My Raison D’etre and Other Thoughts

I missed my Thursday post and the usual time for my Sunday post. Thursday's was a matter of not having much time this week and wanting to spend what I had working on an article that I hope to get published in a peer-reviewed journal. Today's was due to first taking a bit of a …

The Example of Daniel

One of the criticisms often leveled against Messianic Judaism is that we cannot truly keep the whole Torah because the Temple, and with it, the sacrificial service, has been destroyed. However, those arguing from the temporary removal of the Holy Place forget that 70 CE was not the first time the Temple was destroyed and …

A Tale of Four Brothers

Imagine for a moment that you had two sons, who we’ll call Jacob and John. Jacob and John are stubborn, strong-willed, and resistant to punishment, so when they hit their teenage years, there’s a lot of chaos in the house. Sometimes you have to punish them severely, and on at least one prior occasion you …

Neither Dispensationalism nor Supercessionism, Part 7: A Call to Brotherhood

Realizing the extent to which the Gentile inclusion in God's Kingdom was prophesied is obviously a severe, perhaps even a mortal blow to Dispensationalism, insofar as that system depends on an assumption that the Church is a peculiar “not-Gentile, not-Jewish” entity never spoken of in the Old Testament. Obviously, the Tanakh speaks of both Jew …

Middle Eastern Christians and anti-Semitism (via the Middle East Forum)

A fascinating, if saddening insight into the mindset of Christians in the Middle-east courtesy of the Middle East Forum: by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi The Jerusalem Post August 2, 2011 I was recently told by my aunt in Baghdad that there was a widespread belief among Iraqis that some external force was behind the protests and …

Rabbinic ruling on Jewish identity doesn’t pass muster at Interior Ministry – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

This looked interesting.  Hat tip to the Failed Messiah blog for bringing it to my attention. Is a person who is Jewish according to Jewish law necessarily considered Jewish by the State of Israel? The Interior Ministry has for years been saying no. The Population Registry refuses to recognize as Jews people who do not …

Does Replacement Make Sense? (via Drschiffman’s Blog)

Dr. Schiffman has posted one of the best refutations of Replacement Theology ever, and one that fits very nicely with our own Adoption Theology, or what David H. Stern called Olive Tree Theology. Enjoy. Shalom I was speaking to a group of people about the Jewish people in  the heart of God.  Someone raised a …

Threatened Israel in need to know if Jesus is their Messiah (via News that matters)

A bit of pleasant news for a change. I'll have a full blog post later. Shalom There is an upsurge in interest among secular and religious Israelis to know more about Jesus. The Messianic ministry Revive Israel located just outside Jerusalem reports that its staff and partner ministries have experienced an upsurge in interest among …

Timing the Contractions

I was originally going to blog about starting the Daf Yomi cycle--the "page a day" reading of the Talmud, which takes seven years to complete--but frankly, that will wait another day or two.  There's just too much going on right now. Let's take a look at what our Great Rabbi predicted alongside the news of …

Keeping Things in Bitter Perspective

The Rosh Pina Project reports on the ongoing Ashdod protests taking a nasty turn: Israel Pochter, the head of the Messianic community now under siege, reported that Monday night (7th March) the police allowed another demonstration until 8pm at which time the police disbanded the demo and the officers went home allowing hardcore anti-messianics to …