1. The Savior read the Hebrew bible and preached his wisdom from it. His Hebrew name is Jeshua, meaning “he who makes free”. Though not an ordained rabbi, Jeshua taught from Hebrew oral and written texts that explain the meaning of life and the way to salvation. I suggest you might familiarize yourselves somewhat with the idioms, the religious practices of the First and Second Temple periods in Israel. Most Christians are unaware that both Testaments were communicated in Hebrew originally because the writers, the religion, the traditions and concepts are Hebraic.
2. We are indebted to the Jews for the Mosaic Law and the Dead Sea Scrolls which built the practice of monotheism and sacramental ceremonies that were practiced through a rabbinical order through the laying on of hands. We know that the Levitical priesthood and the essential line of authority of the priesthood are the underpinnings of today’s church, without which it could not be established.
The world is indebted to the Jews for giving it a testimony of the existence of God, the record of the beginnings of mankind as a divine race placed on the earth for eternal, divine purposes, the history and purposes of the establishment of an elect lineage through which the priesthood would be restored.
3. You need us because you can learn a deeper, more intense method of study. Learn the Hebrew holidays, read the Hebrew prayerbook the Siddur, attend a Friday night Shabbat service in a synagogue, avail yourselves of Jewish literature, Jewish websites, books on Jewish holidays and Hebrew blessings. These will help you to better understand the words of the Savior in a Jewish context. He used rabbinic phraseology and idioms common to his day that are not well interpreted in the KJV or other English interpretations.
When Jesus was on the earth, his name was Joshua, pronounced Jeshua, meaning Yahweh who saves. He was proclaiming himself the Savior. Yahweh is his personal sacred name, not one of his titles, as Lord or Christ. Baruch haba. Blessed is the name. We Saints know his name as Jehovah, a name first published by William Tyndale in his translation of Torah. Have you ever pondered that Yahveh is given in the present tense? It is therefore not a noun, not a person, place or thing, but it is a verb, an action word, continuous and unfinished.
4. You need to learn Jewish study techniques to better know your scriptures. Their basic method is a question and answer technique that includes in-depth inquiries for a full understanding of words and concepts. Studying rabbinic texts in a group setting, asking questions of the text and seeking deeper understanding of what is read is a valuable tool in searching scripture. I hope you will develop a desire to know more about the way Jews lived in Jesus’ time. Often we tend to view the scriptures in a historical vacuum with the result that we transpose our 21st century Western values and concerns upon what we read.
5. You need to know the Jewish people because through their ways of worship and though us you will find greater appreciation for the truth of the Gospel Judaism today is somewhat of an open religion, though it is based on secularism and age old tradition. Modern Jewry is growing away from their roots. They don’t understand evil in a world ruled by a just God. They don’t understand the role of their Savior or that he was with them in Egypt, in Sinai, in Canaan, in Israel even today. They believe they are a chosen people but have no central authority or temple and most Jews in America have never seen their homeland of Israel. They have become bohemian and worldly and they seem to have lost their vision of a personal spirituality they can treasure and devote their lives to. =
6. Without the birthright of Ephraim, Judah is a sword of undirected testimony. You need the Jewish men and woman who will live our Gospel with passion. You need to appreciate the full tapestry of history. Heavenly Father wants and waits to see the restoration of the birthright and the sceptre coming together, so the whole earth will be blessed by that union.
Marlena
