JUST HOW JEWISH IS YESHUA?

“Make me understand, so that I may cherish Your Torah, and I will keep it with all my heart.” Psalms 119:34

Let’s start this Op right off with an important question: ‘If Messiah Yeshua showed up today, where would He spend Shabbat? In a church? In a Messianic synagogue? In an Orthodox synagogue?’ When we reach the end of this Op we will re-visit this question and see if we can reach an answer based upon the evidence presented.

As I put this Op together it is 11 December 2020, the sixth day of the week, Preparation Day for the Shabbat coming tonight, Baruch HaShem! I was involved in a meeting last night and came across past notes of mine which caused me to re-visit a topic I had started to investigate in 2019, mainly asking the question ‘Just how Jewish is Yeshua?’ It always astounds me the lengths that Replacement Theology will go to present a Messiah who is completely separated from anything ‘Jewish’ per se or present a Messiah who may have been ‘Jewish’ but his living that way was solely to free his followers from having too do the same. It is complete absurdity and I hope and pray that by the end of this Op you will see for yourself just how Jewish Yeshua is!

I will tell you up front we will be using references from the Tanakh (Old Testament), the Apostolic Writings, the Mishnah, the Talmud Bavli and the Mishneh Torah by Rambam among others.

I believe now more than ever that in the midst of all the insanity, confusion and chaos going around us in this world, it is vitally important that we are able to recognize the real Messiah of HaShem via His Word and not be seduced by the tickle feather words of Replacement Theology. This may seem like a harsh statement, but I truly believe we are at the very End, which means we must be constantly on guard and resolved to carry on and press forward in the face of fierce opposition and tribulation.

Keep this in mind as we proceed with this Op, but as always, never forget the following unchanging characteristics of HaShem as they are vital to understanding Who He is, what He will do and Who is the real Messiah:

• HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
• His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
• He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
• He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
• He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
• He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
• He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
• He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
• He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
• He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
• He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
• He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
• He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
• He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
• He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
• He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
• He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
• He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
• He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
• He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
• He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
• He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
• He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35

As we begin to delve into this, just for a quick review, we must always remember why Yeshua MUST come in the likeness of Moshe (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) because it was Moshe, who was HaShem’s Agent i.e His Sheliach/Sent One, who brought the Torah to Israel. Remember as we have discussed in previous Op’s, an agent is likened to the one who sent him in the first place, therefore when read the words of Yeshua where He says “When you see Me, you have seen the Father” per John 14:9, now it makes much more sense in that Yeshua is re-affirming He is the AGENT of HaShem i.e. the Sheliach of HaShem and NOT literally HaShem in the flesh as that is just not possible for many, many Scriptural reasons.

The following is from the article ‘The Law of Agency’ from the Jewish Encyclopedia and it states: “The Law of Agency deals with the status of a person (known as the agent) acting by direction of another (the principal), and thereby legally binding the principal in his connection with a third person. The person who binds a principal in this manner is his agent, known in Jewish law as sheluaḥ or sheliaḥ (one that is sent): the relation of the former to the latter is known as agency (sheliḥut). The general principle is enunciated thus: A man’s agent is like himself (Ḳid. 41b).”

How does this fit into our discussion here in this Op? It fits because it is a reminder of Who is and who the Messiah cannot be in light of the Word of HaShem! Yeshua is the embodiment of the Word of HaShem and as such can only teach the Torah of HaShem! Any message devoid of the Torah and Yeshua has been disqualified as being the Messiah!

Okay, so now that we have that established, we are going to focus on two areas spoken of in the Apostolic Writings, areas which I have not seen many focus on before. The first one we will examine in detail is what we know as being ‘The L-rd’s Prayer’! If you were raised in a Christian upbringing as I am sure most reading this Op were, we should know this by heart. However, how many would be surprised to find out this was NOT a brand new prayer Yeshua introduced for us, but He was pointing to a very, very important Jewish prayer found in the Siddur (Prayer book) and prayed before, during and after Yeshua had come and gone?

