THE RABBIS HAVE PLACED THEIR FAITH IN KEEPING THE LAW OF MOSES

Former rabbis had believed that the Messiah would bring in a new set of laws to replace the Mosaic laws. We find a number of indications of this in the Talmud, compiled around 550 AD. Jewish commentator Raphael Patai had written:

·       The notion that the days of the messiah, the messiah’s apocalyptic reign, will be served by a new law is a Jewish one. Paul is quite Jewish in seeking to extend his new, more accessible, religion to Gentiles in the interest of time as did some of his contemporaries among the rabbis. In his essay, “The Crisis of Tradition in Jewish Messianism,” G. Scholem reviews the most important rabbinic statements that look forward to a utopian messianic age governed by a new, relaxed law:

·       Lev. Rabbah 9:7 - All sacrifices will be abolished except for the offer of thanksgiving.

·       Yalkut and Midrash Mishle (on Prov. 9:2) - All festivals will be abolished except for Purim which will never be abolished (and the Day of Atonement will be like Purim)

·       Midrash Tehillim (in regard to Ps. 146:7) - The Lord allows the forbidden … and will one day allow the eating of all animals now forbidden to be eaten … In the time to come he will allow everything that he has forbidden.

·       Lev. Rabbah 13:3 - A new Torah [law or teaching] shall go forth from me.

·       Yalkut (in regard to Isa 26:2) - the messiah himself will teach it  (The Jewish Messiahs, Harris Lenowitz, page 270ff)

·       Eccl. Rabbah 11:1 - R Hizqiya in the name of R. Simon bar Zibdi said: “The whole Tora which you learn in This World is vanity as against the Tora of the World to Come. For in This World a man learns Tora and forgets, but in the Future to Come (he will not forget) as it is written, I will put My Tora in their inward parts and in their heart will I write it (Jer. 31:33) (The Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, pages 247-257)

However, modern day rabbis have gravitated to a different view – that the Mosaic Laws are eternally binding. The Jewish Encyclopedia's "New Testament" article states:

·       "The idea of the new covenant is based chiefly upon Jeremiah 31:31–34. That the prophet's words do not imply an abrogation of the Law is evidenced by his emphatic declaration of the immutability of the covenant with Israel (Jeremiah 31:35–36; comp. 33:25); he obviously looked for a renewal of the Law through a regeneration of the hearts of the people."

(Please note that Jeremiah 31:35-36 and 33:35 say nothing about the continuation of the Mosaic Covenant!)

Elsewhere, The Jewish Encyclopedia reads:

·       Judaism knows of no other than the old Sinaitic [Mosaic] covenant. Eternal as the covenant with heaven and earth is God's covenant with the seed of Jacob (Jer. xxxiii. 25 et seq.). http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4714-covenant

However, Scripture reveals that the Mosaic Covenant would be unable to deliver what the Messiah and His New Covenant were finally able to provide. When we examine Messianic prophecy, we find that Israel’s blessedness was not to be found in their adherence to the Mosaic Law but in their Messiah. The following are verses that the rabbis had also regarded as Messianic:

·       The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified…you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. (Isaiah 61:1-7; ESV)

In what state do we find Israel prior to the Messiah’s return? One of shame and dishonor! It would be the Messiah, and not Mosaic Law keeping, that would “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Instead of exalting Israel, the Mosaic Law would evidently afflict Israel through their failure to keep it.

Elsewhere, Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah will bring justice, not the Mosaic Law:

·       Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations… “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:1-7)

The Messiah will also be the covenant and the light, which the Mosaic Covenant (MC) could not provide. He would open blind eyes and release those in bondage. Clearly, the MC would fail to do this.

·       The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:8-10)

At the time of the Messiah’s return, there will be “waste places of Jerusalem.” Why would this be if Israel’s adherence to the MC had been adequate? Evidently, it wouldn’t be. Instead, Israel’s hope would have to be in the Messiah and not in their ability to keep the MC.

Who is “his holy arm?” Isaiah tells us:

·       Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:1-4)

Why would the Messiah have to carry “our sorrows” if the MC had been adequate? Instead, the Messiah, the one who would bear Israel’s sins, would ultimately be their hope.

The Messiah’s return will mean comfort for the afflicted and a worldwide awakening:

·       The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. (Psalm 22:26-28 [This Psalm might not have been considered Messianic by the rabbis]; also see Psalm 2, 40, 69)

Salvation wouldn’t come through the MC and Israel’s obedience. Instead, as so many prophecies indicate, it would come through the Messiah:

·       Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey…and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit…On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. (Zechariah 9:9-16)

The MC would not bring salvation, but death, because of Israel’s disobedience:

·       Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turns to his own course. (Jeremiah 8:5-6; 5:3; Isaiah 1:3-4; 9:3; 64:7; 65:2-3; 66:4; Hosea 4:6; 7:10)

Instead of bringing glory to God, Israel under the MC would profane Him. This is why a New Covenant was necessary. Besides, the MC governed by fear. Israel had been terrified to hear God’s voice and dared not to come into His presence lest they be struck dead.

