Presently the world’s Jewish population is close to 16 million. Being Jewish is an ancestral and religious identity, with most Jews, living in the state of Israel. God is for the Jewish people and He remembers His covenant with Abraham, which is yet to be fully realized. Israel will acknowledge Christ in these last days, but not before enduring the Great tribulation. In this insightful broadcast Carl defines the religion of Judaism and how its ideology is disharmonious with Christendom. Who are the mysterious ‘Judaizers’ who seek to elevate the schoolmaster above the King of Kings? Join Carl now to find out more…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)
Our discussion today will comprise of the Dangers of Judaism. Now I have to be careful here. Obviously as a born-again spirit filled Christian, I am for the Jewish nation. I do not advocate replacement theory, which proposes the church has replaced Israel in God’s sight, or that somehow God is finished with Israel. Heck no, that is a lie. It is true that Israel has paid a heavy price certainly for rejecting Christ as Messiah, albeit God’s attention will soon be front and center, on Israel once more, in the coming tribulation (aka Jacob’s trouble). In due course, Israel will finally acknowledge the one whom they pierced. Sadly, they will have to endure God’s wrath before they come to this realization.
But you see friend, Christs work is complete. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus said, ‘it is finished.’ Christ our sacrificial lamb, who hung on a tree, is ‘the’ once and for all sacrifice for the ages. From Christ’s crucifixion onward, God’s grace turned towards the Gentile in addition to the Jew, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Therefore, no more sacrifices are needed, following Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. When the Jewish temple was finally destroyed by the Romans, under Emperor Titus, in 70 A.D., the Jews had lost the very foundation of their religion and the temple with it. This commenced the diaspora or scattering of the Jews amongst the nations until their restoration, to the promised land, in 1948. You see, the Mosaic law provided only a temporary atonement, until Christ came. It was flawed, from the get-go, because no-one could keep it. It was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, yet the Judaizer as they are called, love the law instead of the Messiah and their allegiance is with the schoolmaster instead of the king of Kings.
So, let’s go back to the beginning, God intended to bless all the nations of the world through Israel, and thank God He did. It was predicted in the oracles of God, that a Messiah who is a descendant of King David, would come to redeem mankind, and reign over all the nations of the earth. This Messiah is of course, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. From the beginning of time, God revealed that a sacrificial system and eventually a once and for all sacrifice i.e. the lamb of God, was the only thing that could atone for sin. This was alluded to in Gen 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” shortly after their transgression in the Garden of Eden.”
However, it must be noted, that Judaism of today differs greatly from Judaism of the Old Testament. Following the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadrezzar II in 586 BC, and subsequent exile, several key changes begin to appear in their tradition. Meeting places known as synagogues, began to spring up during the exile. Even when the temple was rebuilt in Ezra’s time, the synagogues continued as worship centers for most of the Jews. Of course, with the destruction of Herod’s temple, that is the 2nd temple, the synagogues became the rallying points for Judaism and these synagogues substituted ritual, prayer, and the study of the law, for the sacrifices. Eventually, the Levitical priesthood was replaced by teachers of the Law, many of whom were Pharisees, who developed an elaborate oral tradition based on the Mosaic Law.
The Law was applied by these Pharisees in a very complex and laborious manner, controlling every aspect of daily life. External things like Sabbath observance, food preparation, dietary rules and holy days were stressed. Everything became about the minutia and the outward observance of men, rather than the condition of men’s hearts. And you’ve guessed it, Jesus had several run-ins with these Pharisees and rebuked them harshly. The apostles were also persecuted by these Judaizers. These Pharisees eventually became known as Rabbi’s or teachers, primarily of the oral tradition, not necessarily, the written Torah or Pentateuch.
