Thoughts On Messianic Judaism

[seven77]

What The Heck:

 

I've had several persons ask me about my former faith and the church I attended. Messianicism is not a popular version of Christianity outside of a few pockets in the US and Israel. Many people have not encountered it or have a tendency to lump it in with Judaism.

 

The beliefs of Messianics are very different from those of mainstream Christianity and its fundie distant cousins. Some things are similar, but as you will read, Messianic Judaism, Gentile Christianity, Judaic Christianity, Sacred Name Movement Nondenominationals and other forms of questionably remixes of this sort of thing are not your mama's Christianity, so to say.

 

What I have quoted and linked to below is taken from the First Fruits of Zion organization. My former church used some of their materials for various courses and lectures and taught Torah courses sponsored by this group. They have issues and have been called out for some their practices and beliefs by both Jewish and fundamentalist organizations. However, they are still going strong and are fairly well-known publishing group in Messianic circles in the Midwestern and Southern US.

 

They describe themselves as:

 

...a part of a prophetic movement of God in which his spirit is returning his people to a proper biblical foundation rooted in Torah, Israel, and the Messiah...

 

 

What does this mean?

 

Basically, G-d (or ___, depending on how Sacred His name is to you) is going to return to His chosen people, the Israelites. However, he wants to save us all (not just the Jews) and will do this through the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus to the rest of us). Non-Jews can be grafted into the nation of Israel but G-d and Yeshua will only return (be visible to or save) those who follow a faith that is rooted in the Torah.

 

Messianics believe that the OT is full of prophecies about the Messiah, Yeshua. They also believe that Traditional and Orthodox Jews got it all wrong and will not be enjoy a full relationship with G-d when he returns to His people due to their rejection of the Messiah.

 

Principles of Belief:

 

1. Restore a Jewish Messiah -- Yeshua (Jesus) was Jewish. Yeshua IS Jewish. When he returns, he will still be Jewish. If we are to be so-called "Little Christs", then we too are to be Jewish as Yeshua was Jewish. Belief in a Jewish Messiah means that many Messianics place Yeshua on a pedestal. Having a relationship with Yeshua is of the utmost importance. Messianics pray to Yeshua. G-d is a nebulous ideal, reserved for special occasions and fappy worship tunes. You hear very little talk on G-d and His role in the OT or in current issues. G-d doesn't exist in the NT either, excepting references in the Gospels that Messianics love to crow over as points of prophecy matching.

 

There is a great deal of prophecy matching too. In fact, Yeshua perfectly fulfills all prophecy in the eyes of Messianics. He is perfect in every way, the ideal for all believers. Much to-do is made out of "walking as the Messiah walked" or "striving for Christ" or "communing with Yeshua". The prophecies show believers the validity in living a Jewish lifestyle as a Gentile, because Jewishness is seen as the "One Right Way", or more commonly referred to as "the Way".

 

Once everyone is on the same page and accepts a Jewish version of Jesus, then we can move to step 2...

 

2. Restore the Gospel -- (in their own words, emphasis mine)
 

 

The rich fullness of the good news (Gospel) preached by Yeshua and his disciples must be restored. It is an urgent call to repentance that demands we turn away from sin and live out lives of righteousness. The Gospel must result in lives visibly transformed, raised together with Messiah. This is the gospel message. Repent—change the way you live your life and begin to obey the commandments of God—for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You can, in some way, bring God’s rule down to earth through your actions; it is possible to live now for the realization of this Messianic Age. Discipleship is the call of the Gospels and is the art of imitating one's Master. For us as disciples, it requires us to be careful students—learning Yeshua’s words and seeking to do all things as he did.

 

 

In Messianic speak, you will sometimes hear phrases such as: "right living" or "living rightly". They refer to this principle of living lives that supposedly mirror Yeshua's life and the lives of his disciples. Some Messianics refer to themselves as disciples or students to reflect this sort of submission to the ideals of living a Jewish life that honors that of Yeshua. They believe that they are actively restoring God's rule on earth by "living rightly".

 

In practice, this may mean giving up secular things and following some portions of the Law as presented in the OT. Serious Messianics stop just short of converting to Orthodox Judaism. More causal disciples/students will generally be fairly normative folks who usually just shun pork, have Hebrew tattoos and give their kids weird OT or Hebrew names. Some don't really give a rip about any of it and just sit and nod through services laden with Hebrew lessons and chanting, and Jewish history "moments".

