Pot-Shot Series: Objection 3: I’m a REAL Jew!August 18th, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. “I’m a real Jew!” I find this a fascinating response. For if I ask someone what it means to be a real Jew (assuming the person hung around long enough to answer,) he or she hasn’t a clue. Let’s face it, even the state of Israel struggles with what defines being Jewish. This would be a very long article, if I were to discuss all the various thoughts and arguments that exist on the subject. I would much rather try to understand what God thinks a Jew is and to offer some thoughts from the Scriptures. Abraham is considered the first Jew and not unreasonably so, since God’s covenant with him set him apart to become a special people (Genesis 12:1-3). Nevertheless it is very clear that the covenant passed down to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-16) to whom God gave the name Israel (Genesis 32:28). Neither Ishmael, nor Esau were recipients of this covenant. Thus the descendants of Jacob became the nation of Israel. But the covenant was not just for blood relations. It was for everyone,
So Israel became the descendants of Jacob and those who were in their midst. Then God made a covenant with this nation Israel when he brought them out of slavery in Egypt and led them to Mount Sinai in the wilderness. The commands and statutes of the covenant is what came to be known as the Mosaic Law, but it is first and foremost a covenant of service, allowing the Holy God to dwell in the midst of His Holy people and to be a light to the Nations around them. Here again we see that this covenant and its rules were not only for Israel, but also for the “stranger among you. (Exodus 12:49)” Thus even in the line of David we have Rahab the Canaanite, Ruth the Moabite and Uriah the Hittite as members of God’s covenant people. What made Ruth part of God’s people was not anything like a ritual conversion as many rabbis claim, but the simple declaration, “your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16)” Around the time of the Babylonian Exile, God promised a change. God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah said,
Note that the Lord is speaking of a New Covenant that will be unlike the covenant of Moses, one that will be written on our hearts and in which forgiveness of sins is part and parcel. This New Covenant came to be when the Glory of God walked on earth in the form of Messiah Yeshua who died as an asham – a guilt offering for our sins (Isaiah 53:10). Like Ruth there is only one way to enter this covenant and that is by a heartfelt wish to enter into that relationship with God and a heart-felt declaration of faith in Messiah’s sacrifice and Lordship. That is the most important thing anyone can do whether they are Jew or Gentile. I believe that God still has a plan for the Nation of Israel that is the Jewish people. I see it in verses like Isaiah 45:17; Zechariah 8:23; 12:10; Romans 11:26 and Revelation 7:2-8. Nevertheless, when it comes to spiritual matters and the important issue of a right relationship with God, we must remember the words of John the Baptist who said, “do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (Luke 3:8)” As the great Rabbi Saul of Tarsus points out: “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. (Galatians 3:6-7, citing Genesis 15:6)” We believe that it is more important to be in right covenant relationship with God then it is to be Jewish. But, as a Jew, I must say that I can think of nothing more Jewish than being a believer in the Messiah promised by Moses and the Prophets – Yeshua! Don’t agree? Why not write a comment to tell us so. We publish dissenting views if they are written in a respectful manner. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Identity, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jews and Jesus, Messiah in the Tanach, New Covenant, Pot-shot Objections | No Comments » Pot Shot Series: Objection 2: You should be ashamed of yourself!August 16th, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. “You should be ashamed of yourself!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this from my Jewish people. My response is invariably, “why?” Should I be ashamed because I am saying what I believe to be true and of import to my Jewish people? Should I be ashamed because I care enough about my Jewish people to let them know that their Messiah has come? As one disciple has said before me,
