Yahweh, the first pro-semite

The Glory of  Judaism….

There is a lot of anti-semitism  floating around in today’s  culture. This is more in the news since a female congress woman from Minnesota has been making public statements criticizing American  support of  Israel.

Hating people for whatever reason is to be questioned.  Hating the Jews is to ignore the real wonderful background of Jewish history.   A lot of anti-semitism comes from Muslims who are inspired by Mohammed who hated the Jews because they would not accept him as a prophet.   Because they rejected him he had one tribe of Jewish men beheaded,  700-900, in one day,  while the women and children were taken as slaves. The hadiths have a lot of antisemtic comments that have been influential in Islamic history.

Judaism  has the remarkable beginning in which Yahweh, the God of Creation,   speaks to Abram, who later changed his name to Abraham,  and  asks him to leave his country and go to a land that he  would give his descendants.  Yahweh is the Creator of the universe and can give the land to whom he wants.  Who is Abram?   He is a simple man without a reputation to command attention from anyone  let alone  Yahweh.

It is wonderful to observe how Yahweh chooses “nobodies” to make something out of them.  Abraham is an example,  Moses,  David, are other examples.  Jesus is the greatest example coming into the world as  a young baby born to a virgin lowly woman named Mary, and he is the Son of God,  Immanuel,  God with us.  (Mt. 1:23)  This is still true in the lives of many “nobodies” who are led by Yahweh to become great influences in the lives of others.
The following quotes indicate the reality of the promise of Yahweh to bless Abraham and his progeny.

  “The LORD said to Abram: Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.” (Gen.12:1)  “I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.” (12:3)    Ponder the possibilities to a person who curses and rejects the Jewish people who are the people through whom  Yahweh worked  to bring great blessings to mankind who receive Him.

Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had gotten while in Haran. When they came to the land of Canaan… but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, "I will give this land to your family forever." Abram then built an altar there for the LORD. (12:7)

Again Yahweh appeared to Abram, took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars.  That’s how many descendants you will have.”  (Gen. 15:5)

“Then the LORD said: Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.” (Gen. 15:13)   “At that time the LORD made an agreement with Abram and told him: I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor River on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River.”
“I promise that you will be the father of many nations. That's why I now change your name from Abram to Abraham.” (Gen.17:4)

After the death of Abraham the  covenant was renewed to his son, Isaac. Yahweh appeared to Isaac and confirmed the covenant  with  Abraham  thru  Isaac  to Jacob who is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.   In due time  a king,  David,  comes along and does many great things but also some terrible sins,  but he seeks forgiveness from Yahweh.   David was a king  who won Yahweh’s favor and became a symbol of a future king who would rule  forever.

In the midst of all these people  Yahweh promises a future King,  a Messiah, who would be special and different from all the others.   He would be king forever.  How is that possible?     The future king would be related to Yahweh in a unique way.   When Adam and Eve were created,  the story says  God declared,  “Let  us make man in our image.”   The phrase “let us” indicates a more complex view of Yahweh and includes hints of this in several passage in the Old Testament. 

The everlasting aspect of his kingdom is related to the words of Jesus that He is the Son of God who has come down to make a new covenant in his blood that involves the forgiveness of sins and the gift of everlasting life for those who receive Him as Lord.  Jesus, the Son of God, will be the everlasting king in the New World at the end of the ages.

With the coming of the Messiah,  things changed.  Jesus sent his disciples throughout Israel  to  preach that the Kingdom of God had come.  There were many who accepted Jesus as the Messiah but it was primary restricted to the people in the land of Israel.  Following the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection from the grave,  Jesus appeared to his followers for 40 days in various groups and  his parting words were,  “Go into all the world….!”    This meant that Gentiles, non-Jews,  were welcomed into the Kingdom of God.   The good news of having a relationship with Yahweh through Jesus  was the greatest news for it meant that we are adopted as children of Yahweh.  Thus we have forgiveness of sins, the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives,  and the promise of everlasting life in the presence of Yahweh.   This is a promise of Yahweh  to all:  men and women, in which there is equality in the presence of YAHWEH.   This is part of the fulfillment of the ancient words that the sons of Abraham would be a blessing to the world.