Why weren’t the rabbis willing to see that the MC brought Israel under the curse of God?

·       “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you…” (Deuteronomy 28:15)

Why don’t the rabbis see that an eternal MC offered them no hope and no blessedness? Why would they put their hope in their ability to keep the Law? Why do the rabbis reject the New Covenant and its promised blessedness through an intimate love-relationship with their Savior, something they could never enjoy under the MC?

·       And I will make for them a covenant…And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. (Hosea 2:18-20)

Sadly, my Jewish people have hardened their heart against their God, and, by doing so, they have also hardened their heart against wisdom, plunging themselves headlong into the darkness (John 3:19-21).

ENEMY TESTIMONY AND HOW IT SERVES TO AUTHENTICATE THE NEW TESTAMENT

Testimony offered against the interests of the testifier is as highly regarded as deathbed confessions. In contrast, Bill Clinton’s autobiography had been panned by the critics because his testimony was deemed as self-serving. He only confessed what everyone already knew – his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Likewise, it is expected that Orthodox Jews will justify their rejection of Jesus. However, when they admit the existence of evidence contrary to their position, this evidence carries more weight than if this disclosure had supported their position. Let’s look at several interesting instances of this.

In “Why the Jews Rejected Jesus,” Orthodox Jewish scholar, David Klinghoffer, admitted:

• "The Talmud states that from forty years before the Temple's destruction and onward, there were supernatural omens of the disaster to come--that is, starting from the inception of the Christian religion following the death of Jesus. The eternal fire of the Temple altar would not stay lit. The monumental bronze Temple gates opened by themselves. Josephus confirms the Talmud's account of the inner Sanctuary's east gate and its mysterious openings. He adds other portents from these years: a bright light shinning around the altar and the Sanctuary at three in the morning, a cow brought for sacrifice giving birth to a lamb, apparitions of chariots and armies flying through the sky above the whole land of Israel." (pg. 117)
  
  

Amazingly, after the Crucifixion (cir. 30 AD) and for the next 40 years until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Israel had been encircled by a series of miraculous omens pointing ominously to their future destruction.

Why would someone trying to debunk Christianity make such an incredible admission? Klinghoffer tried to interpret the miraculous events as omens directed against the Jewish believers in Christ: "Was God not warning the people of the disastrous course some [the Jewish Christians] had set out upon?"

However, the Christians had fled to safety across the Jordan to Pella! According to Klinghoffer, it was the Christians who should have been penalized for their heresy. However, it was the Jews who didn’t believe in Christ, who were left to pay the price.

What is even more unbelievable about Klinghoffer’s explanation is the timing of the omens. They began, according to Klinghoffer, at approximately the time of the Crucifixion (30 AD) and lasted for forty years until the destruction of the Temple. They therefore served as a warning to repent to those who had crucified Jesus not those who had followed Jesus.

And when did the omens end. After repentance for the Jews who had rejected Jesus was no longer possible – at their death and destruction of their Temple. This had nothing to do with the Jewish believers in Christ. Had the omens been sent for their sake, they would have continued, but they didn’t.

Klinghoffer asserts that the warnings were directed towards the Jewish Christians who had gone astray. However, if this had been the case, calamity should have fallen on them. Instead, it fell upon the nation of Israel. Why? Israel had refused to repent of their sins and seek God’s mercy, as Jesus had warned:

• "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:37-38)

ANOTHER INTERESTING EXAMPLE COMES FROM THE TALMUD. In his responce to the question, “Why didn’t the red ribbon on the head of the Scapegoat [on Yom Kippur] turn white in 30 CE [AD]?” Jewish anti-Christian apologist, Rabbi Tovia Singer reluctantly admits:

·       “In Tractate Yoma 39b, the Talmud… discusses numerous remarkable phenomena that occurred in the Temple during the Yom Kippur service… There was a strip of scarlet-dyed wool tied to the head of the scapegoat which would turn white in the presence of the large crowd gathered at the Temple on the Day of Atonement. The Jewish people perceived this miraculous transformation as a heavenly sign that their sins were forgiven. The Talmud relates, however, that 40 years before the destruction of the second Temple [approximately 30 AD at the time of the Crucifixion] the scarlet colored strip of wool did not turn white.”

This is a damning admission. Following the Crucifixion, the scarlet wool would no longer miraculously become white! It seems that God had put Israel on notice that He would no longer accept animal sacrifices now that the ultimate offering of Jesus had been accomplished.

