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Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin, Litt.D. |
There is a great diversity within
Messianic Judaism, which is as it should be. After all, Messianic Judaism is not a cult in which everybody is
required to have the same beliefs and practices. At the same time, the term
"Judaism" implies a certain respect for Torah (the Law,
but more properly translated Instructions - as contained in the first
five books of the Bible). We don't observe the commandments simply to be a good
witness to the Jewish community: We observe the mitzvot (commandments) because
"the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and
good." [1]
Also, "Every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting." [2]
Yeah, I know what some of you are thinking: "I'm not under the Law; I'm under the New Covenant." When I was a dumb and ignorant new believer, I thought and said much the same thing. Then one day I was reading from the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34):
"Behold, the days come," saith Adonai, "when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them out of the land of Egypt, although I was a husband to them," declares Adonai. 33"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares Adonai, "I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," saith Adonai, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
We are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of the prophesied New Covenant.[3] At that time, we will see both Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua having great respect for Torah. In Jeremiah 31:31, we find that the New Covenant is not made with Gentiles. It is only "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Shocking! In order for a Gentile to have this New Covenant relationship with God, he (or she) must be grafted into the house of Israel. This is sorry news for the anti-Semite.
The Parable of the Olive
Tree
Rav Sha'ul (Paul) gives a parable of the Olive Tree in Romans 11:17-24. It happens to be a Jewish Olive Tree, as it represents the Jewish people. Rav Sha'ul tells his readers that some of the natural branches (Jewish people) were broken off from this Olive Tree because of unbelief, and wild branches (Gentiles) were grafted in, contrary to nature, into the Jewish Olive Tree. He gives the following warning in Romans 11:17-24:
"Do not boast against the (natural) branches (the Jews). But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root bears you. You will say then, 'The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.' Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Behold then, the goodness and severity of God: on them who fell, severity, but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also shall be cut off, and they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again."
When Gentiles are grafted into the Jewish Olive Tree, they become partakers of the Jewish Olive Tree. However, Rav Sha'ul tells us in Romans 1:16 that the Besorah (Good News) is first for the Jews: "For I am not ashamed of the Besorah (Good News) of Messiah, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes: to the Jew first, and also to the Gentiles." Messianic Judaism has a message to both Jew and Gentile, although it is to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles.
Rav Sha'ul also tells us that Gentiles were at one time separated from Messiah, "excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Messiah Yeshua, you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah." [4]
I underlined the word "citizenship," because it is normally translated "commonwealth" in most English translations. In other translations that I have seen, such as in Dutch and Spanish, it is also translated as the equivalent term of "citizenship." The Greek word is politeo, which in other parts of the Newer Testament is translated as "citizenship." People 2000 years ago had no concept of "commonwealth," which is a British invention about 450 years old. While it is nice for Gentiles to be grafted into a "commonwealth," the term "citizenship of Israel" is a much closer relationship. For instance, India is part of the British Commonwealth. People in India have a much smoother path to emigrating to Britain and getting British citizenship. However, as long as they live in India, they have no rights to vote in British elections, and must obey the laws of India, not the United Kingdom.
However, as grafted in citizens of Israel, we are expected to obey the laws of Israel. I don't mean the secular laws of the nation of Israel (unless you live there!). I am referring to the mitzvot (laws) given to us at Mount Sinai, including Shabbat (the Sabbath). Numbers 15:15-16 and Exodus 12:49 proclaim the same Law for both Jews and also for Gentiles who are grafted into Israel. This does not apply to all Gentiles, only to those who are now part of the Jewish Olive Tree described in Romans 11. With the responsibilities come also the privilege of being "brought near by the blood of Messiah (Eph. 2:13)."
Not all (not even all Messianic Jews) agree with what is called the "One Law Doctrine" for both Jewish and Gentile Believers. However, I feel that this is 100% scriptural. Those who hold to this doctrine have been falsely accused of believing that both Jewish and Gentile believers must keep the commandments. Actually, this is not true. Nobody has to keep the commandments. God gives us the choice of obeying Him or disobeying Him. I prefer to obey Him. God will bless those who obey.
Yeshua told us that He had not come to abolish the Law or the prophets, but to fulfill the Law in Matthew 5:17. He made no exception for the Gentiles. Then in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20, He said, "Go therefore and make talmidim (disciples) of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." He taught His talmidim to observe Torah, and then He instructed His Talmidim to teach all nations to "observe all things that I commanded you." That includes the mitzvot.
Another verse that drives Dispensational Christians crazy is 1 John 3:4, which gives the New Testament definition of sin: "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the Law, for sin is the transgression of the Law." There is no addition saying, "for the Jews only." Curiously, the definition of sin in the Tanakh (OT) and in the NT is exactly the same.
Definition of the New Covenant
When someone says that he or she lives a New Covenant lifestyle, and then claims to be "free of the Law," there is a real contradiction there. Jeremiah 31:31 tells us that HaShem would be making a New Covenant with the house of Israel, and then verse 33 tells us what the New Covenant entails: "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares Adonai, "I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Anyone who claims to be a New Covenant Christian (or even a New Covenant Messianic Jew) and has an anti-Torah attitude is not living according to the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah 31:31-33 and repeated in Hebrews 8:8-10. Obviously, we haven't seen a complete fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31-33 as long as we see so many anti-Torah supposed believers in Yeshua who are actually hostile to obeying God's commandments.
