wasn’t a genuine Messianic Jewish movement again until
the Twentieth Century. Back in the 1970s, it was felt that Messianic Judaism
was the way to reach Jews with the message of the Jewish Messiah. However, it
was not the intention of those in leadership to attract Gentiles to the
Messianic Jewish movement. This sort of happened “by accident.” Ever since the
modern Messianic Jewish movement began in earnest in the 1970s, there have been
many Gentiles attracted to Messianic Judaism. This is a good thing, not
something that is wrong. Daniel Botkin’s article, One Body, One Faith [2] describes many Messianic Jews who feel
that there are and should be two parts of the Body of Messiah – a Jewish branch
that observes Shabbat, Biblical Feasts, and dietary laws – and a Gentile branch
that “worships on Sunday, celebrates holidays which have their roots in pagan
idolatry, has church-sponsored hog roasts, and ignores what it considers to be
‘the least of the commandments’.”
Daniel Botkin feels this is wrong, and so
do I. Zechariah 8:22-23 speaks prophetically of a time when “many people and strong nations shall come to seek YHWH of
hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before YHWH. 23Thus saith YHWH of hosts: ‘In those days it shall come to
pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations,
even shall take hold of the garment of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go
with you: for we have heard that God is with you’.”
I believe these Gentiles are grasping the tsitsit (ceremonial
fringes) of Messianic Jews, that is, Torah-observant Jews who know their
Messiah. I would expect that these Messianic Jews will rejoice to see this
happening. However, if this were to happen today, I suspect that some Messianic
Jews would tell these Gentiles to go back to their Christian churches.
JUDAISM:
As a Missionary Religion
Judaism used to be highly evangelistic. Yeshua said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you travel sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is
made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” [3] The idea of making converts among the
Gentiles wasn’t wrong. However, it was wrong to turn these converts into twice
the sons of hell as those who were in the religious establishment of that era.
Yeshua used some unusually harsh terminology in condemning some of these
scribes and Pharisees. However, Yeshua would use similar terminology for much
of the anti-Semitic and anti-nomian (anti-Law) spiritual leaders in much of
historic Christianity.
The reason I bring this quote to your attention is to amplify the fact that Judaism used to be a missionary religion. It continued to be a missionary religion. Much of the population of Rome in the First Century was Jewish, many of whom were proselytes to Judaism.
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, the former leader of Reform Judaism in the USA, was an active proponent of proselytizing Gentiles into Judaism. This conjures up a rather perverse image in my mind. I can picture a large stadium in which a rabbi speaks to thousands of potential Gentile converts. After a stirring and emotional message of the benefits of Judaism, the rabbi asks the assembled multitude to close their eyes and bow their heads. Then he asks for a raise of hands of all those who would like to convert to Judaism. He then asks them to all open their eyes, and invites all those who raised their hands to come forward to make a public profession of their new Jewish faith. Mikveh (immersion) tanks are set up in front in which to dunk the new converts. A mohel (ritual circumciser) is available to circumcise all the male converts. Over a thousand new converts are added to the Jewish people.
Of course, the above scenario is the result of a weird imagination. Rabbi Schindler writes:
“…Judaism from its very beginnings was a missionary religion… Our Tanakh (OT) and subsequent rabbinic literature underscored the compelling need for such conversionary activity. Indeed, the prophets made Israel’s mission a clarion call, and that it was only when our enemies instituted severe and often lethal restrictions against us that our conversionary zeal waned. But such restrictions no longer inhibit us. Why not resume our traditional vocation of being champions of Judaism?”
I agree with what Rabbi Schindler says, except that Judaism without the Messiah is not complete. We need Jewish evangelists who know their Messiah to missionize the Gentiles!
There was a tradition of Jews
proselytizing among the Gentiles that went back many centuries. We read in
Exodus 12:37-38: “And the children of Israel journeyed
from Ramses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were
men, beside children. 38And a mixed multitude
went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.” The
“mixed multitude” were non-Israelites who had attached themselves to the Israelites,
and left Egypt with them. By the time the Israelites entered the Promised Land
– Canaan – the “mixed multitude” had apparently attached themselves to the
various tribes of Israel. We know this because when the land was divided up
among the Twelve Tribes, there wasn’t any additional division of the land for
the “Tribe of Mixed Multitude.” No such creature!
Many Gentiles were attracted to the Biblical faith, such as Ruth,
who said to Naomi, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from
following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will
lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God: 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. YHWH do so
to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
[4]
The very first Jewish missionary to the Gentiles was Avraham Avinu
(our Father Abraham). In Genesis 12:1, God called Abraham away from his pagan
neighbors and relatives, saying, “Go forth from your relatives and your
father’s house, to the Land which I shall show you.” According to the Rabbis,
Terah – the father of Abraham – was an idol maker Ur. God also told Abraham,
“In you, all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed.”
[5] According to the Rabbis:
“Abraham converted the men and Sarah the women. Jacob too made converts. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: ‘Put away the strange gods that are among you… And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods.” [6]
Genesis 12:5 in the NAS reads, “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.” This makes Abram (Abraham) sound like a slave trader. The words translated “the persons which they had acquired,” in the Hebrew, are “ha-nefesh asher asu,” which literally means, “the souls which they had made.” In other words, the people that left Haran with Abram and Sarai were proselytes to the Abrahamic faith in the one God. Abram was a soul-winner, not a slave trader!
