How do we get to heaven? Christians and Jews come up with
different answers. While the rabbis do not dismiss the idea of the
necessity of grace, they emphasize following the commandments – the performance
of mitzvot – to secure them a place in heaven:
·
Therefore, when we study Torah and keep the
Mitzvot we are in absolute communion with G-d… When Man observes the Mitzvot in
deed, discusses the Mitzvot in speech, and concentrates and grasps all that his
intellect is able to grasp of the Torah in thought, then Man’s soul is fully
clothed in the Mitzvot and is in perfect unity with G-d.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Mitzvot+and+the+world&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb
For the rabbis, mitzvot-keeping is not a hypothetical pathway to union with God
but actual. According to them, many
are achieving this union. Meanwhile, the entire Mosaic system yells “foul.” It
informed the Israelite that no one could enter into the Presence of God – only
the High Priest once a year on Yom Kippur – without suffering death. However,
the rabbis claim that the Israelite could not only enter into His Presence but
into a oneness with Him.
Contrary to this, Kabbalistic theology, which began to arise
in the 13th century, claims that humanity can work its way up into
the Presence of God, even to “perfect unity with G-d.”
·
When a critical mass of people are taking part
in this war [against sin and doubt] then the Moshiach [Messiah] has arrived…Contrary
to much thought, we are not waiting for the Moshiach to come, but rather, WE
are the ones and WE are the only ones that through our efforts are capable of
creating this state of being. http://www.jewishmag.com/66mag/kabbalah/kabbalah.htm
Other Kabbalistic exponents claim that since we had been
created in the image of God, we are already perfect and just have to realize
it. All of this would have been a surprise to Abraham who believed God, and his
belief alone became the pathway to receiving mercy and the gift of imputed
righteousness (Genesis 15:6), without any mention of his keeping the mitzvot.
In contrast to the rabbis, the Hebrew Scriptures prove:
1.
No one is deserving before God:
2.
Israel certainly wasn’t deserving:
3.
Grace will come to the penitent (repentant), not
to the “deserving”:
4.
It is the penitent, not the deserving, who will
unilaterally be given the grace of God in the end:
1.
No one is deserving before God:
Instead of blessing, we deserve cursing as a result of our
performance in obeying the mitzvot. This had been Moses’ judgment:
·
“Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words
of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
(Deut. 27:26)
This stipulation placed a curse on everyone, demonstrating
that blessing could not be earned or deserved but would be conferred on Israel
by God’s mercies alone. We cannot earn anything from God but curses. Instead,
Israel needed His mercy, as so many of the Psalms attest:
·
If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord,
who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.
(Psalm 130:3-4)
·
Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no
one living is righteous before you. (Psalm 143:2)
We are all sinners in desperate need of the mercy of God. In
contrast to this dismal assessment, one rabbi wrote:
·
Kabbalah states that the community of Israel,
comprising 600,000 souls, is the general source of vitality for the world as a
whole, for the world was created for the sake of these souls.
However, this directly contradicts everything in the Hebrew
Scriptures. In fact, Moses warned the people against thinking that they were more
righteous and deserving than others:
·
After the Lord your God has driven them out
before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take
possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of
the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before
you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are
going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of
these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish
what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then,
that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving
you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. (Deut. 9:4-6)
In fact, at times Israel had morally descended beneath the
other nations:
·
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you
have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you,
have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according
to the judgments of the nations that are all around you...'” (Ezekiel 5:7)...
“Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of
you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her
daughters. You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their
abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than
they in all your ways” (Ezekiel 16:46-47).
Scripture also teaches the impossibility of earning anything
from God, as He revealed to the contrite Job:
·
“Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.” (Job 41:11)
In contrast, the rabbis claim:
·
[Man] has the capacity to elevate and transform
all of creation for a higher purpose. When one fulfills one’s duty [mitzvot-keeping]
and mission in life, not only is the one’s goal in the scheme of Creation
reached, but also helps the rest of the world attain perfection.
What hubris! Humanity fulfills nothing, and the law should
have made this clear to Israel. Israel had been repeatedly warned against such
arrogance. God had even taught Moses a song which the Israelites were to sing
perpetually to testify against them and their future hubris.