 

Why bother with any of it? Mostly because many Messianics believe that living a Jewish lifestyle is more authentic than celebrating bastardized Pagan holidays and obsessing over the Cross, the Blood of Jesus and Hell Fearing. Many at my old church were former fundies and fundie-lites, people in their 20s and 30s who had been raised in conservative Calvinist churches and were sick of the hypocrisy and bullshit found in the statements of faith.

 

3. Restore the Torah -- Messianics believe that the Torah is the bee's knees, basically. They love the Torah. In their own words, emphasis mine:

We believe that the Torah is the instruction book given to us by our loving heavenly Father for our good. The Torah defines sin and points us toward righteousness and godliness. We endeavor to restore recognition of the Torah as God’s eternal standard of righteousness to its place of prominence and authority in the community of faith.

 

 

The Torah teaches Messianics how to "live rightly". It is only be following the Torah and making it the guiding light of their lives that a Messianic can obtain righteousness. Righteousness is only a step away from Godliness, or in truth, Messiahness. If only the rest of the world would get with the program and start loving that Torah! It can be said that the Torah is actually a fifth member of the Messianic Quintity. The Quintity goes like this:

 

1. Yeshua, the Messiah, Jesus, the Son, the Savior
2. G-d, ___, Him, the Father, Father G-d, YHWH, El, aka Big Sky-Daddy
3. Saul, Paul, the Lead Disciple aka Mr. Thorn
4. the Holy Spirit, the Spirit, the Divine Messenger
5. the Torah + Messianic Prophecies + the NT (feel free to glaze over, skip, reinterpret or ignore everything else. )

The order of Quintity varied a great deal in my former church. Yeshua is always at the top, but often Saul (Paul) supplants G-d and other times the Torah is allowed to trump all else for a time, as long as the teachings are sprinkled with generous amounts of Yeshua fervor and prophecy matching, no one cares. Some church members held to a duality where only Yeshua and Paul were paramount. They still loved the Torah, but to them, the Torah was merely suggestion and living rightly was a thing to do, righteous a thing to be...but not at the cost of all else. Basically, they wanted to fit in to the world as much as possible and were fairly double-minded and/or straight up ambivalent about observing the Torah and following the Laws.

 

Since the Torah is generally important, the prominence of the NT is drastically reduced. The gospel of John was not featured very much. Neither is Revelations. (More on this below.) Most of what is taught from the NT is taught in a very different context than what most are used to hearing. The Gospels that are taught (Mark, Matthew, Luke) are taught in a very linear and in-depth way. Much to do is made of scholarship and original research (sorry, no skeptical POVs allowed, lol). Translations are a big deal (we used the HSCB as our primary and the NASB and ESV as the "common" bible). Even with using these, a good disciple/student was to seek out interlinears and concordances. It wasn't enough to read the Word; you had to understand it and most of all, FEEL it.

 

The study of scripture was supposed to be a transcendental experience. The NT was about the living, breathing Messiah Yeshua and failure to truly experience His Holy Awesomeness in every word was considered to be a moral failing, a heart-breaking, gut-wrenching sin of all sins, on par with Holocaust denial and kicking kittens. To deny the Torah, or to fail to FEEL the Torah, well, that meant you were a really lost cause. Yeshua was there too and in seeking Him, one had to FEEL Him there in those pages, SEE His Holy presence in the Word of the Israelites. If you didn't, you obviously weren't "living rightly".

 

4. Restore Israel -- This one is fairly self-explanatory. Israel is supposed to come together. Support Israel, send them your money. One day Israel will be restored to God's glorious holy land and the Messianics believe that their place is to be a part of that...*yawn*

 

Since this is getting long, I'm cutting this post here. If you would like a more formal, to the point rundown of their precise beliefs, read my post below.

[florduh]

Yeah, we had one of those fuckers speak at my former church. Whatever.

[seven77]

Here is the actual statement of faith from the First Fruits of Zion organization.

 

A Few Key Parts:

 

It is important for you to know right where we stand. But please note—we believe that real, biblical faith is marked by one’s actions (James 2:17) more than by doctrinal statements. A life touched by grace and faith results in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), a transformed mind (Romans 12:1–2), and obedience to God’s Word (John 14:15, 1 John 2:3–6).

 

 

Messianic Judaism is a works-based theology. This counters their insistence upon observing the Torah, obeying the Law, etc. It is a very strange logical issue to me. It isn't enough to say the words, or read the Word, or to merely believe as most Christians insist. No, Messianicism is old school, hardcore, authentic! You gotta put your money where your mouth is, so to say. Nodding along to sermons and dropping $10 in the collections bin every week will get you nowhere. If you are truly a student/disciple, your life will reflect that. If you are really "good" at walking as Yeshua walked and otherwise living right, other people should be able to smell the faith on you like perfume. The scent of His Holy presence in you should linger in a room, entice people, blaze a trail for Him right to you. You are to be set apart and set above, beyond the typical shlubs and sinners.