How does Singer explain this cessation at the very time of the Cross? He claims that various miracles were gradually disappearing because Israel’s “dedication to the golden rule slacked off.” However, the timing of this cessation couldn’t have been worse for the Jews who had rejected their Hope.

Singer also insists that God had been angry with Jesus for deceiving Israel. However, if so, we’d have expected Him to grant signs of His approval of the Crucifixion instead of a sign of disapproval — that He no longer honored the scapegoat to take away Israel’s sins. God’s timing couldn’t have been worse for Singer!

ONE FINAL EXAMPLE:

Did Jesus perform many miracles? If so, the miracles would validate His claims, and His detractors would have to offer alternative explanations or deny them altogether. However, they did not deny His miracles but instead ascribed them to black magic and Satan. This is exactly what we find in many of the Talmudic writings:

• Shabbath 104b, p.504 "Jesus was a MAGICIAN and a fool. Mary was an adulteress".

• Sanhedrin 107B of the Babylonian Talmud: "Jesus... stood up a brick to symbolize an idol and bowed down to it. Jesus performed MAGIC and incited the people of Israel and led them astray."

• Sanhedrin 43A: "On Passover Eve they hanged Jesus of Nazareth. He practiced SORCERY, incited and led Israel astray...Was Jesus of Nazareth deserving of a search for an argument in his favor? He was an enticer and the Torah says, 'You shall not spare, nor shall you conceal him!"

• “The Avodat Zerah, however, says that Jesus did MIRACLES as no other rabbi, that his disciples not only healed the sick but even raised the dead in His name, that after He was crucified He rose from the dead, and that He ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. All of that is actually in the Talmud – even His enemies acknowledged the truth of what He did. This was written by rabbis who were trying to prevent other Jews from believing in Him; but they had to deal with the historicity of His miracles, of His disciples doing miracles, and not only of His crucifixion but also of His resurrection and ascension into heaven – the Talmud admits He did it!” http://www.moriel.org/articles/sermons/jesus_in_the_talmud.htm

OTHER JEWISH SOURCES:

Josephus, (Antiquities, XVIII 3.2):

• About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, who did good deeds and whose virtues were recognized. And many Jews and people of other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. However, those who became his disciples preached his doctrine. They related that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Perhaps he was the Messiah in connection with whom the prophets foretold WONDERS.

According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, Jesus was often accused by the Talmudists of performing magic:

• “It is the tendency of all these sources to belittle the person of Jesus by ascribing to him illegitimate birth, MAGIC, and a shameful death …

• “Magic may have been ascribed him over against the miracles recorded in the Gospels.”

According to Celsus, perhaps a non-Jew (in Origen, “Contra Celsum,” i. 28):

• “Jesus learned MAGIC in Egypt and performed his MIRACLES by means of it; the latter work, in addition, states that he cut the magic formulas into his skin. It does not mention, however, the nature of his magic performances (Tosef., Shab. xi. 4; Yer. Shab. 18d); but as it states that the disciples of Jesus healed the sick “in the name of Jesus Pandera” (Yer. Shab. 14d; Ab. Zarah 27b; Eccl. R. i. 8) it may be assumed that its author held the miracles of Jesus also to have been miraculous cures. Different in nature is the witchcraft attributed to Jesus in the “Toledot.” When Jesus was expelled from the circle of scholars, he is said to have returned secretly from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he inserted a parchment containing the “declared name of God” (“Shem ha-Meforash”), which was guarded in the Temple, into his skin, carried it away, and then, taking it out of his skin, he performed his MIRACLES by its means. This magic formula then had to be recovered from him, and Judah the Gardener (a personage of the “Toledot” corresponding to Judas Iscariot) offered to do it; he and Jesus then engaged in an aerial battle (borrowed from the legend of SIMON MAGUS), in which Judah remained victor and Jesus fled.”

While these sources (except for Josephus) demean Jesus, they still acknowledge that He had performed miracles. This is remarkable, because it would have been easier to deny that the miracles had ever taken place. Evidently, they were not able to do this without being derided by the many who knew that He was a miracle worker.

But could He have been evil and used black magic, as the Jewish sources allege? Evidently, if they could have proved this allegation, their trial of Jewish would have been easy. However, they were unable to find witnesses.

His miracles not only stand as facts, but they also testify in favor of His teachings and the New Testament claims.

Talmudic Judaism and its Fruits

Today’s Orthodox Jews are Talmudic Jews in contrast to Biblical Jews. This means that they esteem the Talmud - a vast collection of ancient rabbinic writings compiled around 550 AD - above all other writings, even Scripture.