Moses continued the missionary theme. He wrote, “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then our of all the goyim (nations) you will be My own possession… And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” [7] The duty of the cohenim (priests) is to be intercessors, interceding in behalf of the people. In order to be this special missionary people, Jews had to be different from the pagans round about them, and be obedient to God’s mitzvot (commandments): “YHWH will establish you as a holy people to Himself, if you will keep the commandments of YHWH your God and walk in His ways.” [8]
God
called the Jews to be a separate nation, untarnished by the world around them.
The nations would witness the lives of the Jews, with these results: “See, I
have tought you statutes and judgments, just as YHWH my God commanded me, that
you should do this in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep
and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the
peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely, this great nation is
a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a God
so near to us as YHWH our God whenever we call upon Him? Or what great nation
is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this who Law which I
am setting before you today?”[9]
In Esther 8:17b, we have a very unusual situation, where “many among
the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had
fallen upon them.”
In the early centuries of the Common Era,
Judaism continued to be a missionary religion. However, beginning with the abominable
Council of Nicea in 325 CE and subsequent church councils, a perverse form of
Christianity became the dominant religion. Eventually it became illegal for
Jews to proselytize among the Gentiles. Any Jew who did so risked being
executed by the religious authorities. Likewise, any Gentile who converted to
Judaism risked the same fate. Eventually, Judaism became a religion that actively
discouraged proselytizing, a tradition that continues to this day.
We happen to believe that Yeshua is the
Jewish Messiah. We believe Yeshua is Savior for both Jew and Gentile. We also believe
that “There is to be one Law and one ordinance for you (the Jew) and for the
alien who sojourns among you.” [10]
Messianic Judaism would be well-advised to be a missionary religion “to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek.” [11]
The Outer Limits of Jewish Identity
In 1974, the great Jewish science
fiction writer Robert Silverberg published a very short novel called Dybbuk
[12]
of Mazel Tov IV. Silverberg
describes Jews colonizing another planet. In this story, a rabbi says, “A Jew
must first of all be human.” His more freethinking opponent says, “Show me that
in the Torah.” Can green, furry, six-legged extra-terrestrial become a convert
to Judaism? The rabbi in this story was stumped. This obviously describes the
outer limits of Jewish identity.
I
don’t expect us to be evangelizing critters from other planets. However, I do
expect us to do what Yeshua commanded His own Talmidim (Disciples) to do after
His Resurrection: “Go therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” [13] Please note: He didn’t tell His
talmidim to only evangelize the Jews, but to evangelize all nations.
Those Gentiles who were evangelized would be
commanded to observe all that Yeshua had commanded His own disciples to
observe. And what had Yeshua commanded to His own disciples? Read Matthew
5:17-19: “17Think not that I have come to destroy
the Law (Torah), or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to
fulfill. 18For verily I say to you, until heaven
and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the
Law, until all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall
be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and
teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven.” Apparently, if you break one of the least commandments, you can still
squeak into the “Kingdom of Heaven,” per Yeshua’s own words. However, what
about those who break the Ten Commandments, written on tablets of stone by
God’s own finger, per Exodus 31:18? Most Christians believe in obeying the
“Nine” Commandments. However, they have trouble with the fourth commandment to
honor the Sabbath, which by the way is the commandment that God spends the most
time with. Most of the commandments are only one verse each, often just a few
words. However, in Exodus 20, the commandment about the Sabbath occupies fours
verses. The Sabbath, of course, is the seventh day, which begins Friday at
sunset and ends “Saturday” at sunset.
Today, we see many
ethnic groups attracted to Judaism. Messianic Jewish congregations are popping
up all over the place, often in locations with few if any Jews. We see this
with the readership of Petah Tikvah Magazine, which has readers
all over the world, including Latin America, various countries in Africa, as
well as Asia. There are Messianic Jewish congregations in all these locations,
again with few if any Jews. We see today that Messianic Judaism isn’t just
for the Jews! Truth is truth regardless of your ethnicity. We see this also
with our readership in the USA. While a sizeable number of ethnic Jews read Petah
Tikvah, the majority of our readers come from non-Jewish backgrounds.
This is perhaps how it should be. The prophecy that I mentioned earlier from Zechariah 8:22-23 tells us that ten
from the nations would grasp the tsitsit of him that is a Jew saying, “We will go with you: for we have heard that God is
with you.” Messianic Judaism will continue to grow and
prosper. The day will come when “all Israel shall be saved.”[14]
These Jews won’t be joining the local Protestant churches; they will be attending or starting up Messianic Jewish congregations. However, many of the congregants will be gerim (proselytes) from among the nations, who have adopted Messianic Judaism as the expression of their faith in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah. Although Messianic Judaism’s message is to the Jew first, according to Romans 1:16, it is also to the Gentile! It is time to welcome both Jews and Gentiles into the Biblical Judaism, and to embrace Messiah Yeshua, who is Savior to the entire world.