God answers prayer. Westchester/Bronx was the only one of nine campaigns where we hadn't yet seen Jewish people becoming followers of Jesus. We challenged the team to pray. Susan Perlman gave them a devotional and encouraged the campaigners to believe God for this. Same day 2 Jewish people prayed with campaigners there to receive Jesus. All that and the chocolate man was arrested too. What is that you ask? A man who poured chocolate syrup all over 2 of the campaigners in the Bronx was arrested by the police after our folks gave them the mans liscence plate. Chocolate man may have some time to think about why he was so angry. Last night Heather came running into the back room. She had just prayed with a Jewish woman to receive the Lord. This woman had ordered the Jesus for Jews book and read it from cover to cover. She is coming to meet with Heather tonight. Yesterday Melissa was in Cedarhurst/5 towns and got hassled by anti-missionaries. It resulted in the newspaper for 5 towns writing an article. Opposition is an opportunity to amplify the message. God answers prayer.
posted by DavidBrickner at 2:08 PM
3 Comments:
He's a real chocolate man
Living in his chocolate land
Making all his chocolate plans
For nobody
We on the Bronx/Westchester BYGCampaign prefer to refer to him as The Chocolate Marauder. Yours scans better though, Rich ;-)
I am an Orthodox Jew and the author of a new book entitled, "Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus."
It is available at www.26reasons.com.
Jesus was not the Jewish Messiah ben David for 26 reasons. When a Jew worships Jesus (a man), he commits idolatry, the penalty for which is kores (separation from God in the World To Come.) I offer my Eighth Reason:
REASON 8: The word “messiah” means anointed with oil. All kings, high priests, and prophets in the Jewish Bible are described as “messiahs” because they were all anointed with oil into God’s service. Many Jewish prophets foretold that a particular messiah, the Messiah ben David, would appear and fulfill six major prophecies that will lead the world into a special Messianic Era. These messianic criteria are and have always been universally accepted by the Jewish People. Jesus did not qualify as the Jewish Messiah ben David for the simple reason that he did not fulfill any of these criteria. The Messiah ben David must:
1. have the correct genealogy by being descended from King David and King Solomon,
2. be anointed King of Israel,
3. return the Jewish People to Israel,
4. rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem,
5. bring peace to the world and end all war,
6. bring knowledge of God to the world.
THE BIBLE’S MESSIANIC CRITERIA ARE EMPIRICALLY VERIFIABLE: “Faith” is irrelevant to the Jewish concept of the Messiah ben David, because an individual either fulfills these prophetic criteria or he doesn’t. Christianity requires faith that Jesus is their “messiah” precisely because he didn’t fulfill any of the Jewish messianic criteria. Christianity’s concept of faith in Jesus is therefore a substitute for this defect. It is important to note that the fulfillment of each of the six Jewish messianic criteria is empirically verifiable and therefore no faith is required to determine the identity of the Jewish Messiah ben David. For example, the entire world will be able to observe that the Temple has been rebuilt, the Jews have returned to Israel, the entire world believes in God, and the world is at peace. Virtually none of the Christian messianic “proofs” are empirically verifiable.
MAIMONIDES AND THE MESSIAH BEN DAVID: Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (the Rambam) was one of the greatest rabbinic sages in Jewish history. He explained how someday we would know the identity of the Messiah ben David:
“We may assume that an individual is the Messiah [ben David] if he fulfills the following conditions: He must be a ruler, from the House of David, immersed in the Torah and its commandments like David his ancestor. He must also follow both the written and the Oral Torah, lead all Jews back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of its laws, and fight God’s battles. If one fulfills these conditions, then we may assume that he is the Messiah. If he does this successfully, and then rebuilds the Temple [Beis HaMikdash] on its original site and gathers all the dispersed Jews, then we may be certain that he is the Messiah. He will then perfect the entire world and bring all men to serve God in unity. It is true that the prophet Isaiah predicted, ‘The wolf shall live with the sheep, the leopard shall lie down with the kid.’ This however, is merely an allegory, meaning that the Jews will live safely, even with the wicked nations, who are likened to wolves and leopards.”
THE FIRST MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS GENEALOGY: Of the six primary Jewish messianic criteria, the only one that the Christian Bible claimed for Jesus was genealogy. The Messiah ben David must be Jewish, from the Tribe of Judah, from the seed of King David, and from the seed of King Solomon.