This pot-shot statement is simply a defence mechanism, of course. When asked why I should be ashamed, the person has no answer. The truth is that they can’t answer. They don’t know why. Such individuals are ignorant of the Christian faith or the Gospel claims, and most don’t know what the Hebrew Scriptures say about Yeshua (Jesus), let alone the B’rit Hadashah (the New Testament). Now I have no problem with them believing I am wrong – it is God who opens our eyes to the knowledge of His truth. So they have a right to think I’m wrong, just as I have a right to think them wrong. (That’s true tolerance by the way: graciously allowing others to disagree with us and respecting others when we disagree with them.) As I say, I have no problem with them thinking I am wrong, nevertheless, I think if anyone should be ashamed of themselves it is the person who says, “You should be ashamed of yourself,” and then doesn’t give me an answer when I ask, “why?” If you are or ever have been a purveyor of such a pot-shot, let me point out why. I share the Gospel because I have an absolute belief that Messiah has come; that he is Yeshua (Jesus) who was God come in the form of man (c.f. Genesis 18:1-33); that he came to earth to die for our sins and then was raised again to sit at the Father’s right hand, so that those who believe in him and in the efficacy of his sacrifice will have sure hope of eternal life. This is what I believe, as certainly as I believe that there is air that I breathe. And I care about you enough to tell you all this so that you can have that joy and certainty as well. My question to you, oh purveyor of this pot-shot, is this: if you think I am wrong, why do you not stop and try to correct me when I ask you why? Where is your love and concern for me? If what I believe is foolishness, then why are you afraid to tell me why it is foolish? Where is your love for your fellow Jew? I think the truth lies in the fact that you are certain of what the rabbis teach, even though you don’t really know the teachings of the rabbis. (I generalize here, of course – but I believe it to be a fair generalization.) The rabbis have told you that what I proclaim is wrong, but you don’t know why they say it, or whether they can be refuted. If you are ignorant of the facts and the arguments of the case – if you have never honestly and fairly explored whether or not there is truth in the claims of Jesus – then on what basis do you tell me that I should be ashamed? You think I’m wrong? Then tell me why. But if you can’t tell me why, then at least be honest enough to listen and consider the facts as presented. In the end, I’m not asking you to believe me (or the rabbi), but to pray to God and ask him to reveal to you His truth. He promises to answer (Jeremiah 33:3; Matthew 7:7). If you want to know more, or if you have any questions please feel free to contact us. We also would love to hear what you have to say, so feel free to comment but please do so in a polite manner. We do publish dissenting comments. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, Messiah in the Tanach, Pot-shot Objections, Uncategorized | No Comments » Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 2July 26th, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. The Holocaust: Argument 2 – Blaming Jesus and Christianity Recently I was on a busy street corner in Toronto, handing out my literature, when a Jewish man came up to me and asked if I believed that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. I told him that, as I have family members who died in the camps, I believed in it of course. He then said that I should therefore be ashamed of myself and walked away. I called out to him to offer a response, but of course he didn’t want one. This was what I call a pot-shot: an objection that is thrown into your face and, before you have a chance to respond, the objector runs away, probably thinking that they have done something clever. But they haven’t really. There are really two different ways in which this particular objection is used. One is to use the Holocaust as a proof that God does not exist. The argument goes like this: if there were a loving and good God, he would not have allowed the Holocaust to occur. The other use of this objection is to blame Jesus and Christianity for the event and therefore denigrate both. Both of these arguments are answerable, of course. Argument 1: see Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 1 Argument 2: The Holocaust denigrates Jesus and Christianity There are a number of problems with this objection. First of all, the argument infers that Jesus – whose life example and teachings we must remember are the basis of Christian belief – would have supported the agenda and goals of the Holocaust. This is to misunderstand the teachings of Jesus and his heart-felt love and care for his people, Israel. Not the teaching of Jesus Jesus said he came to “seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)” The understanding is that many Jewish people had strayed from the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Jesus came to bring them back to God. He loved the Jewish people (as typified by his love of one young Jewish leader in Mark 10:21) and indeed all of mankind (John 3:16). He wept for the Jewish people (Luke 19:41) and was expectant that one day the Jewish people would recognize him for who he is (Matthew 23:39; Luke 13:35). Although as Christians we do believe that the vast majority of Israel has remained in sin by rejecting Jesus as Messiah and Lord, Jesus himself said, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)” The Messiah will come again at a future time and he will come in judgment of all those who have rejected him, both Jew and Gentile. Until then, however judgment is withheld for both Jew and Gentile. Historically some Christians have blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus and have