Consider what Yeshua says in Matthew 6:5-8 says “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the congregations and on the corners of the streets, to be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father Who is in the secret place. And your Father Who sees in secret shall reward you openly. And when praying, do not keep on babbling like the non-Jews. For they think that they shall be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Before moving forward, who are the hypocrites Yeshua is targeting here? Most in Replacement Theology would say the hypocrites are the Pharisees and leave it at that, however, that is not the whole story. I would refer to you a previous Op I did discussing the two main groups of Pharisees at the time of Yeshua i.e. Shammai and Hillel and that it was the Pharisees of Shammai He predominately railed against: https://torahandtempleinvestigations.com/2020/02/29/the-seat-of-moshe-who-exactly-was-yeshua-criticizing/.

The hypocrites He is speaking of here must be the Shammai Pharisees. It is also interesting to see how Yeshua is saying to go and pray in secret to HaShem but not to be like the non-Jews who babble on. What does this imply then? Pray like the Jews pray!

Continuing on.

Matthew 6:9-15 says “This, then, is the way you should pray: ‘Our Father Who is in the heavens, let Your Name be set-apart, let Your reign come, let Your desire be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into trial, but deliver us from the wicked one, become Yours is the reign and the power and the esteem, forever. Amen.’ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father shall also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither shall your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Now we were taught in Replacement Theology that this prayer was something brand new, never before heard before and was given to release from the bondage of Jewish prayer practices. However, this is NOT true whatsoever as we will shortly see.

The most important prayer in the synagogue is called ‘The Amidah’ or ‘Shemonei Esrei’ or ‘Standing’ prayer. It is comprised of 19 sections. I will paste it below:

“Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers, G‑d of Abraham, G‑d of Isaac and G‑d of Jacob, the great, mighty and awesome G‑d, exalted G‑d, who bestows bountiful kindness, who creates all things, who remembers the piety of the Patriarchs, and who, in love, brings a redeemer to their children’s children, for the sake of His Name.

O King, (You are) a helper, a savior and a shield. Blessed are You L-rd, Shield of Abraham. You are mighty forever, my L-rd; You resurrect the dead; You are powerful to save.

He sustains the living with loving kindness, resurrects the dead with great mercy, supports the falling, heals the sick, releases the bound, and fulfills His trust to those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, mighty One! And who can be compared to You, King, who brings death and restores life, and causes deliverance to spring forth! You are trustworthy to revive the dead. Blessed are You L-rd, who revives the dead.

You are holy and Your Name is holy, and holy beings praise You daily for all eternity. Blessed are You L-rd, the holy G‑d. 

You graciously bestow knowledge upon man and teach mortals understanding. Graciously bestow upon us from You, wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Blessed are You L-rd, who graciously bestows knowledge.

Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah; draw us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back to You in whole-hearted repentance. Blessed are You L-rd, who desires penitence.

Pardon us, our Father, for we have sinned; forgive us, our King, for we have transgressed; for You are a good and forgiving G‑d. Blessed are You L-rd, gracious One who pardons abundantly.

O behold our affliction and wage our battle; redeem us speedily for the sake of Your Name, for You G‑d are the mighty redeemer. Blessed are You L-rd, Redeemer of Israel.

Heal us, O L-rd, and we will be healed; help us and we will be saved; for You are our praise. Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds; for You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful healer. Blessed are You L-rd, who heals the sick of His people Israel.

Bless for us, L-rd our G‑d, this year and all the varieties of its produce for good; and bestow (During the summer season say:) blessing (During the winter season say: dew and rain for blessing) upon the face of the earth. Satisfy us from Your bounty and bless our year like other good years, for blessing; for You are a generous G‑d who bestows goodness and blesses the years. Blessed are You L-rd, who blesses the years.

Sound the great shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather our exiles, and bring us together from the four corners of the earth into our land. Blessed are You L-rd, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel.

Restore our judges as in former times, and our counsellors as of yore; remove from us sorrow and sighing, and reign over us, You alone, O L-rd, with kindness and compassion, with righteousness and justice. Blessed are You L-rd, King who loves righteousness and justice. 

