For those who know me, I am extremely interested in Jewish things. I love learning about the feasts of Israel, how the Jews view the bible, particularly from Jews that Believe in Messiah Ben Joseph ( which means literally Messiah son of Joseph or people call Him Yeshua and as everyone I know calls Him, Jesus).   For about two weeks I’ve keenly been waiting on a book to arrive, its not a Christian book, but rather its a Jewish book written by Raphael Patai, what I want to do is as I read each chapter of the book give a summary of it and write my thoughts about what is written in the text.  The introduction of the book is quite long, so I am not sure if I will do a summary of that in my blog, and it seems to cover quite a bit in the introduction, so I may or may not… I’ll decide that after I read the introduction.   What I especially want to do, is see how the Messiah the Jews are believing in related to the Messiah I believe in, from what I’ve read so far, the Messiah they believe in sounds very much like what Jesus is prophesied to do in His return. 

But the aim of this will be to give people reading my blog (as well as being a reminder to me), an understanding of the general Jewish belief in the Messiah, as well as how I see Jesus fitting into all of this.

Anyway, just so you have an idea of what the book is about I’m going to write the description from the back of the book:

"Following a detailed introduction to the world of messianic ideology and its significance in Jewish history, The Messiah Texts traces the progress of the messianic legend from its biblical beginnings to contemporary expressions.

"Renowned scholar Raphael Patai has skillfully selected passages from a voluminous literature spanning three millennia.  Using his own translations from Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Latin, and other original texts, Patai excerpts delightful folk tales, apocalyptic fantasies, and parables of prophetic power.  All are central to the understanding of a magnificent heritage.  Patai also investigates the false messiahs who have appeared throughout Jewish history, the modern Messiah-influenced movements such as reform Judaism and Zionism, and the numerous reasons put forth by the various branches of Judaism as to why the Messiah has not yet appeared.

"Raphael Patai is an internationally regarded anthropologist, Orientalist, and biblical scholar.  He has written over six hundred articles and two dozen books…"

Today I didn’t have any life group on, so I decided I’ve visit the local synagogue that is within Albert Street in Brisbane city. I had wanted to visit this for awhile, but I’d either forget or I’d have life group on. Anyway my visit went something like this. I walked up to the synagogue and was greated by a man who told me to leave my bag in the outer room, and then I was instructed to put on this round circular cap thing on my head (I don’t know its name), which made me feel a little self-conscious…lol.. my cap wasn’t as nice as the other ones…haha… anyway I was told to grab a book from this thing that was in the middle, its like the picture below except it had a bookshelf around on the outside, its where the guy leading the meeting sings out the psalms and songs.

Anyway I just watched everyone one and read the book (it had both Hebrew and English), After a heap of singing out hebrew things, a guy stood up to give a short message. He talked about Joeseph and how they consider him righteous because even though he was tested to commit immorality he remained pure, and even though he was put in jail he remained faithful to God. This of coarse drew my attention, I had often wondered how the story of Joseph related to Jesus. Just as Joseph is considered righteous because he remained faithful to God when tested, Jesus was faithful to God in all things, even to the point of Death. Just like Joseph was tested and tried, sold into slavery and thrown into Jail, Jesus has gone through punishment of a sinner. Being sentenced to death on the cross, Jesus went through to Sheol, the bars of Sheol. And Just like Joseph was first tried and tested and then made 2nd over all egypt and having done so was able to provide food so that His father and brothers who where promised to be a great nation would not die, Jesus after his visit to Sheol sits at the right hand of God till all his enemies will be made a footstool (soon to happen I believe). And just as Joseph provided food so does Jesus through His body offer food (spiritual food) to all those that will call on His name.

