What Jewish People Should Know

SEARCHING

FOR THE TRUTH

WHAT EVERY TRUE JEWISH PERSON SHOULD KNOW,
BUT OFTEN DOES NOT SEEM TO.

This ‘Faith based’ article is dedicated to the
millions of true, (ethnic) Jewish people,
many of whom have chosen to believe in & work for modern Israel,
(whether living in Eretz Israel or not), but are not ‘religious’ at all.
They do have the respect of thousands of
Bible-Believers, Jewish & non-Jewish,
Including the sponsors of this article who only want ‘the very best’ for you!
This is simply offered for your own consideration.

Introduction.
Since the re-establishment of Israel as a National State, in their own Land; some 60 years ago, the interest in Jewish People, by many Jewish & non-Jewish people with a ‘world view’ has greatly increased.

Part of this is no doubt, not only the modern events in Israel, but the availability of all forms of media & technical communications, radio, television, & the Internet, to ‘show & tell’ about them. Many of us have lived to see or know of really significant events – especially in the Middle East over the last 100 – 60 years.

The establishment of Israel as a Nation State
was seen as one of the most significant.

Naturally the Nation of Israel has rightly taken opportunities to promote the interests of the State of Israel in every arena, and sadly, has also often had to defend positions taken, or actions - that are often severely criticised at best and sometimes viciously condemned at worst.
Some people don’t even want Israel to exist!

Fortunately, the State of Israel & many of its citizens have become aware that while few Governments of nations are totally supportive, as nations - there are millions of people across the whole world with a sincere & sacrificial concern & respect for Israel, quite apart from their national identity. These are labelled – correctly – “Evangelical Christians”. [These are mainly different from the organised ‘Orthodox Churches’ – like the Roman Catholic Church.]

In fact it is great to know that even at the highest level of the Nation, recently, The Knesset, has recognised this support & enhanced the bond - by creating the ‘Knesset Christian Alliance’. Several large & mainly ‘interdenominational’ (i.e. not ‘church based’), Christian organisations, have worked for up to 125+ years to foster this relationship, & genuinely seek to ‘bless’ Israel, in many situations, and in the last 60 years, many have done this – especially in financial – ways. In fact millions of dollars have been given over recent years, by evangelical Christians, to many causes.

The basis of this relationship.
While there are certain variations of beliefs among these ‘evangelical Christians’, there are 3 basic beliefs, which motivate & bind these Christians together. It is generally called ‘Christian Zionism’ now, & there are good articles about it, to be found on the Internet search engines.
One is http://christianactionforisrael.org

We summarise these three basic beliefs, * in our own words, as:
* A belief in the total reliability & uniqueness of the Tanakh & its teachings.
* A Belief in the One true God of the Universe, as the ‘God of Israel’.
*A belief in the distinctive rights of the true Jewish people,
including possession of their God-given Land.

How these beliefs have affected evangelical Christians, actions.
1. It is for these reasons, many evangelical Christian people have shown their beliefs to be heart-felt, by meeting in Prayer groups on a regular basis, all over the world.

2. Secondly by giving financially & in goods, (& where appropriate in actual services) to the Jews in Israel. Often these Christian services have been used in conjunction with, say, the Jewish National Fund, in ventures like assisting Jewish people to make Aliya.

3. Increasing knowledge about Israel has been in teaching lectures, large celebrations, tours, & musical & dramatic programmes of all kinds that have been used to share the needs & significance of Modern Israel. In one nation at least a scheme of freely hosting Israeli young people, travelling through their nation as sightseers, is offered. [New Zealand is one.]

4. Visits to Israel, as tourists, or volunteers or attendees at special celebrations or functions in Israel. So over the last – especially 25 years – many Christian people have become familiar with Israeli life – & have even made friends with Jewish people, especially in Israel. This has brought a wonderful richness to these evangelical Christians, which they treasure, without exception. On the other hand, it seems Jewish Israelis in general have become aware of these ‘different’ Christians, and are, (hopefully) even accepting of them, to a degree. (We hope you may be one?)

