|
Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin |
Messianic Judaism: What is it? Perhaps we should explain what it is not!
Messianic Judaism is not a branch of Christianity. We are not Baptists.
We also are not Pentecostals. We are not Protestants. And we are not Catholics.
We appreciate all of these good people. We are not in opposition to any of
them. We wish that there were more Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. But that
isn't what we are, and it isn't how we self-identify. We are especially appreciative
of Christian Zionists. We wish that there were many millions more
Christian Zionists. We are not Christian Zionists, although of course,
we are Zionists.
Messianic
Judaism pre-dated Protestant Christianity. Long before Martin Luther posted his
95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany in 1517, there were
Messianic Jews. In fact, Messianic Judaism predates Christianity! Acts chapter
2 is often cited as the "Birthday of Christianity." However, it is
more properly the "Birthday of Messianic Judaism!" The events
described all occurred on Shavuot ("Pentecost"), which is a
Jewish (and Biblical) holy day. "Now there were Jews dwelling in
Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5)." This is
because Shavuot is one of the Shalosh Regalim ("Three Pilgrimage
Festivals") that able-bodied men were expected to attend at least once in
their lives, even if they lived long distances from Jerusalem. In Acts 2:10, we
learn that there were also proselytes amongst them. The proselytes were
Gentiles who converted to Judaism. That day, 3000 of these Jews became
Messianic Jews (Acts 2:41).
The
first people to be called Christians were the Gentiles in Antioch who came to
believe in Yeshua (Acts 11:26). By the Second Century, there were more Gentiles
who believe in the Jewish Messiah than there were Jews who believed. At about
that time, Christians began to separate from their Jewish roots and formed a
new religion called Christianity.
In
Acts 21:20, we learn that there were myriads (tens of thousands) of these Messianic
Jews dwelling in Jerusalem who were "all zealous for Torah (Law or
Instruction)." In this, they were walking in obedience to Rabbi Yeshua's instructions.
He said, "Think not that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I
have not come to destroy, but to fulfill." [1] Messianic Jews continued to be part of the
Jewish people and the Jewish religion. It wasn't necessary for Jews to convert
to another religion to follow their own Jewish Messiah.
We
occasionally have people who come to our services with the desire to change us.
They have good intentions. They might like the Jewish music. Or they are lovers
of the Jewish people. And they might be pro-Israel. But they really aren't too
fond of Messianic Judaism. They would prefer that we were more Christian in our
orientation. They might want us to be more Pentecostal - or Baptist - or
whatever their particular orientation might be. There are many thousands of
Christian churches. If someone isn't happy with Messianic Judaism, perhaps the
best place for such individuals might be in one of those churches.
We
don't maintain a Messianic Jewish identity simply to be a good witness to the
Jewish people, although this is a worthy endeavor. Rav Sha'ul says in 1 Cor.
9:20, "To the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews..." However,
we don't celebrate Shabbat and the holidays of Leviticus 23 just in order to be
good witnesses to the Jewish people. We don't avoid pork and shellfish because
we don't want to offend religious Jews. We observe the mitzvot (commandments)
because we desire to be obedient to God!
Almost
2000 years ago, the early disciples only witnessed to Jews, or to Gentiles who
had converted to Judaism, as in Acts 2:10. After all, Yeshua is the Jewish
Messiah! It was considered absolutely bizarre to share the Good News of the
Jewish Messiah to Gentiles. That began to change when, for the first time, some
Messianic Jews began sharing the Besorah (Good News) to Gentiles in
Antioch.[2]
Eventually, Gentiles came to predominate. Today, Christians are often shocked
to find that there are Jews who believe in Jesus, and yet continue to live as
Jews. Some might even consider that to be a heresy. However, in the First
Century (and for centuries thereafter), the Jewish believers continued to live
as Jews. Some Christians consider it their duty to deliver Messianic Jews from
their Judaism. They believe Jesus came to this planet to start up a new religion. However, Messianic Jews
believe that Yeshua came to be the Messiah and Savior of the old religion, which
is Judaism.
HUDSON TAYLOR was the first successful missionary from
Europe to bring the Gospel to the people of China. Why did he succeed where
others failed? It was because he realized that it wasn't necessary to force European
culture upon the Chinese as part of the "Gospel." He even adapted
much of Chinese culture as part of his own lifestyle. Despite his obvious
success, he was despised by the other missionaries for "compromising"
the Gospel - that is, for not making European Western culture part and parcel
of the "Gospel."
