Expert: Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine - 9/10/2011

Question
Well I have to say it is very nice to meet you. I have never met a Jew. I live in the United States, Tennessee to be specific. I am 23 years old. So very nice to meet you. Well your answer was indeed very informational and you seem like a true Theologian. Now I am not a expert or a Theologian but I would like to discuss this a little further if it is ok with you. OK when I read the bible I understand it to be cut and dry. I believe the bible is not a hard book to understand and you don't have to be as wise a soloman to understand salvation. So of course you already know I am a Christian. Yes I believe there is one God. Jehovah. But I also believe God can do anything he wants to do, including be 3 persons. God is the father, the son, and the holy spirit. I don't under stand how we have on Bible. And yet there is Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Jehovah witness, Mormons, Budism, Hinduism. lol I mean come on people. So I believe the holy bible is the inspired word of God and nothing else on earth is correct. I believe the Tanaka, Torah, New testament is all on Bible and we should take it word for word.  So if you could preach in front of a audience of Christian preachers, What would you say?  What would be the top ten things you would say to prove Jesus is not God, Jesus is not the son of God, and that sacrificing goats and sheep and keeping the law is the only way for Jews who believe the Law. I would love your thoughts. I want to study how you Believe and read the bible with your thoughts. Now I will say this, If living under the law and being perfect is the only way to heaven, and we don't have no savior, then I am out of luck on getting to heaven cause I'm not perfect by no means. But I indeed do believe in Christ and all his teachings. I mean he fulfilled 100 prophesies of the old testament. But I would love your top ten reasons why Judaism is correct. I have never got to meet one of you guys. I love you my brother.

Answer
Hi Josh,

Its nice to meet you too.
I love Tennessee by the way. I lived in Butler for about a year. My wife and I are going on a cross country drive beginning this Sunday and we'll be in Tennessee (and North Georgia) for Sukkot (the biblical festival of Booths: Oct. 12-20).

As you have little prior experience with Jews please note that we find it offensive when people write the Sacred Name of the God of Israel as you do here. His Name is to be viewed with utter respect and hence we write "HaShem" (the Name) or "Adonai" (the Lord) rather than using the Name.

Were the Bible "cut and dry" there would not be so very many religions, movements, denominations and sect based on its teachings :-) Many people have invested a lifetime studying the Bible and they (we) continue to learn. It is both very simple and most profound.

We all bring history to our studies. The history of both Judaism and Christianity reveals how many assumptions are based upon tradition. We need to have some understanding of these histories in order to understand what the Bible actually teaches.

For instance, the concept of salvation. Jews and Christians understand this in very different ways. We believe that only HaShem (God) can bestow salvation. Indeed this is what the Rebbe's name means: "Adonai Saves." or "Salvation is from Adonai." Since Rebbe Y'shua is Jewish not Christian our understandings about such matters can not be wisely dismissed. The Christian religion teaches several things that are at odds with Torah. Torah is the foundation of all biblical truth. This is both our view and that of Rebbe Y'shua who said:

Matthew 5:17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete.
18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened.

As the Boreans, when contemplating what is truth and what is false Torah is the only acceptable standard:

Acts 17:11 Now the people here [i.e. in Borea] were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message [i.e. of the Messianics], checking the Tanakh every day to see if the things Sha'ul was saying were true.

When one accepts Tanakh (the "Old Testament") and especially Torah (the first five books: Genesis - Deuteronomy) as our authority there is no way to justify a triune god such as the Pagans worship. Indeed, when one considers the books of the B'rit Hadashah (the "New Testament") there is no way to justify a triune god such as the Pagans worship.

The primal creed of biblical religion is the Shema Y'israel:

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI is our God, ADONAI is one];
5 and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources.
6 These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart;
7 and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead,
9 and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.

The word echad in the Hebrew means one and only one. It gives no room for multiplicity either in the sense of three separate gods united in a "godhead" nor in any other way. Adonai our God is echad: ONE not three.

