What makes me the happiest is the knowledge that Gd, the Bible, and Judaism, all got it right!
The basic beliefs of Christianity about Jesus are against what the Bible says, and so Real Jews cannot believe in Jesus at all.
The Christian understanding is that the Messiah, Jesus, died for the sins of the people. The messiah is supposed to be a human sacrifice that is the blood sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin.
But we are taught in our Torah that no one can die for the sins of another. In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically says this:
Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not
be put to death for the children, neither
shall the children be put to death for
the fathers:
every man shall be put to death for his
own sin (eesh b’chet-o yumatu).
In Exodus 32:30-35, Moses tries to offer himself to atone for the sins of the people. To be written out of Gd's book, means to be written out of the Book of Life, which means Moses was asking to die for the sins of the People. Gd's response is No, it does not work that way, each man dies for his own sin:
Exodus 32:30-35 And it came to pass on the
morrow, that Moses said unto the people,
Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will
go up unto the Etrnl; perhaps I shall make
an atonement for your sin. And Moses
returned unto the Etrnl, and said, Oh,
this people have sinned a great sin, and
have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if
thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not,
blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written. And the Etrnl
said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned
against me, him will I blot out of my
book.
The whole of chapter 18 of the book of Ezekiel is about this idea, that no one can die for someone else's sin. Further, this chapter of Ezekiel teaches us that all we have to do for Gd's forgiveness is to stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd will forgive us:::
Ezekiel 18:1-4; 20-24; 26-27 .....Behold, all
souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine: the soul
that sinneth, it shall die. Eze 18:20 The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not
bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall
the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be
upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all
his sins that he hath committed, and keep all
my statutes, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed,
they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his
righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? saith the Etrnl Gd: and not that
he should return from his ways, and live?....
Eze 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away
from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity
that he hath done shall he die. Again, when
the wicked man turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth
that which is lawful and right, he shall save
his soul alive.
So, the Bible is clear, no one can die for the sins of another, and this means that Jesus cannot die for anyone else's sins.
Christians also believe that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, that one who does not have such a blood sacrifice will die in their sins, and go to hell, except for the sacrifice of Jesus.
This, too, is UnBiblical. The Bible describes blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin in the Book of Leviticus. But it is in Leviticus itself, in the middle of the discussion of the sin sacrifices, that we are taught that we do not need a blood sacrifice to be forgiven for our sins. Offering a blood sacrifice was an expensive thing to do for the family offering the animal. Was forgiveness then, to be only for the rich? No, because if one could not afford a blood sacrifice then one who sins could bring flour, which has no blood and no life as their sacrifice, and Gd forgave them!
Leviticus 5:11-13; But if he be not able to
bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons,
then he that sinned shall bring for his
offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine
flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil
upon it, neither shall he put any
frankincense thereon: for it is a sin
offering.
Furthermore, read the Book of Jonah. In Jonah, the People of Ninevah do three things in order to be forgiven by Gd. They fast, they pray for forgiveness, and they stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd forgave them! This is exactly what we do on Yom Kippur, we fast, we pray for forgiveness, and, hopefully, we stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd forgives us. And what book do we read on Yom Kippur afternoon? The Book of Jonah!
Jonah 3:7-10 And he caused it to be proclaimed
and published through Ninevah, by the decree
of the King and his nobles, saying, Let
neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste
anything; let them not feed nor drink water;
but let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and cry mightily unto Gd; yea, let
them turn every one from his evil way, and
from the violence that is in their hands. Who
can tell if Gd will turn and repent, and turn
away from his fierce anger that we perish not?
And Gd saw their works, that they turned from
their evil way; and Gd repented of the evil,
that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did not do it.
Please notice that Jonah tells us that Gd saw their WORKS, their deeds, how they turned from their evil ways, and Gd forgave them. It does not say that Gd saw their blood sacrifice, they never offered one. It does not say that Gd forgave them because they had the right faith, but rather it says that Gd forgave them because of their deeds!
Furthermore, Where were the sacrifices to have taken place? In the Temple built by Solomon. And what did Solomon himself say at the dedication of this very Temple where these sacrifices were to take place?
1 Kings 8:46-50 If they sin against thee, (for
there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be
angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy,
so that they carry them away captives unto the
land of the enemy, far or near; Yet if they
shall bethink themselves in the land whither
they were carried captives, and repent, and make
supplication unto thee in the land of them that
carried them captives, saying, We have sinned,
and have done perversely, we have committed
wickedness; And so return unto thee with all
their heart, and with all their soul, in the
land of their enemies, which led them away
captive, and pray unto thee toward their land,
which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city
which thou hast chosen, and the house which I
have built for thy name: Then hear thou their
prayer and their supplication in heaven thy
dwelling place, and maintain their cause, And
forgive thy people that have sinned against
thee, and all their transgressions wherein they
have transgressed against thee, and give them
compassion before them who carried them captive,
that they may have compassion on them:
So, at the dedication of the very place where these totally Unnecessary sacrifices were to take place, Solomon tells us that all we have to do is Repent, Pray, Admit our sins, and stop doing the evil, and Gd forgives, and all with no blood sacrifice!!