 

But...

 

We believe in justification by faith through the grace of God alone, and not by human efforts. One may not earn, merit or keep this eternal salvation by his own efforts. A new creation is the work of God alone.

 

 

You can't earn salvation. Nope. You have follow Yeshua to do that and you better do it RIGHT. Or else it doesn't really matter. One fuck up is forgiveable if you prostrate yourself before Yeshua and never do it again. After that, you're out. It ain't like baseball where you get three strikes.

 

Once again, this runs counter to their core teachings. You can't be all about works and then turn around and say that your works earn you nothing. What's the fucking point of doing works for G-d or Yeshua IF they really don't matter? There isn't and this part of their statement of faith is only there to appease those that want to hold onto the peace-and-love, happy-hippy or honest-friend Jesus that they grew up with. No one really wants to be responsible for their "sins". No one wants to have to earn anything; they want their salvation to be freely given and never taken away. New creations in G-d are the shizz, but eventually the shine fades and sin corrodes and when that happens, no one wants to go the extra mile to earn His fickle favor again.

 

This piece of the statement of faith essentially voids everything in the last post. Why give a fuck about the Torah, living rightly, following the Law, living as Jesus and His disciples lived...when you can just believe and be saved like the other 99.99999999% of non-Catholic Christians?

 

We believe that all non-Jewish people who trust in Yeshua are grafted into Israel. While this does not make them Jewish, they are full and equal participants in the covenants of promise.

 

 

So what does this mean? Oh yeah, they are Jews but not really. They get the promise! It's kinda like Messianics are invited to this awesome second coming party. There's the cake in the middle of the room, a really awesome tasty cake, just sitting there. The cake says "To my chosen people, the Israelites, Love, YHWH". Most of the Christians at the party are wearing their crosses around their neck and noshing on grapes and bread, shooting the breeze. But not the Messianics.

 

They want that cake, dammit. So they tell these stories, weave this mythology, and weasel their way into the Jewish cake-getting group. They want a piece of the promised cake, even though it wasn't promised to them. They are desperate to earn a piece of this Jewish cake, even though they technically can't (see quote and blurb above). They bullshit some rules, cherrypick the Laws that they FEEL should apply to them, go on and on about Jewish Jesus, and eventually after awhile, G-d gives them a piece of His fairytale promise cake to shut them the fuck up.

 

We believe in the literal, physical return of Messiah to rule and reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem. We hold to a premillennial view of his return.

 

 

For those who don't know what Premillenialism is

 

Basically, they spout a bunch of bs about how they don't hold doctrine to be important, it's all about actions and faith rah rah rah!!!...but in the end, they announce this little gem. Just in case you really thought that Messianicism was something special, some new form of intellectually sound Christ-belief, rest assured. It isn't. It's the same turd rolled up in gold glitter and wrapped in some Star of David print wrapping paper.

 

--------

 

To sum it all up, they are only playing at being Jewish. They make this shit up as they go along. My former church doesn't even identify as being Messianic Jewish. No, they invent their own strange terms to describe their beliefs, which I am not even devoting space to here. Most Messianics are those who are seeking a more authentic faith than the drive-thru, fill in the blank Christianity of their upbringings. They think that by learning Hebrew, observing Shabat, going to services on Saturday instead of Sunday, and avoiding bacon, they are somehow closer to the original intent of the faith.

 

They have their own lame apologia (which doesn't merit inclusion here). They are mostly well-intentioned followers of enigmatic emergent pastors and/or second generation Messianics or Jesus People. My former church was a combination of the two. They really want that feel good, best friend and lover all-in-one Jesus to be real. They want the kingdom here, now, but they are mostly smart enough to figure out that kingdom really isn't coming. It's dependent upon humanity taking action. Which is why the Messianics put an emphasis on action. I'm all for that. Take some fucking action!

 

But if you're taking action, be legit about it. Don't shit on your own message by removing the impetus for action by talking about how you can't earn salvation and all that jazz.

[Brother Jeff]

I read both of your posts with great interest. I had one encounter online years ago with a Messianic Jew. I don't remember now what we discussed, but she offered me some pretty standard apologetcs about how the Bible said that the earth is round/spherical. I debunked that for her quite easily, and she got upset with me for "wasting her time" and the time of the pastor friend she got it from. Shortly after that, our online friendship ended. 

 

I have heard it said that Messianic Judaism and Preterism are both last stops on the way out the door of religious belief. Thanks for the interesting info, and glad you are free now. Glory!