A painful discovery for many Evangelical Christians.
Anyone who has had a meaningful contact with Israel, or with Jewish people have had to learn that the Jewish culture, as a whole does not share most of the most precious religious beliefs of the evangelical Christians. You, as a Jewish person, need to know we do understand the reasons for this! We also know that most Jewish people do not share the beliefs of the very religious branches of ancient or Orthodox Judaism, which we also understand & also we do not share those beliefs, either.

Sadly, for maybe hundreds of years, most real Christians had very little contact with Jewish people in the Diaspora. The advent of Israel becoming a modern State, aroused a lot of interest & curiosity!

Conversely, the general population of Israel has often been encouraged to avoid contact with ‘Christians’, or at least to hold them at a distance. In some cases there are efforts by the Orthodox Religious hierarchy especially, to warn Jewish people to not make any contact with the Christians or their activities, & in some cases there is real animosity & suspicion of the motives of the Christians – especially ‘evangelical Christians’. In fact in the case of several large pro-Israel Christians Organisations in Israel, they have been required to make a signed declaration that they will not make any efforts to share the special beliefs of Christianity in Israel, (or prostleatize Jewish people.)

Even Jewish Believers in the One they regard as their Messiah, (as Gentile Christians also do), can be ostracised, even harassed, for their beliefs. Israeli law forbids some kinds of contact, especially with children & young teenagers. Some moves have been made by a few Knesset/ Government minsters to increase legal restrictions against Jewish Believers, especially regarding sharing their beliefs, or literature.

These have not been enacted, partly because of the reaction of many secular Jewish Israelis, who like genuine Christians believe in the freedom of individual adults to choose their own beliefs.

Mutual respect for differences of Beliefs.
There is indeed a time – always – to graciously respect the different religious or philosophical beliefs of other people. All Christians should hold to that principle. This is held to be a universal right, & correctly so. Therefore any form of coercion, is condemned! Unfortunately, possibly too frequently, some Christians have not understood the differences in beliefs, & have embarrassed Jewish people by their crass ignorance. However “no one can be better than their source of information”, so now many Christians do know about the differences in beliefs & different understanding of the meanings of some words, as understood by Jewish people. E.g. - ‘church’, ‘crusade’, ‘convert’, etc.

Added to this is the great sorrow many modern evangelical Christians have, over the horrific persecution & cruelty, and even genocidal actions of nations, despots and armies of ignorant followers in the name of [false] Christianity. This accounts for the name preferred by most true Bible reading Christians, as ‘evangelicals’, as opposed to ‘Orthodox Christians’, & Jewish Believers as ‘Messianic Believers’.

All evangelical Christians are shattered to think of these historical events & have often repented & confessed the sinfulness of such attitudes & terrible actions. This is why they desire to be seen differently.

In many situations true Christians would themselves have suffered from these heretical regimes, sanctioned by the Orthodox Christian Governments as in England, Spain & Russia. In fact the true Christians were the ones regarded as ‘heretics’ & as such died in their hundreds, at different times in history, & some not so distant, as can be seen in Russian recent history, under the non-Christian Communist regimes, but after a 1,000 history of Christianity.

So the concern & reluctance of Israel to be wary of
‘Christians’ is very understandable.

The areas of beliefs which Evangelical Christians
would like to agree with Jewish People, about.

These are NOT only “Christian Beliefs”, but what are basic to our Biblical Beliefs as a Judeo-Christian religion separate from any other religion in the world. These beliefs are entirely confined to the Jewish roots of Christianity, like the three above. * These are the very essentials of the only true Religion in the world, if studied carefully enough. Christianity came out of Biblical Judaism, (NOT modern Judaism) & its roots are in the Tanakh. Christian Belief cannot be separated from the Torah, the Writings & the Prophetical books!

THE THREE AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE WE WOULD
LIKE ALL JEWISH PEOPLE TO TREASURE!

The first essential Jewish Belief:
IN THE SUPREMELY UNIQUE, ANCIENT, INERRANT, (i.e. accurate) BOOKS OF THE TANAKH.

