Replacement theology? What it just might be...

 For those who want to discuss replacement theology, this is a good way to introduce the issue. Or issues. 

I wrote on another's Facebook in answer to their question about this topic.

I think it's a misnomer. Most Christians believe in something like replacement. 

In Matthew 21:43 Yeshua says, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it." Who were those people to whom it was given? Jews. From whom was it taken? Jews. God replaced some Jews with other Jews. Yeshua chose the 12 Jewish apostles to lead the new community of faith when he departed. Did replacement happen? If not, you who dismiss the term should actually follow the rabbis in 2023. But you don't. Why not? Because you believe in 'replacement.' Those who follow Yeshua (Jews first, then also Gentile believers) have replaced those Jews who didn't follow him. 

A great read on this by Ligonier: https://www.ligonier.org/.../the-church-and-israel-in-the... especially dealing with 'true' Israel vs 'national' Israel.

We three kings... the real story?

We three kings. I love the carol sung by the choirs just now. But here are some historical realities that add to the story.

There was probably a caravan of magicians travelling to find the babe-- not only 3 wise men. It was probably up to 3 years after the birth of the baby. Do the dates matter? Not at all to me.

The story is the lesson.

Gentile kings (leaders/ mayors/ magicians) came to find the baby. They followed a star. A comet? To me-- irrelevant. Here's the story. Gentiles from Iran/Iraq saw something in the sky that indicated a king was coming/ born in Israel. They probably had been taught about this over several generations from the information that either Queen Esther or Daniel the Prophet had deposited previously. Who is the king who is coming? Where is he? They believed he was the messiah, but beyond that, they were not sure.

They didn't know, but they followed the star. The star stopped 'above' the child. According to the biblical record, they travelled to Jerusalem. After all, kings should be born in a capital city. Not Galilee or Gaza. But also not Oslo or Salt Lake City. They came to Jerusalem. (Matthew 2.1) They brought him presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Takeaway: if Gentiles from Mesopotamia can believe in a Jewish king and travel to Israel to worship him, then maybe we Jews from Israel, New York, Sydney, Jo'burg, and anywhere else can stop to listen and discover if this Yeshua (Jesus) is actually of note. And is he to be worshipped? And is he our Messiah? Stop. Look. Sh'ma.

The actual story as recorded in the Bible:  "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ¹by the prophet:

⁶  ‘^aAND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, 

ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; 

FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER 

WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’” [quote from Micah chapter 5 in the Older Testament]

Matt. 2:7   Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹ After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshipped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way." (recorded in the biography written by Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1-12.

Do you hear what I hear?

What's next?

 It was early September and I walked through my local Costco to get my shopping done for almost a month when I turned left at the two aisles of books. So many great titles that caught my eye and I imagined it would benefit my mind and some titles that my grandsons would enjoy as well. But I was on a mission and didn't really have time to investigate so many stacks. So back to the main aisle and I was caught out by the two to three-metre green Christmas trees. And other colours. And...wait a minute... it's September!

We had not had a race of horses in Melbourne that stopped the nation. 

The US had not had another contested and stolen election (did they ever have one of those?)

Canada had not celebrated its Thanksgiving in October.

Calendar confusion seemed to be front and centre in my shopping cart. But that was three months ago. 

Now it's 18 December and I'm in Nashville USA. Almost every radio station is playing Christmas music. Deck the halls,  Frosty the snowman. Away in a manger. O come Emmanuel. It's all there. But wait a minute... it's not even Christmas.

Yes, here's a bit of historical reorienting. Christmas begins next Sunday evening. Why then? It's 24 December. Christmas Eve. Just like our Jewish celebrations which begin the evening before the next daytime, Christian holidays (and seasons as well) begin the evening before. Historically at the 'midnight mass' which I guess is 25 December, but as locked-in times 12 midnight got morphed into 11 pm candlelight or 4:30 pm Family church gatherings with donkeys and shepherds and... the eve launched the day. So Christmas begins on Christmas Eve. That's when you put up a tree. That's when you build the macano set or put the hobby horse together and put it with the bicycle and the doll under the tree. 

Then there are 12 days of Christmas. You remember partridge, pear tree. Five golden rings. 12 days. Or maybe you remember Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" having a Christmas orientation. On the 6th of January in the Western church, Epiphany takes place. Yup, 12 days after Christmas. Just like Jewish people have 8 days of Hanukkah every year with commensurate latkes and dreidels, with family gatherings and gifts and gelt... Christians historically had 12 days to ponder the drama of the birth of the greatest Jew who ever lived. Messiah, Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth. 