In about 200 AD these oral traditions were finally written down in a document known as the Mishnah. This Mishnah was placed on par with God’s written law or Torah, as far as the Pharisees were concerned. Then detailed commentaries were written about this Mishnah, known as the Gemara’s. The combination of the Mishnah and its commentary (aka the Gemara), were published together and became known as the Talmud, of which there are two available. The Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud. This Talmud, contains folklore, traditions, and scholarly teachings. Lest we forget, although these publications were not available at the time, Jesus was already witness to the attitude of these Pharisees and the traditions of men which they placed on par with God’s law, saying you are, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do you” (Mk 7:13). These, so called, ‘traditions of men’ were further embellished and documented in the Talmud, within two centuries of Christ’s ascension.
Now let’s get into the theology of Judaism, today and historically. When the Romans drove out the Palestinians in 135 A.D., Judaism survived through the Jewish communities. Each community had a synagogue and a rabbi (aka teacher). Yet, here is where the rubber meets the road. With the temple gone, synagogue teachers stressed the idea that every Jew had access to God, on one condition, that they obeyed all the Mosaic Law. For the Judaizers, there is no need for conversion or redemption by Christ’s blood, only by observance of the Law. As we know, the law cannot be observed, only one perfect man fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law and that was Christ Jesus, yet sadly, the pharisees, or rabbis fail to acknowledge this. They thumb their nose at Christ’s sacrifice, and continue forward, stubbornly under the false pretense that observance of the Law and its 613 precepts, absolves them of sin. Judaism, rejects the doctrine of original sin, for them, sin is an act, not a state. Thus, man has the capacity to live in accordance with the Law, having no need for a Savior. Consequently, many jews are desirous of a Messianic Age but are not eagerly awaiting the Messiah himself.
To them, the Messiah is more of a political strategist, or social deliverer, rather than a Savior from sins. And don’t forget that our beloved apostle Paul was once a Pharisee and persecuted heavily those who followed the way of Christ, and I’m quoting from Acts 22:3–5, “I am verily a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia (which is in the province of Mersin, in modern day Turkey), yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.” Such was the devotion of Paul, killing folk in parlance with this oral tradition and his subservience and desire to please his rabbi. But ironically later, Paul warned the Galatians of these bewitching Judaizers who sought to entice new converts from Christianity, back under the law, with the observance of festivals, sabbaths, dietary laws, so on and so forth. Paul later rebuked the Apostle Peter at Antioch for not fellowshipping with the Gentiles, in the presence of the circumcision or Judaizers. This narrative can be found in Galatians 2:11-13.
Friend, to follow Judaism today is to completely ignore the teachings and monumental sacrifice of Christ our savior and Lord. In fact, it is a complete denial of everything Christ achieved for us. Not only were there warnings in the bible, of the temples forthcoming destruction, but the sophisticated and urbane Jewish historian Josephus, offers further corroboration of the destruction of the temple and the futility of keeping the law, following Christs atonement. In his Book, ‘the war of the Jews,’ Book 6, chapter five, verses3-4, Josephus lists 8 astounding signs sent by God to warn the Jews of their impending disaster. Ultimately, idolatry was their main issue but within a mere, 37 years, following their rejection of Christ as Messiah, the following words of Jesus would be fulfilled, Mark chapter 13, verse two, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.” He was warning the Jews of Jerusalem’s imminent destruction, because of their rejection of Him. But like I said, 8 signs were chronicled by the great historian which should not be overlooked and I will take the time to read them now:
- A star stood over the city like a sword, and a comet which remained for a whole year.
- At a Feast of Unleavened Bread, at 3 am, a bright light, as bright as the midday sun, appeared around the altar and sanctuary, lasting for one hour.
- During the same feast a cow brought for sacrifice gave birth to a lamb in the middle of the Temple courts. Yes friend, believe it or not, a cow gave birth to a lamb, as an indication that only a lamb sacrifice will do.
- At midnight the East Gate of the Inner Sanctuary flung open of its own accord. This solid bronze gate normally required 20 men to shut it, and it was fastened with iron bars secured by bolts.