1. He must be Jewish. One is Jewish if their mother is Jewish.
2. He must be from the tribe of Judah. Under Jewish law, tribal affiliation is through the birth father only. Since Jesus allegedly had no human father, he had no tribal affiliation. Therefore, Jesus was not from the tribe of Judah and is eliminated from messianic consideration.
The book of Chronicles in the Jewish Bible lists the genealogy of Abraham through King David plus an additional 29 descendants. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke provide conflicting genealogies for Jesus in an unsuccessful attempt to demonstrate that Jesus fulfilled the messianic criteria of genealogy.
THE SECOND MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS THAT HE WILL BE ANOINTED KING OF ISRAEL. The term “messiah” means anointed with oil and in a messianic context refers to an anointed king. According to Jewish prophecy the Messiah ben David must descend from David who was a King of Israel. Therefore, David’s messianic descendant must also be an anointed king of Israel. Normally, a Jewish prophet (or a High Priest) anoint Jewish kings (with oil) because prophets are messengers of God and authenticate their right to kingship. For example, the prophet Samuel anointed King Saul with oil, and Samuel also anointed King David with oil.
One of the reasons the prophet Malachi prophesized that the prophet Elijah would return prior to the coming of the Messiah ben David, is to anoint David’s messianic descendent king of Israel. Accordingly, in the Christian Bible Matthew claimed that John the Baptist was “Elijah the prophet.” Problematically, the Gospel of John (contradicting Matthew) reported that John the Baptist said he was not Elijah the prophet, creating yet another problem for Jesus.
According to the Gospel of John, when the Roman Procurator Pilate asked Jesus if he was “king of the Jews,” Jesus answered “yes.” In addition, the Gospels report that a woman anointed Jesus’ head with oil, and a woman anointed Jesus’ feet with oil. Jesus was also anointed with oil for his burial. Interestingly, since Jesus claimed to be king of an “otherworldly kingdom,” this anointing with burial oil may have been intended by the Gospel writer to initiate his rule into a “spiritual” kingdom.” However, although Jesus may have claimed to be “king of Israel” and nameless women may have anointed him with oil, these women were not prophets and there is no indication in the Gospels that Jesus was ever anointed king of Israel.
SAMUEL: “When your days are complete and you lie with your forefathers, I shall raise up after you your offspring who will issue from your loins, and I shall make his kingdom firm. He shall build a Temple for My sake, and I shall make firm the throne of his kingdom forever. I shall be a Father unto him and he shall be a son unto Me, so that when he sins I will chastise him with the rod of men and with afflictions of human beings. But My kindness will not be removed from him as I removed [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your dynasty and your kingdom will remain steadfast before you for all time; your throne will remain firm forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
CHRONICLES: “When your days are complete to go to your forefathers, I will raise up after you your offspring who will be from among your sons; and I shall make his kingdom firm. He shall build a Temple for Me and I shall make his throne firm forever.” (1 Chronicles 17:11-12)
CONCLUSION: Jesus may have claimed to be “king” and women may have anointed him with oil, however, Jesus was never anointed Jesus king of Israel (by a prophet). Therefore, he failed to fulfill this messianic criteria and is therefore eliminated from messianic consideration.
THE THIRD MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS THAT HE WILL BRING THE JEWISH PEOPLE BACK TO ISRAEL. Not only did Jesus fail to bring the Jewish People back to Israel, the Jews were expelled from Israel shortly after Jesus lived. This is the opposite of what this messianic prophecy requires.
ISAIAH: “He will arise a banner for the nations and assemble the castaways of Israel; and He will gather in the dispersed ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12)
ISAIAH: “It shall be on that day that Hashem will thresh, from the surging [Euphrates] River to the Brook of Egypt, and you [Israel] will be gathered up one by one, O Children of Israel. It shall be on that day that a great shofar will be blown, and those who are lost in the land of Assyria and those cast away in the land of Egypt will come [together], and they will prostrate themselves to Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 27:12-13)
JEREMIAH: “I will return the captivity of Judah and captivity of Israel, and will rebuild them as at first.” (Jeremiah 33:7)
CONCLUSION: Jesus did not return the Jewish People to Israel and he is therefore eliminated from messianic consideration.