[22] “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
[23] The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
[24] yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
[25] by the God of your father who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
[26] The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
(Genesis 49:22-26 ESV)

I had come to the end of a maze, all the walls where white, and I was with another man that wore a white suite… he brought me to a white door with a square glass window. As he brought me to the door he stood next to it and said to me “God wants to see you”, now this was something in my family that would usually happen when we where in trouble so I was a bit nervous. Anyway, next to this door was a small crack in which I could run away and avoid God, I started to make a dash for the gap but then realized I cannot run from God, I should go in and face what will happen. I opened the door and walked into the room, or it would probably better to say space…. I was floating in outerspace, though I had complete control over where I moved. Anyway I saw a throne in front of me and looked down, I thought God would surely condemn me. But then to my surprise, God reached right into me (without words) and let me know that I was fully accepted, I he gave me absolutely everything I needed to feel like a full human… I felt at that moment in my dream like I was what I was supposed to be, I felt whole, complete and accepted… it felt like nothing I have ever felt here on earth. Then I woke up…

God brought this dream to me today though to say something else to me, he spoke to me and said, what was with you when you where in front of me? I thought about it… nothing was, it was just me and Him, and I had felt so complete. I began to think about this. I thought wow, God is really the all of what we need, nothing else… God alone…I should give up all and put God first because he is all I need.

After these thoughts I arrived at life group with it still coming up in the back of my mind every so often, then during praise and worship John shared this verse:

[31] Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:31-33 ESV)

The general gist of the night was about giving your all to God, something that God had brought to my own mind. But God was planning on teaching me one thing more about it. As the night went on I realized that God wanting us to give us our all to Him is actually because He loves us that much.. I thought about myself before God, I had nothing but me and thats how God loved me… just as I am… me!! with nothing to give but myself, and God loves me…. now How could I not give my all to a God that loves me in such a way. I can’t even begin to fathom how much God loves me, you or anyone… think about it… its incomprehensibly.  When I realized how surrendering all fits into God’s love for me I became more willing in my heart to surrender. God’s loves us completely, and he also is all of what we need. Lets surrender our all to God because we know he cares about us

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

And after talking about God’s love, I really cannot leave this blog without mentioning about how God showed us this love through Jesus…. The Father sent His Son Jesus, to take on the sins of the world on himself, God loved us so much that he would die to spend eternity with you!!! now think about that!…. If someone was willing to give their life to save yours, how do you think they feel about you? God loved you that much….Since God gave up His life for us, lets give up our lives for Him.

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18 ESV)

[16] By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:16-17 ESV)

Today in Church when the pastor mentioned about Jesus, my mind suddenly remembered how I was earlier thinking about what Jesus said to the Pharisees when asked “are you the Song of God?” it reads like this:

[63] But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” [64] Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” [65] Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. [66] What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”
(Matthew 26:63-66 ESV)

The thing that most people would not realise is Jesus is actually quoting Daniel and a Psalms

The verses:

[13] “I saw in the night visions,
 
    and behold, with the clouds of heaven
        there came one like a son of man,
    and he came to the Ancient of Days
        and was presented before him.
     [14] And to him was given dominion
        and glory and a kingdom,
    that all peoples, nations, and languages
        should serve him;
    his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
        which shall not pass away,
    and his kingdom one
        that shall not be destroyed.
(Daniel 7:13-14 ESV)

[110:1] The LORD says to my Lord:
        “Sit at my right hand,
    until I make your enemies your footstool.”
(Psalm 110:1 ESV)

Jesus identifying himself as the long awaited Messiah that Israel was all hoping for, and also as God’s divine son. But this was not the messiah the Jews where expecting. According to “http://www.gotquestions.org/right-hand-God.html” to sit at the is defined as the following:
“In addition, a person of high rank who put someone on his right hand gave him equal honour with himself and recognized him as possessing equal dignity and authority.”
Jesus clearly identified himself as the Son of Man from the Daniel text and equal to God.  Its interesting to note that the Daniel 7 verse clearly notes that the one presented before the ancient of days would be in human likeness and given a kingdom that would last forever ie the kingdom of heaven. 