12 days is a package of time which is reasonable. And not at all overwhelming. Simple. Time to ponder and reflect on the great story. 

But when "Christmas" begins in September, we are exhausted by 25 December. No wonder most put their Christmas trees on the sidewalk outside their houses by 26 December. They are over it. Families return to their (own) homes, the sales of Black Friday are nothing compared to the Boxing Day sales. Merchandise Day-- it ought to be titled. 

Next year, Hanukkah begins on Christmas. That will be confusing to many, but we have another year to plan for the madness I anticipate then. 

For now, enjoy the end of Advent and ready your heart to prepare Him room. Let every heart prepare Him room.  Born is the King of Israel. Yeshua, Messiah, Saviour. 

What's next? For me it will be Christmas Eve on Sunday and Christmas on Monday. I don't really care if Yeshua was born on that day 2,000 years ago. It's unlikely that it was in the winter. Even so, it doesn't matter -- I'm glad the world stops and notices this story, and some process the wonder and the majesty of the birth of the Messiah who conquered sin 30 years later on the Roman cross in Jerusalem. 

Have you processed that truth? For yourself, I mean? Have you? Will you?

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

To thee.

Process that one. Please.

Merry Messiah-mas!

Hanukkah Questions and Answers

What does Hanukkah celebrate?

https://youtu.be/WiajYjXvGz8

 

Happy Hanukkah! This is the Jewish holiday celebrated worldwide in December each year, which marks the anniversary of a military victory about 2100 years ago. The occupier of the land of Israel then was a Syrian Greek king named Antiochus the Fourth. He was not good for the Jews, and even went so far as to outlaw the Jewish religion. He ordered us Jews to worship Greek gods. In the year 168 B.C., his soldiers massacred hundreds of people in Jerusalem and desecrated the holy Temple. They built an altar to Zeus and sacrificed pigs on it.

 

The story goes that one man, Mattathias Maccabee, and his five sons rose up in a little village named Modi’in, and called on the Jewish people to join them against Antiochus. Their call was successful, as many joined in the fight. Mattathias died a couple years later, and his son Judah Maccabee took over, and finished the recapture of Jerusalem.

 

When they entered the holy Temple, they found the desecration overwhelming. They rededicated the place to the Lord, and celebrated for 8 days. They probably were celebrating Sukkot, a Jewish holiday they could not practice during the final stages of the war against the Syrians a few months earlier.

 

The word ‘dedication’ is the Hebrew word “Hanukkah”, so when we celebrate Hanukkah, we are celebrating the dedication of the holy Temple 2100 years ago, and for messianic Jews, we are dedicating ourselves again and again to the Living God and to His plan, who loves all people in December, and throughout our days. Happy Hanukkah!

 

 

What is the meaning of the Menorah?

https://youtu.be/V8VZalpUuIg

 

The Bible describes a lampstand (Exodus 25.31-34) that was in use in the Holy Temple about 2000 years ago. It had seven branches and was lit with oil. So, the modern Menorah is similar, but not the same as that one. We use nine branches in the modern menorah, which many title a Hanukkiah.

The legend of Hanukkah is retold that when the Maccabees entered the Holy Temple and sought to ready it for regular use again, they found only one small jar of oil that had been prepared. The oil in this jar would have been enough to burn for only one day, but amazingly the little amount lasted for 8 days. So that’s why some people celebrate the holiday for 8 days.

 

But why 9 branches then?

The ninth candle is a servant candle, which is used to light the others in turn.

The menorah in Bible days was a reminder of God’s light being given to all people, representing His knowledge, His presence, and His glory. Yeshua, our Messiah, and the Servant of the Lord, declared Himself to be the “Light of the World” in Jerusalem, and we as Messianic Jews agree. Happy Hanukkah!

 

Did Jesus celebrate Hanukkah?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfvPxPOF_Wk

 

Today when we say ‘holiday celebrations’, we often think of foods, greeting cards and family gatherings, as in celebrating Thanksgiving or Mother’s Day. It’s unfair to link this to the same in ancient Israelite practices. That said, the use of Hanukkah as a marker in the Scriptures is clear. Remember the Older Testament ends before Hanukkah had even taken place. Hanukkah marks a military victory in 165 BCE.