The 36 books of what Christians call ‘The Old Testament’ (meaning ‘Covenant’) is identical in ever respect, to the original Hebrew Books that form the Tanakh. [A minor difference is the order and number of books, as the books of Samuel; Kings & Chronicles are not divided into 2 parts.] We’d long for it to be accepted, more!

The word ‘Tanakh’ represents the 3 main sections of these books which a really like a library of books. The sections are, The Torah, (also called the ‘Law’) consisting of the first 5 books. The next section is ‘The Prophets’, and the last section is ‘the Writings’. It is in fact the most special Book ever written!

Hundreds of books, videos & films have been produced to describe this ‘Bible’ of the Jewish people, & there is not room in this article to explain more than a few points. But many people have little idea of its real value! [This article aims to be a summary only, or introduction to these subjects to be enlarged in another paper.]

Here are some basic facts that should be noted, about the Tanakh.

It was written by Jews, for Jews, about Jews/ Hebrew people & the events of their history in many different circumstances & even about their future. [See point 9.] Jewish person, ~ it’s YOUR Book!

1. It was written almost entirely in Hebrew, except for a few chapters in ‘Aramaic Hebrew’ in Daniel.

2. It actually covers a period of some 6,000 years, but was written, or edited by approximately 20 different writers or editors, over 3,000 years (approximately), yet is in agreement in all but the most minor details! [Now that is a miracle!]

3. It has survived in the original languages of (ancient) Hebrew & Aramaic, & format, (number & order of the books chosen to be together) for 2,400 years since it was ‘completed’, i.e. around 432 BCE.

[This is inspite of times of neglect, or efforts to destroy or discredit it.]

4. The Jewish scribes, down through the Millennia went to great trouble to copy exactly every word, when making new copies so that the accuracy and reliability of retaining the very original words can be trusted.

5. One proof of the accuracy of the copies being reliable has been demonstrated by the discovery of the most ancient copies in existence, now called ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls’. These copies were found to have retained the accuracy of the subsequent copies. It is the most accurately preserved Book in the world. [No wonder modern Israel has preserved the Scrolls in the museum of ‘The Shrine of the Book’.]

6. The first translation into another language was undertaken by 70 Jewish scholars into Greek, some 250 years BCE. [Gradually Christian scholars have translated the Bible, into several thousand languages.]

7. However the ancient Hebrew Script has been retained throughout history, even in modern printed copies, which now makes reading the Hebrew ‘Bible’ very difficult for today’s Jews, who now use a modern form of Hebrew for use in every-day life. [However accurate modern translations are available.]

8. Every prophetic event, (except the 20% that are still future) has been fulfilled in every detail given.

9. Almost every ‘scientific’ explanation it makes as part of it’s poetry or story, - that can be scientifically tested, (by modern equipment & rules of physics, etc) has been proved to be accurate, even though it was not written as ‘scientific’ literature. [A few statements are still waiting to be proven scientifically.]

10. Many historical details have been proven to be true, by archaeological finds, or comparative, written historical records by non-Biblical kings, recorders, or contemporary people. It suggests all are accurate.

11. Thousands of good people have suffered bravely or even died, because of what the Bible Teaches, & it has been found to have answers to every problem & question, people have.

Conclusion: Every Jewish person especially,
should treasure their own, unique, eternal Book!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2. The second essential Jewish belief, is in:
THE UNIQUE, ETERNAL, ONE, SUPREME, LOVING, GOD OF THE UNIVERSES & GOD OF ISRAEL.

Someone wrote a book once called ‘Your God is Too Small’. Sadly this is true of almost 90% of human beings – even those who claim to know even a little about the Creator & God of the Universe. Even God-fearing Jews, and Christians, don’t know how great God is. Many people have no idea of Who God really is!

The facts are, that the Tanakh never, ever tries to prove there is a God.

1. The very first sentence simply says, “In the beginning God…” [Elohim is the Hebrew word.]

2. The other amazing fact is, that God has put a ‘God-consciousness’ in every person. It is a very clever person who can convince himself or herself to have a belief, (‘a faith’), that there is no God. That is a great “leap of faith”, if it is thought through carefully enough. God cannot be disproved.