Some  issues need consideration for a good perspective on this.  First, there is the important prophetic words about the coming of the Messiah.

The first reference to such a person begins in Genesis 3:15,  “You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel.”   References to a descendant of Eve being the Messiah who will be stronger than the power of Satan.   Many references  about the Messiah appear in the Old Testament.

Consider the words of Deuteronomy: 
“You will go in and take the land from nations that practice magic and witchcraft. But the LORD your God won't allow you to do those things.  Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says.  You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai and said to the LORD, "Please don't let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again--if we do, we will die!"  Then the LORD told me: Moses, they have said the right thing.  So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said.   Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn't obey the message will have to answer to me.   But if I haven't spoken, and a prophet claims to have a message from me, you must kill that prophet, and you must also kill any prophet who claims to have a message from another god.   You may be asking yourselves, "How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the LORD?"  You will know, because if the LORD says something will happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the LORD. Don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the LORD.”  (Dt. 18:14-22)

          Issues:   the Messiah will be Jewish, not anything else.  The Messiah will be Yahweh’s choice, not someone who  claims they are the Messiah.  Yahweh will give the prophet the message, and it will happen  to be truthful, not falsehood.  The standard of Moses being a prophet is that he did great things.  Lots of people have claimed  to be a prophet or the Messiah but have done nothing good and a lot of evil.

A few other prophetic words need to be considered in comparison to the claims of later people.   These descriptive word were about 800 years before they happened.
“Has anyone believed us or seen the mighty power of the LORD in action?  Like a young plant or a root that sprouts in dry ground, the servant grew up obeying the LORD. He wasn't some handsome king. Nothing about the way he looked made him attractive to us.  He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, "He is a nobody!"  He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God.   He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.  All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him the punishment we deserved.  He was painfully abused, but he did not complain. He was silent like a lamb being led to the butcher, as quiet as a sheep having its wool cut off.   He was condemned to death without a fair trial. Who could have imagined what would happen to him? His life was taken away because of the sinful things my people had done.   He wasn't dishonest or violent, but he was buried in a tomb of cruel and rich people.   The LORD decided his servant would suffer as a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others. Now the servant will live to see his own descendants. He did everything the LORD had planned.  By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the LORD. Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty.  The LORD will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.    (Implied in this verse is the resurrection!!)   (Isa.53:1-12)

Moreover,  there is only one place mentioned for the birth  of the Messiah:
“Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the LORD will choose one of your people to rule the nation-- someone whose family goes back to ancient times.” (Micah 5:2) When wise men from the east came looking for the birth of the Messiah,  being led by a star,  the word was given to Herod by the chief priests and teachers of the law  that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.   Where were all the other  people born who claimed to be messiah?

Daniel describes the future related to the Messiah since  Jesus  spoke of Himself as the son of man. “ As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God.  He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.” (Dan 7:13-14)

Jeremiah  wrote Yahweh’s promise,   “Someday I will appoint an honest king from the family of David, a king who will be wise and rule with justice.” (Jeremiah 23:5)

Religious Jews  in Jesus’ day rejected him because of his threat to their power and position. The principle reason for putting him to death was his claim to be the Son of God.  Many knew that he lived in Nazareth but they did not search out where he was born—Bethlehem.   Later Jewish people have  rejected Him as Messiah  because they do not read the New Testament.  Many rabbis  reject the writings of the New Testament  as a “Christian” book   rather than  Jewish writings.  Jews who have read the Gospels are amazed that they are Jewish books. (check out I Met Messiah videos at https://www.oneforisrael.org/met-messiah-jewish-testimonies/)

It is common among Jewish people to say, "oh, lots of people have claimed to be the Messiah."   This is a superfluous response ignoring the words in the Old Testament about the Messiah, who he would be,  where he would be born,  what he would do, and how he would die.  Even more the words of Jesus Himself  about the fact that in three days he would rise from death.  The record shows  that he did. His words came thru for his disciples at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, heal people, fulfill the words of Jesus in their lives.