One of the messianic expectations from Jews that reject Jesus is the they believe the messiah (mashiach) to be political. Tracey R Rich quotes on her website http://www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm:
The mashiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5). The mashiach is often referred to as "mashiach ben David" (mashiach, son of David). He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5). He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15). But above all, he will be a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.
This view represents the view that the Jews in Jesus’ day had of what the messiah should be. When Jesus quoted Daniel 7 and Palms 110 he was placing himself on equal status with God and this view of the messiah was clearly far from their minds. Upon quoting the scripture the High priest tore his clothes (a sign of disgust) and judged Jesus worthy of death. The high priest thought he was following the laws of Moses which say in Leviticus:

[16] Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
(Leviticus 24:16 ESV)

Most Jews in had in their mind a political messiah, who would over throw the roman empire, restore Jerusalem and bring peace to the entire world. But Jesus came to die for the sins of the world, he was at that time setting up the kingdom of God in the hearts of men, bringing people into a right relationship with God. After Jesus was crucified and appeared to his disciples after the resurrection they still had in their mind that Jesus would restore Jerusalem and bring world peace, but Jesus told them:

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
(Acts 1:6-7 ESV)

Jesus had come at that time to suffer as the suffering Messiah, but in the future we will see Him coming on the clouds as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, victorious over death and hades. My view is that Jesus will restore Jerusalem as some point in the future and all the saints will judge it, my idea of this comes from the following verses:

    [4] Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
(Revelation 20:4 ESV)

The whole of Israel will repent one day when the full number of gentiles come in:

[25] Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
(Romans 11:25 ESV)

combined with the verse below, has significance, Israel won’t see Jesus again till they repent. This would either be Jesus coming on the clouds I believe or on the white horse.

[37] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! [38] See, your house is left to you desolate. [39] For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
(Matthew 23:37-39 ESV)

I also think revelation 1000 year reign is a fulfilment of the prophesy given to David:

[10] And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, [11] from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
(2 Samuel 7:10-11 ESV)

    [2] It shall come to pass in the latter days
        that the mountain of the house of the LORD
    shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
        and shall be lifted up above the hills;
    and all the nations shall flow to it,
         [3] and many peoples shall come, and say:
    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
        to the house of the God of Jacob,
    that he may teach us his ways
        and that we may walk in his paths.”
    For out of Zion shall go the law,
        and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
     [4] He shall judge between the nations,
        and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
    and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
        and their spears into pruning hooks;
    nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
        neither shall they learn war anymore.
(Isaiah 2:2-4 ESV)

Also refer to Isaiah 11

1.    A leader is trustworthy
2.    A leader takes the initiative
3.    A leader uses good judgement
4.    A leader speaks with authority
5.    A leader strengthens others
6.    A leader is optimistic and enthusiastic
7.    A leader never compromises the absolutes
8.    A leader focuses on objectives, not obstacles
9.    A leader empowers by example
10.  A leader cultivates loyalty
11.  A leader has empathy for others
12.  A leader keeps a clear conscience
13.  A leader is definite and decisive
14.  A leader knows when to change his mind
15.  A leader does not abuse his authority
16.  A leader doesn’t abdicate his role in the face of opposition
17.  A leader is sure of his calling
18.  A leader knows his own limitations
19.  A leader is resilient
20.  A leader is passionate
21.  A leader is courageous
22.  A leader is discerning
23.  A leader is disciplined
24.  A leader is energetic
25.  A leader knows how to delegate
26.  A leader is Christlike

[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (James 1:22-24 ESV)

I get curious how many of us can spend every night reading the bible, instructing us to love others as ourselves yet when approached by the homeless man turn him down for food, yet when you are hungry your quite happy to go feed your own stomach. Do we have our quite time spending time with God merely to learn more about God, then go away then do nothing with it? If we don’t put into practice what we learn from the bible we are fooling ourselves. James compared it to a man who looks in the mirror and forgets what he looks like, in other words that man doesn’t know himself physically, but the verse means something spiritual, in other words the man who doesn’t put into practice the word of God is like a man who doesn’t know who he is spiritually. Jesus himself, tells us that a man how doesn’t build his life upon his word, is like a man that builds his house on the sand, the storm came and the loss was great but building our life on the commands of Jesus is like building our house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27) . When someone builds they have to get the materials needed to build the house, and it takes action, they don’t just get the materials and sit around and wait for the house to build itself!!! we need to be people of action, who take Gods word and puts it into action.