- Shortly after the feast, before sunset, there appeared in the sky over the entire country chariots and regiments of soldiers racing through the clouds and surrounding the towns. These must have been angels’ friend, don’t you think?
- At Pentecost the priests (who were performing the normal Inner Temple ritual at night) heard a violent movement and loud crash, then a loud cry of many voices shouting: “Let us go hence!”
- Four years before Jerusalem’s war with Rome, Jesus the son of Ananias proclaimed doom for the city especially during the feasts, and from the Temple. He spoke as one possessed, saying “Woe to Jerusalem.” He was later beaten by the authorities, and killed during the Roman siege.
- A prophecy was found in their scriptures that promised that there would come from their country a king to rule the entire world (could this be the coming antichrist, as they had already rejected Christ as Messiah).
And there we have 8 signs leading up to the destruction of the 2nd temple. Incidentally, Judaism also has its mystical and esoteric school known as the Kabbalah. I have researched this cult extensively, and if you wish to find out more about it, you can listen to episode 85, of our podcast repository, on carljosephministries.com.
Today of course Judaism is divided into three main branches, Orthodox, Reformed and Conservative. I won’t get into the ins and outs of each sect, albeit the Hasidic Movement is the ultra-orthodox form of Judaism and the most akin to the Pharisees of yesteryear. Because of the isolation and persecution of the Jewish people down the centuries, Judaism hasn’t much changed as a religion. In a nutshell, today Judaism is an ethical system and way of life with a transcendent yet inaccessible God in the background. It is a works-based system, which has in common with Catholicism. Judaism denies the sin nature, downplays mans need for redemption and completely ignores the person and work of Jesus Christ, along with the many messianic prophecies found within the Old Testament, which were fulfilled in the new.
Because of the difficulty in observing the law, many Jews are becoming increasingly secularized today. They realize no-one can observe the demands of the Mosaic Law and have become disillusioned because this. If any Jew really wants to know the true identity of the Messiah, it won’t be hard to find out. The Old Testament is explicit. It tells of where the Messiah would be born, where He would be cut off and the manner of His death. Isaiah Chapter 53 warrants special mention and has much to say about the Jewish carpenter.
Finally, friend I want to make two things clear here: Firstly, any Jew does not need to abandon his heritage to become a Christian. A Jew from a bible standpoint identifies himself as a descendant of Abraham, that’s it. The great divide in the New Testament is between Christian and Non-Christian, not Jew and Gentile. Christianity is not a religion for Gentiles, it is a religion for both Jew and Gentile. There are Gentile Christians and Hebrew Christians. Our heavenly destination has nothing to do with our earthly heritage.
Secondly, there is a difference between Messianic Jews and the Hebrew Roots movement. Messianic Jews are those of Jewish heritage who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. They do not pretend to follow the Mosaic Law in this dispensation of Grace and place their trust in Christ’s blood alone. Those who follow the Hebrew Roots movement however, believe Christians are obligated to follow, extra biblical rabbinic teachings or traditions. The HRM does not necessarily teach that one must observe the law, as Judaism does, but at the very least, an observance of sabbaths, feast days, new moons, or certain dietary restrictions. The leaders of the HRM, believe they are better Christians for doing so, and those who ignore their tenets, are no Christians at all. This is a false teaching.
But I say unto you friend, beware, beware of anyone who seeks to entice you away from your liberty in Christ under the auspice of becoming a “better” Christian by following the traditions of men. Jesus plus nothing = everything, yet Jesus + something = nothing. God is pleased with you as you are, we must not be bewitched into adding something to please God. He is pleased with Christ’s sacrifice and that is enough. Enjoy the liberty in Christ, purchased by His own blood. Do not relinquish your freedom so readily to any rabbi, no matter how piety they purvey. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of Mosaic bondage.
Bibliography:
Excerpts taken from, “Cults, World Religions and the Occult” – Dr. Kenneth Boa, (Victor Books, A division of scripture Press Publications, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 1990).
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