There
is much 'alien' culture that surrounds Gentile Christianity, which makes it
unpalatable to most Jews. Most Jews will reject the Gentilized Jesus as being
the Messiah, but will much more readily accept the Jewish Yeshua as being their
Messiah. It isn't necessary, and is in fact unbiblical, to push the Gentilized
Jesus onto the Jewish people. I am thrilled to see Jews accept Yeshua as their
Messiah and Savior. However, I am not thrilled to see Jews accept Jesus and
become Christians. Most Messianic Jews will refrain from calling themselves
Christians. However, Christians and Messianic Jews are both part of the Body of
Messiah. We are all brothers and sister in Yeshua, regardless of what name He
is called by.
Messianic
Jews recognize Shabbat[3]
as the Sabbath, which it is. The Sabbath was the seventh day that was
sanctified in Genesis 2:2-3, even before there were any Jews! It is also one of
the Ten Commandments, in fact, the commandment that Adonai spends the most time
with, in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. Most Christians say that they
feel that the Ten Commandments are still binding. One of those commandments is
the Sabbath! The Sabbath is mentioned more times in the Newer Testament than
all of the other days put together! There is no place in Scripture in which the
Sabbath is changed to any other day of the week, a fact recognized even by many
Christian theologians. There are various levels of observance of Shabbat among
Messianic Jews, but a common acceptance of the fact that Sunday is not
the Sabbath.
Messianic
Jews still observe the rite of circumcision. This is part of the Abrahamic covenant
for all the physical descendants of Abraham (Gen. 17:9-14), including Ishmael's
descendants. Both Jews and Arabs circumcise their male children.
We
celebrate the Jewish Holy Days, which also happen to be the Biblical Holy Days,
which are commanded "to celebrate as a perpetual statute throughout
your generations, in all your dwelling places... forever
(Leviticus 23: 14,21,31,41)."
We
observe a New Covenant lifestyle. Jeremiah (31:31-33) wrote, "Behold the
days come," declares YHWH, "when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant
which I made with their fathers... But this shall be the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel... I will put my Torah (Law or Instruction) in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and
they shall be My people." This is repeated in Hebrews 8:8-10. If you
ignore Torah, then you are not living a New Covenant lifestyle.
We
are saved by the blood of Messiah, not be observance of Torah. Torah wasn't
given to us to get saved. Instead, Torah is God's instructions to those
who are already redeemed. We observe His
mitzvot (commandments) as an expression of our love for God. We strongly
believe in the blood atonement provided by Yeshua as the basis of our righteousness.
It
is wrong and unscriptural to force Gentile church culture upon the Jews as a requirement
for believing in their own Messiah. While it is right and proper for other
cultures to be allowed to practice their cultures after coming to faith in
Yeshua,[4]
much of Jewish culture comes from the Scriptures, and has a strong Biblical foundation
lacking in other cultures.
In
the First Century, some Messianic Jews said, "Unless you are circumcised
according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Others said,
"It is necessary to circumcise them, and direct them to observe the Law of
Moses (Acts 15:1,5)." That seemed reasonable to these Messianic Jews from
the sect of the Pharisees. After all, this is the Jewish Messiah!
However, not even the Jewish believers are saved by keeping Torah and getting
circumcised. This is heresy!
The
Council at Jerusalem decided that it wasn't necessary for Gentiles to convert
to Judaism in order to believe in Yeshua. "Therefore, it is my judgment
that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,
but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols
and from sexual immorality, and from what is strangled, and from blood. For
Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since
he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." [5]
I boldened
that last phrase because it is often glossed over or ignored. Where did the
early Gentile believers go to learn more about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? They went to the Jewish synagogues! We see this in Acts 13:43; 14:1;
17:4,17; 18:4. It would have been an impossible (and unbiblical) burden to
place upon these new Gentile converts to demand that they get circumcised and
keep the Law of Moses in order to get saved. However, it was expected that they
would continue to go to the synagogues. As they attended each Shabbat, they
would learn more of the instructions of God, and incorporate them into their
lives. This is the same pattern that we see also in Exodus 12:49 and Numbers
15:15-16. Not all believe this, but this is what the Bible says.