We are beginning a new Torah series on the Covenant of God, the Repentance Series. This week's "Bits of Torah Truths" is an introduction, Part 5.
The title for this study opens stating, “Judaism teaches we will know the Messiah when He makes peace in the world!” and then asks the question “Is Yeshua really the Messiah?” This is a very important question as it is related to “why we should be involved in studying the Rabbinic literature.” The reason being there are many anti-missionaries who use this as a means for dissuading men and women from faith in Yeshua as the Messiah of the Lord God of Israel. The “messianic” idea in Judaism may be understood according to Rambam’s 13 principles and the Shemoneh Esrei (prayer recited three times daily) which speak of the coming and hopeful expectation of Mashiach as a basic and fundamental part of traditional Judaism. Judaism’s concept of Mashiach in relation to His coming is that He will be involved in the ingathering of the exiles (Isaiah 11:11-12, Jeremiah 23:8, 30:3, Hosea 3:4-5), the restoration of the religious courts of justice, and the end of wickedness, sin, and heresy. The Mashiach will reward the righteous, rebuild the Temple, restore its services (Jeremiah 33:18), and establish the line of King David as a means for a central world government for both the Jew and gentile (Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:10, 42:1). According to the rabbis in Judaism, the Messiah (Mashiach) will do all of these things. So the question presented for us is “If Yeshua is the Messiah, why did he not do all of these things?” This is the major presupposition of the anti-missionaries in their polemic against Christianity and against Yeshua as the Messiah of God. As we have been studying in the last few introductory parts, in this present age, and according to antiquity (1 Maccabees 1) there has been great assimilation and emancipation away from the traditions of the Jewish faith that has occurred and is continuing to occur today at unprecedented levels. The rabbis believe that when Mashiach comes, he will lead His people to true Torah values as the “baal teshuvah” paving the way for the messianic era. So the question again, “Is this the Jesus that we have come to know over the last 2000 years?”
While studying the Bible, it is important to take a multidisciplinary approach by considering the history, the culture, the people, and the languages in order to help us understand the Scriptures and how to apply God's Word to our lives. MATSATI.COM Teaching Ministry examines the Hebrew Scriptures (Masoretic Text), the Aramaic (Targumim), and the Greek (Septuagint), coupled with studies in the rabbinic literature (Talmud Bavli, Mishnah, Midrashim, with the classical commentators: Rashi, Sforno, Rambam, etc). Our goal is to immerse ourselves in the language, the history, the culture, and the people who lived in the time of Moshe, the Prophets, and the Messiah, in order to deepen our understanding of Scripture, increase our faith, and grow in our relationship with the Lord!
I hope you enjoy this short study.
Take care and God bless!
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