We also have not seen the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:34: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," saith Adonai, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." This will see further fulfillment as described in Zechariah 12:10-14, when the Jewish people shall "look upon Me whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns over an only son..." Rav Sha'ul said that "blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, 'There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will remove ungodliness from Jacob' (Romans 11:25-26)."
End-Time Messianic Judaism
Modern Messianic Judaism cannot, unfortunately, claim a linear, unbroken descent from the Messianic Judaism of the First Century CE.[5] We know that the First Century Messianic Jews were Torah-observant. Acts 21:20 says, "You see, brother, how many myriads (tens of thousands) of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous for Torah."
Messianic Judaism continued for several centuries after the life and times of Yeshua the Messiah. Epiphanius (c. 315 to 402) describes the Nazarenes (Messianic Jews) of his time:
"We shall now especially consider heretics who... call themselves Nazarenes; they are mainly Jews and nothing else. They make use not only of the New Testament, but they also use in a way the Old Testament of the Jews; for they do not forbid the books of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings... so that they are approved of by the Jews, from whom the Nazarenes do not differ in anything, and they profess all the dogmas pertaining to the prescriptions of the Law and to the customs of the Jews, except they believe in Christ (Messiah)... They preach that there is but one God, and His son Jesus Christ. But they are very learned in the Hebrew language, for they, like the Jews, read the whole Law, then the Prophets... They differ from the Jews because they believe in Christ, and from the Christians in that they are to this day bound to the Jewish rites, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and other ceremonies."
Over a thousand years after the time Yeshua walked this planet, we find that there were Messianic Jews who were still obeying God's commandments. The History of the Sabbath, by J.N. Andrews and L. Conradi (Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1912), provides some amazing information, beginning on page 545, information found in documents from the Inquisition. The inquisitors did many evil things. However, they did us a favor by keeping records of those whom they persecuted.
Often mentioned are the Pasaginians, beginning with the Council of Verona in 1184. The Pasaginians were so named by the Italians from the Latin word passagium, meaning "passage" for the wandering, unsettled life of these Jewish believers in Messiah, who were "persecuted and hunted down like wild game by the Romish Church." They were also called Circumcisi. The History of the Sabbath is again available, with only J.N. Andrews listed as the author. I ordered it on the Internet from www.TEACHServices.com It is more condensed, but seems to have most of the same information.
Persecution from both Christians and Jews eventually eliminated Messianic Judaism from this planet. There were Jews who converted to Christianity in later centuries. However, many of these Christian Jews who converted to Christianity no longer were observing Judaism or most of the mitzvot of Scripture.
There were a few centuries in which there were no Messianic Jewish congregations. However, beginning in the late 1800s, there were signs of the coming rebirth of Messianic Judaism. Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein of Hungary became a believer in Yeshua, and remained a practicing Jew. However, when men such as him died, there was no ongoing Messianic Jewish movement to carry on their work.
Beginning in the 1960s, we began to see the rebirth of Messianic Judaism starting to take place. Although a bit heretical in some ways, Rabbi Simcha Pearlmutter began a Messianic Jewish congregation in SE Florida in the early 1960s. He preferred to call himself an Orthodox Jew who believes in Yeshua. He did not personally like the term "Messianic Jew." He made aliyah with his two wives[6] and many of his congregants in 1966, eventually settling in Ir Ovot, south of Yam HaMelach (lit., the Salt Sea, but called the Dead Sea in English). We first met him in 1994 on our first trip to Israel. At one time, there was a Messianic Jewish Kibbutz in Ir Ovot. The signs still proudly proclaimed, "K'far Yeshua" - the village of Yeshua. We attended his beit knesset (synagogue), which was like going to an Orthodox synagogue. However, most of his followers had gone on to other locations in Israel. I grew to love him as a brother on our succeeding trips to Israel. He died from pancreatic cancer on 26 December 1999. I mention him, because the various histories of Messianic Judaism that have been written do not mention him at all.
Messianic Judaism as we know it today began in the early 1970s, with congregations like Beth Yeshua in Philadelphia and Beth Messiah, in the suburbs of Washington DC. There were earlier congregations. However, they were more oriented toward Hebrew Christianity, some even worshipping on Sunday instead of Shabbat. Today, there are perhaps hundreds of Messianic congregations throughout the world. And of course, Shabbat is the day of worship.
In some remote areas, there are Messianic
congregations that observe Shabbat, the Holy Days, dietary laws, etc. But they
might not have any Jews according to the flesh. However, they have the earnest
desire to walk as Yeshua walked, obeying the Father's commandments. Our good
friend Roger Walkwitz was instrumental in starting Messianic congregations in
the Philippines. He eventually raised up indigenous leadership for these
congregations, which are proudly pro-Jewish and pro-Israel. Messianic
assemblies have sprouted up on all of the continents of the world, except for
Antarctica, as well as prisons throughout this country. The one thing that
unites us all as Messianic believers is the New Covenant - the
blueprint for a Messianic lifestyle!