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Messianic Judaism
Definitions and Glossary
Can you be
Jewish and believe in Jesus?
Should
Gentiles get involved in the mission?
Messianic Judaism is a biblically based movement
of Jewish people from all walks of life, in all parts of the world, who
have come to believe in Yeshua (Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus which
means Salvation) as the promised Jewish Messiah and the Savior of Israel
and of all the world.
Today, there are up to 100,000 Messianic Jews in the United States and
Messianic Synagogues are to be found in many nations including Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Holland, Mexico, New Zealand,
Russia, and South Africa. In Israel there are 69 Messianic
congregations and a dozen or so home groups. These congregations in
Israel experience varying degrees of hardship, vandalism, violence and
persecution. They need our ongoing prayers
The Real Issue
Today we are seeking to put the Messiah
back within His biblical and Jewish context. Messianic Judaism is a
spiritual renaissance, a revival, a return to the faith as the Messianic
Jews had in the first century, unencumbered by the traditions of men.
It is a return to a pure and simple faith based upon having a living,
vibrant and personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
through the Messiah Yeshua.
The real issue we must recognize is not whether it is Jewish to believe in
Yeshua, because the Jewishness of Yeshua is historically
unquestionable. The real issue at stake here is whether Yeshua is
truly the Messiah or not. If he is, then it is the most Jewish thing
in the world to believe in Him. If He is not the Messiah, then we
should not follow him.
There is only one way to find out, and that is to go back into the Jewish
Scriptures ourselves and study the Messianic prophecies. According to
the Jewish Scriptures, the Messiah was to come twice; the first time to
suffer and die and the second time to usher in the Messianic era of peace
upon the earth.
Did the Messiah Have to Die?
The Jewish prophet Isaiah answered this
question when he said, "All we like sheep have
gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, And the Lord has laid
upon Him (the Messiah) the sin of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
Without God there is no hope for mankind. It is obvious that man is
separated from God when we view the ever worsening situation in the world
today. That is why He sent Yeshua, the Messiah, who came to deliver
us from our sins and to bring us into a new life in Him.
For tens of thousands of us today, we know that we have found the Messiah
who said, "Do not think that I came to abolish
the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill."
(Matthew 5:17)
These writings are
based on the Writings of Rabbi, writer and television personality David
Chernoff, Messianic Rabbi at Congregation Beth Yeshua, Philadelphia, PA.
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