3. Neither does experience, (let alone the Tanakh) deny the existence of ‘spiritual realities’. It doesn’t take a genius to realise there is a bad spiritual entity in this world, and in most people’s lives. This is because life soon teaches us that there are events, & realities that cannot be fully explained. Some of those realities, or facts are sinister, sad, & inexplicable. They can only be explained by at least the possibility of unseen spiritual forces. So if there are evil forces, which cannot be explained, why couldn’t there be a Good Personality – more than just a ‘force’ in the universe? This means: if a person is willing to be totally honest, they will find the Truth is in a Person.

That Person is God, Elohim.

4. Even most scientists have now carefully come to the decision based on factual evidence of “intelligent design” being responsible for every form of life, even the apparent ‘simplest form’. Many are not yet willing to concede that the ‘Intelligence’ that is behind the design of life, is ‘Creator God’. This is a BIG subject for a worthwhile study, & there is lots of good material available about it.See www.emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs or www.answersingenesis.org

5. On the other hand it is sad to recognise that the ‘picture’ often presented, is of a God who is not benign (i.e. kind), or knowable. To know the “God of Israel” ~ is THE most wonderful experience in the whole world!

Many people admit to some kind of God, or ‘gods’ but ‘their god is too small’ or harsh & distant or unreal. Sadly, even the God of the Tanakh is often not seen as the amazingly loving, real God, He is!

Also, very often, mankind has been good at ‘creating’ their own forms of deities throughout the history of the world, even in modern times, ‘Gaia’ or ‘Mother Earth’ is the latest, fashionable ‘god’ of the Global Changers.

‘Indescribable’, amazingly wonderful, only, true GOD!
Of course, the reality is that the only true God is so eternal & all knowing, (Omniscient); so supremely powerful in creation, sustaining power and authority beyond our comprehension, (Omnipotent); and so understanding & caring, & knowledgeable of every detailed part of this world, -including the thoughts of every person, (Omnipresent), that it is not surprising, no human can fully know all about ADONAI Elohim!

Just one description is: “the High & Holy One, Who inhabits Eternity”. How wonderful that is! Alternatively, some religious thought tries to make God so totally understandable, that they forget that if God is real, (in the way the Tanakh, for instance, portrays Him), it is because He is so much greater than we are, (in every way) and that makes Him the very kind of Deity we need! I need a God Who is greater than I am…

Someone, Who is far above any human comprehension, in power, knowledge and integrity, (holiness)! Yet, the amazing facts are, that God Himself has gone to enormous trouble, (since the moment He created mankind), to make Himself known to anyone who really wants to know Him. That is because He IS Love.

Briefly: how God ADONAI, the LORD has made Himself known.

Communications. This is supremely, & wonderfully conveyed throughout the whole of the Tanakh. There can be no doubt that the Person behind the stories of events, the poetry & prayers, and the speeches & (often electric) statements He himself has made, reveal all that any human person could want to know. The fact that all the information is there in the 30+ books, should make it very clear, that the Divine Being who is clearly seen, wanted to be seen & known, in every facet of His Personality.

If anyone had no idea about the God of Israel, but was simply willing to read the Tanakh – not only the Torah – (which is the most amazing part of whole series), they would surely not only know mentally a lot of facts, but would be amazed at the diversity of communications that reveal God to us. From sad to humerus, from lives of individuals, to armies, or groups of people or various nations; the characteristics of the God of the universes, (this world & everything in Space beyond us) ~ is clearly described.

There is no doubt left, ~
as to what actions & ideas, values & desires Elohim has!

Clear introductions through His Names.
The first meeting of two or more people, almost always includes exchanging names.So it is with the One, that modern Jews refer to as ‘Ha Shem’ [‘The name’]. While the reason for this is understandable, with a real desire to avoid ever blaspheming the Name of the Holy One of Israel, it perhaps hides the great wealth of blessing in knowing the names, by which God deliberately introduced Himself, over & over again. [Since this is meant to be a brief introduction – it is not possible to enlarge of the statements made.] It is also the reason some people have, in reference to Elohim when writing in English, using

G-d; - copying, no doubt the fact that there were originally no ‘marks’ in ancient Hebrew for what we call ‘vowels’, so that the Name of the Creator was only written with the ‘consonants’ - (main letters) of the alphabet. [Perhaps in a future time, all the Names of God will become treasured, by Israel using them?]

