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Hallelujah Bread #5
Our Dept To The Jewish Roots of Christianity
There
ought to be an additional title in Systematic Theology called
“Isre-ology.” It would deal with the study of the important link and
dept we owe to the Jewish faith. Christianity is entirely rooted in the
religion of the Jews.
Christianity is actually the fulfillment of Jewish religion. Jesus was a
Jew. He grew up and was entirely submitted to Mosaic law. He was perfect
with regard to the law. Jesus was and is the promised Messiah.
Most of the disciples were Jewish. Regarding scripture, the only Bible
known in the first century that was used and understood by the apostles
was the Torah, the Psalms and the Prophets. Jesus is the fulfillment
of all of the Messianic prophecies. He is also the personification of
the typology and symbolism of the temple, the Passover and the Feasts of
Israel.
As the religion of Christendom grew, someone, somewhere, sometime along
the way, decided it was a good idea to disassociate the biblical New
Testament with anything Judaic. They decided not to call the characters
described in the gospels by their Jewish names: Yeshua became
Jesus, Miriam became Mary, Jacob became James, Shimon
became Peter and so on. One of the greatest errors was in my opinion,
discarding of the name Messiah (Mashiac) and replacing it with
the Greek name Cristos (Christ). Yes, over the years, Christians knew
only these non-Hebraic names and became totally ignorant of the
Jewishness of the New Testament.
In later years of reforming the doctrines of denominational Christianity
a new teaching came forth that is known as “Replacement Theology.” This
doctrine is central to many of the mainstream denominations: Among these
are
The Roman Catholic
Church,
Seventh-Day
Adventist,
Southern Baptist Convention,
The United
Methodist Church,
The Church of God in Christ,
Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America and others.
Its proponents
teach that God has set aside Israel and made the Church “new
Israel.”
The “church” became the recipient of all the prophecies to be fulfilled.
This theology hold that Israel has no real significance in the prophetic
future of this world.
The kingdom
is the property and possession of the church.
This
departure from the root and branch of Israel and the Jews created a
serious stumbling block in the history of relations between Christians
and Jews. This belief lead not only to alienation between the two
religions, but even worse, to antisemitism, persecution, and atrocities.
Martin Luther despite his theological insights of faith and grace, held
that the Jews were evil and to be despised.
Christians
should be friends to the Jews. We should understand that Jerusalem is an
eternal and blessed city in all the earth. We understand that through
the rejection of Messiah by his brethren, the Jews, that gave us gentile
believers in Jesus opportunity to be grafted in the root of Israel. Thus
it is said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” Shaul, Paul of Taursus,
is very clear in his affirming the place of Israel in the near future.
Romans 11:1 writes: “I
say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an
Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has
not cast away His people whom He foreknew.”
I would have you read Romans 9, 10, and 11 which addresses the matter of
the Jews rejecting the Messiah who was revealed to Israel on the precise
day prophesied and died as the “lamb of God” as declared by John the
Baptist and portrayed in the Passover.
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July 4, 2020
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