Let there be no hope for informers, and may all the heretics and all the wicked instantly perish; may all the enemies of Your people be speedily extirpated; and may You swiftly uproot, break, crush and subdue the reign of wickedness speedily in our days. Blessed are You L-rd, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.

May Your mercies be aroused, L-rd our G‑d, upon the righteous, upon the pious, upon the elders of Your people, the House of Israel, upon the remnant of their sages, upon the righteous proselytes and upon us. Grant ample reward to all who truly trust in Your Name, and place our lot among them; may we never be disgraced, for we have put our trust in You. Blessed are You L-rd, the support and security of the righteous.

Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city and dwell therein as You have promised; speedily establish therein the throne of David Your servant, and rebuild it, soon in our days, as an everlasting edifice. Blessed are You L-rd, who rebuilds Jerusalem. Speedily cause the scion of David Your servant to flourish, and increase his power by Your salvation, for we hope for Your salvation all day. Blessed are You L-rd, who causes the power of salvation to flourish.

Hear our voice, L-rd our G‑d; merciful Father, have compassion upon us and accept our prayers in mercy and favor, for You are G‑d who hears prayers and supplications; do not turn us away empty-handed from You, our King, for You hear the prayer of everyone. Blessed are You L-rd, who hears prayer.

Look with favor, L-rd our G‑d, on Your people Israel and pay heed to their prayer; restore the service to Your Sanctuary and accept with love and favor Israel’s fire-offerings and prayer; and may the service of Your people Israel always find favor.

May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy. Blessed are You L-rd, who restores His Divine Presence to Zion.

We thankfully acknowledge that You are the L-rd our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers forever. You are the strength of our life, the shield of our salvation in every generation. We will give thanks to You and recount Your praise, evening, morning and noon, for our lives which are committed into Your hand, for our souls which are entrusted to You, for Your miracles which are with us daily, and for Your continual wonders and beneficences. You are the Beneficent One, for Your mercies never cease; the Merciful One, for Your kindnesses never end; for we always place our hope in You. And for all these, may Your Name, our King, be continually blessed, exalted and extolled forever and all time.

Bestow peace, goodness and blessing, life, graciousness, kindness and mercy, upon us and upon all Your people Israel. Bless us, our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your countenance. For by the light of Your countenance You gave us, L-rd our G‑d, the Torah of life and loving-kindness, righteousness, blessing, mercy, life and peace. May it be favorable in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel, at all times and at every moment, with Your peace.

Blessed are You L-rd, who blesses His people Israel with peace. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, L-rd, my Strength and my Redeemer.

My G‑d, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. Let my soul be silent to those who curse me; let my soul be as dust to all. Open my heart to Your Torah, and let my soul eagerly pursue Your commandments. As for all those who plot evil against me, hasten to annul their counsel and frustrate their design. Let them be as chaff before the wind; let the angel of the L-rd thrust them away. That Your beloved ones may be delivered, help with Your right hand and answer me. Do it for the sake of Your Name; do it for the sake of Your right hand; do it for the sake of Your Torah; do it for the sake of Your holiness. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, L-rd, my Strength and my Redeemer.

He who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

May it be Your will, L-rd our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers, that the Bet Hamikdash (Temple) be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant us our portion in Your Torah.”

The Amidah is what Yeshua was referencing! It is NOTHING new! He taught as a rabbi typically taught meaning when addressing a group of talmidim (Students) who already know by memory something in Scripture, then instead of repeating all of it, the rabbi would condense it and let the talmidim fill in the blanks in their minds. For example if I just said ‘The L-rd is my Shepherd….’ and then stop, most would know immediately what I was referring too and could fill in the rest by memory, in this case Psalms 23. Yeshua is teaching as a rabbi taught and still teach today!

Yeshua had condensed the entire Amidah down to those few verses in Matthew, but He was telling His talmidim to pray the entire Amidah and to do it the way the rabbis teach to do it! And further, as this prayer is the most important prayer in the synagogue, does this seem like to you Yeshua is preparing to sever His ties with His Jewish upbringing? No, just the opposite! You can’t get more Jewish than this!