 

Did Yeshua celebrate Hanukkah? He was in Jerusalem, in the Temple, at that time. John chapter 10 records “At that time the Feast of the Dedication (or Hanukkah) took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple! The Jewish leaders gathered around Him, and asked Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me…I and the Father are one.” (John 10.22-30)

Did Yeshua celebrate Hanukkah? Let’s just say he noticed it, was in the right place to observe it with the Jewish people, and used the occasion to declare Himself the Light of the World and Messiah of Israel. What do you think about that? Have a happy Hanukkah.

 

Is Hanukkah a Biblical Feast? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z20rpA2ofTg

 

Neither the word, nor the holiday Hanukkah is found in the record of the Older Testament, since the canon, the official collection of what is in the Scriptures, was closed before the military victory of the Maccabees occurred. So, the Jewish Bible, the one Yeshua read, has no mention of the story of Antiochus and the Syrian Greeks, of Judah Maccabee and the few beating up on the many. The story of Hanukkah is similar to the story of David and Goliath.

That the Newer Testament mentions the holiday (John 10.22) as a marker of a time when Yeshua was in the precinct of the Holy Temple is significant. But most non-Jewish Christians don’t celebrate Hanukkah at all.

Many Jewish believers in Jesus do celebrate the holiday in measure, that is, in some form or another. Whether with dreidels or latkes, with sufganiyot or family gatherings, Hanukkah is a great time of year to remind ourselves of God, and of His love for us.

 

 

Is there a Messianic significance to Hanukkah? 

https://youtu.be/r29w9qo6A28

 

There is no prophetic significance about a coming messiah from the annals of the Jewish people and the holiday of Hanukkah. It is a great time of year, in Israel when the weather is getting colder, and in Russia, Europe and North America, as a sort of answer to all the glitter and merriment of Christmas. In the Southern hemisphere when the weather is warming and summer approaching, the joy of that season is great, but again, nothing is messianic about this holiday.

That said, however, the Messiah did proclaim Himself as deity on Hanukkah. (John 10.30) That proclamation was in direct answer to some Jewish leaders who wanted to know what Yeshua was saying of Himself. On that occasion, in the precinct of the Holy Temple, Yeshua identified Himself as equal with the Father God.

What was the reaction of the crowd, especially of the leadership? They picked up stones to stone him! (John 10.31) They knew what He was saying. Their anger was palpable, and yet He eluded their grasp. (John 10.39)

What is your reaction to the claim—Yeshua claimed to be deity. What do you think about that?  Happy Hanukkah!

 

 

 

 

Is there any connection between Hanukkah and Christmas?

https://youtu.be/SRqWsyDL6Z8

 

The only real connection is the calendar-sharing between the two holidays. Before 1900, the commercialism and consumerism which drives the Christmas season and gift purchasing in these days was not known. I know, it’s hard to imagine a year when we don’t see Christmas glitter and sale items beginning in October in your favorite stores, but before the turn of the 20^th century, Christmas was a quiet, at home, or at church, holy day. In 1930 or so, when Coca Cola began in their advertising, using a department store Santa in a red suit, the Christmas we know in these days was born.

 

As a direct result, Jewish families, who were left out of the traditional Christmas because of religious convictions, created a new Hanukkah, with increased gift giving and decorations which would have been completely unknown 100 years earlier.

 

But the only real connection between Christmas and Hanukkah is that Yeshua, the Light of the World, whose birth was trumpeted by angels and shepherds and wise men 2000 years ago, may not have been born were it not for Hanukkah. If Antiochus and any other evil anti-Semitic king had been successful in wiping out the Jewish people, then there would be no Christmas. After all, Christmas is a Jewish holiday. It’s the celebration of the birth of the greatest Jew who ever lived. Who do you think Jesus is? Have a happy Hanukkah!

 

Can our family celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas? 

https://youtu.be/h8U8DpOSOU8

 

So many families today are blends of races or religions, of step-children and 2^nd partners, that it’s often hard to keep track of traditions and compatibilities. At this time of year, when people of faith want to lock into history and future, we heartily recommend an honest celebration of holidays.

 

If your family is composed of someone Jewish and someone Christian, perhaps a mutual joint celebration of each, in the integrity of each holiday would be warranted.

 

For Jewish people, Hanukkah is the story of God delivering us from evil and oppression. We were freed to practice our religion however we saw fit. According to the Bible, Christmas, or the birth of Yeshua, celebrates the deliverance of all people from sin, and its power to oppress and dominate us. Both holidays are about freedom and about God.

 

Don’t blur them into being neither fish nor fowl. What I mean is don’t use a Christmukah bush or something which would demean both holidays of their deeper meaning. Let Hanukkah talk about God; let Christmas talk to you about the birth of the King of Israel.