This means that in many Bibles, the name in Hebrew using just the letters YHWH are written as ‘ADONAI’, or LORD in English Bibles. This is the written form of the Name of God, which is never pronounced but occurs throughout the whole of the Tanakh, (except the Book of Esther – where it is in a coded form). It stands for God’s own personal NAME, whereas most other apparent ‘names’, are the titles of His roles, as the One who is Peace, (Shalom); or Healer, (Rophe); or Shepherd, (Rehi); Leader, (Nissi) Rewarder (Gemulah) or my favourite, ~ ‘The One Who is Present’, (YHWH Shammah), ~ the very last name given in the Tanakh! Of course He is also the Sovereign KING, the Eternal One, The great Creator, Deliverer, Prophet, & Life-giver, & Father. He is also “The Holy One of Israel” (33 times), or the “God of Israel” (27 x).

There are several hundred Names of Israel’s God,
given throughout the Scriptures!
So this means surely, God wanted His own People to know Who He is to them!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The third special but un-realised factor is:
WHAT A GREAT HONOUR IT IS TO BE ‘JEWISH’.

For a few years, this writer was privileged to give free hospitality to Jewish, Israeli young people, who were ‘back-packing’ through our country. It was quite a lot of fun, as we exchanged news & views, & learnt from each other. Of course we had some interesting discussions about Israel, & maybe a little about Judaism, and touched on why we had an interest in Israel. Having been able to visit Israel & even live there for a time, we had some idea of the background life in modern Israel. This was added to by our extensive reading, & viewing of films, and by hearing a number of speakers, (representing different causes in Israel), so we felt we had a basic understanding of what it means to be a Jewish Israeli.

It would be dishonest of me, not to say also that our interest was underlined specifically by our love for the Tanakh. It gave us our interest in places in Israel, & enthused us as we matched our hopes for a bright future for the Jewish people of Israel, as we understood it from the Tanakh. This is because we believe totally in the God of Israel Who never ever lies, but always keep His word!

But two concepts or attitudes did come through very clearly.
1. Pride in being a Jewish Israeli – (even for some being ‘a Sabra’), was very important to them!
Perhaps this was from their family background – as many parents or grandparents had made ‘aliya’ at some time in their lives, from many different parts of the world. So, of course it was a big thing to become part of a new nation! In a very few cases, their country of origin was of some importance, (but the young people especially) had little real interest in them, and without exception were proud to either have been born in Israel, or being part of it in the present. [Those who are ‘Jewish’ by conversion to Judaism are NOT the subject of this discussion, as our definition of ‘Jewish’ is those who by birth are ethnically Jews.]

2. Secondly Jewish people, seemed to have a deep sense of nationhood.
Although in one way, (being part of a modern, democratic nation) they did enjoy the pleasure of being individuals in their choices of careers, work, friendships, etc. they obviously were far more ‘patriotic’ (it might be called) to the facts of Israel being a Jewish nation, for Jewish people, than many other peoples of the world. In many cases, people are struggling to leave their own countries, whereas the big emphasis in Israel is to encourage Jewish people to go ‘back’ (make ‘aliya’) to Eretz Israel.

Also the sense of nationhood has been the result of every young person being required to train in the IDF, as soon as they turn 18 years old, (and even more) - the shared dread of wars, & terrorist attacks that so many had experienced as older Jewish Israelis.

Yet any realisation that being Jewish was a special privilege was missing, or was rejected!

Without realising it, this is a fulfillment of the very prophecies the Tanakh makes about the nation of Israel. While those I talked with were very proud of being Jewish (by their physical descent from Jewish parents & grandparents) they would not accept – our belief – that being Jewish made them a special race of people. They simply quoted Scripture (without knowing it, perhaps) by saying, “but we want to be like all the other (good) nations in the world”. They really felt they were the same as any other ethnic group of people.