I would encourage you to get a Siddur for yourself and read the prayers that are in there! I guarantee you, they are not just some random statements put together by some guy sitting around a campfire one day, but they are based upon Scripture! In many cases they are just a compilation of biblical verses! Something to keep in mind.

So we addressed how Yeshua commands us to pray like the Jews pray meaning learn the Siddur i.e. the Prayer Book! Now let’s look at something not spoken by Yeshua Himself, but He clearly adhered to the restrictions as well as His talmidim did; and what am I speaking of? A Shabbat’s day’s journey!

Acts 1:12 says “Then they (The Talmidim of Yeshua who just witnessed Him ascending into Heaven) went back to Yerushalayim from the Mount of Olives, which is near Yerushalayim, a Shabbat’s day’s journey.” I cite this because again, if Yeshua came to sever ties with anything Jewish, the Torah, the Feasts, the Temple, etc, then He has a very bad way of communicating that information to His talmidim, because what He teaches and does is completely in line with the Torah and the Oral Torah as we will shortly see.

Before we go further, let’s quickly review what the Oral Torah is as this topic alone can cause enormous angst. The Oral Torah is nothing more than the commentary of the Torah. It is comprised of the Mishnah, which are the recorded right rulings of the Sanhedrin i.e. the court system HaShem establishes. The two versions of the Talmud i.e Babylonian/Jerusalem, are the commentary of the Mishnah! They are written discussions and questions the rabbis have concerning how to walk in the Torah.

For the record, HaShem commands us that whatever the Sanhedrin rules upon, we are required by HaShem to do what they have ruled upon. Refusal to do so is considered to be sin by HaShem! This is found in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18-20 and 17:8-13! This means the Mishnah/Talmud ARE indeed endorsed and supported by HaShem despite what many in Replacement Theology teach. If the Sanhedrin makes a wrong ruling, then HaShem as the Great King, will deal with them and fix it. Think of it like a military hierarchy…the officer is appointed and granted the authority to render rulings per the US President and Constitution. If that officer renders an illegal order, can we still disobey that order or are there provisions in place to address that potential illegal order and it is the senior levels which ultimately deal with the issue? Same concept here…HaShem establishes the courts, appoints the judges and if they make a wrong ruling, He as the Great King fixes the issue. We as the servants of HaShem are not allowed to rebel against what He has established! We see Yeshua Himself obey this even during the events which led to His execution! I digress.

So we see here in Acts 1, the Talmidim of Yeshua just witnessed Him ascend to heaven from the Mount of Olives. Then the verse tells us they returned to Jerusalem, a Shabbat’s day’s journey! How far is a Shabbat’s day’s journey? If Yeshua did away with everything in the Torah and the Oral Torah, then why are His Talmidim still adhering to it? Why is the writer of Acts highlighting this if it is all done away with? Shouldn’t this verse have read something akin too ‘They walked a distance beyond a Shabbat’s day’s journey now that the Torah has been nullified.’?

We need to research and find out if the Shabbat’s days journey restriction is indeed from HaShem as well as determining how far is this journey.

In the Book of the Mitzvah (Commandments), #24 out of 613, is ‘The prohibition to go beyond the techum (Boundaries) on the Shabbat.’ What is this based upon? Shemot (Exodus) 16:29 says “See that HaShem has given you the Shabbat; that is why He gives you on the sixth day a two day portion of bread. Let every man remain in his place; let no man leave his place on the seventh day.”

Tractate Eiruvin 51a from the Talmud Bavli states the distance which constitutes the techum (Boundary) is 2,000 cubits or approximately 3,750 feet. This distance is determined based upon the meaning of the words in Shemot 16:29. Further, HaShem establishes the techum (Boundary) of a City of Refuge in Bamidbar (Numbers) 35:4. Point is, this restriction in distance is not based upon someone who just thought it up one day, as many in Replacement Theology would accuse, but it is based upon the Torah of HaShem and explained in the Oral Torah.

