The Jewish Messiah
Most Jewish people around the world are either uninformed, ill-informed or misinformed about the subject of the Jewish Messiah. When you are playing a game of chess against somebody you cannot just consider the possible moves you can make. You must also look at how your opponent can counter your moves as well as all the other attacking options he has before you make a decision on which of your chess pieces to move where. Concerning the subject of the identity of the Jewish messiah, you should take a similar approach. About two billion Christians worldwide of diverse denominations all agree Jesus is the Messiah or Christ in spite of many other small differences, yet the Jews who are not even one percent of this number are convinced all these Christians are wrong and that the Messiah must still reveal his identity. The Jews are quite capable people, as can be seen by the lopsided amount of Nobel prizes that have been won by Jews. One would therefore expect them to be spot on in the area of religion that has historically brought them into existence, kept their identity intact during the Diaspora as well as defines their culture. If Jews are interested in discovering the identity of their Messiah, then they have to look no further than their national flag and all its hidden meanings. Click on the button below to view the hidden meanings of the Flag of Israel.
Interpreting the Bible in an Ultra Orthodox vs an Orthodox way.
Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.
Exodus 20 : 8 - 11 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the
sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Many Jews in Israel are too serious about Sabbath keeping. They take the law too far and add to the word that God commanded. They do not interpret the Bible in an orthodox manner in which you just follow its instructions, but rather an ultra-orthodox manner. The Bible do not even mention a smartphone anywhere, yet many Jews would not use a smartphone on the Sabbath because they believe it violates God's law. The Bible does not say you cannot talk on the Sabbath. It just says you cannot work on the Sabbath. In other words, on the Sabbath, you should take a break and rest from your normal routine that you follow during the first six days of the week to earn a living or feed your family. This means you should not use your smartphone for work related purposes on the Sabbath. Phoning your family and friends does not qualify as work. It therefore does not mean you cannot do anything at all on the Sabbath. For example, if you are a housewife that cooks the meals during the week you should rest from cooking by either preparing the Sabbath food beforehand or by just eating ready-made food like bread. You should therefore not involve yourself with a barbeque on the Sabbath. Your husband that does a day job away from the house should do the barbeque because it's not part of his workweek to make meals for the family. The other reason for the Sabath is to acknowledge God as the creator. These Sabbath serious Jews overdo things on the Sabbath, but in other areas they underdo it again and take from the word God that commanded. They refuse to go into the Army and expect normal Jews to spend their time and risk their lives to keep them, the serious religious Jews safe from terrorists. What does God command about military service?
Deuteronomy 24:55 “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.
Ecclesiastes 8:8 There is no discharge from war,
These passages tell you that you have to go to war when you are called up, but there are certain circumstances when you have a short period of exemption, like the example used here of the first year of marriage. Obeying the Bible in an orthodox manner is a bit like the porridge of Goldilocks. You must not make the porridge too hot and add to the Law. You must not make the porridge too cold and take from the Law. You must just do as the Law says. Then you have the porridge of Goldilocks. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. In Genesis 3 the snake initially joked and presented God as overly strict. Then Eve corrected him but still went further than God did. She said God said: "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ God however never said they cannot touch the fruit. You cannot die from a poisonous fruit by just touching it, you have to eat it. Eve was therefore an Ultra-Orthodox interpreter of the Law and look where she ended up. Firstly, adding to the law mischaracterises God as unreasonable authoritarian, because then the Law stop making sense. Secondly, when you add to the Law you take over the role from God as the sole one who can determine what is right and wrong. This arrogance leads you to also change other laws. When you assume the role of God it makes you very proud and then you elevate yourself above others.
Leviticus 21:5 They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards,
Leviticus 19:27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
Why don't ultra-orthodox Jewish men cut their side whiskers at all and wear it like two ponytails? Is it a fashion statement, because it looks quite cool? Why is it part of their tradition. Because they have added to God's law again, like in everything that distinguishes them from normality. God's law just says an Israelite should not spoil his hair or beard by shaving it to the skin, like a Mohican as the heathen nations did, but he should wear it naturally. God never said you should not cut your hair at all like the Ultra-orthodox does. By again overgrowing their side-whiskers they go to the other extreme of shaving the hair clean. God wanted the hair to be natural, not shaven clean like a heathen, but neither should you look like a hermit and not cut your hair. The ultra-orthodox Jews inherits this faulty style off Bible interpretation from the group of Jewish leaders that were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, namely the Pharisees. After the destruction of the temple their teachings shaped Judaism. By not cutting their side-whiskers they are therefore actually disobeying the law because their hair is not worn normally but they are turning their side-whiskers into ponytails. All they still need is a dress and then they would have made a complete mockery of God's law to the ancient Israelites. Fortunately, these laws have become void under the New Covenant and that is why Messianic Jews and Christians do not wear their hair in any particular style. The only Jews that are right according to the Torah in wearing the traditional long side-whiskers are the Rabbi's because they are dedicated servants of God through preaching and custodians of the truth. They are Nazirites like Samson who never cut his hair.
Judges 13:5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