Instead, we consistently fail to fulfill our “duty and
mission in life,” as Paul’s quotations from the Scriptures attest:
·
“As it is
written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands;
there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have
together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’"
(Romans 3:10-12 quoting Psalm 14, 53; Rom. 3:19-20))
According to Job, it is delusional to suppose that we will
ever be in a position to earn God’s
mercy:
·
"What is man, that he could be pure, or one
born of woman, that he could be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy
ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is
vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water! (Job 15:14-16)
In light of this, the rabbinic assertion that we can lift
ourselves up is absurd:
·
The beauty of Torah and Mitzvot is that through
simple everyday actions that are well within the reach of normal individuals,
every person can connect with the Divine and transform this world into an abode
for G-d.
Instead, the Mosaic Temple communicated that Israel fell far
short of God’s standards and dwelt under His wrath. Therefore, substitutionary
blood sacrifices had to be continually
offered to secure God’s forgiveness.
2.
Israel certainly wasn’t deserving of any of
God’s blessings:
The Prophets of Israel uniformly denounced Israel:
·
“The ox knows its owner and the donkey its
master's crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. Alas,
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who
are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the
Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.” (Isaiah 1:3-4)
Israel didn’t know God because they did not seek Him:
·
For the people do not turn to Him who strikes
them, nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 9:13)
·
And there is no one who calls on Your name, who
stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us,
and have consumed us because of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:7)
Israel did not seek God because they didn’t want God:
·
“So will I choose their delusions, and bring
their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they
did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight." (Isaiah
66:4)
·
“I have stretched out My hands all day long to a
rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to
their own thoughts; people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; who
sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick.” (Isaiah 65:2-3)
·
“Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former
prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from
your evil ways and your evil deeds." But they did not hear nor heed Me,"
says the LORD. (Zech. 1:4)
Israel’s “obedience” had been superficial and hypocritical:
·
“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they
to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and
the fat of fattened animals… Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons,
Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New
Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have
become a burden to me; I am weary of
bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from
you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full
of blood!” (Isaiah 1:11-15)
If obedience is necessary to
receive God’s blessings, then Israel and all humanity are without hope. All
fell under a curse that only mercy could address! However, the rabbis have an
inflated estimation of Israel’s faithfulness to their God:
·
It is necessary to fulfill the practical Mitzvot
performed by the body itself in deed. In this way the actual power of the body
engaged in this act is absorbed into the Divine Light and will and unites with
Him in perfect unity.
However, Israel’s failures were far worse than simply
failing to be obedient. Instead, Israel utterly rejected their God:
·
“LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have
stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have
refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than
rock; they have refused to return.” (Jeremiah 5:3)
·
“Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in
a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to
return. I listened and heard, but they do not speak aright. No man
repented of his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turned to
his own course.” (Jeremiah 8:5-6)
·
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being
priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will
forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)
In
light of these, how can the rabbis confidently insist that our deeds will unite
us “with Him in perfect harmony?” Instead, all of the Prophets testify that
Israel’s deeds have separated them
from their God, something that Jewish history has made very clear.
Was
there ever a Prophet who assured Israel, “You are doing a great job! Keep up
the good work!” No! However, Scripture does make many promises that those who
keep the commandments will be blessed. This, of course, is true, but Israel’s
unfaithfulness disqualified them from this promise and qualified them for only
the curse (Deut. 28-29)! Consequently, Israel could only hope for the mercy of
God, but so often, their hope was focused elsewhere.
3.
Grace and blessedness will come to the
penitent (repentant), not to the “deserving”:
King David had committed adultery and murder. He deserved to
die and he knew it, but he found God’s mercy:
·
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit…I acknowledged my sin to You,
and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my
transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm
32:1-5)
The Temple and the offerings symbolized the fact that
blessedness depended not on what Israel earned but on whom they trusted. After
Solomon commemorated the Temple, the Lord assured him that His mercy depends
not a successful record of keeping the mitzvot, but on a repentant heart:
·
“If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their
land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
God would “freely pardon” Israel’s sins. It didn’t depend on
Israel’s moral virtue:
·
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man
his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to
our God, for he will freely pardon. (Isaiah 55:7)
God demanded that Israel repent without having to first
build up their portfolio with good deeds:
·
"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge
you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent!
Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid
yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a
new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the
death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel
18:30-32)
Having a change of heart was critical. If they truly repented,
there would also be evidence of this. They would “Turn away from all your
offenses.”
4.
It is the penitent, not the deserving, who
will unilaterally be given the grace of God in the end:
What do we find in the end when Messiah returns? Do we find
Israel waiting expectantly, having fulfilled the mitzvoth? Not at all! Instead,
Israel will mourn for having rejected their Messiah:
·
“And I will pour out on the house of David and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look
on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for
an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
(Zechariah 12:10)
There is no indication that Israel will wake up on their own
and perform the required mitzvot, as the rabbis suggest:
·
There are a number of ways conducive to hasten
the Messianic redemption prior to its final date. Generally speaking these
involve the observance of some special mitzvot which constitute comprehensive
principles of the Torah. http://www.chabad.org/library/moshiach/article_cdo/aid/101681/jewish/Hastening-Mashiach.htm
There is no prophecy in the entire body of the Hebrew
Scriptures that suggests that Israel will hasten the coming of their Messiah through
their “observance of some special mitzvoth.” Instead, their Messiah will unilaterally open their darkened eyes:
·
“They shall be My people, and I will be their
God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me
forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good;
but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.
Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them
in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.' (Jeremiah 32:38-41)
In fact, there is not a single prophecy that even suggests
that God will re-establish Israel based on Israel’s worthiness:
·
For I will take you from among the nations,
gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from
all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause
you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then
you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people,
and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. (Ezekiel
36:24-29)
·
My people are bent on backsliding from
Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him (14:4)… I will
heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My
anger has turned away from him. (Hosea 11:7)
·
Jeremiah 33:6-8 Behold, I will bring it health
and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and
truth…I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have
sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they
have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
Israel will be transformed apart from any mitzvot-keeping.
Instead of God restoring Israel because Israel is worthy of His mercy, God will
restore despite Israel’s ubiquitous unworthiness.
Does this mean that
Israel would be forgiven and blessed without any need to be obedient?
Obedience would be the necessary consequence of His saving work, not its cause:
·
…And I will give them one heart, and a new
spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their
flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and
keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their
God. (Ezekiel 11:18-20)
Therefore, Rabbi Gerald Sigal wrote:
·
The fulfillment of all the promises God made to
Abraham, both those made before circumcision and those made after, is
contingent upon obedience to God’s will, not simply faith alone. (“The Jew and the Christian Missionary,” 274).
There is some truth in Sigal’s statement. Blessing is
contingent upon faithful obedience to God. “We reap what we sow” is a principle
throughout the Bible. It was also true for Abraham. God confided in Abraham,
reasoning:
·
“For I have chosen him, that he may command his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing
righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has
promised him.” (Genesis 18:19)
The fulfillment of God’s gracious promises depended upon
Abraham’s obedience.
However, obedience is a byproduct of God’s work through
faith and obedience:
Israel would live in obedience to God in His heavenly
Kingdom, not because of their uprightness but because God would give them a new
heart. They would be born-from-above.
Consequently, Israel’s obedience would be the fruit of being born-again,
and not its root (cause):
·
And I will give you a new heart, and a new
spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and
cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel
36:26-27)
God’s gift of a new heart would “cause” Israel to walk in
obedience to the commands of their Savior:
·
I will make with them an everlasting covenant,
that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear
of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in
doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all
my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah 32:40-41)
This new heart would bring about such a faithfulness towards
God that Israel would never again
“turn from” God into disobedience. As a result, He would never cease “doing them good.”
Do any of us ever merit salvation and our Savior’s future
blessings? Not at all! They are all given as a result of His love and mercy. To
deny this is to claim credit for God’s blessings – a great affront to the grace
of God.
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