So again I have to ask, if Yeshua ended it all, then why are His talmidim still adhering to not just the Written Torah but the Oral Torah as well? Wouldn’t this have been the perfect time to start spreading the message the Torah is now tossed onto the dung pile of history? I digress.

Many may be asking what is the underlying purpose of such a prohibition by HaShem? The Book of the Mitzvah says “The underlying purpose of this mitzvah is that we should remember and always be aware that the universe is a creation of HaShem and not something that has always existed. This is actually the purpose of ALL the commandments pertaining to the Shabbat, as is explicitly written in Shemot (Exodus) 20:11 regarding the commandment to refrain from forbidden activity on the Shabbat, for in six days HaShem made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, in order for us to remember this matter, it is appropriate for us to rest on the Shabbat, not merely by refraining from work, but also by remaining in one location; that is to say, that we should not walk a great distance from our residence, but should walk only in a leisurely and pleasurable manner, as befitting one who is at rest.” So again we see our focus is to be on HaShem and HaShem alone!

Now we have to remember the calendar in all of this! Yeshua died on Pesach (Passover), was buried over Unleavened Bread and HaShem brought Him out of the grave on Firstfruits. Yeshua then walked with His talmidim for 40 days and then ascended from the Mount of Olives, but He commands His talmidim to remain in Jerusalem ten more days…why? Because in ten days was the Feast of Shavuot (Erroneously called Pentecost), which is one of the three Pilgrimage Feasts (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) in which all of Israel is to come before HaShem in the Temple in Jerusalem. Why is this important? Because it is ten days after Yeshua ascended, on Shavuot, His talmidim are in the Temple courtyard participating in the communal korbonot (Offerings) and performing their prayers that the Ruach of HaShem fell upon them as we read in Acts 2!

Did this event occur to usher in a completely brand new Torahless entity, devoid of the Temple, free of the Feasts, free from having to eat kosher, free of anything Jewish, etc as Replacement Theology teaches? No, its an utter impossibility! For further information, refer to a previous Op I did a long while ago discussing this further: https://torahandtempleinvestigations.com/2020/02/15/hashems-kingdom-is-orderly-the-kingdom-of-darkness-is-chaos/

With this said then, just how Jewish is Yeshua? He walks in the Torah of HaShem, he adheres to what the Sanhedrin has ruled concerning how to walk in the Torah, He goes up to the Temple which means He has to be purified which means He must be bringing korbonot (Offerings) to HaShem. He keeps Shabbat, He teaches as a Jewish rabbi does. He is praying the prayers from the Siddur and since His talmidim were adhering to the restrictions, must mean Yeshua did so as well as it pertains to a Shabbat’s day’s journey! So knowing this, just where would Yeshua spend Shabbat if He showed up today? My opinion is He would spend Shabbat in an Orthodox synagogue! Why is this important? Because when the False Messiah rises to the global stage will he be proclaiming the Torah, the Feasts of HaShem, etc? Nope, just the opposite, he will be proclaiming people are free from the Torah and the Feasts of HaShem. Remember he is described as ‘The Man of Lawlessness’ in 2 Thessalonians 2, and that word ‘Lawlessness’ in Greek is ‘Anomia/Anomos’ which means ‘WITHOUT THE TORAH OF HASHEM!’

With the darkness of the world encroaching and consuming the planet, now more than ever we have to be drawing closer to HaShem in order to recognize the subtle lies and not be consumed and overwhelmed.

I will close here. Hopefully this will spark more curiosity into the Jewishness of Yeshua and what we read in the Apostolic Writings, because remember, HaShem is unchanging, He reveals the end from the beginning and there is nothing new under the sun, therefore how can He send a Messiah who changes what is unchangeable, and utter new things when there is nothing new under the sun? Keep this in mind!

Chanukah Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

SOURCE MATERIALS

• The Scriptures by the Institute for Scripture Research
• The Milstein Edition the Chumash Exodus by Artscroll
• Tehillim (Psalms) by Artscroll
• The Book of the Mitzvot by Artscroll
• Tractate Eiruvin Talmud Bavli by Steinsaltz