THE MESSIAH IN JUDAISM:::
How have we Jews, who invented the term, always defined the term Messiah?
1)The Messiah is born of two human parents, as we said.
But Jesus, according to Christian theology, was born of a union between a Human woman and Gd, just as Hercules was born of Zeus and the human woman named Alcmene, and just like Dionysis who was born of Zeus and Semele, as well as many other pagan gods.
2)The Messiah must trace his lineage through his human biological father, back to King David (Isaiah 11:1,10; Jeremiah 23:5; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:21-28; Jeremiah 30:7-10; 33:14-16; and Hosea 3:4-5)
But Jesus's lineage cannot go through his human father, according to Christian theology, as Jesus's father was not Joseph the husband of Mary. According to Christian theology, Jesus’s father was Gd.
3)The Messiah traces his lineage only through King Solomon, and cannot be adopted into the Royal line (II Samuel 7:12-17; I Chronicles 22:9-10)
But according to Luke 3:31, Jesus was a descendant of Nathan, another son of King David, and not a descendant of King David through King Solomon.
4)The Messiah can not trace his lineage through Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, or Shealtiel, because this royal line was cursed (I Chronicles 3:15-17; Jeremiah 22:18,30).
But according to both Matthew 1:11-12 and Luke 3:27, Jesus was a descendant of Shealtiel, grandson of Jehoiakim, and part of the cursed lineage.
Furthermore, according to the Jewish definition of the term, the Real Messiah will make changes in the real world, changes that one can see and perceive and be able to prove because these changes take place in the real world. It is for this task that the real messiah has been anointed in the first place, hence the term, messiah -- one who is anointed. These changes, that one will be able to see and perceive in the real world, include:
1)The Messiah is preceded by Elijah the prophet who, with the Messiah, unifies the family (Malachi 4:5-6)
Which is contradicted by Jesus in Matthew 10:34-37.
2)The Messiah re-establishes the Davidic dynasty through the messiah's own children (Daniel 7:13-14)
But Jesus had no children.
3)The Messiah brings an eternal peace between all nations, between all peoples, and between all people (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4; Ezekiel 39:9)
Obviously there is no peace. Furthermore, Jesus said that his purpose in coming was to bring a sword, and not peace (see Matthew 10:34, as referenced above.)
4)The Messiah brings about the universal world-wide conversion of all peoples to Judaism, or at least to Ethical Monotheism (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Zechariah 8:23; Isaiah 11:9; Zechariah 14:9,16)
But the world remains steeped in idolatry.
5)The Messiah brings about an end to all forms of idolatry (Zechariah 13:2);
But the world remains steeped in idolatry.
6)The Messiah brings about a universal recognition that the Jewish idea of Gd is Gd (Isaiah 11:9)
But the world remains steeped in idolatry.
7)The Messiah leads the world to become vegetarian (Isaiah 11:6-9)
It isn't.
8)The Messiah gathers to Israel, all of the twelve tribes (Ezekiel 36:24)
Many of the ten lost tribes remain lost.
9)The Messiah rebuilds The Temple (Isaiah 2:2; Ezekiel 37:26-28)
It hasn't been rebuilt.
10)There will be no more famine (Ezekiel 36:29-30)
People starve to death every day.
11)After the Messiah comes, death will eventually cease (Isaiah 25:8)
People die every day.
None of the following has happened, yet, either:::
12)Eventually the dead will be resurrected (Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; Ezekiel 37:12-13; Isaiah 43:5-6);
13)The nations of the earth will help the Jews, materially (Isaiah 60:5-6; 60:10-12;
14)The Jews will be sought out for spiritual guidance (Zechariah 8:23);
15)All weapons will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:9,12);
16)The Nile will run dry (Isaiah 11:15)
17)Monthly, the trees of Israel will yield their fruit (Ezekiel 47:12);
18)Each tribe of Israel will receive and settle their inherited land (Ezekiel 47:13-13);
19)The nations of the earth will recognize that they have been wrong, that the Jews have been right, and that the sins of the Gentile nations, their persecutions and the murders they committed, have been borne by the Jewish people (Isaiah 53)
These Biblically based changes in the world are very real, very perceivable, very noticeable, and knowable. But the changes that Christianity claims were made by Jesus are not perceivable at all. They must be accepted on faith, and faith alone. How can one know that Jesus died for their sins, except by faith? How can one know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, except by the faith in the historical truth of the Christian’s New Testament? There is no birth certificate. The changes made by the Messiah according to Judaism are very provable, but the changes made by the Messiah, Jesus, according to Christianity can only be taken on faith.
Even Christians recognize that none of the changes made by the Messiah according to Judaism as read in the Bible have not happened yet. This is why Christianity invented the idea of a Second Coming. The real Messiah has no need to come a second time to do those things he must do the first time around in order to actually be the Messiah.
Quite simply, we Jews invented the term, “messiah.” When we are told by those of the Christian faith (which includes the “Jews” for Jesus and the Messianic “Jews” and the “Hebrew” Christians) that our definition, the Jewish definition of “messiah” is incorrect, it is like someone who does not speak English telling a person whose native tongue is English that the word “electrician” means someone who fixes the plumbing.
2006-07-30 15:07:23
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answer #5
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answered by sfederow 5
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