Do Jews still exist?

[Ronit]

Wow this is a loaded question and a loaded subject.
But I have to ask, does it matter in the long run? Is this a moot argument?
I guess everybody probably has a little of everything in them. Only God knows. We just have to act like His children

 

[Ronit]

It’s the stuff the History channel and liberal theology spouts out to the public.

Yeah I know the History channel is a great purveyor of shaking the faith.

 

[Athanasius377]

Considering antisemitism has been rampant since the 1st Century AD to this day, there have always been Hebrew-Jewish people and societies.

And actually it was 10th Century AD that we have the extant copies of the Hebrew Scriptures.

And no...The majority of the Jews who came home to Israel after 1948 were actually Jews and not converts to Judaism. They were what was left of what Hitler and Stalin did not murder.

Great points. I would also add that and supposed conversion of this Jewish settlement in the late 1940s has more to do with a rebirthing of their faith due to not only the holocaust but also the centuries of pograms and hostility within the Russian Empire as well has the upheaval during the 30 years war in what is today present day Germany. That’s why there were Jews in the Soviet Union because they got run out of Strausburg in the 16th and 17 century. What was then. Poland-Lithuanian commonwealth was far more tolerant than Western Europe. Gradually the Russian Empire annexed these areas and that’s the reason so many Jews came from the USSR.

The Tsars were by no means Nazis but they weren’t exactly tolerant either at times. I know it’s a movie but does any remember “Fiddler on the Roof” and the opening scene “Tradition”?

 

[DamianWarS]

I hope not, because that would mean the whole foundation of our faith would also be broken off (including Jesus). I believe the faithful ancient Israelites are part of the Olive Tree...but I also believe ancient Judaism ended in 70 AD.

View attachment 276029

Jesus is the tree, the father the roots. I agree the faithful ancients are the natural branches, but are those branches only representative of those long gone?

 

[DamianWarS]

There have always been gentile converts to Judaism

What makes a natural branch? A convert? Bloodline? Something else?

 

[DamianWarS]

Isaiah 49:1
Revelation 7

Yes, but they are scattered all over this earth. God knows exactly where His remnant will be and will seal them when the time comes.

Could this spiritual Israel?

 

[DamianWarS]

When Christ foretold the destruction of the temple, the Spiritual message he was giving was that every stone in your temple must be placed by God The Father with Christ as the cornerstone. Every stone not placed by God The Father is coming down.

There are multiple dimensions to Christ's prophecy. A massive Jewish diaspora was the result of the destruction of the temple or scattering of each brick, with no brick left standing. If bricks are Israel and the diaspora them being thrown down what does it look like if we are talking about a tree? Where all natural branches broken off too as all bricks were thrown down or as all Jews scattered across the earth?

 

[DamianWarS]

Do Jews still exist ? OF COURSE they do !

Are they natural branches of the Olive tree as per Romans 11?

 

[Radagast]

What is an "Ashkenazi Jew" and how pure is the blood line compared with Moses or Abraham?

Ashkenazi Jews are about 50% European (resulting from two different intermarriage periods). The genetics has been very well studied, in part because of certain genetic diseases affecting the Ashkenazi community.

 

[DamianWarS]

Wow this is a loaded question and a loaded subject.
But I have to ask, does it matter in the long run? Is this a moot argument?
I guess everybody probably has a little of everything in them. Only God knows. We just have to act like His children

It's not about attacking a heritage or mean a group isn't deserving of an ancient identity or lineage
My question is more as it pertains to Romans 11. Surely branches cut off may still be called "Jew" so the use of this term may be short sited on my part, I only meant to mirror biblical language with "Jew" contrasted with "Gentile. If I may rephrase is there still a remnant of Israel as per Romans 11?

 

[DamianWarS]

Ashkenazi Jews are about 50% European (resulting from two different intermarriage periods). The genetics has been very well studied, in part because of certain genetic diseases affecting the Ashkenazi community.

A perfect example of what happened with the Jewish diaspora especially when cites as a high pedigree. So may Ashkenazi Jews be identified as born into the Olive tree of Romans 11 or are they no longer natural branches? Or does the Olive tree have nothing to do with which family you were born into and it is more about covenants.

 

[dqhall]

Jesus is the tree, the father the roots. I agree the faithful ancients are the natural branches, but are those branches only representative of those long gone?

Jesus is the vine. That is the trunk and roots. Disciples are the branches, the offshoots. Vine pruners call the main vine the leader. Smaller branches may be pruned out or grafted in. The leader is kept. Jesus said his father is the pruner. From John 15.

 

[Aussie Pete]

there has been a number of Jewish diasporas over the centuries, most notable the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and subsequent exile. A lot of time has passed and since then Hebrew has become a dead language since the 2nd century (now revived only a little over 100 years ago). Over this wide spread of people to distant lands, time and loss of identity is there really any such thing as a Jew today? or are we all Gentile?

Yes. There are Jews by descent, religious Jews and cultural Jews. They have maintained their identity in spite of everything that they've endured over the last 2,000 years.

 

[Swan7]

Could this spiritual Israel?

We, who used to be Gentiles as wild branches, are grafted into the olive tree.
Abraham, the father of the faithful, is our forefather which we are adopted into.
Jesus Christ redeemed all who believe in Him by His blood on the cross and gave us a new birth, spiritually.

Spiritual Israel? I guess that depends how you perceive it, Biblically and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

[DamianWarS]

Jesus is the vine. That is the trunk and roots. Disciples are the branches, the offshoots. Vine pruners call the main vine the leader. Smaller branches may be pruned out or grafted in. The leader is kept. Jesus said his father is the pruner. From John 15.

That's a separate analogy, I'm sure there is cross over but I was looking at Romans 11

 

[DamianWarS]

Yes. There are Jews by descent, religious Jews and cultural Jews. They have maintained their identity in spite of everything that they've endured over the last 2,000 years.

Which ones are the natural branches of Romans 11?

 

[DamianWarS]

We, who used to be Gentiles as wild branches, are grafted into the olive tree.
Abraham, the father of the faithful, is our forefather which we are adopted into.
Jesus Christ redeemed all who believe in Him by His blood on the cross and gave us a new birth, spiritually.

Spiritual Israel? I guess that depends how you perceive it, Biblically and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual in that we are not genetically Israel but grafted in through Christ.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Which ones are the natural branches of Romans 11?

The physical descendants, in my view. I am not dogmatic about it.

 

[DamianWarS]

We, who used to be Gentiles as wild branches, are grafted into the olive tree.
Abraham, the father of the faithful, is our forefather which we are adopted into.
Jesus Christ redeemed all who believe in Him by His blood on the cross and gave us a new birth, spiritually.

Spiritual Israel? I guess that depends how you perceive it, Biblically and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Israel in that our identity with Israel is through Christ.

 

[DamianWarS]

The physical descendants, in my view. I am not dogmatic about it.

And how pure does one have to be? I understand you're not dogmatic about it but I'm sure we all could connect the dots back to Abraham if knew our entire genealogy.