Judaism Today: Rabbinic or Messianic?.
The Judaism that is practiced by most Jews today is traditional
Rabbinic Judaism that has developed gradually since 70 C.E., when
the Second Temple was destroyed. Rabbi Yochanon Ben Zakkai gathered
the brightest and best Jewish Talmudic minds in Yavneh. They spent
20 years formulating much of what is the Judaism of today. Without
a Temple, Priesthood or a sacrifice (Hosea 3:4), they had to reconfigure
the entire landscape of Judaism. They made the Synagogue Torah service
the replacement for the Priesthood and a strict daily ritual of
Torah observance the substitute for the Temple and the sacrifices.
A special curse was inserted in the daily prayers that succeeded
in uprooting Messianic Jews from the synagogues. Talmudic scholars
made the Messianic prophecies pointing to Y'shua as the Messiah
as obscure as possible through their biased interpretations. In
135 CE, Rabbi Akiba declared Bar Kochba (Son of the Star), the Messiah.
Together they led a revolt against the Roman legions (which Messianic
Jews would not support). The Schism between Rabbinic and Messianic
Jews was now complete.
Over the centuries Church Fathers led the Church away from its
Jewish roots and into anti-Semitism. They began to blame the Jews
for Killing Messiah and taught that it was their sacred duty to
punish, persecute and crucify Jews, calling them children of the
devil (misquoted from John 8:44, Revelations 2:9, & 3:9). This
resulted in making Jesus the most feared and hated name in Judaism.
After the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Pogroms of Eastern Europe
and the Holocaust most Jewish people have no place for Messiah or
Christianity in their understanding of spirituality.
It is essential that all of G-d's people demonstrate
His agape love to the world in general and to the Jews in particular
(Genesis 12:3). Only the miraculous grace of G-d can soften
the heart and rent the veil that is over our hearts (2 Corinthians
3:14-17 & 4:3-4). The Apostle Paul taught that one of the primary
purposes of the Church was to provoke the Jews to jealousy (Romans
11:11). Regrettably the Church has provoked the Jews to everything
by jealousy.
Since 1967, G-d has raised up Biblical Judaism as an answer to
that dilemma. It is our privilege to serve as a bridge between the
Christian and Jewish communities. We reveal to those Jews who are
searching, the Jewishness of faith I Y'shua as Messiah and to the
inquiring Christians, the Jewish Roots faith in Jesus, the Anointed
One. Good folks in both camps frequently misunderstand us, but G-d
has called us to bless them and to walk out our faith in love and
humility. We are on an adventure together to rediscover a faith
almost forgotten in antiquity, resurrected by g-d for
such a time as this.
We are seeing the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies in Jeremiah
31:31-33, Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Hosea 3:5. We believe that the Torah
is still the anointed Word of G-d, alive and powerful. Y'shua fulfilled
all the righteous requirements of Torah in His death. His resurrection,
ascension and the Holy Spirit's empowerment enables us to fulfill
all of the Torah by keeping the two most important commandments,
"Love the L-rd your G-d with all your hear, mind and strength
and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40, Galatians 5:14
& James 2:8).
In biblical Messianic Judaism, Torah observance becomes a matter
of the heart, by the sovereign leading of the Holy Spirit.
The real issue is a living faith in a loving
G-d. Whether you are born a Jew or a Gentile, if you are
born-again through faith in Y'shua as Messiah and L-rd, you are
grafted into Abraham's seed. The real eternal issue is not Jewish
blood, but Jesus' blood! At the Seed
of Abraham, we appreciate each person's special gifts and see each
person as the sovereign handiwork of Almighty G-d.
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