P'nei Adonai resources for walking in the presence of God
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P'nei Adonai resources for walking in the presence of God
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Finding Us • Location, Directions, and Contact Information Congregational Information Messianic Judaism Introduced • Messianic Judaism Historically • Is Messianic Judaism Jewish?
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Messianic Judaism HistoricallyIt is impossible to understand what Messianic Judaism is without knowing a bit of history...Scriptural JudaismOlder than and much different from modern Rabbinical Judaism is what this essay will label Scriptural Judaism: how the Torah told the Israelites to be Jewish. It is not a modern division of Judaism. It cannot be practiced today because it relies on animal sacrifices, and Leviticus 17:8-9 prohibits doing these after the Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 C.E.. So currently there are no Scriptural Jewish congregations, as there are Rabbinically Jewish congregations and Messianic Jewish congregations.The Judaism of Yeshua's day was Scriptural Judaism. It was augmented by some Pharisaic teaching, but its focus was the Temple and its rituals and sacrifices.
Judaism DividesIn the year 70 C.E. the Second Temple was destroyed. It was no longer possible to practice Scriptural Judaism. Without the Temple sacrifices to atone for their sins, what would the Jewish people do?At that time there were many sects of Judaism: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, Nazarenes. All of these were different ways of augmenting Scriptural Judaism with other teachings. Josephus records in Antiquities 13.298, 18.20, 17.24 that in the first century there were only six thousand Pharisees, about four thousand Essenes, and fewer Sadducees. Acts 21:20 records that there were "tens of thousands" of Torah-observant Nazarenes just in and near Jeruslaem: the largest sect at that time. But most Jewish people did not belong to any of these sects. After the destruction of the Second Temple these different sects, all based on Scriptural Judaism and Temple use, had to redefine themselves. Only two of these sects survived: the Pharisees and the Nazarenes.
The Pharisees became Rabbinical JudaismOne surviving sect was the Pharisees. This sect became Rabbinical Judaism, what today includes Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism. It adapted to the destruction of the Second Temple by adopting the teachings of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai.The principal figure at hand, Yohanan ben Zakkai, described in rabbinical writings as Hillel's leading disciple, is represented as the master, the sage and rabbi, whose teachings guided Israel beyond the end [the destruction of the Temple]...Yohanan offered not hope of speedy redemption, but rather a conditional promise: just as punishment surely followed sin [the destruction of the Temple was seen as punishment for Israel relying on arms instead of God when resisting the Romans], so will redemption certainly follow repentance.Yohanan ben Zakkai developed and popularized the theory of Tikkut Olam: salvation comes by studying of Torah and doing acts of kindness that help repair the broken human world. Yohanan thought that through hessed [lovingkindness] the Jews might make atonement, and that the sacrifices now demanded of them were love and mercy...Yohanan emphasized the primacy of hessed itself in the redemptive process: Just as the Jews needed a redemptive act of compassion from God, so must they now act compassionately in order to make themselves worthy of it...The earlier age had stood on the books of the Torah, the Temple rites, and acts of piety. The new age would endure on the foundation of studying the Torah, doing the commandments, and especially performing acts of compassion.Rabbinical Judaism has kept Tikkut Olam as its responsibility and its supposed path to salvation. The NazarenesThe Nazarenes were the Jews who believed Yeshua was the messiah.The Nazarenes adapted to the destruction of the Second Temple with ease. Yeshua's sacrifice meant that the Temple sacrifices were meaningful ways of keeping the covenant of Sinai when the Temple stood, but these sacrifices were no longer necessary for atonement or prerequisites for experiencing the presence of God. History of Messianic JudaismFor a while, after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Pharisees and Nazarenes co-existed fairly peacefully. Violent confrontations such as those mentioned in the book of Acts happened infrequently as each sect focused on re-defining itself without the Temple rituals and sacrifices. The Jewish population of that day was used to its many sects, and most Pharisees saw the Nazarenes as just another group of deluded people who thought so-and-so was the messiah. "Such things happened frequently. It's just a phase."Chapters ten and eleven of the book of Acts tells how the Nazarenes eventually accepted Gentiles into their faith in the year 41 C.E.. There were soon more Gentile than Jewish believers. Friction was produced as Gentile and Jewish cultures encountered each other within the Nazarene community. Division and hostility was created over disagreements over dietary laws, circumcision, and holy days. The Nazarene leadership was initially Jewish, in Jerusalem. Slowly power shifted to Gentiles in Rome. During the latter part of the first century, the Pharisees were granted special priviledges by the Roman Empire. They began to increase in hostility towards the Nazarenes, uneducated Jews, and others different from themseves. In 132 C.E., Simeon bar Koziba led the last revolt against the Romans. The Nazarenes were part of the revolt until Rabbi Akiba declared that bar Koziba was the messiah. Since