You incorrectly state that "God can do anything." This is not correct. There is one thing HaShem can not do:

Hebrews 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

HaShem can not lie. It would dishonor Him and He never dishonors Himself. He said:

Isaiah 44:6 Thus says ADONAI, Isra'el's King and Redeemer, ADONAI-Tzva'ot: "I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God.
7 Who is like me? Let him speak out! Let him show me clearly what has been happening since I set up the eternal people; let him foretell future signs and events.
8 Don't be frightened, don't be afraid - Didn't I tell you this long ago? I foretold it, and you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock - I know of none."

For there to be another God would make HaShem a liar. He says here that there is "no God besides me."

HaShem is One.

This is one of the biggest gulfs between Christianity and biblical religion.

You: "I believe the Tanaka, Torah, New testament is all on Bible and we should take it word for word."

Then you should accept the Shema and the clear statements of HaShem's absolute Oneness.

You: "So if you could preach in front of a audience of Christian preachers, What would you say?  What would be the top ten things you would say to prove Jesus is not God, Jesus is not the son of God, and that sacrificing goats and sheep and keeping the law is the only way for Jews who believe the Law."

When I speak to such groups I begin with the Shema. I then cite or reference the scores of other clear statements in the 66 Books of the Bible that declare the Oneness of God. I then point to the clear statements of Rebbe Y'shua where he says God is greater than he, where he says, "Not my will but thine be done..." There are many many such scriptures where he is clear about the Oneness of God and himself as the son of God.

What does this mean, "son of God"? It seems clear enough to me. I have a father, I am his son, and I am a different person from my father. The meaning is completely clear in the Greek:

uihos: son of: A primary word; a “son” (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figurative kinship: - child, foal, son.

theos: god.

In no case does uihos theos ever mean that a person is his own father. The idea is preposterous and physically impossible.

This is what I mean by what we bring to our studies. You have been taught that "son of God" means something completely contrary to its only meaning in the Greek text.

Y'shua is a son of God, as are we:

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Indeed the author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us the truth:

Hebrew 2:11  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Those Jews who serve HaShem are the brothers of Rebbe Y'shua and he is pleased to have them as such. God is not our brother.

There are so many religions because people refuse to embrace biblical religion: Judaism. HaShem grants us all free will. If we wish to come to Him He will accept us. If we wish to go elsewhere He allows that as well. However as Rebbe Y'shua plainly stated to those who turn elsewhere:

John 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Some people choose to obey HaShem.
Some people choose to rebel.

Sacrificing goats etc. never won anyone liberation. This is a common misconception Christians have about Jewish religion. Temple sacrifices were done out of obedience to HaShem but they never "saved" anyone. The sacrifices taught important lessons, they demonstrated what sin does in our relationship with HaShem. They demonstrated to us our need of tshuvah. Tshuvah translates as "repentance" but that is no quite correct. Tshuvah is when we align our will with the Will of HaShem by bowing to His Will in humility and repentance. This is what all religious Jews seek to do daily and this is what Rebbe Y'shua taught his talmidim (students) to do. Consider:

Deuteronomy 10:16  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Jeremiah 4:4  Circumcise yourselves to Adonai, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

As prophet Navi Micah wrote:

Micah 6:6 "With what can I come before ADONAI to bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings? with calves in their first year?
7 Would ADONAI take delight in thousands of rams with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
8 Human being, you have already been told what is good, what ADONAI demands of you - no more than to act justly, love grace and walk in purity with your God.

You: Now I will say this, If living under the law and being perfect is the only way to heaven, and we don't have no savior, then I am out of luck on getting to heaven cause I'm not perfect by no means.

Judaism has never taught such an idea. There is none righteous but HaShem. Being perfect is not possible in the Olam Hazeh (the world as it is). We do believe that HaShem will reward  us for our services to Him in the Olam Haba (the World to come once the Kingdom is established). The lives we live now are very important for our eternal well being, but only HaShem grants life and blessings according to His Will.

You: I want to study how you Believe and read the bible with your thoughts.

If you are interested in authentic Messianic Judaism  visit http://yeshivabethhashem.org, fill out an application, and begin studying.

If I can be of any assistance let me know.

~ Rabbi Yochanan
Rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Beth HaShem