Hello!
I am posting as a guest. I was nervous to make sure I understood what was allowed here and I was going to be disappointed if I could not ask my question here. I have so much respect for the Jewish people who G-d has chosen and called to be a blessing to all nations!
I ask a simple question: I know there are many different views on MJ and I am really curious to know how MJ interpret the Bible and such.
I am on this forum to learn though I will be sharing my perspective at times (but this applies much less so for this special section of the forum as I want to respect the rules here).
I believe there is a special blessing for Jews today just as there was before and this has not changed with the new covenant.
So if you could give a few highlights of how the MJ people see the Bible I would be eager to know what you believe!
Thank you.
Hello and welcome!
Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17-23) and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is, so repenting from our disobedience to it is an integral part of the Gospel message, which he prophesied would be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:12-14). Furthermore, Jesus set a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Torah, so he would have still taught full obedience to the Torah by example even if he had said nothing, and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22). In Titus 2:14, Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so if we believe both in what Jesus accomplished through his ministry and through the cross, then we will repent and become zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Torah (Acts 21:20).
Jesus did not come to start his own religion following a different God with a different nature, but rather he came to bring fullness to Judaism as its Jewish Messiah in fulfillment of Jewish Prophecy. He practiced Judaism by setting a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Torah and did not hypocritically preach something other than what he practiced, so he taught his followers how to obey it by word and by example. In Acts 21:20-24, they were rejoicing that tens of thousands of Jews were coming to faith who were all zealous for the Torah and Paul took steps to disprove false rumors that he was teaching against the Torah and to show that he continued to live in obedience to it, so Jews who were coming to faith in Jesus were not ceasing to be Torah observant. On the contrary, some Jews were Herodians or nominal, which means that not all Jews were zealous for the Torah, so I believe that coming to faith in Jesus was causing Jews who weren't zealous for the Torah to become zealous for it. Gentile Christians were not included until Acts 10, which was roughly 7-15 years after the resurrection of Jesus, so all Christians were Torah observant Jews until Acts 10, which means that Christianity at its origin was the form of Judaism that recognized Jesus as its prophesied Messiah, and this is the form of Christianity that I seek by faith to follow. In Acts 15:21, Gentiles were learning about how to obey Moses every Sabbath in the synagogues, so I see early Gentile believers as repenting and being zealous for learning how to do good works in obedience to the Torah it rather than trying to start their own religion following a different God with a different nature.
The Bible often equates the Mosaic Covenant as being a marriage relationship between God and Israel, so the Israelites needed to be taught how to have a relationship with God, or how to experientially know and be known by Him. The Bible often uses the same terms to describe the nature of God as it does to describe the nature of God's Torah, which is because it is His instructions for how to express His nature, such as with it being holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12), or with justice, mercy, and faithfulness being weightier matters of the Torah (Matthew 23:23). In Jeremiah 9:3 and 9:6, they did not experientially know God and refused to know Him because in 9:13, they had forsaken the Torah, while in 9:24, those who experientially know God know that he delights in practicing steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in all of the earth, so when we delight in practicing those and other aspects of God's nature though our actions in obedience to the Torah, we are expressing our love for who God is, we are acting as a light and a blessing to the nations through testifying about who God is, and we are experientially coming to know God. Likewise, in 1 John 2:3, those who say that know Jesus, but don't obey his commands are liars and the truth is not in them, and in 1 John 3:4-6, sin is the transgression of the Torah, and those who continue to practice sin have neither seen nor know him. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said that he would tell those who were workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he new knew them, so the Torah is God's instructions for how to know and be known by Christ, who is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), and who expressed that nature though his actions in sinless obedience to the Torah. This is also why Jesus said in John 5:39-40 that the Scriptures testify about him.
The Torah testifies about Christ and we should live in a way that testifies about Christ, therefore, we should live in obedience to the Torah. On the other hand, rejecting the Torah is rejecting what was given to teach us about the nature of the God of Israel and to testify about Christ, which is therefore bearing false witness against him.
Feel free to PM me if you want to challenge or further discuss anything that I've said.