It is very clear in Scriptures that God is outward looking.  It is evident in the very act of creation, since God made something outside of Himself (Genesis 1:1).  It is clear in the fact that though we humankind, His creatures, rebel against Him regularly, God continues to deal with us and even sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16-17).

 His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), was outward looking like his Father in Heaven.  He came to “seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)”  He came to lay down his life for disciples (John 10:15).  As the apostle Paul points out,

“though he was in the form of God, [Yeshua] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)”

 Yeshua also called on his disciples to be outward looking.  “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, (Matthew 20:26-27)” Jesus said.  He commanded his followers to go out and share the truth of God with others (Matthew 28: 19-20)”

 It is clear that the way of God is outward-looking.  If I care about the things of God, I will care about my fellow human being.  I will care about their physical needs, certainly, but I will also care for their spiritual needs.  That is why we at New Covenant Forum go to my Jewish people and to anyone else we meet and share the Gospel message with them.

 Are you inward looking or outward looking? 

• An inward looking life tends towards a self-centered lifestyle in which the world revolves around me and owes me. 
•  An inward looking life creates relationships that are grounded on my personal feelings, and what that individual can do for me in my life.  As such, my relationships can be very inconstant.
•  An inward looking life leads to a belief that my work should suit my needs, and an expectation that customers ought to come to me, rather than that I ought to work hard for my customers.  This leads to difficulties in keeping jobs or maintaining a company.

 An outward looking life is the opposite. 

• An outward looking life cares about others.
• An outward looking life creates friendships that are based on what I can do for them.  This creates a friendship that is loyal and steadfast. 
• An outward looking life wants to do well in whatever work is put before me, and to look at customers as people to help not people to use.  This leads to customer loyalty and good working relationships.

 Are you outward looking?  Do you look out for others?  Do you share with others the truths of God?  God is calling you to do just that.

“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,

“throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money. (Genesis 17:12-13)”

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,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)”

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.

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
     in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
     at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.”
Proverbs 1:20-21

When sharing Yeshua (Jesus) with the ultra-Orthodox, I am often stymied by the fact that they believe their rabbis are most endowed with truth. After all, they are the ones who take the time to steep themselves in Talmud in the Beth Midrash (literally, “house of learning”) to study the Word and to understand it. In Rabbinic writings we see various rabbis touted for the amount of time they closeted themselves in study. We are to understand that this is the way to true wisdom. This is what makes rabbinic Judaism somewhat of a mystery religion – only the elite can truly understand.

Ordinary people, therefore, who live their days working at a trade or running a business; women who are looking after families; students in secular studies; such people won’t have access to true wisdom.  The only thing to do is to heed the words of the rabbis.

But the passage above from Proverbs 1:20-21 would suggest something different. In this passage we see wisdom crying out in the public places of life. She is telling the ordinary people in the midst of their hustle and bustle to heed her words:

“If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)”

Wisdom’s admonition implies that knowledge of her can be obtained in the midst of daily living. This should not surprise us. God said,

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)”

The Lord is not talking here about Talmud, or Midrash or the Shulhan Arukh or the writings of Rashi or Maimonides. He is talking about the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures). It is in the reading and understanding of God’s Word and Wisdom in the Tanakh, which are available to anyone, that wisdom can be obtained.

Heed Wisdom! Heed the Word of God! Take some time out to read the Scriptures.   As nice as it might be for many of us, most of us don’t have many hours available to study, but you will be blessed if you would take even 20 minutes to read and understand them.

I believe that if most people would read the Word of God and to seek honestly to understand what He says in them, then they will be lead to the truth of Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ) and the truths found in the B’rit Hadashah (The New Testament).

You don’t have to be a rabbi or a yeshiva bocher (a religious scholar) to understand the Word of God. You just have to read it!

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)”

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)”

Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.

“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,

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ (Romans 1:16-17 [Paul is citing Habakkuk 2:4 at the end])”

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.
You think I should be ashamed? Then tell me why.
Leave a comment, if you wish.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pot Shot Objection 1: The Holocaust - Intro and Argument 1
Pot Shot Objection 1: The Holocaust – Intro and Argument 2
Pot Shot Objection 2: You Should be Ashamed!
Pot Shot Objection 3: I’m a REAL Jew!
Pot Shot Objection 4: You Are Going Straight to Hell! - coming soon!

Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.

He was talking to a couple of ladies, telling them that he did not believe in God and complaining that religion was mostly a way of getting money. At that point I asked if I could interject, and he beckoned me over to speak.

I began to share with him the story of a rabbi who was standing in the temple in the days before it was destroyed. He saw many people putting in money into the offering jars, but he was struck by an old woman who put only two very small coins in the jar. He exclaimed at her faith, for while others gave out of their excess, she gave out of her poverty.

I then explained to the old man that God was not interested in religion (or money) but that what was important was faith – a relationship with the living God. I then explained that the rabbi was Yeshua. You can read about this encounter of Yeshua’s in the Gospel of Mark 12:41-44.

The man reiterated that he didn’t believe in God, and then began to state that my books were not valid. I asked him on what basis he said this? Had he read them for himself? Had he studied them? Had he done research into the matter to back up his assertions? The answer to all of these questions was, “no.”

My challenge is this. How can you claim that you know the Gospel message – the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah – is untrue, or that the New Testament is untrue, without looking into the matter? How can you turn down the message, when you don’t give it a chance to be heard?

I’m not asking you to take my word for it. I am asking you to check it out and then ask God for His truth!

Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.

What makes this even more wonderful to me is that my wife is not Jewish. In this day and age, many Jewish people like me have non-Jewish spouses.

My wife has also learned to say the b’rachah (blessing) over the festival candles and has learned to make our Erev Shabbat meal special.  Why does she do it? Why does she care? It is because we are a family who believe in Jesus (Yeshua) and believe that he came for the salvation of Jew and Gentile alike. Would she be doing these things if she hadn’t married me? Probably not, but that’s what a good marriage is all about: sharing and caring and learning how to please God and one another.

Is my family a Jewish home in the sense the rabbis mean it? Certainly not, but then, who says that Jewish is equal to rabbinic? How many of you who read this, I wonder, lead rabbinic lives?

No, our house is Jewish, because I am Jewish, and my faith in Jesus has done nothing to change that. In fact, it was not until I became a believer in Jesus, that I really came to appreciate what being Jewish was all about.

In many ways I feel like another Jewish man, who married a non-Jewish women, not only to his benefit but to the benefit of the entire Jewish nation. His name was Boaz and his wife was Ruth. She has a whole book in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament or Tanakh) named after her. Through her came King David and the royal line, right down to Messiah Jesus.

Most importantly, Lynda and I share a bond with each other, a love for God, and a regard for His Word as found in the Bible (both Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament). In mutual love we can proclaim the words of Ruth,

“For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”  (Ruth 1:16-17)

Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.

A (rabinically) religious Jew
A not-so-religious Jew
A practicing Jew
A somewhat practicing Jew
A non-practicing Jew
An agnostic Jew
An atheistic Jew
A Buddhist Jew
A Zionist Jew
An anti-Zionist Jew
A humanist Jew
A secular Jew

The only thing you can’t be, apparently, is a Jew who believes in Yeshua (Jesus).

Is it not possible that the one thing that most Jews say is un-Jewish is the one thing that is really Jewish?

Most of the Jews in the bible were wrong.  Read it and you will see.  Why should anything be different?

Contributed by Daniel Muller, General Director of New Covenant Forum.