The Talmudic writings represent a departure from the Hebrew Scriptures in many ways. It has also superseded the Scriptures, according to its own statements. For example:

• "Those who devote themselves to reading the Bible exercise a certain virtue, but not very much; those who study the Mischnah exercise virtue for which they will receive a reward; those, however, who take upon themselves to study the Gemarah exercise the highest virtue." (Babha Metsia, fol. 33a)

• "The Sacred Scriptures is like water, the Mischnah wine, and the Gemarah aromatic wine. (Sopherim XV, 7, fol. 13b)

• "He who transgresses the words of the scribes sins more gravely than the transgressors of the words of the law." (Sanhedrin X, 3, f.88b)

Not only does this constitute adding to the Law, something that God had forbidden Israel to do (Deut. 4:2; 12:32), it also involved replacing the Law - something that Moses had warned repeatedly against. Isaiah had denounced Israel for teaching commandments of men in place of those of God:

• Isaiah 29:13-14 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth    and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their [faithfulness] fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Regarding “commandment taught by men,” the Talmud teaches many things counter to what is found in the Scriptures. For example, it teaches the superiority of the Jew, something that Moses had repeatedly warned against believing:

• Deuteronomy 9:4, 6 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you… Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”

Moses also warned our people to not take credit for their successes:

• Deuteronomy 8:17-19  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

Sadly, our people have gone after a very different g-d – a Talmudic invention. Instead of being the light to the world, we have covered it with the darkness of the Talmud. And the dreadful promised consequences have continually followed. Moses warned that we would be hated by the world. This prophecy has become a persistent fact of history, always accompanied by the disobedience of our people in turning from Scripture.

Jesus attempted to turn Israel back to their G-d. However, He observed that there was no way that they would hear Him since they even refused to believe Moses (John 5:44-47).

Meanwhile, the greatness and restoration of the Jewish nation has always accompanied a return to our G-d. (Adherence to the Talmud has only brought despair and dispersion.) God built Israel into a great nation because of the faithfulness of King David. This greatness continued through much of Solomon’s reign. It was restored, in great measure, under the faithful reigns of the great kings of Judah - Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. All of these kings had revived Israel by returning to the very Words of God and not to the traditions of the elders or the Talmud.

Even the modern rebirth of Israel had nothing to do with the Talmud. Instead, the Talmud has been a blight upon our people. Yet our G-d promises that He will open the eyes of disobedient Israel:

• Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me [Jesus], on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

What does our G-d require of us? Return:

• Jeremiah 3:12-13 “Return, faithless Israel,” declares the Lord. “I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God.”

Talmud: from God or Man?

Religious Jews tend to regard the Talmud – the collected writings of the Rabbis complied in its final form around 500 AD – as more authoritative than the Bible itself. They claim that this Oral Law (Talmud) had been given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai. Moses then passed this Oral Law on to Joshua. In support of this, they cite the Mishna tractate, Pirke Avot 1:1, an early written compilation (200 AD) that later became part of the Talmud:

•  Moses passed it on to Joshua. Joshua gave it to the Elders. The Elders gave it to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it to the Men of the Great Assembly [including Ezra and Nehemiah].

However, there are many problems with this claim:

1.     The contents of the Talmud are clearly uninspired. Here’s one example: “When a man talks too much to his wife, he causes evil to himself, disregards the words of Torah and in the end will inherit Gehenna.” (Pirke Avot)

2.     In many regards, the Talmud contradicts the Hebrew Scriptures.

3.     Rather than declaring, “Thus says the Lord,” the Talmud is comprised by rabbinic discussions.

4.     The Hebrew Scriptures give no support for the simultaneous existence of an Oral Law.

In fact, Scripture undermines such a claim. For instance,

• Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them. (Joshua 8:34-35)

If Moses had passed on the Oral Law to Joshua, as the Talmud claims, then it should have been recited. However, Joshua had read everything of what Moses had commanded him. This leaves no room for the existence of the Oral Law. Later, Joshua charged the Israelites:

• “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.” (23:6)

Had Joshua been in possession of an Oral Law, why would he not command Israel to obey it along with the written law? This question is even more troubling since the Jews regard the Oral as more authoritative than the written. Certainly, the Rabbis wouldn’t claim that Joshua had failed in this duty.

Throughout the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures, there is not the slightest hint of the presence of an Oral Law. Never does a Prophet of Israel charge the people with having neglected the Oral Law! Instead, it seems to be entirely absent.

Besides this, the Torah was often read (Exo. 24:7; 2 Kgs 23:1-3; Neh. 8:1-18), at Covenant renewals and revivals. However, there is absolutely no indication that the Oral Law was ever recited. It seems to have been entirely absent. All of this contradicts the claim of the Rabbis that the Talmud had been given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and is therefore authoritative. Instead, this adoration of the Talmud represents the serious offense of adding to the Law (Deut. 4:2; 12:42)!