 

Happy Hanukkah! Shalom.

 

What's your score? A Rosh Hashanah message for 2023 (5784)

 What’s your score?

Sydney, Australia

 

Introduction

L’shana tovah to you as we begin 5784 and ponder the subject of scorekeeping and Rosh Hashanah.

Backstory

When I was a kid back in the United States, along with some other children in the neighbourhood, I put on some stage plays, sometimes even written for Jewish holidays like Passover or Hanukkah. And our parents came along to watch our early evening performances and gave us kind, and probably forced, applause. We children felt good about our writing, our editing, and of course, the shows themselves. 

At school, we often had to make speeches about the weather or about a subject we had studied in science class. Sometimes it was practice for a debate that was scheduled. But nothing in school or in the neighbourhood prepared me for my Bar Mitzvah. That day, almost 60 years ago is forever engraved on my mind and let me tell you it was scary.

My Bar Mitzvah

I don’t think I had ever been so nervous.  My mouth was terribly dry, yet the palms of my hands were puddled with sweat.  I had studied intensely for a whole year to prepare me for these next few hours.  Would I stumble over the Hebrew I had studied so carefully? Would I remember my speech, the only part of my bar mitzvah I was to present in English?  I was about to become a “son of the commandment” through the ceremony that initiates a 13-year-old boy into the religious life of the Jewish community!  I would be responsible to obey the Torah and all its accompanying codes of oral tradition.  Quite a heavy responsibility for one who, in many ways, was still a child. The rabbi called me forward to lead the shacharit, the morning service.  I faced a frightening sea of faces.  

I imagined each person with a clipboard, waiting to evaluate my performance and turn in a score to some panel of judges. Not that there were any such clipboards or judges, but I was greatly concerned with doing well to please and impress everyone who had come to hear me.

 Latecomers trickled in and the large sanctuary was filling up quickly. Reassuring smiles of friends and relatives helped.  Even my Spanish teacher from school was there, along with the third-baseman for the Kansas City Athletics.  It was time to start.  After a few minutes of canting the familiar melodies, my nervousness dissolved.  

  After the almost-three-hour service, I chanted the final prayers, the musaf for the Sabbath. Then it was over, and I sat down.

Afterwards, there was plenty of food and drink and merry-making.  People congratulated me and wished me great success in the future.  I felt good.  It was over and I had done well; I could relax and enjoy being the guest of honour.

Do you ever feel that way, as well? That part about being judged? Do you think people are judging you and giving you a low score for whatever reason? Every day on the television news we hear of people going to court for some crime committed against others, for driving badly or for starting a fire. These people go to court and must give testimony and hope the judge pardons them or at least gives them a lighter sentence. They stand before the judge who decided their fate and these people have no control over their circumstance. 

God as King on Rosh Hashanah

You know on Rosh Hashanah that we Jews acknowledge God as the king of our lives. We eat challah which is round, signifying the crown of a king. We recite prayers that ask for forgiveness because we believe that as king he has power like a judge to forgive us. Here’s the problem; most of us think of God like a sports judge, like an Olympic judge giving our athlete a lower score in the swimming pool, or a diver, on the floor exercises or skating on ice to a musical score by Tchaikovsky. No matter what we do, and no matter how excellent our performance, if the judges say we score only 7.3 instead of 9.5, then we will lose in the competition. 

There is no further evaluation; there is no appeal to a higher authority. When the Olympic judge decides a number, that’s the number. Yes, there are others involved, as no single judge determines the ranking of an athlete, but together the judges decide. 

On Rosh Hashanah we begin the 10 days. These 10 days according to our tradition, give us another year of life, or not. We are written in the Book of Life, or we are not written in the book. And that’s similar to getting a one-year extension of living, breathing, existing on planet earth. That’s all the rabbis teach us. The Book of Life, in their view, is about living until next Rosh Hashanah. Nothing longer lasting than that. It all seems so random. 

Especially since we are talking about being judged rightly. 

Another king on forgiveness

Elvis Presley, the American known as the King of Rock and Roll, wrote a song called “Evening Prayer” in which he asked God for forgiveness.

“If I have wounded any souls today;

If I have caused one's foot to go astray;

If I have walked in an unwilful way;

Dear Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee.

Forgive my secret sins I do not see.

Oh, guide, watch over me and my keeper be.

Dear Lord, amen!”

Maybe you have asked God to forgive you for a particular sin or maybe a group of sins. If so, in this season of repentance and making right with others, do you think God heard you? On what basis do you have the confidence that God is listening? What if he is as cavalier as the Olympic judges? What if he doesn’t forgive you?