THE FOURTH MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS THAT HE WILL REBUILD THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. Obviously, Jesus could not have fulfilled the messianic prophecy to rebuild the Temple since it was not destroyed during his lifetime. This (third) Temple must be built on the Temple Mount as specifically described by the prophet Ezekiel. John’s Gospel reported that Jesus said that the Temple would be destroyed and he would re-rebuild it. Matthew’s Gospel reported that Jesus was accused of threatening to destroy the Temple. Perhaps the authors of these Gospels realized that Jesus had not fulfilled this messianic criteria and these comments were intended to address this problem. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Jewish Messiah ben David must build the third Temple.
EZEKIEL: “I will seal a covenant of peace with them; it will be an eternal covenant with them; and I will emplace them and increase them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be among them; I will be a God to them and they will be a people to Me. Then the nations will know that I am Hashem who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary will be among them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:26-28)
MICAH: “It will be in the end of days that the Mountain of the Temple of Hashem will be firmly established as the most prominent of the mountains, and it will be exalted up above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.” (Micah 4:1)
ISAIAH: “It will happen in the end of days; The Mountain of the Temple of Hashem will be firmly established as the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the Mountain of Hashem, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.” (Isaiah 2: 2,3)
CONCLUSION: Jesus never rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and is therefore eliminated from messianic consideration.
THE FIFTH MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS THAT HE WILL BRING PEACE TO THE WORLD AND END ALL WAR. Jesus brought no peace to the world. Israel was destroyed in two wars with Rome shortly after Jesus lived. The last 2000 years have been the most violent in human history and the Church that was founded in Jesus’ name caused many of these wars. Since its re-establishment in 1948, Israel has not been safe from her enemies.
EZEKIEL: “I will seal a covenant of peace with them; it will be an eternal covenant with them; and I will emplace them and increase them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:26)
MICAH: “He will judge between many peoples, and will settle the arguments of mighty nations from far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning knives; nation will not lift sword against nations, nor will they learn war anymore.” (Micah 4:3)
ISAIAH: “He will judge among the nations, and will settle the arguments of many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift sword against nation and they will no longer study warfare.” (Isaiah 2:4)
CONCLUSION: Jesus brought no peace to the world, and he is therefore eliminated from messianic consideration.
THE SIXTH MESSIANIC CRITERIA IS THAT HE WILL BRING KNOWLEDGE OF GOD TO THE WORLD. Jesus did not bring knowledge of the Jewish God to the world. The Christian Bible directly contradicts the Jewish definition of God and directly contradicts all fundamental Jewish teachings about God. Most of the world still does not know God. Ironically, whenever a Christian missionary proselytizes a non-believer he proves that the Messiah ben David has not yet come. His act of proselytizing is a graphic demonstration that the world is not yet filled with knowledge of God.
ISAIAH: “They will neither injure nor destroy in all of My sacred mountain; for the earth will be as filled with knowledge of Hashem as water covering the sea bed.” (Isaiah 11:9)
ISAIAH: “The glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:5)
ZEPHANIAH: “For then I will change the nations [to speak] a pure language, so that they all will proclaim the Name of Hashem, to worship Him with a united resolve.” (Zephaniah 3:9)
JEREMIAH: “They will no longer teach - each man his fellow, each man his brother-saying, “Know Hashem! For all of them will know Me, from their smallest to their greatest - the word of Hashem - when I will forgive their iniquity and will no longer recall their sin.” (Jeremiah 31:33)
CONCLUSION: Jesus failed to bring knowledge of God to the world and is therefore eliminated from messianic consideration. The Messiah ben David by definition is the man who fulfills the six authentic messianic criteria discussed above. The Christian idea of “belief or faith” in this messiah or in his identity is never mentioned in the Jewish Bible because it is irrelevant. In Jewish terms, failure to fulfill even one of the messianic criteria is conclusive proof that individual is not the Messiah ben David. Therefore, when Jesus died without fulfilling any of the six primary messianic criteria, this was conclusive proof that he was not the Messiah ben David.
THERE IS NO “SECOND COMING” CONCEPT IN THE JEWISH BIBLE: Missionaries respond with their “second coming” theory, which asserts that Jesus will accomplish everything when he comes “next time.” There are two major problems with this Christian answer. First, the second coming theory has no scriptural basis in the Jewish Bible. In fact, scripture states that when a person dies, “on that day his plans all perish.” Therefore, according to scripture, when Jesus died, his plans ended. Second, the second coming theory can apply to any person who has ever lived and therefore is totally meaningless. For example, one can claim that their Gentile grandmother was the messiah. When challenged that she didn’t accomplish anything, one can say that when she “comes back” she will be born a Jewish man with the correct genealogy and will accomplish everything!
Asher
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