I came across this vid this morning. I really love this song, it is so beautiful. My favorite lines are:
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Elyon na Adonai
Age to Age your still the same
by power of the name
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkamka na Adonai
We will praise and lift you high
El Shaddai
What really touches me is "age to age your still the same". That is so important to me. I am so thankful that I can rely on God's consistency.
However lovely this song is, it is not perfect. While the Word of God is perfect and trustworthy, man is prone to screwing up.
I am talking about the following lyrics:
Though the people failed to see
What Messiah ought to be
Though your word contained the plan
They just could not understand
Can you guess what it is that annoys me about this blurb? Time and again throughout our history the church has to always poke the Jew in the eye. Christian's who tend to do this are acting so arrogant. They are essentially saying "you losers are so stupid and blind, look how favored we are by God. We get it! What's wrong with you!"
Wanna know what's wrong? The church stole their Messiah and anglicized him! How in the world can you expect to repackage a Jewish Messiah into a blond-haired, blue-eyed, pork-eatin, Jew-killin, sabbath-breakin, white guy and wonder what's wrong wit dem dum Joos?
Let me tell ya a little something about what the Jews are expecting of their Messiah. First, He must pass the prophet test. This test is given to them in Deuteronomy.
"You shall follow the Lord you God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you."
(Deuteronomy 13:4-5)
What do you think? Does our Jesus pass this test? Does our Jesus lead His followers to walk in the paths of the Torah? We all know the answer to this. The church has come up with a zillion doctrines to try to iron out this glaring inconsistency.
Will the real Jesus please stand up?!
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Torah until all is accomplished.
"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19
Thank you, Jesus, for clearing this up. :)
Another thing that I would like to point out, the church likes to go on and on about how the Jews rejected their Messiah, but the Gentiles got it right. I view this as someone who likes to belittle others to make themselves look good. But that is not the point I want to make. The Jews did not really initially completely reject Jesus.
Let's step back in time for a moment. It's first century Judea and we are in Jerusalem for Shavuot (Pentecost).
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2: 46,47
That wasn't to be the last of it. Jews continued to accept the Messiah in droves.
But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Acts 4:4The word "thousands" used by James in Acts 21:20 to describe the grand number of believing Jews in Jerusalem in Greek is "murios". Greek is the original language of the New Testament.
And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Torah; Acts 21:20
James said "murios". That paints quite a bigger picture than the english word "thousands". Murios literally means 1)ten thousand 2)an innumerable multitude, an unlimited number 3)innumerable hosts. WOWSERS, that's a lot of Jews. I wonder what the overall population of Jerusalem was at that time?
The main antagonists against the early Believers were the Sadducees and not so much the Pharisees. The Pharisees actually had much in common and even respect for the piousness of the Jesus-followers. Saul/Paul had to go outside of his pharisaical circle and team up with the Sadducees to persecute the Christians.
A lot of the opposition was not simply theological but political. The Sadducees rejected the notion of resurrection and were the political ruling power (within the Jewish world of Jerusalem). They were smaller in number but were in cahoots with Rome who in turn empowered them. The very fast growing Jesus movement was a major threat to their maintaining of control.
It has become such a habit of the church to malign the UNBELIEVING Jews for rejecting Messiah, that most non-Jews don't even realize they are doing it. Trust me, the Jews notice. My hope is that we can change this shameful trend.
9 comments:
Well said.
Thank you Fuzzy's Dad! :D
"Though the people failed to see
What Messiah ought to be
Though your word contained the plan
They just could not understand"
"The People" he refers to are ALL those, including Romans, Samaritans, Greeks, and other gentiles. It even includes his own disciples -- Peter who denied him, Judas who betrayed him, Thomas who doubted him.
Even the Apostles had no idea the plan of God was to die on the Cross as a slave, to fulfill the original covenant with Abraham -- and in doing so expiate original sin and establish the new covenant. The apostles, etc were expecting a military martial King, not one that would die in that fashion.
Nothing in there about Jews at all - the reference is to all of us, all humanity due to our fallen nature. Christ's words and the teaching of most Christian churches now make this very clear (wiht notable exceptions amongst some fundamentalist reprobates).
Put down the king-kong sized chip on your shoulder.
I'm also going to bust your chops on your out-of-context quote in Deuteronomy.
You forgot (deliberately?) to incldue the establishing part of Deut13. Namely these verses which precede your quote on false prophets:
13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Ahem. Did Jesus lead people to OTHER GODS? No. Not a all, in fact he echoes the great commandment to love God with all...
So you are very very wrong in your attempted (and hihgly incorrect) use of Deuteronomy 13 as a hachet against Christ passing the "prophet test".
Your omission of the establishing context is shoddy at best, and disingenuous at worst.
You ought to apologize for such shoddy writing.
You are very antagonistic and yet you want me to get the chip off my shoulder?
I never claimed to be a great writer, but thanks for pointing out how much I suck.
You could at least be courteous enough to not leave snide ANONYMOUS comments. Reveal yourself if you wish to reprove me.
Deut 13 is not out of context at all! In Judaism, any prophet who teaches to not walk in the way of Torah is an idolater and a false prophet. This IS scriptural. Even as Christians we know to ward off heresy by comparing what the so-called prophet says to scripture. It is simple and straight forward. Did you not see where I proved that Jesus did NOT teach to walk away from Torah? It is the Church that teaches He rejects Torah. He actually said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah" His words, not mine...
I am going to trust that you really are not a nasty person and I have just rubbed you the wrong way and are momentarily annoyed.
It's late and I'm tired and I have a very busy day tomorrow. Perhaps, I will respond further and clarify a few things for you.
So, come back and be nicer.
blessings,
Indy
I'm identifying myself! And I agree with your reasonable request to have your critics identify themselves.