Another king on forgiveness

Let’s consider the greatest king of the Jewish people, King David from 3,000 years ago. According to the Scriptures, he was a man ‘after God’s heart.’ That phrase means that David and God were in good relationship with each other, that David knew the Lord personally. And that is a good reference point for this question. 

Listen to these words from Psalm 130.

Psa. 130:1       “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.

²        Lord, hear my voice! 

         Let Your ears be attentive 

         To the voice of my supplications.

³        If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, 

         O Lord, who could stand?

⁴        But there is forgiveness with You, 

         That You may be feared.

Psa. 130:5       I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, 

         And in His word do I hope.

⁶        My soul waits for the Lord 

         More than the watchmen for the morning; 

         Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

⁷        O Israel, hope in the LORD; 

         For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, 

         And with Him is abundant redemption.

⁸        And He will redeem Israel 

         From all his iniquities.”

 

King David knew that God was well able to ‘mark iniquities’ and if he did, then none of us would stand. Certainly King David would not survive. David’s prayer, like Elvis’ prayer is based on God, not on us. David was a good man, but he failed many times in family situations, committing murder and adultery. He knew his own sins. We know his sins because they are recorded in the Bible. On what basis is David praying for forgiveness? On the basis of God’s character, not because David deserves anything. 

For us in 2023

I share this information with you today to encourage you. Some of you, especially those from Russia/ Ukraine, were raised without religious hope. You were taught 

“O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people,
To Communism's triumph lead us on!”

Партия Ленина - сила народная
Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведёт!

Here in Australia, in Sydney, in 2023, what is the strength of the people? What is the great hope of our lives, of our family, for us today?  It’s wrapped up in King David’s words from 3,000 years ago. If we come boasting in our national strength, or our political party’s strength; if we think we deserve to have an easy life or 20 more years of living, if our life in Sydney is dependent on us and our behaviours, we will not make it well. 

There is one hope we as Jews have had, from the earliest days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even to these days. Our hope is in God, as David said, “O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption and He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Hope that is an anchor

When you hear the word ‘hope’ you might be less confident. You might use the same word when you buy a lottery ticket. “I hope I win!” But you don’t win. Or you might hope that your sports team wins in the Grand Final. You might hope the train or the bus comes very quickly. You might hope that you get a job that pays you very well. In each of those hopes, you have lived long enough to know that that hope will not pay off. In that case, you are using the word more like a ‘wish’. But that’s not how King David used the word. And it’s clarified in the Brit Hadasha by the writer of Hebrews.

Heb. 6:19 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.”

What is hope there? It’s the assurance that God is listening. He hears us. He delivers us. He saves us. 

Now don’t get me wrong. Every year people who have hope die. The rabbis get this one wrong. The Book of Life is not about surviving another 365 days. The Book of Life (Revelation 3.5) is one in which our names can be written for a forever future. How are we written there? Only if we trust in Yeshua, Jesus, to forgive us our sins, known and unknown, and receive him as Lord and Saviour of our lives. This hope is not whimsical or capricious. It is not an annually renewable contract. This hope is an anchor. An anchor that stabilizes even the largest of ships, that prevents it being lost, a guarantee of a better future. Our hope is fixed if we believe and trust in Yeshua to forgive us and fill us with his life and his Spirit. 

Invitation

Do you want that experience? Have you the hope that is an anchor of your soul? Do you want the forgiveness of all your sins, past, present, and future? There is only one way to be sure of that. There is only one way to have your name written in the Book of Life. By believing in Yeshua. Faith is the victory; faith is the hope of all mankind. Faith in the One who died for our sins and who alone can save us. 

If you want to be written in the Book of Eternal Life, pray with me just now. Pray this prayer and ask Messiah Yeshua to give you eternal life.

Father, in Yeshua’s name, I admit that my sins are great. I’m sorry for all the wrong I have done. I have not loved you with my whole heart. I have not loved my neighbour as myself. I’m truly sorry and I humbly repent. Please forgive me and make me born again. Today. Just now. I receive Yeshua as my Saviour; he alone can save me. He alone can make me to start over, to begin again, even on this day. The first day of the Jewish year, I receive Yeshua. Amen. 

Let us know

If you have just prayed that prayer, for the first time in your life, if you have just now received Messiah Yeshua as Saviour and as your Lord, please let me know, and tell me, won’t you? We confess him publicly and we gain the comfort of being with others who believe this as well. We have a family with whom to walk. A forgiven family. A loving family.