As far as Israel is concerned God’s purpose in the last days is to correct the wrong understanding of the Messiah and reveal that Yeshua, Jesus, is the Messiah. This is strongly contested today as Jewish people are being taught not to believe in Jesus. One book which is popular in Jewish circles is Asher Norman’s book ‘26 Reasons why Jews don’t believe in Jesus.’ In this he states that there are...
From our article ‘Biblical prophecies about Israel’ we should expect to see the following sequence of events taking place regarding Israel. The Jewish people scattered from the land of Israel and dwelling amongst the Gentile nations of the earth. The Jewish people keeping their identity in the lands of dispersion and re-gathering to Israel. This re-gathering to be in unbelief. A time of...
The Bible contains a number of prophecies relating to Israel in the last days of this age (in the Old Testament the time before the ‘Day of the Lord’ and in the New Testament the time before the Second Coming of Messiah). Many of these speak of the following happening: A return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. A time of trouble. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Most of the church...
Prophecies of the first coming of Messiah Messiah to be born in Bethlehem: Prophecy: ‘But as for you Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.’ Micah 5.2 (5.1 in Jewish Bibles). Fulfilment: ‘And when he (Herod) had gathered all the chief priests...
The issue about the identity of the Messiah is not just an academic one, but it is a vital one for everyone living on the earth, especially the Jewish people. The rebirth of Israel and the crisis in the Middle East is raising an interest in what the Bible has to say about the Messiah and the end of days amongst many people today. In an article on the Aish website, Rabbi Wilson has written:...
‘OK. So Jesus can be the Saviour for the Christians if you like, but we Jews have their own way to God. You go to the middle man, we go straight to the boss!’ This is a common response to the kind of argument presented so far on this website. As far as Judaism is concerned there is no need for a Mediator, because God reveals himself directly to Israel through the Torah. ‘Torah is the...
In the prophecy of Daniel mentioned in our article ‘The Fall of the Second Temple’ it says that Messiah will come before the destruction of the second Temple and that following his coming there will be wars and desolations. This of course does not square with the majority view of Messiah in the Jewish community today. In discussion with a Jewish friend, he said to me, ‘Your Jesus can’t be the...
So what about the animal sacrifices today? There are some Jews who wish to rebuild the Temple and bring in the animal sacrifices again. The Temple Mount Faithful are recreating the items used in the Temple and petitioning the Vatican to return the golden menorah taken by the Romans in 70 CE to Rome and which is believed to be stored in the Vatican vaults. This is very much a minority concern...
Isaiah 53 spoke of the Servant ‘sprinkling many nations’ and related this to the blood of atonement provided by Jesus. In the book of Hebrews the connection is made between the blood shed in the animal sacrifices as required in Leviticus and the blood Jesus shed as the Messiah. However modern Judaism teaches that the blood of atonement is no longer required today. When the Temple was destroyed...
By far the biggest stumbling block to any consideration of Jesus being the Messiah is the claim that He is equal with God / Son of God. I was discussing this question with an Orthodox Jewish friend. He said that such an idea is completely impossible for Jewish people to accept. So I asked him, ‘What is your idea of the Messiah?’ He said that the Messiah is a great man, not a...