BUT! Only the Jewish people, as a racial group of people,
have the exquisite privilege of being GOD’S Chosen People!

This is the third great fact that we would long for every truly Jewish person to accept!
But we can understand the reasons this is either accepted only reluctantly, or even with anger!
The suffering of the race of the descendants of Jewish families, ever since the Diaspora, when Jerusalem and the glorious Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70CE/ AD, is a mainly tragic story lasting 2000 long, awful years! The horrific expulsions, persecutions, inquisitions, pogroms and finally the holocaust of the ‘Shoah’ during the 1940’s have been an almost unbelievably tragic, seemingly never-ending scenario of trouble & agonising stories – for Jewish people, all over the world. And now there are even people who want to deny the ‘Holocaust never happened!

And it seems most of the persecution was only because they were ‘Jewish’!

So, Who says Israel, & Jews are special and ‘different’?
GOD HIMSELF repeats this truth many times, but it is all written in the Tanakh!

So now, maybe you can see why knowing & accepting the first two absolutely vital facts, is so important! That the Tanakh holds all the keys to knowing what is special about being Jewish, and that it is the One true & only God of the universe, (& Israel in particular) who has written it, preserved it, and swore to it, by His own Holy Person is vital knowledge for every true Jewish person! And it is for a special reason!

Being Jewish is special & important,
because the Holy Sovereign
ADONAI [LORD] God ~ chose Israel!

Who wouldn’t question and reject such a reason after so much suffering & cruelty, for so long?

Yet the reality is, that this is now & very soon will be the very reason for a time of unprecedented joy, prosperity, acceptance & everything that could be summed up in the word –BLESSING for Jewish people!

One of the biggest parts of this is that the High & Holy & totally just & fair LORD GOD ALMIGHTY [‘ADONAI El Shaddai’] has promised that Israel will have a time of unprecedented restoration! HE CANNOT LIE!
Israel is going to be the leading, most outstanding Nation in the whole world!

So this could be a reason for being glad that one is Jewish!
Of course there are other, special & amazing reasons, but we cannot explain them all now.
[Look for other articles, which will explain this.]
The absolute fact is that from the point of view given in the Tanakh, there are really only two groups of people in the whole history of the world.

One is the Jewish people & the others big group is the Goyim/ Gentile peoples of the world.
In fact, to be honest, even some ‘evangelical Christians’ wish very much they could be Jewish! Also there are some strange, non-biblical ideas about a large part of the world being the ‘lost tribes of Israel’, but their reasons do not check out accurately with the Tanakh, & are totally misleading. But all the evidence and all the predictions and all the facts and inspite of all the arguments, people may bring up: there is only one true answer to the question, “what is the point of being Jewish?”

The truth is that it is a VERY great privilege to be Jewish!
SO THESE THREE STRANDS OF THE GOLDEN CORD
OF JEWISH PEOPLES’ EXISTANCE,
IS VITAL, FOR ALL JEWISH PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT & ACCEPT!

· If these facts were understood, it would bring true shalom, under every circumstance, FOR EVERY Jewish person in the world!

· Accepting them would be the life-giving restoration to the ‘Hatikva’ of a glorious destiny & future for the whole of ISRA’EL!

· Finding ADONAI’S way, (& not their own way), would be the key to true fulfillment of their true JEWISH destiny!

Here is only one statement, (of very many), from the Tanakh, for you:

“I AM ADONAI, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator,
your King… My people, My chosen, the People
I formed for Myself – that they may proclaim My praise.” [Isaiah 43: 21.]

We also can make a definite promise,
Based on all the beliefs we have in the Tanakh,
Also in the God of Isra’el,
And the fact that out of all the nations that have come - or gone - the JEWISH People have survived, we know that all Jewish people will soon ~ in the years ahead ~ will reach The glorious Goal destined for them!

We will be happy to enlarge on the fuller aspects of these three facts, using verses from the TANAKH, in other articles. Or you are welcome to contact us, with any questions or comments.

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