used that reasoning as an excuse to persecute the Jews. Yet according to Jesus’ own words; “No one takes it [Jesus’ life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. (John 10:18)” If he lays his life down, then nobody can be accused of taking it. What sent Jesus to the cross was the sin of mankind, and as Jesus’ disciple Paul says, “We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23; cf Ecclesiastes 7:20)” The teachings of the disciples, like Paul, support this same notion. Paul proclaimed to the believers in Rome that, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen. [The Israelites] (Romans 9:2-3)” For these reasons we can see that hatred of Jews is not a teaching of Jesus or his disciples and therefore cannot be acceptable to a true believer in Christ. This leads us to the other problem with this argument. The objection assumes that the perpetrators of the Holocaust understood the teachings of Jesus upon which Christianity is based. Perpetrators were not Christ followers The reason for this is understandable. Many of the soldiers in the concentration camp considered themselves to be Christians and even would shout out to the line heading to the gas chamber that they were being slaughtered because they killed Jesus. Clearly, in light of the above, these men and women did not have a true understanding of the Christian teaching about the Jewish people. It must also be understood, that the Nazi perpetrators that masterminded the Holocaust, were not Christians at all and planned to eliminate the Christian church as soon as possible. (for a good article on this click here.) But for the common soldier like the ones mentioned above, even if some of them were Christians in the truest sense of the word, they were still ignorant of the true teaching of Jesus. This does not excuse their actions, but their actions do not reflect on the truth of Christ’s teaching and true Christian belief. It also has to be remembered that true faith in Jesus – true Christianity – is predicated entirely on faith in Him and in the Word of God. As such, believers are compelled by the very Word to love all people, including the Jewish people. And though there are some who consider themselves Christian because they go to church, or give to the church, or obey certain commandments, yet they are not truly Christians if they haven’t entered into a proper relationship with Christ. Conclusion The upshot of all this is that though some horrible things have been done in the name of Jesus, they shouldn’t be a reason for rejecting the Gospel message – the good news that the Messiah has come to Jews and Gentiles. Many horrible things have been done in the name of Peace, Liberty, Love and a myriad of other seemingly good causes. When exploring the Christian message, we must look to Jesus’ teaching and the whole of the Word of God. Jesus would never have condoned the Holocaust or any other horrible act towards the Jewish people (or any people) based on hatred and prejudice. Jesus would not condone it, nor should any Christian. The Holocaust was a terrible event, as were the Inquisition. During both, there was suffering by both Jews and Chrsitians. But in the end, they have nothing to do with Jesus and his claims. Check it out for yourself! Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | 3 Comments » Pot Shot Series: Objection 1: The Holocaust – Argument 1July 22nd, 2010 If you have not done so, you might want to read the Introduction to this series. The Holocaust Recently I was on a busy street corner in Toronto, handing out my literature, when a Jewish man came up to me and asked if I believed that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. I told him that, as I have family members who died in the camps, I believed in it of course. He then said that I should therefore be ashamed of myself and walked away. I called out to him to offer a response, but of course he didn’t want one. This was what I call a pot-shot: an objection that is thrown into your face and, before you have a chance to respond, the objector runs away, probably thinking that they have done something clever. But they haven’t really. There are really two different ways in which this particular objection is used. One is to use the Holocaust as a proof that God does not exist. The argument goes like this: if there were a loving and good God, he would not have allowed the Holocaust to occur. The other use of this objection is to blame Jesus and Christianity for the event and therefore denigrate both. Both of these arguments are answerable, of course. Argument 1: There is no God This argument forgets the nature of God’s relationship with humankind and our relationship with Him. God created man in His own image and gave us free will. We know this because Adam had the choice to obey God or not to obey God. (See Genesis 1-3) God had the option, of course, not to give us free will, but then we have to ask ourselves the question: what is the consequence of that? If we were created so that we had to love and obey God, then what kind of love and obedience would that be? We would be more like automatons then lovers of God. We can create a robot that is programmed to do only