I also do not completely agree with everything you wrote. However, because I agree with your main point, I welcome the conversation this started.
Many who call themselves "Christian" forget the fact that but for the grace of God, they would be destined for Hell just as anyone who lacks the God-given gift of faith.
So, what is the advantage of being a Jew? For one, the Torah was given to them by God, and they took it very seriously. The only problem is that they did the same thing we do. They created "The Law Plus", and we have created "Christianity Plus"
Jesus was after authentic Jews, who followed the law, and realized that He was the fulfillment of it. That required something the law could not provide--faith.
Faith is in short supply today. Primarily because our faith is in our economy, rather than in God. The reality is that as a Christian, I need to live my life differently. Unfortunately, most Christians are indistinguishable from their "gentile" neighbors. In fact, sometimes our "gentile" neighbors would make better Christians than we do.
So it is that today God is after authentic Christians because faithful authentic Christians produce fruitful authentic Christians, and fruitful authentic Christians fulfill the Great Commission.
Throughout the course of time from the days of the Hellenistic era, an anti-Semitic force was established by men who sought to totally disconnect believers of Yeshua from the Jewish roots of their faith.
We have seen the dark forces of Christendom vilify and demonize the Jewish people. Martin Luther was an extremely anti-Semitic man whose lips had utterances of hell as he spoke of the Jewish people. The perverse ideas of Martin Luther fueled anti-Semitism in Europe; hence, pogroms against the Jewish people were justified as a form of punishment by individuals who followed the anti-Semitic teachings of Martin Luther and others have built upon his perverse theology. This has led to these individuals denigrating the Jewish people as "Christ killers."
Anti-Semitism is satanic at the very core. Adolf Hitler used the perverse and satanic writings of Martin Luther to violently murder the Jewish people in Europe during the time of the Shoah.
How ironic that these individuals failed to realize then and those individuals who support replacement theology today fail to realize that Yeshua was the greatest Jewish Rabbi, the Son of the Father, who the Prophet Isaiah foretells the arrival of Yeshua in Isaiah 53.
We see the inherently corrupt theology of men which is not based upon the ETERNAL TRUTH of YHWH's WORD in the Torah and Tanakh and Brit Chadesha; hence, horrific doctrines, false teachings and anti-Semitism abound within these circles of theologians who fail to study the TRUTH of YHWH's WORD in its entirety from the Torah and Tanakh to the Brit Chadesha.
If you are true believer of Yeshua, you are not able to dismiss the Torah and Tanakh or the eternal covenants the Father has established with His Chosen People. These theologians pride themselves in the "knowledge" and "wisdom" of men; these theologians do not have the Spirit of the Father guiding their lives in their examination of the ETERNAL TRUTH of YHWH's WORDS in the Torah, Tanakh and Brit Chadesha.
Those authentic believers of Yeshua, who are not Jewish, must recognize the concept of being grafted in as discussed by Paul in the book of Romans; they must fully recognize the Jewish roots of their faith. If they study in prayerful examination the texts throughout the Torah and Tanakh, they will begin to understand the depth of the Jewish roots of their faith and see what Christendom has done to entirely erase this connection.
Equally dangerous are the bad translations of the Torah, Tanakh and Brit Chadesha that have compounded multiple errors through the centuries that theologians have not bothered to correct. We see the problems of this within the "mainstream church" in the United States.
Today, we are witnessing the highest levels of violence and anti-Semitism against the Jewish people in Europe. Europe exists within a post-Christian era and is being strangled by Islamic dhimmitude. Those individuals in Europe who identify themselves as "Christians" and act in a hideous way against the Jewish people and Israel are not authentic believers of Yeshua. These anti-Semitic individuals in Europe have the same black hearts of hatred that individuals had during the time Adolf Hitler carried through his plans for the Final Solution.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the L-RD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by G-d, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the L-RD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the L-RD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the L-RD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Hi Ken, I am finally getting back to you. Thank you for not being anonymous.
I want to start with addressing your first comment. You corrected the context of the lyrics of the song. You may be right on this...I don't know. BUT, when I read or a Jewish person hears the lyrics "though your word contained the plan, they just could not understand." It is past tense. As if we are back in the first century. "They" seems to be speaking of the Jews because "They" were the ONLY ones with the Word/plan. Jesus came to the House of Israel first and then the gentile. So, perhaps I have misconstrued this or perhaps not. It certainly sounds like "Jews" to me. That being the case, it does sound arrogant. They "can't" understand, WE can understand... I just don't see why in this more enlightened period of Christianity why we would have to elevate ourselves over the Jews in our worship songs.
I tried to point out with scripture that SO many did understand. Even today so many more are coming to this understanding. Why do you think that is?
As far as the King Kong size chip on my shoulder...um yeah, if that is the same thing as embarrassment and shame for the atrocious way the church has historically treated the Jews in the name of Jesus, then I've got one. And it isn't going away anytime soon. It is my belief that Jesus is no less grieved by this colossal chip or stumbling block of Christian antisemitism.
I want to clarify that I DO NOT believe ALL Christians to be antisemitic...far from it! The light of Christian Zionism is outpacing the darkness that is enveloping the earth. Praise God!
If you notice my final statement, I point out that many are ignorant of their offensiveness. A lot of Christians have their heart in the right place and unwittingly are stumbling blocks because of the errant doctrines they have inherited concerning God's eternal covenants with Israel.
I will address your other remarks in another comment.
blessings,
Indy
Even though I agree with your concern that many followers of Jesus are not sensitive to our Jewish brother and sister (not to mention other groups as well) I do think you are more than a little harsh with Mike's lyrics in this awesome song. Many through the years have misunderstood what Messiah ought to be, Jew and Gentile alike. Mike is very sensitive and supportive of his and my Jewish heritage.
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