[Blood]

"They make this shit up as they go along."

 

That's what they all do. That's all religion's ever done. 

[Deva]

I have thought that this is like a faction of the early Christian church - the one that wanted the "old testament" included. I can see the historical basis for it but I am more in the Marcion camp - throw the old testament out.    I find the whole Christian and Jewish thing completely  crazy now.  Its trying to make things fit together that really do not.

 

I also think anyone who believes Jesus is the Messiah is a Christian.  Can't help it.

[Orbit]

Is this like the "Jews for Jesus" people?

[Deva]

Is this like the "Jews for Jesus" people?

Yes.  Pretty much.

[Llwellyn]

My impression of so-called "Messianic Judaism" is that they know that Christianity is shit and is boring, so they want to spice it up a bit with a little bit of shofar blowing, mezuzah kissing, exotic sounding words and other poseur activities.  Most so-called Messianic Jews were slightly unhinged middle-aged folk.  It's an attraction to the idea of being "special" and "chosen" by people who otherwise have nothing special or interesting about them.

[♦ Fuego ♦]

My impression of so-called "Messianic Judaism" is that they know that Christianity is shit and is boring, so they want to spice it up a bit with a little bit of shofar blowing, mezuzah kissing, exotic sounding words and other poseur activities.  Most so-called Messianic Jews were slightly unhinged middle-aged folk.  It's an attraction to the idea of being "special" and "chosen" by people who otherwise have nothing special or interesting about them.

Yes. It gives a seemingly new angle to an old Christianity, something exciting. I remember a Foursquare pastor talking about the Tabernacle, and how the congregation "just wasn't ready" for the teachings God had given him about that. That is a marketing ploy so they think he has something very special and secret, and that they will eventually be able to share in it and go "woooooo! The Tabernacllllllllllllllle". Of course, by then he'll be far ahead of them into the next shell game.

 

Other charismatics love blowing shofars (yep, I bought one too, gave it to a Jewish family member after deconverting) because they feel it will bring in the Holy Spirit. Others anoint everything with olive oil mixed with the magical frankincense and myrrh, so it will *really* work, because those are mentioned in the Bible. Ooooooh! They speak their magic language while doing this, so it will *really* work. Sha-bah! Shay-ah-tah-ney! Blah blah blah. Gets the emotions revved, the tingly feelings, some fall to the ground, nothing changes. The women grow their hair really long, wear long dresses and head coverings, bang tambourines and do their holy dance. Nothing changes. There is nothing holy about the god of the Bible. He's an evil twit that abuses his followers for not loving him enough, and they grovel and say Yes Lord! Bah. Mankind will be so much better off when all of these religions fade like the gods of Greece and Rome.

[Llwellyn]

"Just aren't ready" -- this is the marketing scheme of Scientology with the upper OT levels of training, as well as of Mormonism, with the secret handshakes one learns at the Temple.  I always thought that CHristianity did not have esoteric knowledge or secrets withheld from the initiates, but I guess in certain quarters this exists.  I guess it shouldn't surprise me because businesses examine the competition to see what works well.

[Fweethawt]

As soon as I start reading any article and run across the "G-d" spelling, I just kinda giggle and back out. To me, that's one of the most stupid things I've ever seen.

[miekko]

The origin of Messianic Judaism, of course, was a ploy by Christians to attract more Jews into Christianity. It seems that 'reasonably' mainstream Christianity has lost some control over their creation, though, being faced now with a bunch of heterodox messianic Judaisms.

[Ellinas]

Strikes me it's just the general daftness going full circle.

 

Judaism = cult of the national god of Israel.

Christianity = cult if the national god of Israel re-worked until it's barely recognizable and becomes the personality cult of a supposed messiah structured so as to be able to snare the rest of the world.

Messianic Judaism = attempt to reconcile the personality cult of a supposed messiah with something approaching the cult of the national god of Israel.

 

However you look at it, this is just another version of the madness that Abrahamic religion has foisted on the world.

[Flutters]

Seven, thank you for sharing. The cult I was part of has quite a lot in common with what you've shared, and at the very least, I can relate to your experience.  

[★ Citsonga ★]

As soon as I start reading any article and run across the "G-d" spelling, I just kinda giggle and back out. To me, that's one of the most stupid things I've ever seen.

 

Indeed. It's kind of humorous to see people be so afraid of taking the "name" in vain that they completely overlook the fact that "god" is NOT a name. The "name" the Bible says to not take in vain is "YHWH," often thought of as "Yahweh" (usually rendered "LORD" in all caps in most English translations).