There have been many articles written
regarding Messianic prophecy. In most cases, this has been done to prove that
Jesus is the Messiah. There are many passages in the Tanakh (O.T.) pointing to
Yeshua as the Messiah, including Isaiah 53 and Micah 5:1-2. This is all well
and good. But there are also other passages that have been ignored. At this
time, I would like to examine these other passages.
“You shall not add to the word which I
command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the
commandments of יְהֹוָה your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)
This seems to be very basic,
yet it is a commandment that is often ignored by both Jews and Christians. This
is seemingly easy to understand. However, when talking with Christians, I will
sometimes quote a passage from the Tanakh. The response I have received is, “Well,
that’s just Old Testament.” In my humble opinion, it is heresy to say something
like that. Such comments effectively sever most of the Bible as being
authoritative. When mentioning the Torah, Moses says, “neither shall you take
away from it.”
The only Bible that people had in the First
Century was the “Old Testament.” This is the Bible that Yeshua and the Apostles
loved, which they quoted from. I prefer to call “Old Testament” the “Foundational
Scriptures,” upon which the Newer Testament rests. The NT cannot be properly
understood without the foundational “Old Testament.”
Jews are also guilty when they “add to the
word which I command you.” I’m not knocking the Talmud, Midrash, or Rabbinic
commentaries. I have made use of all of these things, which occasionally add
light to understanding passages of Scripture. However, these other source
materials are not inspired Scripture, and occasionally contradict the Scriptures.
In yeshivas (Jewish religious schools) in Israel and around the world, far more
time is spent studying Talmud than in studying the Tanakh.
However, Torah (the first five
books of the Bible) is foundational to the rest of the Tanakh, as well as for
understanding the Newer Testament. Moses wrote:
“ 5Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments,
even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you are going in to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this
is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people. 7For
what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto
them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all
this law,’ which I set before you this day?” (Deut.
4:5-8)
In other words, the Gentile nations will
recognize that Israel is a “wise and understanding people” because of their
observance of Torah. By the way, Torah is normally translated as “Law.”
However, more accurately, Torah means “Instruction.” There are certainly laws
in the Torah. However, it also includes the story of Creation, as well as much
history.
In other words, the prophesied
Messiah must also be “pro-Torah.” The Yeshua of Scripture certainly fits this
bill. Yeshua said, “17Think not that I am come to destroy the 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 wise pass from the Torah, 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.” (Matthew 5:17-19)
Presumably the good thing is that you can still
squeak into the kingdom of heaven if you don’t obey the Torah. But you will be
considered the “least in the kingdom of heaven.” This might include these
antinomian (anti-Torah) Christians who are ignoring the clear teaching of
Yeshua in the above passage.
Moses also talked about
false prophets and false teachers. He wrote, “12:32Whatever I command you, you
shall be careful to do. You shall not add to nor take away from it. 13:1If
there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and
gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, which he
spoke to you,
saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which you have not
known, and let us serve them,’ 3You
shalt not hearken to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for
the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD
your God, and fear Him, and keep His command-ments, and obey His
voice, and you shall serve Him,
and cleave to Him. 5And
that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away from the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to
walk in. So shalt you put the evil away from the midst of you.”[1]
That seems pretty easy to
understand. Any prophet or teacher that tells you that the Torah is not
authoritative is a false prophet or teacher. We are told to ignore this false
prophet or teacher. In fact, this person should be “put to death.” I don’t
recommend that you carry out the death penalty. We are also told to obey the
laws of the land in which we live. However, it is passages such as this that
the enemies of Yeshua used against him. Yeshua was accused of teaching against
the Torah. The accusations were false, of course. But if true, they would have head every right to see that He
was executed.
Passages such as these should also be added to our lexicon of
Messianic passages. The Jewish Yeshua did not teach against Torah. In fact, in
the Sermon on the Mount, He actually strengthened the commandments. In Matthew 5:21,
Yeshua quotes the commandment against murder. However, He strengthens the
commandment in verse 22 by including “anger” against a brother. In Matthew 5:27,
Yeshua quotes the commandment against adultery, but adds those who “look at a
woman to lust” in the following verse. There are those who would commit adultery
if they had the opportunity and felt they could get away with it. They are just
as guilty as those who actually did it.
However, the Jewish Yeshua has been transformed into a Greek god
named Jesus who has done away with Torah. You need not obey those dietary laws.
You can ignore the LORD’s appointed times of Leviticus
23, which also include Shabbat (the Sabbath), which is the Fourth Commandment
that God wrote on tablets of stone with His own finger.[2]
However, if you follow this anti-Torah, Gentilized Jesus,
you are following a false Messiah. Jesus was a Jew. He did not come to Planet
Earth to start a new religion. He came to Planet Earth to be the Messiah of the
old religion: Judaism!
There
are many Jesuses out there. Rav Sha'ul recognized this when he wrote: "For
if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or your receive a different spirit which you have not received,
or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear it well." (2 Cor. 11:4)
I don't believe that another Jesus
can save us. Curiously, Jesus has been adopted into many religions, including
many Oriental cults as well as even in Islam, where they expect Jesus to come
back, promote Islam, and destroy the churches!
The one Jesus that is not widely accepted
is the Jewish Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah! However, the other “Jesuses” out there are counterfeit. Regretfully,
Gentiles around the world have taken the Jewish Messiah and turned Him into
something of a Greek god. He wasn't a blond, blue-eyed Swede, nor was He
Chinese or African. I presume that He was a swarthy-complexioned Middle-Eastern
Jew, not at all like the Hollywood version or the Jesus of European artists
from earlier centuries.
I am not knocking everything taught
about Jesus in the churches. Messianic Judaism and Christianity are in
agreement on many fundamentals. He was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in
Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-2). He was crucified (Psalm 22) for our transgressions
(Isaiah 53), providing atonement for the sins to those who choose to follow
Him. Yeshua was also resurrected from the dead, and will return to reign for a
thousand years.