Second,  consider the marvelous things Jesus did in contrast to the lack of good things  the people who claimed to be the Messiah  did not do.
  Simon bar Kokhba (died c. 135), founded a short-lived Jewish state before being defeated in the Second Jewish-Roman War.
  Moses of Crete, who in about 440–470 persuaded the Jews of Crete to walk into the sea, as Moses had done, to return to Israel. The results were disastrous and he soon disappeared.
  Ishak ben Ya'kub Obadiah Abu 'Isa al-Isfahani (684–705), who led a revolt in Persia against the Umayyad Caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
  David Alroy, born in Kurdistan, who around 1160 agitated against the caliph before being assassinated.
  Moses Botarel of Cisneros, active around 1413; claimed to be a sorcerer able to combine the names of God.
  Asher Lämmlein, a German near Venice who proclaimed himself a forerunner of the Messiah in 1502.
  David Reubeni (1490–1541?) and Solomon Molcho (1500–1532), messianic adventurers who travelled in Portugal, Italy and Turkey; Molcho, who was a baptised Catholic, was tried by the Inquisition, convicted of apostasy and burned at the stake.
  Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), an Ottoman Jew who claimed to be the Messiah, but then converted to Islam; still has followers today in the Dönmeh.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mess)

Consider the life of Jesus as seen in the Jewish writers of the Gospels in the New Testament.   Jesus  healed the blind, the lame,  the deaf,  the crippled, the dumb, and raised the dead to life again.   Moreover  he sent his disciples  thru out the country preaching that  the Kingdom of God is come, and they healed people, cast out demons,  and did the things Jesus gave them power to do. Jesus also had a following of women who were accepted equally with men.  Jesus exalted the position of women back to the equality of creation.

Jesus,  the most important Jew in all the world,  has brought new life to the world.   By faith anyone can have a relationship with Jesus now.  This young Jew,  a descendent of Abraham, and also the Son of God Incarnate,  has given the world new life to anyone seeking it.  He is light for a dark world.  He is the source of forgiveness of our sins against Yahweh, and is the inspiration for helping us to forgive others who have offended us as well as our forgiving those who offend us.    Jesus is the source of power for transformation in lives  once being destroyed by alcoholism,  drugs,  greed,  lust, and other issues.  Many followers of Jesus can say,  “once I was destroying my life with (whatever)  but now I am free to live as a follower of Jesus.  Now I am a new person in Jesus.

There has been news about a Palestinian woman elected to the House of Representatives  claiming that Israel has no right to the land. 
She hopes that Allah will destroy Israel.   She has a problem about the nature of God that she does not deal with.    Her view of Islam creates the illusion that Allah is the Creator.   Allah is a word for God used by Arabs  of two different traditions.   Christians use the term to refer to the God of the Old Testament,  but  Muslims use the word Allah thinking they are referring to the God of the Old Testament.  The character of Allah in Muslim thinking is  deficient in understanding  Yahweh in the OT.    The Muslim woman who wants  Israel to be destroyed by Allah is actually asking  God to destroy his own creation.  Moreover,  she has no idea that Israel was created by  Yahweh.   Israel today appears to be fulfilling some of the prophecy in which  Jews would return from other countries.   What is more interesting is that Jerusalem is a key issue in the future glory of a transformed City of the future  as expressed in the book of Revelation.

 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea.  Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.  I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God's home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people.   He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.   Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted.  Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty.  All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death.”   (Rev. 21:1-8)

Antisemitism is not just against Jews but a rejection of all Yahweh’s promise as well as the coming of the Son of God born to  the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem.  Antisemitism seems to ignore or reject all that Yahweh,  the God of Creation, has promised to do for his followers.  No wonder that parts of the world that are anti-Semite are in bad shape.

3-15-19