the Nazarenes could not accept this, they left the revolt. The Pharisees felt betrayed and expelled the Nazarenes from the Jewish community. In 196 C.E., in the council of Cesearea, Gentile believers decreed that Resurrection Day would always be on a Sunday. The Jewish believers thought that Resurrection Day should be on the third day of Passover, not on a fixed day of the Gregorian week. This decree, compounded with the already existing friction, caused the Jewish believers to break away. The Nazarenes were no more: Gentile Christianity and Messianic Judaism were for the first time distinct. The number of Messianic Jews dwindled in the early fourth century. In 325 C.E. the council of Nicea repeated the decree that Resurrection Day must be on Sunday. Later, the council of Antioch decreed that anyone not celebrating Resurrection Day on Sunday would be excommunicated. The split between Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians was made official. During the next century Messianic Judaism faded away. Jewish believers still existed, but were taken into Gentile society. The idea that someone cannot be both Jewish and believe in Yeshua had taken root; the misunderstandings that support it had been established. For the next 1,600 years, Jewish individuals who believed in Yeshua joined Gentile churches. There seemed to be no other option. In 1915, some Jewish believers in the U.S. founded the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America. By 1925, this organization had grown large enough to prompt the establishment of an International Hebrew Christian Alliance. The members of these groups, however, still attended Gentile churches. In 1948 Israel again became a nation. In 1967 Israel captured Jerusalem during the Six Day War. Yeshua had taught about the "times of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24
For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, the Jewish people again controlled Jerusalem. The "times of the Gentiles" had ended. That year God began a new movement empowered by his Spirit and modern Messianic Judaism was born. Today, Messianic Synagogues are springing up in almost every major city across the country. Other nations such as Israel, Canada, England, France, Australia, South Africa, Russia, and the Ukraine are experiencing a growing movement of Messianic Jews as well. Messianic Judaism has grown to include more than 400 congregations worldwide (with more than 200 in the U.S. and more than 40 in Israel) and more than 500,000 Jewish believers. Messianic Judaism TodayMessianic Judaism is a movement that gets its motivation from the spirit of God. It is the rebirth of the ancient Nazarene sect: Jewish people following Yeshua while retaining their Jewish lifestyle, traditions, and culture. It is not a new sect of Christianity. There are a few churches from Christian denominations that have adopted a Messianic Jewish flavor, but in these cases it is them who are joining us. Messianic Judaism has never been Jewish people joining Christianity. There are many people who call themselves "Jewish Christians" who are Jews who have joined Christianity, but that is not Messianic Judaism.Messianic Judaism is not a denomination. It is not governed by a hierarchy or an organization, as denominations are. It is not defined by its theology, as denominations are. Instead, each congregation is founded as God leads a Jewish believer to start a new congregation. There is an organization (the International Association of Messianic Churches and Synagogues) who ordains these "Messianic rabbis", but the organization serves only to establish the requirements for someone to call themselves the leader of a Messianic congregation. It does not control the congregations or orchestrate the Messianic Judaism movement. Messianic Judaism is not the same as the organization named Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus is an organization, not a denomination. The membership of Jews for Jesus includes both Messianic Jews and Jewish Christians. Scriptural Judaism TodayIf you follow either Rabbinical or Messianic Judaism, you might be interested in knowing what aspects of Scriptural Judaism survive today.The Torah has certain commandments which are said to be "for all time" or "for all generations". These commandments are special. Why are they special? Some commandments require the Temple to be standing, with its rituals and sacrifices in place. None of these are "for all time" or "for all generations". Some commandments which require living in Israel. None of these are "for all time" or "for all generations". There are commandments which require adopting an agricultural lifestyle. None of these are "for all time" or "for all generations". There are commandments which require living within an all-Jewish community. None of these are "for all time" or "for all generations". In other words, God foresaw the destruction of the Temple and the Diaspora. God foresaw how someone living in America today would be trying to live as a Jew. And God highlit the commandments that should and can be kept no matter where or how you live. Actually, this should not be a surprise. The Torah ends with God making it quite clear that the Israelites would not obey the commandments that God would then scatter them from the promised land. For example, Deuteronomy 31:16-17 reads:
And Deuteronomy 28:62-64 reads:
So God, knowing this would happen, labeled certain commandments "for all time" or "for all generations" so that even in Babylonian captivity or in the twentieth century it would be clear what the Torah expects. Which commandments are "for all time" or "for all generations"? A few are specifically for the descendants of Aharon. The others, for Jewish people in general, are:
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