Being obedient to God’s word and his voice is not always the easiest thing, but its the best thing. It is still a lesson that I am trying to learn, it takes courage at times, patience at other times, we need to constantly be looking to Jesus the perfecter of our faith.

[13:1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV)

He goes on and takes all the gifts and exaggerates them to make a point, without love all you do is a waste of time. Lots of the gifts that he exaggerated, if we saw it done through someone we would all look and think how great that person is, but without love it counts for nothing to God. I hear people talk to me more about getting gifts then about love, I really think we all need to start perusing love foremost. After that, earnestly desire spiritual gifts… but the greatest of all is love:

[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV)

All these qualities of love we see ultimately in Jesus, who through His love for us endured the cross and rose again so that we might be restored into a right relationship with God and have our sins forgiven us. We need to be walking in Christ through the Holy Spirit so that our lives can be transformed to be more like Jesus. Now that I think about it, there is so much to say on love but I really don’t have the time to mention everything, I’ll just leave with a few verses to ponder over:

Us loving God
[4] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [5] You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. [8] You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9] You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)

[18] You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
(Leviticus 19:18 ESV)

[11:1] “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.
(Deuteronomy 11:1 ESV)

[15] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
(John 14:15-16 ESV)

God loving us

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 ESV)

[21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Some things stood out to me about this, and it made me realise something about temptation. One of the things I first thought about was, why did Jesus say this to them? now I may be wrong but this is my spin on it, correct me please if I’ve taken this out of context. But I thought about sleep, sleep is when your unconscious, your unaware of your surroundings, Jesus tells his disciples to wake up, be aware of what is going on and pray to not enter into temptation. It makes me think, I should always keep my eyes open and be prepared to pray when temptation comes. The other thing that stands out to me, is the command to pray to not enter into temptation, praying this is like saying God your in control of everything, please lead me out of temptation, because I know that you can lead me out. Basically from that I took it as God is the one able to keep me out of temptation and from falling into temptation. It is very similar to what Peter taught in these verses:

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV)

So Peter teaches that we should be sober-minded and watchful, much like Jesus said to say awake. The verses Peter writes tells us that temptation causes suffering, but we have a hope in our suffering, that after we suffer a little while, God will restore us. Even though Satan uses temptation to take us away from God, God can use that temptation to make us stronger in Him and this is the hope we have while being tempted. In all of this there is this hope, of temptation when we call on God and stand firm to build us up in the faith, God also promises that our temptation will not be beyond what we can resist and that God will provide a way of escape so we can endure it:

And last of all, just like Peter says to cast your anxieties/cares on Jesus, the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is able to help those that are being tempted because he went through the same thing.

Isn’t it great to have God on yourside when temptation comes!! so next time you feel tempted, humble yourself before God call on Him and trust Him, endure the suffering it may cause because you know that God will deliver you!!

[19] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

(Luke 22:19 ESV)

Now straight after this you will read that Jesus took a cup and said:

If we read carefully Luke 22 you will realise that it actually talks about two cups, one is shared with the disciples before the breaking of bread and the one after the breaking of bread in which Jesus says “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood”. Now for Christians everyone knows that Jesus took poured out his blood for the forgivness of our sins, but how is the passover pointing to Jesus and what Jesus did at the passover, how is it signifigant? I had a look up to the meanings of the cups at the passover and found out that there are actually 4 cups and their meanings are this:

1.  I will BRING YOU OUT from under the burdens of the Egyptians,
2.  I will RESCUE you from their bondage, and
3.  I will REDEEM YOU WITH AN OUTSTRETCHED ARM and with great judgments.
4.  I will TAKE YOU AS MY PEOPLE, and I will be your God.”

So the cup that Jesus said this is my blood, was the cup of redemption. So I was then curious, what about the 4th cup, did Jesus drink that? I found my answer in the book of Mark, it reads:

Jesus did not drink the fourth cup at this period of time, the question is why and what significance does this have? The fourth cup will Jesus drink with His believers in the kingdom of heaven, when he takes us all to be his people…. I also found this article on the subject.. you might want to read it as well if your interested.

http://endtimepilgrim.org/fourthcup.htm