what we tell it to do, but can it love us? More importantly, can we love it in any meaningful way? So God, in his sovereign wisdom, determined that it was better for us to have free will than not. The consequence of that decision is that we can and do sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6: Romans 3:23). All of us who are honest with ourselves would have to admit that we cannot always live up to our own standards, let alone God’s. Where there is sin, there is consequence; not only to ourselves but often to others as well. To stop it, God would have to take away our free will. To maintain our free will, God must allow the consequences of evil to take place. Considering that we live in a world that has by and large dismissed God and has made individuals the real decider of right and wrong, is it any wonder that things like the Holocaust, or the genocides in Rwanda, or the former Yugoslav states occur. The Holocaust is not a reason to disbelieve God, but a reason to recognize our need for God to save us from ourselves. That is where Yeshua (Jesus) comes in. Through his example we can see how to live a godly life. More importantly, through our faith in him we are enabled to live a godly life – perhaps not perfectly – but certainly more and more as we grow in him. You can go to Argument 2, blaming Jesus and Christianity for the Holocaust. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Jewish Objections to Jesus, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | No Comments » Pot-shot Series: IntroductionJuly 2nd, 2010 I have been sharing the Gospel for several years, and it has been a long time since I have heard an objection to it that is new. It has been a joy to receive these objections, when they are sincere, knowing that there is a biblical response to every one of them. There are some people, however, who are not sincere. While sharing the Gospel on the streets, they will come up to you and express their objection and then scurry away. It might be some comment made before the door is slammed in your face, or the phone is hung up. No doubt these people feel that they have scored some point, but in reality they have acted quite cowardly and missed the opportunity to know that there is a reasonable and biblical response to their objection. In most cases, if the opportunity arises to ask why they believe these objections they cannot tell you. The reason is that they don’t know themselves. They are not able enough to give a response, nor are they honest enough to stick around for a response. It is for this reason (and because of a recent encouter of this kind) that I have decided to do a series on these pot-shot objections and give my response. Perhaps you are one of the perpetrators of such an attack. Then I hope you will be honest enough in this anonymous setting to now hear the response. Perhaps you are someone who has had the same concern and honestly wondered about the answer. Or perhaps you have had someone bring up such an objection to and you didn’t know how to reply to them. Whatever the reason, I hope this series, which will be added to over a period of time, will bless you and inform you. If you have any questions or concerns, please respond to the appropriate blog article or contact us.
Posted in Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, Pot-shot Objections, This, That, The Other Thing | 1 Comment » A question of identity – is the biblical faith Jewish?June 7th, 2010 Whether speaking at churches or sharing with a Jewish person on the street, I have said time and time again that faith in Yeshua (Jesus) is the biblical Jewish faith. Recently, I have come to realize that is not strictly true. The Covenant with Moses was not just for Israel but also for the stranger among them. This is clear from the many verses where the alien to Israel is included:
There is also the Scriptural testimony of those aliens who entered that covenant, such as Rahab the Canaanite, Ruth the Moabite and Uriah the Hittite. In the same way, the whole of Scripture is not addressed to the Jewish people alone but to everyone who wants a covenant relationship with the Lord Almighty. I have come to realize that the most important issue of identity, Scripturally, is not identity as Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor or anything else – it is identity with Yeshua. With Yeshua’s death and resurrection came the end of the Covenant with Moses as promised by God through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34). If we now want a true covenantal relationship with God we must identify with the mediator of that New Covenant – our Messiah Yeshua. That’s true regardless of what your background is. It is clear to me that it cannot be said that faith in Yeshua is the ‘biblical Jewish faith’; rather it is the ‘biblical faith,’ pure and simple! Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Blog, Evangelism, Goyim for God, Jesus and Jews, Jews and Jesus, New Covenant, This, That, The Other Thing | No Comments » Listen to your rabbiJune 4th, 2010 When I share the Good News with a Jewish person that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah promised by Moses and the Prophets, I always remind the individual that they should not take my word for it. And if they say, as they sometimes do, that they want to talk to their rabbi about it, I always tell them to go ahead. The reason is simple. I am not afraid of what the rabbis have to say. In fact, many people have come to faith after talking to their rabbi (or many rabbis) and receiving inadequate answers to the genuine questions asked by the seeker of truth. Now if you who are reading this are a Jewish person seeking to know whether Yeshua is the Messiah or not, I can tell you that your rabbi will specifically tell you not to talk to me and certainly not to listen to me. (I confess I am generalizing here.) They will tell you that what I believe is foolishness. They will tell you anything they can to keep you from asking me questions. If you are truly seeking to know the truth about Yeshua, this is what we would ask you to do: listen to your rabbis and listen to us. Most importantly check the Scriptures to see if what we (the rabbis and us) say is true. Then pray to the Lord your God and ask Him to reveal His truth to you. Not my truth – not the rabbis’ truth – but God’s truth. Yeshua said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)“ If you have any questions about Yeshua and his claims to be Messiah and Lord, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to answer your questions confidentially and without expectation. We would just like to share His message with you. Your decision we leave in your hands – and His. Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum. Posted in Evangelism, Jesus and Jews, Jewish Tradition, Jews and Jesus, Knowing God, Uncategorized | 2 Comments » The Gospel Message: Telling it like it is!May 17th, 2010
This report was dated the summer of 1963. The Gospel Preachers worked for an organization called the South African Jews Society. These people understood that Gospel Proclamation is not a right to be earned – it is a responsibility to be discharged. Love does not keep silent – love is audible, seen, and courageous. We all are afraid of being vulnerable, of rejection, of being labeled as religious bigots. A Rabbi once claimed that those who tell Jews the Gospel are no better than Spiritual Nazis. Some shun these discomforts in the name of love. Too many of us keep silent in the face of our obligation to have an audible love that speaks of God’s salvation in Messiah. Silence cares more about self and your own sensibilities than another’s salvation. I say that it is a badge of honor to bear the reproach of Messiah. Scripture says: For Zion’s sake I will not be silent Get up on a high mountain and say – Behold your God! In Canada we have economic stability, universal health care, powerful neighbors, and low crime. But in Canada the public square is naked – people of religious conviction are marginalized. The public religion is pluralism. The status quo is worshiped. Religious tolerance has deteriorated into a shrill insistence that anyone who challenges another’s belief is intolerant. There is little patience in Canada for the concept of absolute truth, yet high praise for the blurring of distinction. Pluralism should mean that we recognize the rights of people to believe differently. We can co-exist peacefully and still debate religious ideals and values. In Canada, we have decided to tolerate what God has decided not to tolerate – for our own sake, not for His. This kind of conformity counteracts the message of the Gospel and the preaching of the Gospel and I believe that God’s people need to counter it. Missionary work among the Jewish people is something that brings workers into confrontation with the Jewish people and with Jewish culture. We are told: “You can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus,” “You are destroying Jewish values,” “You are finishing what Hitler started”. It is easy to marginalize direct evangelism in Canada by claiming that it is inappropriate, offensive, and insensitive to our mindset. If there were a better way to evangelize we would do it, but the direct approach is the most honorable, is transparent and is the way of integrity. The direct method keeps us honest and honours the message. I don’t consider myself an offensive person, but I am a Jew for Jesus. That says it all. And that offends people. All who labor for the gospel among my people need friends. A friend is more than someone who will send money or lend a hand or stand up for you. A friend is more than someone who will nurse you in sickness. A friend is more than a comrade or a companion or one with a shared interest. A friend says, “Do you see what I see?” Do you see the same truth? Do you care about the same truth? Friends stand side by side and look ahead and their eyes are fixed on the same truth. The condition of friendship is that you want something else. Friendship must be about something. We need friends to care with us that the Gospel is for the Jews! Contributed by Andrew Barron, Director of Jews for Jesus Canada Posted in Evangelism, Goyim for God, Jesus and Jews, Jews and Jesus, This, That, The Other Thing, Uncategorized | No Comments » |
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